WEDDING BLOG

Vintage Travel Theme Wedding in Connecticut – Hillary and Chris

August 13, 2012 | editorial team

With its vintage travel theme, intimate dinner party atmosphere, and family-centered celebration, Chris and Hillary’s wedding day could not have been sweeter! I loved hearing about the traditional Turkish touches they included to honor Chris’s heritage, and adore the lovely images from Justin and Mary that captured it all! Enjoy!

The Couple: Hillary and Chris

The Wedding: 4.21.12 – The Webb Barn – Wethersfield, CT

What were the top three priorities for you in planning your wedding?
1) Family – our families helped shape who we are as people. It was important to us to have all of them there, even the young children, to celebrate our big day. Whether it was my nieces and nephew as flower girls and ring bearer or Chris’s little cousin doing the splits on the dance floor, we were so happy we had them there with us.

2) Theme – we wanted the wedding to represent who we are as a couple. We love to travel and so we chose an antique/vintage travel theme. Each of the tables were named after a destination we had traveled to. Our sweetheart table was named Thailand after our honeymoon destination.

3) Size – we wanted to keep the ceremony and reception intimate. We kept the guest list small and were able to spend time with all of our guests. We varied the number of guests at each table to range from 4-6 to help keep that feeling throughout the evening.

What wedding traditions or cultural traditions did you incorporated into your wedding and what did they mean to you? My husbands family is Turkish. We had his cousin provide us with some Turkish songs to dance to. We also did the Money Dance where the guests throw dollar bills at the bride and groom. The kids collected the money and we tipped the DJ. Also, the seamstress who altered my dress was coincidentally also Turkish. She gave me an evil eye to pin inside my dress on the big day.

Where there any places where you broke the rules in your wedding planning? Why and how did you do that? We really only broke the rules in one area…we got married before our wedding. We live in New York City and chose a venue in Connecticut to be married. While not our original intention, our wedding became a destination wedding of sorts. We were doing the hour and half drive almost every weekend leading up to our wedding. As the wedding date got closer, we realized we would have to take one of the very few vacation days we had left to get our wedding license. Instead, we chose to go to City Hall in Manhattan and get married during lunch on a Thursday rather than lose the day.

What was your biggest wedding planning success? I would have to say that accepting my limitations was my biggest success. As much as I wanted to think of myself as a DIY bride, especially with websites like Pinterest and Etsy, we knew with our work schedules and limited time to plan that it would be best to let the professionals take over. We were fortunate enough to find Natalie and Moira at Whim Events to help us create the vision we had for our big day.

What was the most important thing that you learned through the wedding planning process and what would you tell other brides-to-be? I think its very easy to get lost in the wedding planning process. There are so many people out their trying to sell their services to you. It can be extraordinarily overwhelming at times. You can read reviews and research for days on end before making a final selection. In the end, my best advice would be to go with your gut when selecting your vendors. We felt like we had an instant connection with our photographers and planners in particular. While we spent a little more than we had budgeted, you do get what you pay for. We have never once regretted our decisions and continue to look back happily on our special day.

The Wedding Team

Photographer: Justin & Mary Photography
Event Planner: Whim Events
Ceremony Venue: The Webb Barn at The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum
Reception Venue: The Webb Barn
Officiant: Mary Ellen Wisneski
Invitation Designer: Serendipity Beyond Design
Catering: Catering by Christine
Florist: Whim Events
Wedding dress: J.Crew
Bridal accessories: Various Etsy shops, Shoes – Dessy
Bridesmaids apparel and accessories: Davids Bridal and Etsy shops
Hair and make-up: Andrea DiLieto
DJ: Digital Tracks Entertainment
Transportation: Durham School Services
Favors: Donations to Alzheimers Association and Concord-Merrimack County SPCA
Rentals: Durants Party Rentals
Rings: Frassanito Jewelers
Accommodations: Hartford Marriot Downtown

Thanks for sharing your romantic wedding day with us Hillary and Chris!

Readers, for more beautiful wedding inspiration, be sure to check out our image gallery!

