Today we are sharing some lovely table settings from our Real Weddings Library, where you can find incredible weddings from all around the world. With sweet details from peaches to macaroons, these tabletops are inventive and so much fun! I hope you enjoy our wedding decor inspiration for the day, and stop by our Wedding Photo Gallery for more!
We love our bride Vinal’s incredible style but it is her super-human ability to plan two entirely homemade ceremonies that really captured our hearts. We feel for you girl! The fruits of her labor turned into an incredible event filled with energetic music, beautiful floral design, and the groom looking every bit like Prince Charming atop a white horse, literally. Mae Stier of Bryan & Mae lent her talents to capture the whole day and, needless to say, she did it with suave and perfection.
The Couple: Vinal and Eric
The Wedding: 9.28.2013 – Private Residences, Ann Arbor and Chelsea, Michigan
The Goals: Above all, we wanted our wedding to reflect our personalities as individuals and as a couple. We wanted our guests to come away from the event feeling like it was a celebration of our love, not anyone else’s!
Having fun was the other big priority. We wanted to throw the biggest party of our lives for ourselves and everyone we love.
The Process: Not gonna lie, planning was stressful – probably because there were so many different elements. We had a small Christian ceremony in Ann Arbor followed by brunch and photos. Then we headed to the second venue in Chelsea for the Hindu ceremony and reception. Since both venues are private homes, we did not have packages to choose from or event planners to take care of everything. I did almost everything myself and it wasn’t easy to coordinate all of those moving pieces!
As for location and design, it all goes back to priority #1, which was to make the event unique to us. Eric and I come from different religious backgrounds and wanted to celebrate both religions and cultures – so we decided to have two weddings (one Christian, one Hindu). Both were pretty traditional in their own right. The Christian ceremony had all of the elements of a Western/American wedding, while the Hindu ceremony had all the Indian bells & whistles – including a horse for Eric to ride into the ceremony. Eric was especially excited about that.
Choosing the venues was not easy, either. I had always wanted a backyard wedding, so we asked Eric’s parents if we could have a small ceremony in their backyard. Luckily, they said yes! As for the second venue, we wanted something unique, preferably in the Ann Arbor area. That proved to be difficult for several reasons: many venues were too small, others did not accept outside catering, and most did not allow fire (which is integral to the Hindu ceremony). A few weeks into planning, we realized that our close friend and Eric’s best man had just purchased an old farm and was thinking about renovating the barn. He offered to renovate it for our wedding, and we took him up on the offer. The farm was the perfect setting for the larger Hindu ceremony and reception.
The Design: One of the first decisions we made was to have the wedding in the fall, because that’s when we fell in love seven years prior. (Fun fact: we got married exactly seven years to the day after meeting at the University of Michigan!) Fall is also our favorite season, with the weather being so pleasant and the leaves changing. So we held all three events outdoors and tried to incorporate elements of the fall into several aspects of the day. We chose a fall color palette, had seasonal cocktails, apple spice cake, and cider & donuts as favors.
Another element we tried to incorporate into the day was our love for travel and adventure. Instead of table numbers, each table was named after a place Eric and I have been together. Each place setting had a postcard for guests to write their favorite travel destinations. Keeping with the travel theme, we sent each guest a thank you postcard with a photo of us on our honeymoon in Florence.
The Moments: That’s a tough one! The Christian ceremony was everything I imagined it would be. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everyone we love was there for us. Both Eric and I were so emotional!
The break in between ceremonies was a blast. We rented a party bus for the entire wedding party and drove around taking pictures among the fall colors, dancing, and being silly. We also stopped at A&W for reinforcements!
The Hindu ceremony and reception were awesome because they were so laid back and fun! With all the bright colors, upbeat music, and dancing, it was a great party. I’ll never forget our first dance to Natasha Bedingfield’s rendition of Chasing Cars. The original version was playing on the radio when Eric asked me to be his girlfriend back in 2006. I also loved the dance party portion of the night, when my sister brought out little LED lights for everyone to wear – a homage to Eric and my love for electronic music.
The Advice: For all the DIY brides out there: know that doing it yourself has its pros and cons. The main pro is that you get to customize everything. But that’s a con, too! You could drive yourself crazy by obsessing over Pinterest images and expecting your wedding to look like them. I recommend picking a few aspects that are really important to you and focusing on those. Outsource everything else, if your budget allows.
For all brides: expect imperfection! Your day (probably) won’t be perfect, but it will still be the best day of your life.
