Weddingbee Blog

Many moons ago, I promised an update on when/if I ever put a wedding album together. Well, I did it and I love the result!

Our wedding photos were shot in film by the wonderful Leah McCormick. While Leah gave me DVDs with the digital images, they weren’t the best resolution and the black & white images just didn’t scan right. I had always assumed that I’d need to get a “traditional” album. My sister’s photographer had gone through Cypress and the album was stunning, but it cost more than $5,000 and is so, so delicate. It seemed like a great idea 4 years ago after getting married, but not so much after 2 kids with sticky fingers and expenses up the…

For 4 years—during which many family, birthday party, and vacation albums were put together—I ignored the issue. Then, this past spring, a work colleague shamed me.
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I owe a few wedding related updates… I did get the Tacori ring, but can’t seem to take a decent photo. I love it by the way.

Also, 13 months later, I’ve f-i-n-a-l-l-y lost most of the baby weight (although still not quite wedding thin), so I’m thinking of wearing my wedding top for our second anniversary.
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So, in my usual decisive manner (haha!), I don’t think I like the Scott Kay ring anymore. This is my current front runner:

The brand is Tacori and it’s a little more than the Scott Kay ring, but I feel like I’d be getting more for my money! I need to order it from Bailey Banks by Saturday to get the 10% off (although I’m sure I could sweet talk them into extending the offer). My one issue with the ring is that they are showing it with a 2+ carat center stone, while mine is just over 1.5 carats — I actually think it will look better with a smaller stone, but I wish I could see it first! What do you think?

Yesterday I received a card from a very dear friend thanking me for the lovely lasagna pan I got her for her shower. One minor problem … the gift wasn’t from me!

Let me start from the beginning. My friend is getting married in December. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend her wedding shower in Washington, DC last month. It was an “Around the House” shower, so we were asked to bring a gift for the kitchen or entertaining around the house, and to also bring a favorite recipe (great idea!).

If I was better organized, I would have sent a gift directly to her bridesmaid hosting the shower, but, alas, by the time I made it to the Macy’s website, I’d have to overnight the present, which was silly. Also, my friend and her fiance will be leaving the country after getting married, so I didn’t think it made sense for her to get too many pots and pans! I did email my Turkey Chili recipe in time and last week (a little late!) sent her a Victoria’s Secret gift card (for …. um … entertaining around the house).

What to do now? Should I email her? What do I say?

Mr. Firefly is sweet and wonderful, but not exactly the creative type. When he proposed many moons ago (April 2005!), he wasn’t sure what type of ring I would want, so he went with a very simple, 4-prong, white gold setting. His thought was that I would go back to the jeweler and have the stone reset, but I liked it and I thought it looked good on my hand…

…Fast forward to late into my pregnancy, one day at work I looked down and one of the prongs was up! Holy #&^*?&^!!!! The ring is insured, but I’d be crushed if I lost the stone and who really wants to fight with an insurance company?

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… sooooo, some of you might be wondering why I disappeared last year …. here’s a hint.

Although I was comfortable posting all of the details of my wedding, I just didn’t feel the same about my pregnancy or the baby. And now… well… time time time… so much time, so little to do (I wish!). I still try to keep up with my ladies, but rarely write comments.

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A funny thing happened to me since last June — I lost interest in the “wedding” — the party, the shoes, the personalized napkins, the I-never- got-around-to-making cocktail menu, the place card “disaster” — and started paying a lot more attention to the marriage.

Suddenly, what are we having for dinner began to trump post-wedding related tasks. My dress didn’t go to the cleaners until December, the thank you notes didn’t get finished until… gulp… last week (!). I still haven’t started dealing with the wedding album, and my last name remains unchanged (although I’m sure my hubby would call this marriage, rather than wedding, related).

I decided to post here to put myself on notice and get my act together. Below is a list of wedding related tasks that remain and that must (must must must) be started in the coming weeks and (hopefully) completed by our one-year anniversary:

1 - Order photos on Shutterfly to make mini-albums for my mom, grandparents and Mr. Firefly’s sister. I have already purchased this Celine Countryman brag book for one of the albums — each page fits a 4×6 print. I might go with something a bit fancier for my mother if I decide to forgo the standard 5×7 white leather parents’ album.

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While the guests were eating the yummy cocktail hour food, we took family photos and then Mr. Firefly and I went off to take pictures on our own. I originally want to drive around the city to get some urban photos, but ultimately, was a bit scared of getting caught in traffic and being late to our own reception! Instead, we drove down to South Street Seaport and finished off the photos in Battery Park. We got a few nice pictures at the Seaport, but I almost wish we just stayed in Battery Park and enjoyed a portion of the cocktail hour.

