Entries Tagged 'Critique: Weddings' ↓
March 30th, 2009 — Critique: Weddings
At the onset of the planning process, I knew I wanted everything wedding-related to be very cohesive. Since during our engagement, we attended EIGHT other weddings, and had gone to three others during the 1.5 years before getting engaged, we’d seen A LOT of others’ wedding materials, and to be honest, most of them seemed pretty scatterbrained. We’d get a Save the Date with one motif, and invitation with completely different style, and then attend a wedding where the programs didn’t go with anything. The inevitable slideshow had obviously been thrown together without thought back to any of its predecessors. We made a conscious effort to coordinate the event from start to finish (notice, I didn’t say “match” everything…)
Our Save the Dates linked to our big wedding day surpise, which we told nobody, save the MOH, about, prior to the day of. Care to guess what the surprise was?
I know it’s become more common-place, but when we booked it, photobooths at weddings were rare; luckily, they still are in Milwaukee!
We made a conscious effort to execute the STDs in a prefessional manner; this meant:
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Taking LOTS of pictures at a real photobooth in a mall. (note: it is MUCh easier to do all four shots with one sign at a time, rather than trying to switch signs, position them, make a funny face, and be cute all within the three seconds between each shot!)
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Doing the pictures in color, and then converting to black and white in Photoshop to get a larger range in color. Ours actually had a slight blue tint in order to maximize to look.
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Picking our favorite shots to make the cutest possible series.
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We hunted endlessly for the right invitations, which would relay our intent that the event be simple and FUN, and which would lend itself to our brown/orange color scheme and a possible polka dot motif. We found the perfect option at Broadway Paper in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, but they were priced FAR beyond our budget, so we decided to recreate them!
Our inspiration:
Our version (three pages, held together by a grommet in the upper-left corner like the example):
The right-hand portion of the last page was perforated for return of the response postcard, which worked out perfectly! We received SO MANY compliments on them!
We lined the envelopes with a pattern that I found online, and then used the same print for our website.
Our programs continued the theme:
And finally, coming full-circle, were our Thank-You cards (not the best picture, since we totally forgot about them until the end of the night – oops!). I know it probably goes without saying, but this is our proof, so the card was foled in half, width-wise, with us on the front and our logo on the back.
I’ll also note that our slideshow was a big hit with our guests. We began each section with a title page to match our logo; i.e. “Paul” in a circle, then “Jill” in a circle, and then “Paul + Jill”. We also used Tom Petty songs throughout: Runnin’ Down a Dream for him, American Girl for me, and then…maybe Wildflowers (?) for us together.
Overall, we were both really proud of how everything turned out, as we did it ourselves, without much outside help. It was amazing to work with my husband-to-be in such a creative manner and have our ideas so in synch. (…love.him…)
March 26th, 2009 — Critique: Weddings
Love the title, and the fact that it’s courtesy of Art, who is WAY into my return to the blogosphere…he’s such a trip!
I apologize for my indefinite leave from the site, but when I left off, we were getting pretty deep into the wedding planning process, starting to house-hunt, and dealing with a majorly psycho landlord. To say we’ve been busy would be to say that Danny Gokey on American Idol has an “okay” voice (Milwaukee, represent!) – we’ve been swamped!
Since last I wrote, we’ve planned the wedding, bought a house, decoarated said house, got married, honeymoon, added a puppy, “Dillon,” to the fam, and made it through the holidays (they last through march in our family, with my birthday in January, Valentine’s Day in February, and Art’s birthday in March) – whew!
Before I commit to the changes I’ve got in mind for the site by actually typing them out…the next post, maybe (?)…although I’ll admit I may be slightly biased, I’ll “critique”…
10.04.08 – the wedding! actually, since the critique will surely be a long one, we’ll start with the pre-wedding-ness!
Our wedding weekend began with the rehearsal and dinner at Milwaukee’s Public Market, which Art and I chose not only because it opened just after we started dating, but because it’s also one of our ways (these days, with puppy in tow) to spend a Saturday afternoon, and because it’s so “Milwaukee,” the city where we met and fell in love. I know that to most people, Milwaukee is nothing but beer, brats, bikes, and cheese, but it’s my hometown and the city that Art’s also adopted as his own.*
The food was delectible, the company was incomparable, and the love was tangible; in the absence of all the pics, here’s the happy couple (in a less than ideal shot – c’est la vie!)
Wearing: chocolate velvet halter w/ gold polka dots (Steve Madden? – awesome deal, purchased prior day!), brown/olive patent belt (JCrew), streamlined gold wedges (same as bridemaids wore for the wedding), my sister’s earrings b/c I completely forgot to wear any, and the bracelet Art bought right after we were engaged, for the wedding (finally!)
Following a quick run-through the ceremony, we dined on an eclectic meal consisting of a collection of Market offerings; everything from fresh sushi, to the best pulled pork, to fresh bread…to the deserts (!) – AMAZING. Then, we disbursed gifts to the party (chocolate cashmere pasminas and funky enamel bracelets for the bridesmaids, plus a pearl bracelet for the MOH; engraved flasks and ties for the wedding for the guys; initial necklaces for the flower girls; the cutest tie-stay for the ringbearer! Everyone love-love-loved their gifts!).
After staying for longer than anyone expected, Art and I parted ways for the night, with me headed off to my parents’ for a sleepover with my siblings, a couple of cousins, and some family visiting from Washington.
