8.27.2010

Wedding Recap: Cocktail Hour & Ceremony

We decided to have a cocktail hour before the ceremony, both for our own benefit and that of our guests. We figured it would help out with our nerves a little to have a drink before the ceremony, and it would give us time to mingle with guests so that we weren't stuck running around throughout the reception (we wanted to dance a bunch...duh). Since we were running so late, we didn't get to have the cocktail hour we wanted, but it was still nice to mingle a bit before the big event. I skipped my cocktail dress altogether and stuck with the wedding dress throughout what was left of our cocktail hour.

Our ceremony was short, only lasting around 30 minutes. We had a friend marry us, which was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to have a non-denominational ceremony. It felt so intimate knowing that the person marrying us and joining us together knew us so well. I wrote most of the ceremony myself, and what I couldn't write on my own I borrowed from Judith Johnson's The Wedding Ceremony Planner, which was a life saver! We had a beautiful moment of silence for those who could not be with us, and those who had passed away, especially A.P.'s mother. We also had three readings, e.e. cummings's "i carry your heart," "Our Union" by Hafiz, and a stanza from a French poem called "The Eternal Song" by Rosemonde Gerard. My childhood French teacher translated the stanza for us. While the other two poems were chosen for a reason, this poem in particular held the most meaning, as on our first Valentine's Day, A.P. gave me a necklace that features a line from this poem. The line reads, "Je t'aime plus qu'hier moins que demain," which translates to, "I love you more today than yesterday." I have three brothers and A.P. has two, so we kind of split readings and toasts between our family members, and the other friend who gave a reading was the Half-breed Swede, aka my wedding life saver!

Here's some more photos of our big day! Again, all photos were taken by our amazing photographer, Theresa Scarbrough. Enjoy!

View from Lovely across the street

Besides all the invitations' address labels, my mother also wrote ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that had writing on it, including all the wood veneer escort cards, all the signage, and she wrote and designed our program (seen above) and menu, which we posted on a double-sided antique chalkboard I found on eBay

One of the many beautiful chalkboards that Lovely designed and had posted around the bakery

Detail of Lovely's chalkboard, we loved that they even managed to give the groom a mustache on a stick, which were some of the props we made for the photo booth!

One of the centerpieces - Each centerpiece was completely unique and featured vintage objects, (all thrifted, found on eBay, and purchased on etsy) on vintage trays with some type of unique vessel for flowers. We also had antique salt and pepper shakers at every table.

One of the place settings - I handmade each place card using a DIY project I found on Scissor Variations. They turned out wonderful and everyone loved them! We also thrifted all of the dinner plates for the wedding. The only commonality that the plates had were the approximate diameter and the fact that they featured a floral pattern of some kind. They looked so beautiful on the tables with the centerpieces!

Some additional place settings

Inspired by a past post, we created a photo display of various family members' wedding photos and photos of us as children and as adults, together. While some photos were framed and displayed nicely on the shelves of this lovely antique armoire, the rest of the photos were hung with gold paperclips on beautiful yarn. Interspersed between the photos were various sized hearts cut from lovely floral craft paper that we used throughout the wedding.

Another centerpiece - In addition to vintage trays, we used a lot of vintage cake and apothecary jars to hold what I kept calling "small worlds," which were little moss filled worlds with vintage objects carefully displayed. They were all fun to make, and I tried very hard to only purchase things I knew I would reuse in our own house afterward. So now, we have a house adorned with beautiful vintage objects that remind us of our special day.

One of our tinier guests checks out Lovely's vintage typewriter

That's me with my mother (in the middle) and C-Blonde, the woman who helped us design our invitations

Another set table/centerpiece

Centerpiece Detail

A.P. greets the guests as the enter the tent for the ceremony

Lovely ladies in pashminas

Cuties!

A.P.'s vows and our ring pillow, which I handmade to look like the image on our RSVP cards

Closeup, A.P.'s vows

My father walking me down the aisle

A.P. sees me as I walk down the aisle

We're all laughing because my father just told A.P. "She's all yours now!"

My brother, who read e.e. cummings's "i carry your heart"

Our good friend (and my friend since high school) who married us

A.P.'s older brother who read "Our Union" by Hafiz, which we told the audience that A.P. chose because he liked that it had the word potatoes in it (a joke he cracked when we were going over readings)

The Half-breed Swede! She read the stanza from Rosemonde Gerard poem

After A.P. read his vows, he turned to the audience and apologized for forgetting his pants, which made everyone laugh (and was the moment that 99.9% makes up for the fact the he forgot his pants to begin with...the .1% is reserved because I'm a woman, and we don't forget)

I love the look on my face as I hand back my vows, which screams "Get these things away from me!" I couldn't help it...they made me cry!

Ring time!

A.P. kept wiggling his finger for the ring, but I wouldn't give it to him until I had recited the vows.

After our friend pronounced us husband and wife, I squealed, "We're married!"