Don’t worry, I won’t post a bazillion family photos. This is the entire family and bridal party… not a very large group.

While Leah was taking group shots, her assistant took some great closeups:

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I decided to forgo traditional favors and have a photobooth instead. I went with NYC Photobooth and found them very easy to work with. The owners scoped out Battery Gardens before the wedding to be sure that the logistics were set, and on the day of the wedding they set up the photobooth early so that they would be out of my hair.

The photobooth wasn’t cheap — around $1600 for 5 hours — certainly more than I would have spent on favors. Was it worth it? Yes and no. Some of my guests loved it and the photobooth was very popular during the cocktail hour. But once guests moved upstairs for dinner, only the diehards went back down to take more pictures. I think the photobooth would have gotten much more use if all of the wedding events were on the same floor. I did wind up with a great photo guest book, but I probably could have gotten a somewhat similar result with a polaroid camera. A

Paper Products: I ordered program covers, menu cards, table numbers and place cards from White Aisle. The plan was to go the DIY route until I realized that I was designing in 3-colors (rgb) and most printers print in 4 colors (CYMK). What looked like chartreuse green on my screen and print-outs turned into a drab olive when I got it back from the printers! I was bummed.

With 3 weeks to go, I turned to Rebecca at White Aisle. She turned around some fantastic designs within the day and I was good to go. The program covers (I printed the insides at Kinkos to save time) and menu cards came out beautifully. Ribbon is from M&J Trimming. The table numbers were ok — the flower design was very light and didn’t really get picked up in pictures.

The place cards were… all wrong! There were some cards with 2 or 3 completely unrelated names. It basically looked like she didn’t bother to check them. Of course, I didn’t check the place cards until 2 days before the wedding (I received them around a week before the wedding).

To be fair, I never contacted White Aisle because perhaps they could have sent me new cards in time… instead, I ran around my neighborhood and found the best thing I could — not-so-micro perforated sheets of place cards at Staples and little flowers to decorate. They turned out okay, but I was disappointed. I always meant to contact White Aisle to get the money for the cards back, but never bothered.

Program Covers/Menu Cards: A, Table Numbers: B, Place Cards: D

Last minute DIY place cards — I think they look better in photos than in real life. But I’d give myself a B+ for the last minute job.

Garter and Ring Pillows: The woman who runs Gartermaker is a former knottie (website seems to be down). The garter was very pretty — but I have no pictures! The ring pillows are below. They were super cheap — around $11 each and I added the buttons and rings myself. A

Some more details…

Children’s set-up

Bird cage

The Fireplace

Wonderful cocktail hour that we missed (taking photos) :(. I wish the photographer had gotten more photos of the food!

… to be continued.

You know how at times, you lose interest in the wedding planning process… well, it happens post wedding too! Gosh, I’m just not that into it right now. Weird… The next “Chapter” of photos are some detail shots. I’m sure everyone is ready to see pictures of something other than ME!

Flowers: Antheia Floral Design. I went with Angie at Antheia based on the gorgeous romantic bouquets on her website, and she didn’t disappoint. The Huppah was fantastic and the centerpieces/other flowers were great as well. I never asked Angie for a sample and was very happy with the turn-out. A

Cocktail hour decor

Escort Card Table

Huppah

The Reception:

Personal Flowers:

Cake: Carlos Bakery in Hoboken. The cake was delish and they didn’t have a problem when I changed the design the week of the wedding. It came out beautiful. Some girls in NYC (like me) think of Carlos as a “budget” vendor because he’s in Hoboken. He’s not, the cake was quite pricey — around $8.50 per person with a 100-person main cake and 50-person sheet cake (of course, I only wound up having 100 people at the wedding … hey, where did all of my extra cake go!). A

To be continued…

I have been to many full mass weddings (of all religions); it always feels like I’m attending a regular church service that happens to include a wedding. We’re not religious and wanted the ceremony to be about us! We also wanted the ceremony to be fairly quick — 20 to 30 minutes max. As it turned out the ceremony was a bit too short — just under 20 minutes. I could have stayed up there forever.

Our officiant — Cantor Abelson from Temple Israel in Manhattan — asked each of us to write a paragraph explaining why we wanted marry each other. My paragraph was sweet and funny; Michael’s was amazing. I got a bit teary-eyed and giggled… a lot.

In a Jewish ceremony, the parents are supposed to stand under the Huppa along with the bridal party. My Huppa was more of an arch and no one could really stand under it. Rather moving off to the side, my parents just stood where they dropped me off, at the top of the aisle. File this one under “what the?!^?! were they thinking!” I tried to mouth “move” to my mom, but she didn’t get it … so my guests (and photographers) had to work around them to see the action.

