Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’

Sep 2011

* Anne (Postgrad) & Alex (Marketing & PR) * Photographer: Lauren McGlynn Photography, UK (APW Sponsor) * Soundtrack for reading: The Plain White Ts Rhythm of Love *

The Info—Ceremony Venue: St. Mary’s Church, Shaw-cum-Donnington, Berkshire, England / Reception Venue: The Black Barn / Dress: Oxfam Bridal Southampton / Suit: Moss Bros / Photography: Lauren McGlynn Photography, UK (APW Sponsor)

Other cool stuff: We wanted the whole event to be low-key and principally ‘us’. We didn’t have a theme—just a natural-inspired rough colour swatch to tie it all together. Loads of friends and family got involved and everything we could make, we made—all the lighting in the barn, bunting, paper flowers on the tables, the tablecloths, the bouquets, the little bridesmaids dresses, the cupcakes, the wedding cake. Everything we could we recycled and/or reused—my wedding dress from Oxfam, my great-grandmother’s cake knife, another great-grandmother’s tablecloth, an offcut from my sister’s veil with a 1920s brooch and a piece of my mother’s vintage ribbon to make a small nod to a veil, flowers on the tables in recycled bottles… and so many cars went home that night piled with recycling! And everything we could source locally we did, from the local free-range hog and salads, to the naturally outdoor-grown flowers from a company in Oxfordshire.

One sentence sum up of the wedding vibe: Relaxed and completely us—the best day of our lives shared with the people we love.

Favorite thing about the wedding: How can I choose! It was a day full of perfect moments from my sisters helping me get ready in the morning to the moment we drove off at the end of the evening: laughter, hugs, family, friends, sister-saved flowers, seamless running due to mother’s lists and best man’s instructions, beautiful little (and big!) bridesmaids, a wonderful personal ceremony, bunting, cakes, pimms, Dorothy the hog(roast), photos, fields, sunshine, speeches, dancing… it all came together perfectly in a whirlwind celebration of us. A very special thing was having the entirety of both immediate families together—when your husband’s parents and brothers live in Australia you don’t get much chance for everyone to be together. They were all amazing, helping to bring our wedding to life.

Posted in: Wedding Graduates, Wordless Weddings | 23 Comments »

Aug 2011

Wordless Wedding: Jennah & Gary

* Jennah (Speechwriter) & Gary (Software analyst/part-time rock star) * Photographer: Zachary Hunt Photography, TX * Soundtrack for reading: Elvis Costello “Everyday I Write the Book” *

The Info—Ceremony Venue: St. Mary Cathedral, Austin, Texas / Reception Venues: Saengerrunde Hall (inside) and Scholz Garten (outside) / Dress: Nicole Miller / Bride’s shoes: Dolce & Gabana / Bride’s ring: Todd Reed / Headpiece: refashioned from the bride’s maternal grandmother’s / Groom’s suit: eh, who cares / Bride and bridesmaids’ makeup: Kelley Tway of Have Lipstick, Will Travel / Bridesmaids’ earrings: JaqJack / Cakes: designed by the bride and made by Word of Mouth Catering / Paper Goods & Groom’s-Cake Label: Pat Ramseur Design / Photography: Zachary Hunt Photography, TX (APW Sponsor)

Other cool stuff: I’ve made enough Halloween costumes to know not to get too crazy over details—most of the time, if you cover the main ideas, people subconsciously fill in the rest themselves. So I knew as long as we kept everything fun, unpretentious, and clever, we would get the wedding we wanted. The reception was at a biergarten/old-man social hall. Almost all the centerpiece items came from thrift stores. Instead of table numbers (since we didn’t have a seating chart) I typed fascinating facts about Gary and me on index cards. We had barbecue for dinner (although my mom insisted on German potato salad because it was “nicer” than regular potato salad). The groom’s cake was a giant Twinkie. Since my family is from Ohio, my mom made 600 buckeyes (chocolate-covered peanut butter balls endemic to that state) from my grandmother’s recipe for the dessert table. We are a decidedly un-schmoopie couple, so our first dance was Diana Ross’s “Love Hangover;” after 45 seconds of slow-jam steaminess it turns into the sickest disco song ever, whence everyone came to join us. Our friends’ rockabilly-ish band, The Sutcliffes, played. Then Gary’s (Neil Diamond cover) band played, and we danced with a microphone between us as he sang “Heartlight” to me. (Did you know “Heartlight” is about E.T.? It’s true!) Then he surprised me by singing “It’s Too Late to Turn Back Now,” the 70s soul song. (Don’t worry, it’s a lot more romantic than the title suggests.) Oh, and after our (amazing, emotional, Catholic) ceremony we went to my favorite grocery store to take pictures, then we rejoined the wedding party in time to relax and get a betting pool going on the Kentucky Derby.

One sentence sum up of the wedding vibe: A fun, funny, un-fussy Texas throwdown with plenty of family, friends, and our own version of romance.

Favorite thing about the wedding: I was completely entranced when Gary said his vows. His conviction was so clear and powerful that I physically felt his words. Also, that I caught the chicken.

