WEDDING BLOG

Real Wedding – University of Michigan Museum of Art Wedding by Heather Jowett – Emily and Dustin

March 6, 2013 | editorial team

The Couple: Emily & Dustin

The Wedding: 10.27.12 – University of Michigan Museum of Art – Ann Arbor, MI

What were the top three priorities for you in planning your wedding? We wanted to be traditional without following rules. We both love the elegance and sense of history and community that a traditional wedding creates; however, we didnt want our wedding to feel entirely formal or predictable. We tried to draw upon traditions in unexpected ways. For instance, I wore a wedding dress that had been my great-grandmothers and paired it with a pillbox hat designed by my friend Jean Canon. Neither of these are traditional choices for a wedding, yet I felt that they perfectly reflected my sense of tradition. We also wanted to protect our time. Our wedding was planned amidst a tumult of major life events that often needed more of our time than the wedding planning. This meant that we put a lot of emphasis on making fast decisions and delegating to people we trusted (in particular, the amazing mother of the bride). The last thing we kept as a priority was maintaining perspective. The mantra that we tried to follow was that we were planning a party for people we know and love and that the event should reflect that joy.

What wedding traditions or cultural traditions did you incorporated into your wedding and what did they mean to you? We wanted an interfaith ceremony that reflected both of our religious traditions – Jewish (Emily) and Christian (Dustin). The clergy that we chose to officiate did an excellent job working together to incorporate aspects from both religions. Besides our different religions backgrounds, we also grew up in very different parts of the country (Michigan and Texas) and tried to reflect that in the music. Laith, our lead singer, had an incredible range that allowed him to play Motown and Blues alongside country classics like Johnny Cash. Finally, since we are both professional literature nerds, we included poetry by John Donne and Rainer Maria Rilke in the ceremony and placed Penguin Book covers on each place-setting.

Were there any places where you broke the rules in your wedding planning? Why and how did you do that? Although a lot of wedding culture focuses on the couple (i.e. the bride), inclusivity was very important to us. We wanted our family members and guests to feel like they were a part of the event and each had a hand in making our wedding and our marriage possible.

What was your biggest wedding planning success? Staying calm and having fun on the day itself. We both managed to have a surprisingly stress-free wedding day. Not everything came together entirely as planned, but we truly enjoyed every minute.

What was the most important thing that you learned through the wedding planning process and what would you tell other brides-to-be? Work with people you trust and listen to them. Choose wedding professionals, family members, and friends whose taste and opinion you can rely on. While you might not agree with everything they suggest, at least you are starting out on a basis of mutual respect and can successfully delegate to people who may have a tremendous amount of experience and talent.

The Wedding Team:

Photographer: Heather Jowett
Event Planner: Luna Soiree Events
Ceremony & Reception Venue: University of Michigan Museum of Art
Officiants: Rev. Reid Hamilton and Julie Gales
Invitation Designer & Paper Production: Rock Paper Scissors
Catering: Katherines Catering
Florist: Tom Thompson Flowers
Cake: Sweet Heather Anne
Wedding Dress: Alterations by Jen Delk at Clothing Hospital
Bridesmaids Apparel & Accessories: Dresses – J Crew; Belt – feather from Etsy, belt created by Jen Delk
Groom & Groomsmen Apparel & Accessories: Van Boven
Hair: Amber Kessler
Make-Up: Marie Santana
Live Music: Laith Al-Saadi Trio
Transportation: Kirbys Kurb Service
Rings: Hers – Abercrombie Gems & Precious Metals; His – Worthmore Jewlers

Thank you, Emily & Dustin, for sharing such a beautiful and unique wedding experience with us!

Wedding Design Ideas from Michelle Rago – The Four Letter Monogram

March 5, 2013 | editorial team

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s the little things that can seem like the biggest. Little dilemmas that you can’t seem to find a solution for, and brilliant little solutions that can bring huge amounts of joy. Today’s post is about one such thing – a design detail that, as destination wedding planner and designer Michelle Rago explains, “is a very unique concept as well as a wonderful solution to the age old question.”what if I don’t want to change my last name???”… The 4 letter monogram!

From Planner and Designer Michelle Rago: In the example shown here, the bride chose not to change her last name and we presented the option for a 4 letter monogram which ended up to be the perfect solution for both! Here we combined CZ and ZG. What I personally love is that is almost looks like a family crest!

So smart! Check out some of the initial design concepts below, as well as the finished products from the couple’s lovely wedding, and if you like this whimsical illustrated look, don’t miss Michelle Rago’s new website! Freshly redesigned and relaunched, it’s full of destination wedding inspiration!

Monogram: Pier Gustafson
Invitation Designer: Grapevine
Photography: Liz Banfield

Colorful Bohemian Wedding at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa from Kristin Banta Events

March 4, 2013 | editorial team

There is nothing like the texture, depth and creativity of a wedding planned by the team at Kristin Banta Events, and Rachel and Brye’s beautiful Bohemian styled wedding at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa is the perfect example of that! The couple worked with Kristin and their other talented wedding professionals to create an event that was meaningful and authentic in every way. From the rich jewel toned decor to the creative tablescapes and Chuppah design, to the welcoming home-like atmosphere for their guests, it was perfection from beginning to end!

