After we took pictures, I went upstairs with Matt to check out the ballroom…

I honestly couldn’t have been happier at how it all came together. I had envisioned everything in my mind and to see it come to life was amazing. I had purchased all vases, branches and votives and hired a designer to put it all together. It looked incredible…

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After the ceremony, the wedding party headed to The Henry Clay to take some pictures before cocktail hour began…

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Our grandparents and parents were seated to Ave Maria and Canon in D. The Trumpet Voluntary played as I walked down the aisle.  Although I was calm all morning, I got very nervous when I saw all of the people in the church.  My dad and I talked the entire way down the aisle and I will never forget the look on Matt’s face when he saw me.

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I mentioned before that there were some difficulties in planning our Louisville wedding from Memphis.  However, the biggest obstacle with this we never saw coming.  Matt and I were so excited about all of our family and friends being in town and in one place that we both stayed out a little too late the night before the wedding :).  What were we supposed to do - go to bed early so we would be fresh-faced for the wedding?  We only see most of these people a few times a year, so it was so special for us.

Regardless, the morning of the wedding was perfect in my mind.  I woke up at 7:00am ready, got Starbucks and was off to Z Salon for hair and makeup.  We had a wonderful time at the salon and I just remember feeling so calm and happy.  I told everyone to get to the church by 12:30pm even though we weren’t doing many pictures ahead of time.  It was not an option for the wedding to start late, so I would have rather everyone gotten there early.  The girls were in one room drinking mimosas, laughing and telling stories.  The boys on the other hand were… well…

And then… it was time…

*photos by 502 Photography

One of the most important things to remember in wedding planning is the list of gifts to be purchased for your bridal party, parents, readers, shower hosts and hostesses, etc.  Traditional gifts such as cuff-links and money clips will always be appropriate tokens of appreciation.  I, however, am a firm believer in giving people something they will love, not something generic in the name of tradition.  Here is our list of wedding gifts, some traditional, some unique, and some down-right random.

Standing up for me was my made-of-honor and my three brothers.  I also had four other ladies who walked down the aisle as bridesmaids (although they didn’t stand in front of church).  My goal was to get them something classy that they would be able to use right away as well as something sentimental.

I ended up gifting each of them with a different color leather Coach change purse.  They came in yellow, pink and gold.  Purchased here.

The other gift I got for the ladies was an even bigger hit. I got them all copies of the 5 Year Diary. I have always loved writing in a journal and the layout of this one is beyond cool. Check it out here.

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The weeks leading up to your wedding are impossibly busy.  I was pretty organized throughout the process but between designing our programs, creating menu cards and printing escort cards, free time was hard to come by the last few weeks.  Oh and don’t forget about making sure all gifts were purchased and cards written.  And that there was a detailed timeline of the day.  Or, if you’re us, a detailed timeline of the 5-day event starting Wednesday.   Regardless, doing these projects myself made our wedding a labor of love and I enjoyed pouring myself into every last detail.

I always knew I wanted a Blurb guestbook.  My main goal was to create something that Matt and I would want to keep, not just a pretty book with the signatures of our loved ones.  So I pulled out that box that most of us gals have - you know, the box filled with ticket stubs, receipts and cards that you aren’t sure what you’ll do with but one day -  yep, that’s the one.  I uploaded all of our personal memories into Blurb and voila - our guestbook!

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Although I love fashion and adore shopping, wedding dress shopping was a different story. It took me a while to actually want to go dress shopping, but when I went, it was easy and fun. My mom and I met in Nashville (halfway between Memphis and Louisville) and I had made three appointments. The first was at The Bride Room and although I didn’t ultimately get my dress there, the experience could not have been better. I recommend it to anyone in the area.

While at The Bride Room, I fell in love with Monique Lhullier’s Monet dress, but it was out of my budget. Although I didn’t get that dress, I then had my heart set on a lace dress, which made the rest of the search much easier. I now knew what I wanted when I went into stores and could be much more efficient. I ultimately settled on this dress from Mikaella Bridal:

I have long hair (a few inches below my shoulders) and would have loved to leave it down, but since I knew it was going to be so hot out, that wasn’t an option. I was also open to the idea of wearing a flower in my hair. I found this bride’s photo on Our Blog of Love, which I loved and took with me to my hair trial…

I decided to let the ladies in our wedding choose the black dress of their choice. This was a personal choice and something I decided not to be picky about. I love the look of matching bridesmaid dresses, but it just wasn’t necessary for me. As for the guys, Matt and I liked the idea of everyone wearing black suit tuxes and our fathers wearing traditional tuxedos.

You’ll see the finished product later this week!

How are you outfitting your bridal party?

After the church and reception venue were booked and the date was set, it was time to think about our Save the Dates.  Matt and I were talking one night and decided that we wanted to create a map chronicling the paths we each took to find each other and where we are now.  We both went off to college, moved across the country after graduation, and met as two midwestern kids in NYC before getting engaged and moving to Memphis. And now we were planning a wedding in Louisville. Whew.  It wears me out to just write it.  I mentioned our idea on Pretty Bride and soon Laura Hooper came to the rescue.

Our save the dates were a hit!  Now, it was on to invitations. Early on in the process I decided that I wanted us to create the invitations ourselves. Please note that I am not a graphic designer or a craft-maker extraordinaire. However, this seemed like something we could do and a great way to save some money that I could use on something else.

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A couple weeks after Matt and I got engaged, I traveled home to Louisville with the mission to find a reception venue.  We got engaged on August 22, 2008 and set our wedding date for July 25, 2009.  We had to base the date around Matt’s work schedule - which meant I was deciding when we got married based on the NBA Draft, Summer League, etc.  Late July worked for everyone - my only issue was the heat.  An outdoor reception was not an option.  My mom made a few appointments for us and off we went.  The first place we looked at took about 3 seconds for me to decide it wouldn’t work.  But the second space, well, it was The One.

The Henry Clay was built in downtown Louisville in 1924 and was only turned into an event space a couple years ago. I loved the history of it. I loved the colors. I loved the character.

The walls in the main ballroom are gold tones. Instead of fighting the room’s natural beauty - gold, ivory and black became our wedding colors. I eventually added in blush pink to soften the decor. Below is the inspiration board I designed soon after booking the space.

Next up: we talk paper!

Ed Note: I’m so excited to welcome Christina from Pretty Bride to EAD to recap her fabulous Louisville wedding for us!  Ya’ll are going to love reading her posts this week and be so inspired by what she pulled together!

First of all, I am so excited and honored to be given the opportunity to recap my wedding planning process for Elizabeth Anne Designs.  I have had a wedding blog since April, 2007 and EAD is such an inspiration to all!

My name is Christina and I am originally from the Louisville, KY area (Southern Indiana).  I started Pretty Bride while working as an Event Planner for an NBA team with dreams of one day planning weddings.  In August 2008, my love, Matt, proposed.  Three weeks later, we relocated from North Jersey to Memphis, TN where he now works for the Memphis Grizzlies.  In the midst of planning my own wedding, I got a job as an Event Planner for a catering, floral and design company.  Planning our July 25, 2009 wedding in Louisville, KY from Memphis added more of a challenge to the process, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle!

Below is a photo of us the night we got engaged.  We have now been married for two months and have enjoyed every second of it.  I am so excited to get to relive our wedding process while sharing with EAD readers!