Hello all! Well this is getting a bit ridiculous- over a year later, and I can't manage to finish a few recaps of my wedding day. It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that married life is a bit busy, and I also have a very hard time with uploading large pictures to blogger. Here is a link to my Flickr if anyone is interested in courthouse wedding photos.
So, according to my google analytics, I have around 250 visitors per week! I know most of you must be here for courthouse tips, judging by the number of e-mails I get (but no comments:( ), so I'd like to give a quick description of our reception.
I walked in at around 6:00 when people were just arriving, and I was blown over. This place is the most beautiful reception hall I have ever seen when it is set up. The tables were set up correctly into 5 long banquet style, and 12 rounds of 10. The centerpieces of ostrich feathers and gold birch branches and place cards for the long tables were in the correct spots. The bar was set up with my high top cocktail tables and long black linens with the wedding crosswords on top. The make shift photobooth was all ready with the props. The DJ was there. The cakes were on the cake table looking delicious. It is SO HARD to completely envision everything you have planned, and the reality was better than anything I ever hoped for!
After ooing and awwing over everything, I went over to the photobooth with some of the bridesmaids and took some silly pictures. We had the photobooth in the nook off the to the right where the elevator doors are. The bar was behind the columns in the hallway area, almost in front of the door to the nook on the right. Then I got one of my signature drinks (mojito), and proceeded to chill at my cocktail hour and talk to everyone who came out for me. This experience was almost surreal -people I have known from every stage of my life were all there for me and having drinks with me. I got to talk to many people that I wouldn't get to later in the night. DON'T MISS YOUR COCKTAIL HOUR!
My husband and I are living in Buffalo, NY, so we had Anchor Bar chicken wings at our cocktail hour, which they will ship. My caterer was amazing, and charged us a small fee to set these up and heat them. The cocktail food table was set up in the hallway behind the columns on the right in the middle. Guests went crazy over these chicken wings, it was one of the best decisions we made. Guests also loved the wedding crossword I made and had printed, and many of them were filling them out. It was such a great ice breaker and conversation starter, I urge people to do something like this.
Almost before I knew it, it was time to get introduced. The DJ was set up on the left hand side of the room, dead center. We came out for the introductions from the grand staircase on the other side. About acoustics, I couldn't hear anything the DJ said on the mic from back in the staircase area. There are certain places where the acoustics suck, and that cannot be denied. However, people in the main hall could hear mostly fine.
The whole bridal party were introduced, and then my husband and I. We walked straight to our cake table, and cut the cake to "Sexyback." After a little cake smooshing (by me only), it was time for dinner.
I know many people have questions about catering. We had a buffet, and it was perfect. Stations are also a popular option, which I also looked into, but we didn't go for. Ultimately, stations are usually way more expensive, and also have a bit of a more casual vibe. I decided that I would rather have everyone eat at once and get it over with, and then we can move onto the dancing! Stations work best for weddings with constant mingling and no sitting, and if you want everyone to sit and pay attention, there is not much point to having them. I am also against sit down meals for almost any wedding, and especially the courthouse, and I will explain why. The courthouse has no kitchen, so your caterer will either make the food ahead of time, or will bring a make-shift kitchen. Sit-down wedding meals at even a catering hall with a kitchen are usually not that good. They are rushing the food to get so many out at once, and some people may want less or more, and it ultimately leads to wasted food. Also there is the general confusion over who ordered what.
Our buffet was hot, replenished often, and delicious! Everyone took as much or as little as they wanted. We had a carving station, which is the right way to do beef at a wedding, and I got many compliments on the food. In the very back of the courthouse, the columns were draped off by our caterer, with the kitchen behind. The buffet table was set up directly in front, and tables were called up.
After eating very quickly, my husband and I made table rounds for about 45 minutes. This brought us to about 9:00 and time for the first dance. Being on the dance floor by ourselves with a slow song playing, the music was echoing. It wasn't awful, but the echo was there. Not all songs will do it. Our first dance was "I'll Look After You" by The Fray, and it is a song that lends itself well to echoing. The dance with my father to Frank Sinatra had much less acoustic issues. The fast dance songs when there were many bodies on the floor to absorb the sound had even less issues. And we had tons of people on the floor- after the parent dances, everyone got down! We had dance circles, line dances, slow dances- a little something for everyone, and it was amazing! Our DJ was pretty good, there were a few instances where I didn't like the song he was playing, but it mostly worked out. At around 10:30 most of our guests disappeared for 15 minutes to watch the fireworks on Lake Erie (it was 4th of July)!
We had a completely stocked bar with 10 varieties of beer, 6 kinds of wines, champagne, and any kind of liquor and mixers you could ask for. If you need to be cheap, DON'T DO IT ON THE BOOZE! People will talk about that for years. On the flip side, we still get compliments on our bar. There were alot of people at the bar at any given moment. I might change the bar's placement more towards the center to put people where the dancing was and encourage more people to mingle. You will have to judge what is best based on how many guests you have and what kinds of tables. The photobooth was popular as well, and the props we had such as wigs, leis, and Hawaiian skirts made it out onto the dance floor!
