Weddingbee

A la Mr. & Mrs. Onion, no?!

See?

So sweet - you just feel calm and sigh when you see this photo.

A subtle ring shot.

Click to enlarge this one to see the tree — such great light too.

I’m so happy for them and I can’t wait to share in their wedding day next month. Congratulations you guys!!

Vicki and Daria have something in common — their partners in crime are also their partners in life. Both women shoot with their husbands!

See the rest of the photos on Victoria’s blog.
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We arranged with the restaurant to offer four menu choices. This was one of the perks of hosting the reception at a restaurant — they do this every day and were more accommodating about choices.

Sautéed Statler Chicken Breast
Mushroom Trio, Prosciutto, Green Olives, Sherry, Herbed Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus

Grilled Beef Tenderloin
Lobster Béarnaise Sauce, Roasted Ratatouille and Saffron Mashed Potatoes

Exotic Mushroom Ragout
Served over Crisp Mascarpone Polenta Cake and Sautéed Spinach
Paella
Lobster, Shrimp, Mussels, Chicken, Chorizo, Bell Peppers, Peas & Rice with a Tapenade Aioli

I don’t have pictures of the other two dishes, but our guests really enjoyed all the options. I had the steak with lobster claw — mmm. I didn’t finish only because I was leaving room for what came next.

People ate…(wasn’t the glow of the candles and low light lovely?)

They laughed…

They enjoyed each other’s company…

They checked their email?!

After dinner it was time to cut our beautiful wedding cake.

This is something that we didn’t think about in advance and is much harder than we thought! I made sure the servers had a plate, two forks and a knife waiting for us; there was no fondant to cut through (it was smooth yummy butter cream) and STILL it was a challenge.

I took the lead here and cut a really small, sad little piece, but with everyone watching I didn’t think I’d try again.

But we got enough to share a bite and a sweet kiss.

Then Mr. Onion thought that his job was done and he made off with the cake and left me holding an empty fork! Everyone died laughing, including me….I guess he didn’t know how this was supposed to play out! At lease he didn’t smash it in my face (we were very clear about this prior to the cake cutting - NO CAKE IN THE FACE)!

Up next…a trip to Ben & Jerry’s and see Mrs. Onion’s “What, no coffee heath bar crunch?!?!” face!

Photos: Daria Bishop Photography
All flowers: Fresh Floral Design Studio
My Dress: Romona Keveza from Mark Ingram’s Bridal Atelier
Mr. Onion’s suit: Alan David Custom
Wedding Cake: Mirabelles Cafe
Marzipan Pears: Marzipanworld.com
Reception: Adrianas Restaurant (sadly they closed a few months after our wedding).
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The solution — talk to each other. The topics the article suggests you discuss are:
1) All sources of income — not just base salary.
2) Savings and investments — do you know exactly what the other has?
3) Any debts or obligations — this is a big one in long term financial planning.

Read the full article here.

How much do you know about your fiance’s finances? If you’re already married, how much do you know about each other’s fiances?
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We started making the slideshow in Microsoft Photo Story, but with all the time it took to scan the photos, organize them, etc., we found ourselves at my parents’ house the weekend before the wedding and it still wasn’t finished! My mother has an iMac at work, so we decide to use iPhoto to create the slideshow. The music is a Bill Evans piano version of the song my friend sang at the ceremony - “There is no greater love.”

Nine months later I finally made the time to upload the video (it was 654MB and literally took me all day), so I hope you enjoy! It’s about 12 minutes long, so I don’t expect you to watch the entire thing (there is only so much Onion necessary), but if you’re planning on making a slideshow of your own, I hope this is helpful. I, like Mrs. Penguin, gave up at the end, so forgive the abrupt ending.

The video is in chronological order and goes back and forth between my photos and his, ending with photos of us together. We began with my historic family photos, my parents’ wedding, then Mr. Onion’s family photos and his parents’ wedding, then my childhood photos, and his childhood photos, then photos of us with our family and friends (we included a photo of everyone who attended the wedding — not an easy task, but easier because there were only 43 guests), and ended with the obligatory couple photos of our courtship and finally finished with our engagement photos.

We played the slideshow on the TV above the bar at the restaurant as people enjoyed their cake. I decided to narrate a little so guests would know who people in the photos were. In the end I’m really glad that we took the time to put this together and I think everyone really enjoyed it.

See? Smiles and enjoyment! It was a great way to wind down the reception.

Are you planning on presenting a photo slideshow for your guests? Any reviews of other programs that could be used for those who haven’t started this project yet?

If you are married and have done this, did you learn anything about your family history or your fiance’s in the process? Anyone as interested in family genealogy as I am?!
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Mr. Onion’s beautiful tie and belt were gifts from his best friend/GM. The tie was purchased in London and the custom belt was purchased in Spain. The lengths he went to make sure Mr. Onion looked his best on his wedding day! We realized Mr. Onion didn’t own cufflinks so we asked my father to borrow a pair — can you believe he just happened to have purple cufflinks that went so well??

