Mrs. Zebra, Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 24 Marketing/Costume DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26 Management/Firefighter Engagement Date: December 12, 2008Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: The Providence BiltmoreAbout Me: I'm a small town New England girl with an affinity for procrastination, crossing the proverbial line, and putting her foot in her mouth. I'm a lover of history, all seasons, sewing and Incubus. I design costumes on the side for my old high school's theatre department, which is where I met my sexy man. Our motto for our Big Fat Lebanese/Portuguese/Irish near-300 person wedding is "the more the merrier"! We are marrying in a Catholic ceremony and are hammering out the details of our Victorian-inspired reception.
We totally subjected our guests to the utter embarrassment of the bouquet and garter toss. Joking! Jokes! Our friends were lubed up and ready to catch them some bounty. We didn’t force anyone on the dance floor and I hope our guests were courteous enough to the people who may have felt uncomfortable to not harass them into participating. It may be a regional thing, but very rarely have I attended a wedding in our area that has forgone the tradition.
Immediately before the tosses our DJ, Brendan Lafferty, asked me how to handle any situation that would involve a child catching either the bouquet or garter. I told him that if a child caught anything, we would not proceed with the winner of the garter placing it on the leg of the winner of the bouquet. AWKWARD! Luckily, no children participated in the actual catching of anything.
We started it off with the sweet, sweet sound of Jimi Hendrix. I dare you not to make fox ears a la Garth Algar.
Video via YouTube / Song Performed by Jimi Hendrix
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
The morning of my wedding, I woke up surprisingly calm. I had been stressing the previous few weeks due to depressing weather forecasts that threatened to ruin our dream outdoor location, so waking up to a beautiful, sunshiny day instantly put a big smile on my face. Both my hair and makeup artist arrived right on time and looking fabulous (a great first sign to me since I took a huge leap of faith on hiring locals who I’d never worked with before!). They got to work on making me into a bride…
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
Detail posts are always my most favorite part of recaps, and I hope you enjoy the little details at our wedding.
Immediately after the ceremony, Mr. High Wire and I enjoyed a little private photo shoot in the gardens. At the same time, the guests were directed over to our reception tent to enjoy a cold drink.
I found these wonderful chalkboard signs for a really cheap price at a local flea market. Trying to do these DIY would have cost more. Read more…
Mrs. Teaspoon, Sydney, AustraliaAge and Occupation: 27, Medical ScientistFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, BankerEngagement Date: June 4, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: St Aloysius' College, Milson's PointAbout Me: I am a mad scientist who enjoys swimming at the beach in summer and skiing powder in winter. Our favourite times together are spent with the sand between our toes, cooking up a storm, re-watching and re-reading every Harry Potter ever made, and spending time with our dear friends and family! We have travelled the world together in our 6 years of dating, from Paris, to Thailand, to Las Vegas, and we are tackling the many challenges of planning our special day the best way we know how---together!
After we joined our guests for cocktail hour, we walked about two metres outside the reception room and waited for our introduction. First up was groomsman O and bridesmaid M:
Then the best man and maid of honour—they apparently got a ’pose at the top of the stairs’ memo. You might have also noted that my MOH did a little switcheroo with her dress and went with the evening look, for ease of dancing!
Mrs. Brooch, Arlington, VAAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Front Desk ManagerEngagement Date: October 3, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Oxon Hill ManorAbout Me: I’m an indecisive girlie-girl with a motor mouth, can-do attitude, and knack for making others laugh. I dream of becoming a best selling novelist like Elizabeth Gilbert or Julie Powell (a girl can dream, right?), and love long road trips, a beautiful countryside, music, blogs, books, and all things vintage/thrift/antique/or homemade. I’m a Virgo, i.e. overly sensitive, emotional, and critical, and there’s no such thing as short and sweet in my world. I want to say and do it all. Mr. Brooch grounds me. I point where to go and he figures out the way. He’s a pragmatic fancy-pants who enjoys video games and movies. We both adore our mutt, Rocky, and spending time with our amazingly supportive family and friends. We’re planning a garden wedding with a formal reception with lots of whimsy and unique, Southern-inspired details.
After our first look and a little bride and groom love, we separated to prepare for the ceremony. This was a big moment, you guys. Just looking at the pictures, I tear up!
My veil. Oh. My sweet, sweet veil. It was by far my favorite accessory of the day. When I put it on, I knew our time was finally here. I truly felt like a bride.