My mom had a candy bar with all green candy set up as a surprise to me during this time! It was on the cocktail table in the right hallway. We also had the favors set up in the entrance to the courthouse, to the left of the security desk. We had packs of sparklers with our monogram on them, and boxes of our cake. I also later mailed prints of the photobooth pictures in our thank you cards.
All too soon, the night was over. We had an after party set up at a bar downtown, so alot of us went over there. The security guards were great to us all night. Here is a little tip- they will know what time is in your contract to shut down, and start herding people out. The beginning time is much more flexible. Your caterer will have access to the hall all day, so what is the big deal in starting a bit earlier? My contract said 6:30, but my invitation said 6:15, and some people came at 6:00. They will not turn people away..I think you can stretch this at least a half hour. At $525/ hour, every little bit helps.
Another tip- my biggest gripe of the night is that the lights were not dimmed enough for dancing. The electrician is in your contract, and should be on call for you. The ball got dropped on this, and the place remained in full light most of the night. Now it is gorgeous in there, so not a big deal, but I spent about $250 on led candles, and they did not really get seen. Make sure someone takes charge on this.
The bathrooms- not great, but not too horrible. Stick a bathroom basket in there and call it a day.
The courthouse is amazing, so take advantage! You do not need many decorations because people will be too busy staring. You can also get away with being a bit goofy (wedding crosswords, photobooth, Hawaiian skirt props) because of the elegance of the courthouse.
I'm still willing to answer questions (daas325@gmail.com), and I have a budget post in editing, because I know a huge questions is: "how much!" Well, I am going to answer that for you soon!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
4th of July: Morning of the big day!
I had a hard time sleeping just like I knew I would. I guess you're never too old to feel that Christmas Eve like level of excitement. My sister and I slept together in my childhood room, and I read some of her book (ironically, it was "Something Borrowed"). I slept for a few hours but kept waking up, so I went downstairs to sleep on the couch at around 7. At around 8, my cousin Mary, the make-up artist, and Julie, the hairdresser showed up. It was time to get started!
I was going to be last to get my hair done, so I went upstairs to wake up the other girls, and I went back into my room and laid down for a little bit longer. I really just laid there and tried to reflect on the meaning of the day ahead and get myself ready for the craziness. After a few minutes, I felt ready, so I went downstairs to grab a mimosa, and went out to finish up my flowers, which I talk about here.
After sitting outside in the gorgeous morning sun, I came inside to have some fruit and breakfast, and my sister gave me the most adorable presents! She had wrapped up 4 separate gifts into "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." Even the wrapping paper and bags were coordinated to the themes! She gave me some antique handkerchiefs as something old(Wrapped in red, black and white-inside joke!), an absolutely beautiful cream clutch with a peacock feather beaded on the front as something new, broaches from my cousin for my bouquet as the something borrowed, and sexy blue lingerie as the something blue! She was so amazingly sweet.
Picture taken by my mom
Also, since I am the queen of last minute, I decided that I wanted someone to tape my ceremony( I didn't hire a videographer due to last minute business, and my inability to meet with anyone in Cleveland this close to the wedding). My dad called up my aunt, and they rushed over their video camera, while I called a bunch of my friends to see who would tape. I also realized that I was short one reader, so my amazing friend Jackie and her boyfriend, now fiance Whitey stopped by to pick up the reading and do it for me! So it ended up that we left the camera at home anyways, so I thought that there was no video, until Scott's sent us the video he took on his phone! It actually turned out awesome, and is just what we wanted. You can see us walk in, hear our vows, and walk out. Not intrusive at all, and all we needed. Wow, typing all of this out, I can't believe how much stuff worked itself out for a wedding, and what an amazingly lucky day I had! I would never never recommend that anyone leave so many details up in the air as I did.
Picture taken by mom
After she put the eyelashes on, my eyes began to water badly. This had never happened to me before, but required a lot of eyedrops before they felt ok. Halfway through the make-up, Julie was ready for me, so then I had two ladies working on me. I felt like a movie star!
For my hair, Julie first pulled the top part up as I had wanted, then added in the extensions she had sewn onto combs for me. My hair was so long, it didn't need any extra length, but I wanted a bit more fullness. Then she curled all the pieces, and added my birdcage veil and flower. During my hair, I gave Scott a call just to make sure everything was moving on the boy's end. When he answered the phone sounding like death, I was a little worried (it was around 11 at this point). I could tell he was very hungover, and their night must have gone on for quite awhile after we left. He assured me he was up and moving, so I got off the phone hoping all was well. The limo was scheduled down to the minute, so nothing could afford to go wrong or run late.
My hair ended up taking much longer then we thought, so I was scrambling around to put on my stick on nubra, and get into my dress. There were all these people in the house at this point, grabbing last minute things to take to the ceremony, that I couldn't find anywhere private to slip on my dress where my photographer, Corey Ann, could still get pictures. Finally we settled on the living room.
I put the dress on and zipped it up, before I realized that we had never actually buttoned the buttons before, and had no hook for them! My bridesmaids came to the rescue, all of them helping to button up the millions of small buttons on the back.