We played a wicked round of Dream Phone once we got it working after not having played it in 10+ years – the boys DID NOT win:
The next morning, we were up bright, but not too early (we had a 4:00 ceremony for a reason!) to prettify – notice the (blurry) thumbs-ups! -and the plate of cucumber slices for my eyes (wine indulgences the night before wedding = not the wisest decision of the night).
Up next: leading up to the nuptials/aka: Getting Our Hair Did & Hating on Flowers
*Stay tuned for a critique of the city (ooh, I’m just intriguing you, aren’t I? hehe…)
August 23rd, 2007 — Critique: Weddings
So, as I’ve alluded to before, I am presently engaged to my one true love, Arthur. Art and I have been together for just over 2 years, and have been inseperable ever since our first “date.” Our relationship progressed quite quickly, and we were living together after 11 months, which naturally led to marriage talk…
Since we’ve been doing things at our own pace, in our own way since the beginning, I told Art right away that I’d like every aspect of our nuptuals to be personal and done the “AP” way…Arthur felt the same and has complied with my request regarding the (perfect) ring:
…to the engagement itself, documented on our webpage (yes – Penelope and Arthur are psuedonyms, although this will be the only time I ever admit it on here!)
- Which brings me to my critique – of the usual “wedding.” While Art and I are having a large wedding (250 guests), we will be taking care to do everything as we want it – NOT the way “things are done” typically. For example:
The Ceremony:
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Art and I will not be getting married in a church – because we aren’t religious people. I have known numerous couples who have done so anyway, but that just seems insincere to me, and I would rather NOT begin our life together on that note…
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No “Love is…” reading! We will pick out readings that are meaningful to us and they will be read my family members who have been especially important in our lives.
The Bridal Party
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We are not having a huge bridal party for several reasons:
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We aren’t having an ornate church wedding, so what would the need be?
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We don’t have tons of siblings to accomodate.
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We don’t have tons friends that we have to try to accomodate – we are fortunate that by now everyone seems to understand that we’re doing what works for us.
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Art’s “Best Man” may very well be a “Best Woman” (or we might call her another “Maid of Honor”) because his best friend is a girl. Art still feels somewhat uncomfortable with the scoff at traditional male/female expectations though, so she still may end up on the bride’s “side.”
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Our party may not be comprised of evenly matched boy-girl “couples” because most of Art’s friends are female and I refuse to “make him pick some guys” as one of my recently-married girlfriends suggested.
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My “maids” will not be matchy-matchy, in terrible, pastel-colored, ill-fitting gowns. I am actually on the hunt for multiple knee or tea-length designs available in the same fabrics and colors. Ideally, I’d pick 3 or 4 choices and the girls can pick what they feel most comfortable in. The dresses will be chocolate brown, which looks good on everyone, in the hopes that they really, honestly will be able to wear them again (and will even WANT to do so).
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BRIDEZILLA MOMENT: I made them buy matching shoes already – I know, we’ve got over a year to go! In my defense though, they were on clearance for $15, are cute, and are walkable!
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No tacky accessories or gifts! The girls will all recieve Tiffany necklaces that will compliment their dresses, strapless or not, and the guys will recieve engraved cufflinks.
The Wedding Dress
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I don’t like pouf and I’m not going to be pretending to be a princess for the day. I want to look like the best possible version of ME on OUR day (i.e. not “my” day). To this end, I don’t want anything strapless as I never normally wear strapless, and I don’t want anything overly glitzy. The dress I’ve decided on is unique, slightly antiquey, but also modern (I’ll be removing the bow and belt and replacing with a light brown sash, I think…)
Hair & Jewelry
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No stuffy updo for me! I want it long, wavy, and down or half-up since I very rarely wear my hair up – and NO TIARA!
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No matchy-matchy rhinestone madness! I think I’ll go for more ornate earrings than I usually wear, and then a great bracelet – definitely NOT matching, big, earrings-necklace-bracelet set…
The Reception
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No lame, basic decorations – i.e. tealights on mirrors or floating candles in a bowl (on a mirror); I’d much rather have a simple flower situation, or do something with paper lanterns…?
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No cheesy, useless, wasteful favors! We actually hope to rent an old school photo booth and then the favors would be glass photo coasters for the pics – how cute! Since the coasters come in sets of 2, the top one will have a piece of paper in the frame saying, “Have a drink on us!” and the bottom will have a picture of us in it!
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The music will be completely chosen by us! Our first dance will be something meaningful, not “Lost in the Moment” by Big & Rich; no “Butterfly Kisses” for the Daddy/Daughter dance, etc. So far, our picks for first dance are:
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Gold to me – Ben Harper
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Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
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At Last – Etta James
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Everlong – Fu Fighters
Food
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Buffet all the way! I hate hate hate that people think buffets are either low-class or not as nice as sit-down service – I LOVE buffets! As a non-meat eater, I appreciate the ability to pick and choose what and how much I want.
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We’re also customizing our menu to allow for food we like – i.e. pasta for me, and good food in general for Art!
Cake
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No huge, nasty monstrosity for us, but we haven’t decided yet what we’d like in its place – maybe one smaller decorated cake and sheet cakes behind the scenes, maybe cupcakes, maybe no cake!
- Everyone keeps telling us that it’s our day and we can do whatever we want, so I’m really hoping that they all keep this in mind as it approaches…