Posted in: Wedding Graduates, Wordless Weddings | 56 Comments »

Jul 2011

Wordless Wedding: Kiara & John

* Kiara, Archivist at the University of Glasgow & John, Microbiologist * Photographer: Emma Case * Soundtrack for reading: Camera Obscura “French Navy” *

The Info—Venue: Crear, Argyll, Scotland / Dress: Made by Lisa of Dragonfly Dress Design, Glasgow / Bride’s Shoes: Vivienne Westwood Melissa shoes / Suit: Kenneth Cole / Groom’s Shoes: Brogues from Russell & Bromley / Flowers: bought wholesale from L & H Flowers and arranged by bride’s mother / Paper goods: designed by the bride and printed at Moo / Photographer: Emma Case

Other cool stuff you should know about: We practised our first dance in our pyjamas at 6:30 the morning of the wedding in our wee cottage. Halfway through we decided it was way too long and boring, so cut two minutes off it—best decision ever. Our brothers each took charge of a camera (one of them was a £10 super 8 ebay bargain) and we diy’d our wedding video (Meg’s note: watch it, it’s amazing.) My dress had pockets which I absolutely loved! We set off all the sheepdogs at 3am walking back through a neighbouring farm after the wedding which was scary and hilarious and broke the magical spell of walking home along a country lane under a bright starry night sky.

One sentence sum up of the wedding vibe: Hanging out with our favourite people the whole day when they were all just really bloody happy for us was the best feeling ever, pure joy.

Favorite thing about the wedding: We had a friend read an extract from Jane Austen’s Emma as our second reading.* As I listened to the last sentence, holding John’s hand knowing we were both blinking away tears I realised that we were indeed surrounded by our true band of friends. This made the fact that they all then spontaneously whooped and applauded at the end of the ceremony even more special and one of our favourite things about the day.

*As featured by Meg here

Wedding found via the APW Flickr stream

Posted in: Wedding Graduates, Wordless Weddings | 42 Comments »

Jul 2011

Wordless Wedding: Kayce & Matty

* Kayce (Shiny Pretty Bits) & Matty * Photographer: One Love Photo (Now shooting in Hawaii)* Soundtrack for reading: Explosions in the Sky, “So Long, Lonesome” *

The Info—Venue: Oceanfront Oasis, Hawaii; Dress: Daphne by Melissa Sweet; Suit: The Byard by Paul Smith; Hair Flower: Trulu Couture; Shoes: Pour La Victoire; Photography: One Love Photo (APW Sponsor; Meg’s Photographers, now booking in Hawaii too!)

Other Cool Stuff: Though it eliminated most of the venues we looked at, it was really important to us to have our dog, Bear, there. He walked in with my husband and wore a striped gray bow-tie from American Apparel. Also, we had a gobo made for the pool out of a monogram I had done for our website and stationary. This ended up being our favorite detail of the night and was completely my husband’s idea.

What The Pictures Don’t Tell You: Our wedding was a complete labor of love. Since our budget wasn’t large we had to get creative and look to our community to make things work. We had a lounge-style reception to cut down on the amount of tables we’d have to dress. Our serving ware came from Goodwill and Ross. We shopped for all the food ourselves over the course of the three days leading up to the wedding, and we hired a friend to cater. We served the food on paper plates. My sister in law did everyone’s makeup. Another friend did everyone’s hair. A friend offered to bake our wedding cake using one of my favorite recipes and yet another friend made all of our gorgeous floral arrangements. My husband owns a bar, so our alcohol was donated and the waitstaff and bartenders were our regular staff. Our family graciously did all of the setup and breakdown. If it weren’t for our community we probably would have run off and eloped. I’m glad we didn’t.

Favorite Thing: Our closest friends and family are scattered all around the world. Having them all in one place for a week to celebrate with us was the greatest gift and made all the stress of planning the wedding worth it.

Posted in: Wedding Graduates, Wordless Weddings | 30 Comments »

Jul 2011

Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers! I hope you’re spending some time in the summer sun, celebrating the people you love. Tomorrow we’ll be back with fun news and this lovely quiet Hawaii beach wedding… just in time for someone’s one year anniversary.

Photo: One Love Photo

Posted in: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Jun 2011

Wordless Wedding: Jacquetta & Shaneequa

* Jacquetta & Shaneequa * Photographer Kelly Prizel Photography (APW Sponsor) * Soundtrack for reading: Adele “Make You Feel My Love” *

The Info—Dress: J. Crew; Pink Shoes: Chinese Laundry; Suit: Purchased at a hidden gem of a shop in the U Street Corridor of Washington, DC; Ceremony Venue: Woodrow Wilson House garden; Reception: Darlington House; Flowers: Eastern Market farmer’s market, arranged by Jacquetta and her hands-on-wedding planner; Planner: LoveBus Events; Photographer: Kelly Prizel Photography

Other cool stuff we should know about: It snowed the morning of our outdoor ceremony. Our recessional song was Kiss by Prince, our wedding planner was nervous the song was a little too risque…

One sentence sum up of the wedding vibe: An intimate, DIY, family affair that was a little bit hippie a little bit urban and a lot a bit LOVE.

Favorite thing about the wedding: Handmade ceremony programs printed on vintage handkerchiefs (blood sweat and tears, and went like hotcakes as our guests hoarded them). Shaneequa getting to DJ her own reception—setting the tone of the party.

Posted in: LGBTQ Weddings, Wedding Graduates, Wordless Weddings | 59 Comments »