I had my grandmother’s pin converted to a hair comb for the wedding. I miss her every day and I was so happy to have her with me this way.

Mr. Onion had a custom suit and shirt made from Alan David Custom in NYC. His initials appear on the bottom of his shirt and on the inside of his jacket.

This is a photo of our wedding rings (on the right of the image — look closely). Mr. Onion and I both had our rings custom made by a jeweler in Connecticut. In this photo you can see that the inside of Mr. Onion’s ring is yellow gold while the outside is platinum. Another hidden detail.

Every bride searches for the perfect shoes. In my case, as my dress was tea length, it was even more important to me that my shoes be perfect as everyone would see them.

My dress didn’t have working buttons — the top of my dress had a zipper and had decorative buttons. Because I wanted to be sure no one could see the zipper I had Mark Ingram’s seamstress remove all the buttons and put them back on the other side of the zipper so the weight of the buttons didn’t weigh the fabric down and make the zipper visible. Talk about details!

Throughout the planning process I had an amazing experience with my florist. How beautiful is my bouquet? I know all brides must think their bouquet is the loveliest, but this really was perfect for me.

Photos like this make you realize how important a quality manicure is for your wedding day! I had my nails done at Dish Beauty Lounge & Spa on the Church Street Marketplace the day before the wedding.

I was really pleased with how my DIY paper projects came out. Here is our ceremeony program which I laid out in Publisher. The page didn’t fold flush allowing the pattern that appeared on our invitations to peek out.

Back to our flowers for a moment. Not that this was an original idea (I was inspired by a Martha Stewart Weddings issue), but I really like how the pew decorations came out. Best part? They were repurposed as cocktail hour table decorations.

And here the pew decorations are in action along with our wish bowl, wish bowl directions card, BM bouquets etc.

MMmmm cake! Our cake was not only beautiful to look at, but it was sooo yummy. My mother’s biggest regret is that she didn’t get to taste both flavors. I even had marzipan (Mr. Onion’s favorite) shaped like pears flown in from Italy via www.marzipanworld.com.

Our favor boxes were sealed with sage green ribbon and monogram stickers from Creative Montage.

We used two different monograms to keep things interesting, and why not?!

We used another monogram at the top of our wedding menus. Pictured is a menu and a lavender bundle which acted as a place card.

On the lavender bundles were tied mini moo cards with a series of engagement photos on one side and the guest’s name on the other.

To continue with the lavender we had dried lavender sprinkled around candles on each table.

Like many couples, we decided to display wedding photos of our grandparents.

My mother had pearl shoe clips made to go with her green pearl necklace. I thought it was a really nice touch and brought the outfit together.

Immediately after our first dance Moscato was passed for a toast. This was the wine we were drinking the night Mr. Onion and I first kissed.

Inside our favor boxes were three, melt in your mouth, delicious, hand made maple sugar candies.

Our florist had three vases with water waiting when we arrived at the reception for each bridesmaid to place her bouquet. It kept them fresh and it was more re-purposing making our flowers major bang for the buck!

Up next…the reception continues — cake cutting and a trip to Ben & Jerry’s!
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I love this photo of our family and friends raising their glasses to us. On the left is a dear family friend who has known me for 12 years with his youngest son, and next to him is my mom. She looks so touched (and she is pretty sarcastic, so for her to be moved, it takes a lot)!

Our photographers caught us at the end of the bar (yes, the bride and groom sat at the end of a bar) in a sweet moment during a toast.

Mr. Onion’s father gave a very short but very heartfelt and well spoken toast — he is not comfortable with public speaking and he was quite nervous, so for him to get up and do this was really meaningful to us both.

Friends clapping during a toast.

My best friend (since we were 5 years old), knows me better than almost anyone. She told a story to illustrate the kind of friend I am. It was so personal and she made everyone understand our friendship. She actually went to high school with Mr. Onion so she knew us both separately and together — she basically said we were both so much better together!

Mr. Onion’s father clapping for the toast.

And a sweet moment after her toast for both of us.

The second bridesmaid gave her second toast which was about the first day she met Mr. Onion (2+ years before we started dating Mr. Onion helped me move out of my first NYC apartment and my bridesmaid came to help) and how her friendship with both of us has grown over the years. She is very animated and very articulate — it was great.

But then it was Mr. Onion’s brother’s turn…and seriously, this was the BEST wedding toast I’ve ever heard. He began by reading an email I had sent him…or at least that is what he led all our guests (and me for almost two minutes) to believe. It was a made-up letter and it just got funnier. He had notes, but so much of it seemed to just flow that it will never be recreated. I wished our videographer had still been there, but it was PRICELESS.

Mr. Onion and I laughing at said toast.

My brother DYING it was so funny…see what I mean?

Taking a little bow in our direction.

And finally surviving without being killed by the bride!

Note pictured were Mr. Onion’s best friend’s toast — which was the story of the night we first kissed after consuming many glasses of wine at his house and my brother’s toast — which was a quick tale of his childhood friendship with Mr. Onion’s (lots of connections with our group of loved ones) and how happy he was for us both.
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