The Cantor read a poem by Pablo Neruda and my cousin read a selection from Dr. Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go.

Exchange of the rings .. it fits!

Drinking of the wine (white, in case I spilled some!)

The Kiss

Man and wife ( I couldn’t stop giggling ;))

The invite was for 5:30; ceremony to start shortly before 6:00. Now or never …

My florist, Angie from Antheia Floral Design in Jersey City worked for hours setting up the huppa (I guess it was more like an arch). It looked like it was growing from the ground. A

In a Jewish wedding, the groom is traditionally walked down the aisle by his parents. Mr. Firefly’s father died over a decade ago and his mother died shortly before we got engaged, so his sister did the honor.

The boys took a wrong turn on their way down the aisle. The flower girl needed the help of her other aunt and chose to carry ring pillow rather than her floral pomandor (points for me to thinking ahead and ordering a third pillow!).

The anticipation …

The paparazzi …

I tried to watch on …

Showtime!

Traditionally, in a Jewish wedding, the bride and groom are supposed to see each other before the ceremony and sign the Ketubah (Jewish Marriage Contract) together. I really wanted that moment of “ahhh” when I walked down the aisle and our rabbi was flexible, so we each signed it separately. We also couldn’t find two non-related Jewish men to sign as witnesses, so a couple of my girl friends did the honor.

We purchased the Ketubah at J Levine on Fifth Avenue and 30th Street. It was great to look through the Ketubahs. The ordering process was simple (they didn’t even frown upon our pre-sunset Saturday evening wedding) and the store’s prices were comparable to various online sites. A

My brother-in-law couldn’t sign the Ketubah because he is Catholic, but he could sign the NY marriage license.

The countdown begins and the guests start arriving….

I couldn’t leave the bridal suite for fear of getting spotted…

Note to girls getting married at Battery Gardens: the “bridal suite” is just a semi-closed off area of the restaurant, that is separated from the hallway leading to the bathroom by a few screens and a large curtain that do not cover the entire opening (one screen nearly fell on my nephew when we tried moving it). I was scared that Mr. Firefly would inadvertently see me, which would have been such a bummer. You do not have complete privacy and I definitely would not suggest getting ready here.

…to be continued.

Battery Park, Downtown Manhattan.

Mr. Firefly and I were not seeing each other before the ceremony, so we we took most of our formal pictures after the ceremony. However, I did want to take a few with my parents, sister and maid of honor while things were still quiet. But boy, it was hot out there!

Bridesmaids Dresses: My sister was pregnant when I would have needed to order BM dresses. Instead of going the traditional route, I bought Laundry by Shelli Segal dresses off the rack from Lord & Taylor (I bought her 2 different sizes and returned the one that wound up being big). They were beautiful, less than $200 (with coupon) and the girls can wear them again. Don’t limit yourself to traditional BM dresses! A

My Mother’s Dress: My mother is young, so she wasn’t going for the long grey/beige dress with jacket route. Her gorgeous dress is Carmen Marc Valvo, also from Lord & Taylor. Exepensive, but beautiful and of course she’ll wear it again. NYC ladies: it seems like each deparment store carries a slightly different collection of CMV dresses (Saks and Bloomies didn’t carry my mom’s dress), so be sure to check out more than one store. A

My niece and nephew soon arrive. My nephew was amazed. He still talks about.

Flower Girl Dress: US Angels from Pearls Place. The quality was great and Pearls Place gave around a 25% discount. Netbride quoted a similar price (and responded very quickly via email), but I liked being able to talk to a live person and thought I’d support a New Orleans business. My grandmother made the dark purple sash to match the bridesmaids dresses because US Angels only had light ones. My niece is a tall 2-year old so we ordered a size 3. A

Boys Tuxedos: Ebay seller Kids Town Online. We ordered straight tie tuxes for the boys, which weren’t quite as formal as the bow-tie tuxes Kids Town offered because Mr. Firefly was originally going to wear a straight tie. He changed his mind last minute but I think everyone looked fine anyway. The boys looked adorable and the tuxes were CHEAP! Seriously, they were $25 + shipping. Not the best quality (polyester), but who cares, they’ll only wear it once. The service was incredible; I think Kids Town sent them out as soon as I ordered. Be careful when choosing a size as they do not accept returns. The size chart is accurate and we ordered true to the boys’ “street size.” A

Practice makes perfect… (didn’t go quite as smothly at show time ;)).