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
After we finished our bridal party photos and cooled off inside for a few minutes, it was time to head over to the ceremony site. Luckily, we were staying on a guest house on the venue property all weekend, so we only had a short drive over from the house to the Rose Pavilion. In nicer weather, we would have just walked, but since it was so warm, we decided to take air conditioned vehicles.
Our day-of coordinator, Shelley, had done a wonderful job making sure all of the decorations were placed perfectly. Read more…
Mrs. Teaspoon, Sydney, AustraliaAge and Occupation: 27, Medical ScientistFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, BankerEngagement Date: June 4, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: St Aloysius' College, Milson's PointAbout Me: I am a mad scientist who enjoys swimming at the beach in summer and skiing powder in winter. Our favourite times together are spent with the sand between our toes, cooking up a storm, re-watching and re-reading every Harry Potter ever made, and spending time with our dear friends and family! We have travelled the world together in our 6 years of dating, from Paris, to Thailand, to Las Vegas, and we are tackling the many challenges of planning our special day the best way we know how---together!
After we took our golf course photos, we sneaked into the reception and grabbed a quick bite to eat and some pep-up from a Diet Coke. My girls were ready for the small wardrobe change to bustle my dress and swap out the veil for my hair flower. Then, we waltzed into our cocktail hour to see our guests!
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
Mrs. Zebra, Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 24 Marketing/Costume DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26 Management/Firefighter Engagement Date: December 12, 2008Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: The Providence BiltmoreAbout Me: I'm a small town New England girl with an affinity for procrastination, crossing the proverbial line, and putting her foot in her mouth. I'm a lover of history, all seasons, sewing and Incubus. I design costumes on the side for my old high school's theatre department, which is where I met my sexy man. Our motto for our Big Fat Lebanese/Portuguese/Irish near-300 person wedding is "the more the merrier"! We are marrying in a Catholic ceremony and are hammering out the details of our Victorian-inspired reception.
Another wonderful part of the wedding day for the newlyweds is the speeches. I’ve taken a new liking to listening to speeches at weddings since having heard what our loved ones had to say about us.
After asking my best friend of 15 years to be MOH, I asked her how we could find a way to record her speech or hide her in another room with the microphone. You see, Brittany is incredibly shy when it comes to public speaking. Instead of running scared, she told me there was no need, as she’d be able to do it. For two best friends who were originally put into the remedial reading class in second grade together (we read too fast, they said), she did beautifully.
She started out with some heartfelt sentiments and then told everyone in the crowd that I used to force her to come with me to the high school baseball games so that I could see Zeb’s “ass in those grey tight baseball pants.” It IS a fantastic ass and those pants were wicked small.
Mrs. Brooch, Arlington, VAAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Front Desk ManagerEngagement Date: October 3, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Oxon Hill ManorAbout Me: I’m an indecisive girlie-girl with a motor mouth, can-do attitude, and knack for making others laugh. I dream of becoming a best selling novelist like Elizabeth Gilbert or Julie Powell (a girl can dream, right?), and love long road trips, a beautiful countryside, music, blogs, books, and all things vintage/thrift/antique/or homemade. I’m a Virgo, i.e. overly sensitive, emotional, and critical, and there’s no such thing as short and sweet in my world. I want to say and do it all. Mr. Brooch grounds me. I point where to go and he figures out the way. He’s a pragmatic fancy-pants who enjoys video games and movies. We both adore our mutt, Rocky, and spending time with our amazingly supportive family and friends. We’re planning a garden wedding with a formal reception with lots of whimsy and unique, Southern-inspired details.
It’s the Tuesday before Christmas, and boy, do I have a present for you!
A recap!
Oh myLANTA! A recap?
I know. It’s been a while (weeks? months?), and I’m really sorry for the impromptu disappearance! I have missed your company, your comments, and the reliving of all the special moments of our wedding SO, SO much! But life has been a whirlwind! We took our annual trip to Tennessee (the place where Mr. Brooch proposed) …. I ran a marathon!! …and we’ve been busy nesting our little apartment (hello, whole new world of DIY!!).
Well, I’m BACK and I’m ready to blast off! Will you jump back into the Brooch wedding with me? Do you even remember me? Haha. (If not, there’s tons of pictures below to remind you who the Brooches are!)
