Category — alissa

Anne and I hope that you enjoyed Alissa’s week-long glimpse into her wedding!  Alissa, thank you so much for volunteering your time to share your wedding here.  The joy that you and Dan share is palpable and was documented so beautifully.

In case you missed any of her posts, here is a link to Alissa’s archive!

E.

Allrighty, for the last post I just want to share some of my favorite images from our wedding day.

I thought it was really funny Joe got this - I had just grabbed this friend to help me sneak off and use the restroom. Word of advice-if you’re wearing a wedding dress you’ll need assistance in there!

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No matter what you do with your wedding, I think finding small ways to make it personal is the most important thing you’ll do. Its hard to admit (I know!) but no one will remember the flowers or the color of the napkins. They will remember what made it your wedding. I wanted to share some of the small things that we did - and some of them we might have been the only ones who knew about them - but made the day our own.

Image from Special Effects Photography.

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Our venue didn’t really require a lot of decorating. The dark woodwork and stained glass really set the scene on its own. Since our ceremony started at seven, followed by a cocktail hour, our actual reception didn’t start until about 8:30. We wanted the reception to feel like an old party they might have had years ago in the space, cozy and classic with a lot of candlelight.

Our ceremony

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So we had the bridesmaids dresses picked out - now it was time to dress the rest of us.

Image from Special Effects Photography

Image from Special Effects Photography.

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Oh invitations, glorious invitations. I struggled big time on invitations at first. I had actually started out in school as a graphic designer, and ended up working as one for four years. So it seemed simple enough that I would design my own! Turns out I’m my own worst client. Nothing I came up with seemed right! And one of the main reasons was that none of my designs we’re gorgeously stamped into thick yummy paper…I had a crush on letterpress. After visiting with my favorite local letterpress studio, I unfortunately thought the letterpress of my dreams was out of my price range.

Enter Etsy’s Blackbird Press. Spectacular letterpress invitations - in my price range - and an amazing designer, Melissa, to work one-on-one with. I had recently purchased a lace pattern vector from istockphoto that I really wanted to incorporate.

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As I discovered some amazing wedding websites and blogs, I was quickly led to Etsy. And the earth shook and angels sang. I became an etsy freak. Bridesmaids gifts? Red Otter and Modern Printed Matter . A gift for Fiance from Kathryn Riechert. Not to mention half of my Christmas gifts. But there were three people I worked with in particular from etsy that were absolutely memorable.

 
Some of Lisa’s gorgeous pieces.

First up, my wedding day jewelry from Lisa with Teleecouture.

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As we were gathering inspiration, we were also gathering information. Figuring out a guest list and a budget. We were hoping for a May wedding - and venues and vendors fill up fast, so we wanted to start looking and booking as soon as possible. I definitely think every bride and groom, before making any decisions, should create a strict guest list (adding random people here and there adds up quickly!) and a budget. Choosing a venue or any vendors before establishing those two things is definitely putting the cart before the horse.

So we had our numbers in order - time to find a location. We really wanted to have the ceremony and reception in one spot. Its so much easier for guests - especially those from out of town. It also seemed to simplify things. We really wanted to find a venue downtown. Hotels within walking distance, bars close by (for those that weren’t ready to be done partying!) and an urban feel. We felt like Goldilocks - one venue was too urban (unique old building…with chain link fences and graffiti in the background.) One wasnt urban enough (very bright and white with a lot of outdoor space.) We were looking for more classic and warm.

Set up for another wedding, one of the images that sold us on the space. From the Clubhouse on Baltimore.

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So we have this blank canvas of a wedding sitting before us. Where do you start? Throughout college I had often said that I wanted to become a wedding coordinator someday. I adored weddings, this one day with all of your friends and family together celebrating. I had the Monica-from-Friends binder of every wedding idea I had ever come across. I’m a little wedding-obsessed. But once it was actually time to start planning I was a little lost.

I found two images in the first few wedding magazines I picked up (since being engaged, never mind that shelf of them in the back of my closet) that kicked everything off.

Photo from Melissa Sweet. The dress color is called Shadow.

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As I share our ideas and inspiration, I’m going to share the final images so you can see how it all turned out! So I want to introduce our photographers since we’re starting to get to the good stuff - all of their images.

These are some of my favorite images Lynn captured. This was a great moment out in the park with our entire bridal party. Love that shot of our best man & maid of honor!

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