Today we are introducing Junebug’s all new Ask the Expert series where we will be featuring our Junebug Member Wedding Planners and Designers each week. We’re kicking off this exciting new series with Chicago based wedding planner Lori Stephenson of LOLA Event Productions. Lori will be sharing her expert advice for newly engaged couples, and the top 10 things to do after you get engaged!
1. Enjoy being engaged! I know your gut reaction is to jump directly into planning – but take some time to soak in the engagement, the romance, the proposal, and spend some time with your fiance discussing what you both envision for the big day. Do you both want a blow out party for 200+ guests? An intimate affair for 50 of your closest family members and friends? A religious or non-religious ceremony? I always tell my clients, “Planning a wedding is much like marriage itself – filled with priority negotiations, awkward talks about finances, and sticky family situations… ultimately you need to approach the planning as a team!”
2. Hire a wedding planner A planner is going to be the most helpful when you hire them from the get-go. An experienced planner can help you find the venue that ticks off the most things on your “wedding wish list” and will make sure you are setting yourself up for success with your budget, planning time and priorities. The most important part of your planner’s job at this point is educating you on what your dream wedding will entail in terms of overall investment and make sure your expectations are managed so that you can move forward together as a unified team to make good decisions based on both style as well as price-point and priority. Some people may consider hiring a planner a luxury they can’t afford, but getting professional help early allows you to go into the planning process with your eyes wide open to what the entire process entails which leads to a more smooth, fun, creative, cohesive and cost-controlled outcome.
3. Establish your priorities All decision-makers need to be on the same page about the priorities of your event. Decision makers certainly include the engaged couple – but often need to include parents and other financially committed parties. What are your must-have non-negotiable items? Is it a certain date? A certain guest count? A certain venue? A certain style of reception? Getting everyone on the same page is crucial to an enjoyable planning process. A wedding planner can often be a neutral third party to assist with making sure all the voices are heard.
4. Discuss a realistic budget I always say, “It doesn’t cost a penny to dream.” That said, at the start of your planning process, most people deal with a bit of sticker shock at how much weddings really cost. It’s important to understand and research the market you are planning in (for instance, a wedding downtown Chicago costs a lot more than a wedding in a small town down-state Illinois) and to allocate the appropriate funds to your “must have” items. There is a huge range of cost within each individual category of goods and services associated with weddings. This is no different than any other product or service. When talking with the Father of the Bride, I like to compare this to purchasing a car. Some people are okay with a used Honda Civic and other people want a new 7-series Mercedes. Weddings are no different. Budget is based on expectations, and for each family these are different. There is no flat formula that works.
5. Create and prioritize your guest list Not only will your guest count give you parameters for finding the perfect venue for your size of event, but it is also the single largest factor in determining your budget. Costs including food, beverage, rentals, invitations, centerpieces and more are directly related to the number of people attending your party.
6. Figure out where you are flexible Some couples would rather have their dream wedding for less people – in that case it’s the guest count that is flexible. For others, it’s the style of reception, kind of entertainment, or venue for their party. In any case, knowing and agreeing on where you have the ability to flex will be important once you pin down your realistic budget and must-have list to make sure they all align.
7. Find a venue and set a date Now that you know you have a good handle on your wish-list, guest count, and budget – you can seek out venues that tick off the most items in the “pro” column. Having a firm date and knowing the rules and parameters set forth by your venue will be crucial to understand before engaging any other vendors.
8. Tell your friends and family Tell your VIP’s right away so they can save the date on their calendar. A formal “Save the Date” can be sent anywhere from 6-12 months in advance, but making sure your close family and wedding party are in the know from the get-go is priority.
9. Find a way to stay organized Whether you are working with a professional planner that can provide tools to keep you organized and on task, or you are going it alone, finding a way to stay organized is key. Get a great bridal binder to keep track of contracts and paperwork, create a spreadsheet with columns for overall costs, amounts paid, balances due and estimated gratuities, and create a way to keep your guest list organized that can take you into the final stages of planning including tracking meal choices, assigning tables and even tracking gifts given and thank you notes sent.
10. Take the next steps in bite-sized pieces The best way to make the process of planning a wedding feel overwhelming is by trying to do everything at once. Take your to-do list in bite sized pieces, make firm decisions, then check that item off your list and move onto the next. Decisiveness and organization are the best gifts you can give yourself so this process doesn’t ride off the rails in terms of time or budget.
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