My last post revealed our emotional first look, which was directly followed by this time of bride and groom love. These photos hold a special place in my heart. We’ve used them more than any others from the day in our home. We’ve framed them and displayed them; so much so that if you didn’t know us, you might think we were a little narcissistic. What can I say? I’m smitten with us; having seen each other for the first time on this, the most special day in our lives. Our photographers (Meredith Perdue & Graham Terhune) did an amazing job capturing it all on film.
So here you have it: the Brooches, full of love and wedding day bliss.
Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/VancouverAge and Occupation: 32, EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology AnalystEngagement Date: September 3, 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Brock House Restaurant, VancouverAbout Me: I am a marathon runner, cyclist, Ironman triathlete and beautiful shoe fiend who also loves kicking back and watching Glee. I grew up a bit of a nomad as I traveled around the world with my family, living everywhere from Australia to England to South America and Indonesia. I finally settled in Calgary a few years ago and met Mr. Gazelle who loves me even though we cheer for different hockey teams. We are planning a bit of a destination wedding in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia and we can’t wait to share the day with our close family and friends.
Our photographers arranged our first look at Granville Island. Granville Island is a place we love to visit every time we are in Vancouver so it seemed perfect for our first look. I was running late, but now all I could think about was that I was so close to seeing Mr. Gazelle for the first time on our wedding day. While our photographers were on the phone coordinating our first look the girls adjusted a few pieces of my attire, including my necklace which kept twisting.
Mr. Gazelle was waiting for me on the marina with his groomsmen. Read more…
Mrs. Teaspoon, Sydney, AustraliaAge and Occupation: 27, Medical ScientistFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, BankerEngagement Date: June 4, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: St Aloysius' College, Milson's PointAbout Me: I am a mad scientist who enjoys swimming at the beach in summer and skiing powder in winter. Our favourite times together are spent with the sand between our toes, cooking up a storm, re-watching and re-reading every Harry Potter ever made, and spending time with our dear friends and family! We have travelled the world together in our 6 years of dating, from Paris, to Thailand, to Las Vegas, and we are tackling the many challenges of planning our special day the best way we know how---together!
When we arrived at the golf course, Mr Teaspoon and I were totally over photos and just wanted to join our guests at cocktail hour, but our photographer wanted us to get some shots on the course. I did get a little grumpy when I saw of all our guests inside and I wasn’t allowed to go in. Not to worry, I cheered up immensely when we got in the golf buggies! It was all hands on deck across the gravel in the carpark. I walked about two steps and I swear half the train of my dress ripped. The girls freaked out, and jumped on board. In the end, I have inspected my dress post-wedding and there doesn’t seem to be a single rip that I can find.
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
Before I knew it, the day had flown by and it was time to make our departure. The boys handed out my little DIY send off flags, and Mr. Lion and I headed towards the exit.
Mrs. Teaspoon, Sydney, AustraliaAge and Occupation: 27, Medical ScientistFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, BankerEngagement Date: June 4, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: St Aloysius' College, Milson's PointAbout Me: I am a mad scientist who enjoys swimming at the beach in summer and skiing powder in winter. Our favourite times together are spent with the sand between our toes, cooking up a storm, re-watching and re-reading every Harry Potter ever made, and spending time with our dear friends and family! We have travelled the world together in our 6 years of dating, from Paris, to Thailand, to Las Vegas, and we are tackling the many challenges of planning our special day the best way we know how---together!
We headed over to the other side of the beautiful harbourside suburb of Lavender Bay in Sydney to take the last of our photos before we headed to our reception location. I am so glad we did, as these photos are beautiful and definitely some of our favourites! By this point, we were getting much more used to the photographers snapping 2000 pictures of us and were just enjoying our blissful wedding day. Before we got to the Jetty, we stopped in the middle of the park and played with the light. Well, truth be told, our photographer told us to stop, so we did…and we kissed and hugged a lot.
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
At this point in the day, I was very proud of myself for making it so long without crying. The day was over, and I had made it through dry-eyed. That is, until my bridesmaids said goodbye to me.
Only one of my bridesmaids lived in Atlanta at the time, and wedding planning was such a wonderful excuse to talk to them all the time and see them as often as possible. At this moment, it hit me that it was all really over. I lost it, and burst into tears. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
What can I say? I’m smitten with us; having seen each other for the first time on this, the most special day in our lives. Our photographers (Meredith Perdue & Graham Terhune) did an amazing job capturing it all on film.
