I consciously wanted to avoid not only the first dance, but also all of the other obligatory dances (father-daughter, mother-son, etc.) To me there’s always something forced, and slightly uncomfortable, about them. I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it. My (now) husband agreed. So you can imagine our horror when no one would start dancing until we danced together. It was frustrating, to say the least, and even a little embarrassing, since we hadn’t planned on a first dance and the first song to come off the iPod playlist was, ahem, Neil Diamond. We tried to make the best of it.

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My husband and I broke with tradition quite a bit when it came to selecting my engagement ring. Instead of a diamond solitaire, he gave me a gorgeous 1-karat sapphire set in a white gold and diamond bubble band. My wedding band is a simple band of tiny diamonds to match.

We didn’t want my husband to have a ring that’s completely different from mine. We wanted there to be some continuity, even though the rings would not be identical. After an exhaustive search, we found the right match: a titanium band with a tension-set rough sapphire. My husband loves it because it has a sapphire, like mine, but is also manly.

…but a few well-chosen details can make a big difference. Here are some of my favorites:

1) Guest book pen (Etsy)

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At first I resented the fact that my venue (The Central Park Boathouse) restricted me by contract to a short list of three florists. Then, upon further investigation, I resented how much wedding flowers cost, no matter where you get them!

So I got this crazy idea. I decided I was going to purchase bulk flowers and arrange them myself. I was going to do this without any real training, after taking the bar exam for two straight days, in my tiny NYC apartment, with only a standard-size refrigerator.

This was the plan. I even signed up for a floral arranging seminar at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. About two hours into it, I think I finally came to my senses. I wanted to save money on my wedding as much as the next bride, but that was just ridiculous.

{Read the rest of this entry…}

…the trick is choosing a venue that doesn’t really need any.

Those of you who recall my previous guest blogging stint, when I was still in the planning stage, may also recall that I was pretty averse to many so-called wedding traditions. And it’s true that while I was very traditional with many aspects of my wedding, I also sought the unexpected where my personal style did not match other people’s preconceived notions of what makes a wedding a wedding.

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As my husband dabbles in photography and dreams of someday being able to make money at it, I gave him the job of finding us a great wedding photographer. Neither of us was keen on standard wedding photography, with all the forced poses, people standing next to each other awkwardly with their arms around each other. We wanted someone who would approach documenting our celebration in a more photojournalistic way.

Enter Peter Doyle Photography, hidden gem of the NYC wedding photography scene! He was so professional and non-intrusive; when we got the photos back I could not believe that he captured some of the moments he did, because I never even knew the camera was nearby!

{Read the rest of this entry…}

But who are we kidding? It’s some of the most important paper we’ll ever purchase in our lives.

When I first started planning my wedding, one detail I did not anticipate being difficult was wedding stationery. However, when my (now) husband and I started looking at samples of wedding stationery, we realized that the vast majority of styles and designs did not suit us at all. In fact, we were pretty appalled by just about everything we saw.

I eventually stumbled upon a website called Wedding Paper Divas. Finally, designs that weren’t all ugly! I didn’t find purple invitations to fit the color scheme, but I found some nice green Save the Dates and invitations that seemed to match the overall tone of our wedding and lakeside venue. I also designed some custom bachelorette party invitations, as well as invitations for a thank you mani-pedi party I was planning. They also had some really cute thank-you notes. Unlike some of the other stationery vendors mentioned on this site, which have not always been reliable, Wedding Paper Divas was simply fantastic. You can personalize any card with whatever wording or information you wish to include, and the website generates a preview for you. Then, once you order your cards, the designers email you complimentary proofs. The quality is great, and the shipping prompt. I got so many compliments on my stationery, and I couldn’t have been happier with this company.

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Once I had selected a dress, the color scheme fell into place pretty quickly. Although it’s not very noticeable, the gown has a pale lavender ribbon just below the bodice. And because I had virtually no time to hem and haw about color schemes, and decided I didn’t really care too much anyway as long as it was pretty, I started to plan around a purple wedding scheme. I contacted my bridesmaids (my brother’s wife and brother-in-law’s wife), my mom and (now) mother-in-law and told them I didn’t really care what they wore for a dress as long as it was in the “purple family.” Yes, I really was that laissez-faire about it. I wanted them to feel good and have something they could potentially wear again. I don’t buy into the idea that only the bride should be beautiful on her wedding day. They each selected dresses that fit them well, both physically and personality-wise, and I think they did a great job.

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Being fortunate enough to live in New York City, I had easy access to the wedding gown mecca that is Kleinfeld Bridal. I was excited to score an appointment during one of their big sample sales, and I was determined to come home with a ridiculously lovely gown at an even more ridiculous price.

It was ivory, an absolute necessity considering my pastiness. It was sunny and cute. It had daisies. It was the sort of dress you’d run barefoot through dewy fields in. It was MaxMara. It was a bloody fortune. I needed it. And I basically blew through a good chunk of my budget to get it. And it became the starting point for the rest of my planning…

{All photos via Peter Doyle Photography}

Hi everyone! It’s been a long time! Since I last guest blogged, I’ve graduated from law school, taken the New York bar exam, gotten married, spent a fantastic week in Kaua’i on my honeymoon, moved to a new apartment and gotten my tonsils out. But did I mention I got married? That’s what you all want to hear about! And despite all the stress and uncertainty of such a busy summer, and being unable to be terribly detail-oriented about the big day, it all went remarkably well. Some people even (very sincerely) told us that it was truly one of the most beautiful weddings they’d ever attended.

{Peter Doyle Photography}

However, I can’t take all the credit for that - I had the help of some fantastic vendors along the way, so if you’re still in the planning process for your own big day, I’d like to share with you the hidden gems that made my wedding so special this week!