Glamorous Alexis Hotel Seattle Wedding – Kristen and Jason

August 10, 2012 | editorial team

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Kristen and Jason’s Seattle wedding was a gorgeous blend of Old Hollywood glamour, an elegant venue, and a romantic color palette, but it was the sweet, meaningful moments that really stood out for the couple. They wisely built in time on their wedding day to spend with just each other, and even revisited some spots that had been home to some big events in their relationship. We think another one of their best decisions was hiring the talented (and fun!) Barbie Hull to photograph their day, because her gorgeous images perfectly captured the day’s spirit.

The Goals: For Kristen and Jason, the experience of their guests was most important, as well as their wedding’s overall ambiance. They chose a full-service venue, the Alexis Hotel, to make the day easy and smooth, and selected an officiant who knew them personally for a meaningful ceremony.

The Design: Kristen and Jason designed a look that conjured old Hollywood glamor. They chose colors based on the interior of the hotel so that their decor would complement the surroundings. For invitations, the couple wanted to set the tone with something vintage and fun, and found just the thing in some telegram invitations from Zazzle that were lighthearted but still classic! The couple loves music and wanted to play up the old Hollywood glamor vibe through the evening’s entertainment. They hired a “rat pack” style band, Half Pack Live, for the reception. The end result was a wedding reception that was lively, atmospheric, and of course glamorous!

The Look: Kristen channeled a combination of Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Stresiand, and Ginger Rogers to create her own version of old Hollywood glamor with fun details. Her dress was classic and elegant with fine detailing, a delicate sparkly sash, and full silk skirt. Her glittering headpiece was custom made by a bridesmaid to complement her glamorous bouffant. She carried a bouquet of romantic blush roses and white peonies.

The Moments: Kristen said – I’ll never forget the look on my husband’s face when he saw me at the rehearsal dinner the night before and we both realized we were getting married the next day. And on the actual day, it was so special when my parents saw me for the first time in my dress. I loved seeing my husband as I walked down the aisle, and all the wonderful speeches made by our bridal party. We also took some time for each other, and after the ceremony, went back to the spot where we both met (Ozzie’s karaoke bar in Queen Anne) and the spot where he proposed to me (Greenlake) right after the reception ended. It was a day filled with a lot of love and surrounded by a lot of amazing people, and there were a lot of hilarious moments!

The Pros: For more info on the talented team that brought Kristen and Jason’s vision to life, please visit their page in our Real Wedding Library!

Thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous day with us, Kristen and Jason! Congratulations!

Fun California Academy of Sciences Wedding – Caroline and Christopher

August 9, 2012 | editorial team

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I might be a little biased (my path to the wedding industry had a few detours that involved my biology degree), but you don’t have to love science to love Caroline and Christopher’s super fun San Francisco wedding! Their day highlighted some quintessential San Francisco scenery and venues, including traditional cable cars, historic Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral, the charming Garden of Shakespeare’s Flowers at Golden Gate Park, and the standout California Academy of Sciences. The couple’s decor choices wonderfully complemented the amazing venues, and the end result was a cohesive and fascinating wedding, beautifully captured by Cliff Brunk Photography!

The Couple: Caroline and Christopher

The Wedding: 9.3.11 – California Academy of Sciences – San Francisco, CA

What three adjectives best describe your wedding day? Fun, beautiful, classic with a twist

Was there a decor theme that ran through your wedding? What was the inspiration for that particular idea and how did it reflect you as a couple? We didnt really have a theme. We chose the California Academy of Sciences as our reception location because we both love science and thought it would be a fun experience for our guests.

What were some of the different ways you used decor elements to create the beautiful, cohesive event you were envisioning? We had several different venues and both of our florists did a great job of using flowers to enhance the different feel we wanted for each. The flowers for the ceremony were simple and elegant. At our cocktail hour in the Shakespeare Garden, the arrangements evoked a garden party, with a few books thrown in to play up the Shakespeare theme. Our florist then used blue hues to enhance the beauty of the Academys aquarium, where our guests got to enjoy the displays before heading up to dinner in Africa Hall. There, the flowers brought a bit of the beautiful scenes from the dioramas into the room, making it feel very cohesive.

Looking back, do you have a favorite project or successful decor idea from your wedding? We cant really pick one thing out. We were lucky to have several beautiful and fascinating spaces. We were so happy and impressed by how everything came together!