8.23.2010

Wedding Recap: Getting Ready

One of my closest friends and I dance in the giant shower at The Omni

Finally! It's here! Over the next week or so, I'll be recapping our wedding. First up is the story of why I was an hour late to my own wedding, and then some of Theresa Scarbrough's beautiful photos of us getting ready on the big day. Enjoy!

The day of our wedding, we woke up early and got massages. It was so nice to do something just the two of us, and frankly we needed the hour of relaxation before our big day. From there, I headed off with my friend, the Half-breed Swede, to get our hair and makeup done. We didn't have a wedding party, but the Half-breed Swede had come in a little over a week ahead of time to help me get everything ready (best wedding gift ever!), and she decided to get her hair and makeup done with me. After hair and makeup, we came back to the apartment and picked up A.P. and headed to our hotel downtown.

We decided to get ready at The Omni Hotel with some of our family and friends. We booked a small suite, but when we arrived, and they found out we were getting married, they upgraded us to the Presidential Suite! So awesome! The room was gigantic and because we were already running a bit late, after checking out the digs, we started getting ready immediately. The plan was to take some photos with our photographer, Theresa Scarbrough, around the city on the way to Lovely, where the entire event was to take place. Cocktail hour was from 6-7, and the ceremony was right after, from 7-7:30. We planned on getting to Lovely between 5:30 and 5:45 so that we could make sure everything was set up properly, and then I was supposed to go change out of my wedding dress into a cocktail dress before the guests arrived. I was planning on wearing a beautiful black cocktail dress, and then right before the ceremony switching back into my wedding dress.

A.P. and I set about getting ready, with me in the bedroom area with my gals, and him in the front area with his brothers. However, about ten minutes into getting ready, A.P. knocked on my door and asked me if I had his pants. I didn't. Turns out he had forgotten his pants at our apartment! He jumped into a cab and told the driver he'd give him $100 to get him there and back to the hotel as soon as possible. On a good day, with very little traffic it's about 20 minutes from our apartment to downtown, but of course this day traffic was bad. It seemed like it took A.P. forever to get there and back! Meanwhile, I was stewing at the hotel with my friends. I was pretty angry, because our plan was to only take about 30 minutes to get ready. Really, I had my hair/makeup done already, and just needed to slip on my dress. A.P. just had to get on his suit and then we would be all set. Instead, A.P. didn't get back to the hotel until the time we were supposed to be arriving at Lovely. We ended up showing up to Lovely at around 6:45, an hour late, and with no photos taken in between.

Upon arrival, an old friend (and the designer of our beautiful invitations) came up to me and told me I had to snap out of it because the night was going to go by so fast that I needed to try to enjoy every moment. I have to say, that was the best advice I got! And I recently had a friend get married and I passed on the same advice. It is so true. I've never had anything that lasted so long feel like it lasted only an hour. And I've never had such a natural high! It was an amazing night and next time I post, I'll share with you what A.P. did that made him forgetting his pants almost worth it (almost!). Now, enjoy some photos of us getting ready at The Omni.

The Presidential Suite at The Omni - Upgrade!

They sent up champagne and chocolate covered strawberries!

B-Mac, whose mother made my dress, checks out the ginormous tub in the master bath (yes...there were TWO bathrooms!)

A.P. and I check out the grand piano

The dress! I love how ethereal it looks in this photo!

My two shoes - The black ones were supposed to be worn with my cocktail dress, but I never ended up wearing them.

The Half-breed Swede adjusts my sash

Squeezing my big ol' feet into my pretty green shoes

Putting on the necklace A.P. gave me on our first Valentine's Day. It reads, "Je t'aime plus qu'hier, moins que demain." It comes from a poem by Rosemonde Gerard that we had my old French teacher translate, which the Half-breed Swede read during the ceremony.

A.P.'s niece plays the piano while I get ready (and while A.P. is in a cab on his way to retrieve his pants)

A.P.'s brother had to leave, but left this memorable note behind

Tying the rings to the ring pillow

I made the ring pillow. The design matches the image on the RSVP cards.

The groom's gift: It looks kind of girly, but matched the paper we used throughout the wedding. I got A.P. an Up inspired grape soda boutonniere, and a trip for two on a hot air balloon - something he has always wanted to do, and which coincidentally went well with the boutonniere

A.P.'s tie and a pocket watch given to him by his late mother

A.P. buttons his cuffs as he gets ready

B-Mac helps A.P. adjust his vest

A.P. fixes his beautiful hair
The rest of the note from A.P's brother...that's good advice!

First look!

A.P. opens up his groom's gift (and loves it!)

Quick kiss!

The boutonniere on A.P.'s bespoke suit! It looked so good with his tie and shirt, which had purple pinstripes.

In the elevator in The Omni, on our way to get married!

I love this photo! Kissing in the elevator.

We took a cab to Lovely. The perfect ride for the city girl since birth!

In the cab on the way to Lovely

The cost to go get married: $8.85 + tip
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