The Couple: Rachel and Brye

The Wedding: 9.2.12 – Ojai Valley Inn and Spa – Ojai, California

What three adjectives best describe your wedding day? Beautiful, fun and sentimental

What was your wedding color palette? Im not really a color palette person, but I knew I wanted to go for brass, candlelight, jewel tones. We love everything from beige and pale colors to turquoise and blue, blood red and deep purple jewel tones. We were hoping it would look like a colorful amazing garden landed on us rather than any specific colors or themes being put together.

Was there a decor theme that ran through your wedding? What were some of the different ways you used decor elements to create the beautiful, cohesive event you were envisioning? We wanted it to feel warm, worldly and somehow exotic and completely familiar at the same time. We wanted people to feel like they had just stumbled into an incredible party at our home that we were hosting – comfortable, luxurious and beautifully detailed, but totally accessible and fun rather than too formal or theme-like. Basically our wedding looked like our home would look in my perfect world. We incorporated personal objects and touches that we knew people would recognize as us – our heirlooms under the chuppah, serving our favorite artichokes and having them in the centerpieces, our favorite cocktail at the bar, and our favorite songs playing between sets and all night.

The lighting was meant to feel more like candlelight, and the flowers, candles and linens on each table were different so that everyone had a unique experience and could enjoy the room as a whole rather than everything matching. Guests were able to go to different tables and see different scapes and unique linens, and that made it somehow more personal and authentic to us. The food was really important too. We tried for a menu that was all about the food we love – delicious, but still rustic and not too complicated. We still hear from people how great it was. The hotel was incredible about the food – it’s one of the many reasons they are great at what they do.

Looking back, do you have a favorite project or successful decor idea from your wedding? Tell us what you loved about it! First I would say that we really looked at the wedding in terms of what it meant to us, not just how it would look. We really took the time to choose the traditional elements that would make it more than just a party for us, but at the same time, we dropped the traditions or norms that didnt feel important or authentic to us. For example, we felt connected to many traditional elements of a Jewish ceremony, but we totally couldnt relate to the idea of choosing a color to design the wedding around.

If you are hoping to do things your own way, definitely team up with vendors and planners who will support that. Kristin (our planner) was the first one to give us the green light on anything we wanted to do or didnt want to do that wasnt the norm, and that was awesome.

It is all about the little details adding up. I am kind of a freak about paper and stationery, so that started for us with Save the Dates and the Invite which we hoped would evoke the style and tone that our guests would find at the wedding. One detail that was really important to us was the welcome note and snack bag – we wrote personal notes to each of our guests along with a weekend itinerary and a couple bags of almond rocha and trail mix made by close friends. It was a small gesture, but we wanted people to feel personally welcomed even if we didnt have the chance to do it in person, and we wanted to set the tone for a warm, friendly and welcoming weekend together.

It wouldnt have been nearly as memorable a day if we hadnt done things in a way that was special to us – there were many times we had to tweak the norm a bit to make something meaningful. The chuppah is the perfect example of that. The chuppah turned out to be the most beautiful moment for us. We chose not to go with flowers or decor and instead used the talit (pray shawls) from our dads, grandfathers and uncles to create a symbolically and aesthetically amazing canopy. With us inside we had objects that mean a lot to us, such as books and jewelry from family members no longer with us, and of course we were surrounded by our closest friends and family. It was just a completely perfect way to show on the outside what we were feeling on the inside, and it really set the tone for what we wanted to share with our guests.

I also have to say that the music situation was the best thing ever. We had a real band play and they know my brother and his wife. I had requested that my brother and his wife surprise the groom and entire crowd by joining them onstage and the crowd went wild. Having an amazing band was like being at a concert all night long – I only wish the pictures could play music so you could hear! Also, we were really intent on putting together specifically ordered playlists for the band and for the dj between the sets. Music is so important to us, and to creating a sense of vibe, memory and nostalgia, and we are still listening to the wedding soundtrack all the time.

Lastly in terms of decor, our decision to play on the beauty of our surroundings rather than to alter it to fit our tastes was huge. The Ojai Valley Inn has this incredible Spanish, California/Mediterranean vibe and while we were totally afraid of the carpets in the ballroom when we first saw them, they ended up looking like they were designed for our party by the time all the linens and lighting were in the room.

What piece of advice would you give to a bride planning her wedding today? I would consider the idea that you can be a guest at your own wedding. Plan now, obsess now, freak out now sure, but set yourself up to be able to checkout on the day of your wedding and attend from the perspective of everyone else joining you there. If you are genuinely present and enjoying yourself, the party will be that much better for everyone and you might actually be able to hold on to it – it goes so quickly!