One popped off right before, and I suppose I could have freaked out, but I laughed it off and said we needed to get on the limo and get going. I wish I would have gotten one or two posed pictures in front of my house though :(
Off we were to the ceremony, with a bottle of champagne!
Note: Unless otherwise specified, all of my wedding photos were taken by Corey Ann of Corey Ann photography.
I was going to be last to get my hair done, so I went upstairs to wake up the other girls, and I went back into my room and laid down for a little bit longer. I really just laid there and tried to reflect on the meaning of the day ahead and get myself ready for the craziness. After a few minutes, I felt ready, so I went downstairs to grab a mimosa, and went out to finish up my flowers, which I talk about here.
After sitting outside in the gorgeous morning sun, I came inside to have some fruit and breakfast, and my sister gave me the most adorable presents! She had wrapped up 4 separate gifts into "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." Even the wrapping paper and bags were coordinated to the themes! She gave me some antique handkerchiefs as something old(Wrapped in red, black and white-inside joke!), an absolutely beautiful cream clutch with a peacock feather beaded on the front as something new, broaches from my cousin for my bouquet as the something borrowed, and sexy blue lingerie as the something blue! She was so amazingly sweet.
Picture taken by my momMeanwhile, I was watching my bridesmaids getting their hair done, while Mary did my mom's and Scott's mother's make-up. 
Picture taken by my sister
She also put false eye-lashes on my bridesmaids. Finally it was my turn for make-up! Mary had done my make-up for a friend's wedding the year before, but we had had no other consultation for this day. I trusted her completely. I told her I wanted a very dramatic look, especially for the eye make-up. I was getting false eyelashes, and decided to use golds for my eyes to match the theme of the wedding. I knew it would look intense in real life, but would look amazing in pictures. Here she is studying me before she begins! (Outfit consists of my hubby's boxers, and a Victoria's Secret bridal hoodie gifted from BM Jen).
Picture taken by my sister
Picture taken by mom
For my hair, Julie first pulled the top part up as I had wanted, then added in the extensions she had sewn onto combs for me. My hair was so long, it didn't need any extra length, but I wanted a bit more fullness. Then she curled all the pieces, and added my birdcage veil and flower. During my hair, I gave Scott a call just to make sure everything was moving on the boy's end. When he answered the phone sounding like death, I was a little worried (it was around 11 at this point). I could tell he was very hungover, and their night must have gone on for quite awhile after we left. He assured me he was up and moving, so I got off the phone hoping all was well. The limo was scheduled down to the minute, so nothing could afford to go wrong or run late.
My hair ended up taking much longer then we thought, so I was scrambling around to put on my stick on nubra, and get into my dress. There were all these people in the house at this point, grabbing last minute things to take to the ceremony, that I couldn't find anywhere private to slip on my dress where my photographer, Corey Ann, could still get pictures. Finally we settled on the living room.
I put the dress on and zipped it up, before I realized that we had never actually buttoned the buttons before, and had no hook for them! My bridesmaids came to the rescue, all of them helping to button up the millions of small buttons on the back.
One popped off right before, and I suppose I could have freaked out, but I laughed it off and said we needed to get on the limo and get going. I wish I would have gotten one or two posed pictures in front of my house though :(Off we were to the ceremony, with a bottle of champagne!
Note: Unless otherwise specified, all of my wedding photos were taken by Corey Ann of Corey Ann photography.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
4th of July: Rehearsal Day
Friday morning was a little dreary and rainy, but it cleared up to be a sunny day later in the afternoon. My mom, my sister, and bridesmaids S and J had manicure and pedicure appointments, and the boys were taking the many boxes of wedding stuff down to drop off at the courthouse.
I got a call about halfway into my pedicure from the boy saying that the Courthouse doors were not open. I had an issue the last time I went down to the Courthouse which led to me almost not getting in when I had an appointment to do so, and this really angered me. I had asked for and been granted privileges to drop some stuff off earlier in the day than they usually allow for weddings because it was a holiday(day before the 4th of July was the government holiday this year), and no one would be at work except the guards. There is a serious communication break down between Wanda, the coordinator, and the guards who open the doors at the Courthouse. I really hope it has been resolved since then. I called and left a rather hysterical message for Wanda, but the boy called back and said they got in after pounding on the doors for awhile. This was one of my very very few bride freak outs, so I didn't feel too bad about it.
Other than that, the salon was soooo relaxing! I was immediately handed a mimosa right when i walked in (which I later needed)! I had had my hair cut and highlighted, plus a facial the previous weekend at my salon in Buffalo, so I was already feeling seriously pampered. My sister booked the appt, so I don't remember the name of the place, but I would highly recommend it. I'll be sure to ask her and post it here.
After the salon, we came back to the house, and the fun was starting! Bridesmaids C and K had arrived by plane, and various of our other out-of-town friends had picked them up and were hanging out at my house talking to my dad. It was almost surreal to have them all here and to know that this wedding was really going to happen!!!
I took a shower and started getting ready for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. It was kind of crazy with all the girls in the house getting ready, but my sister did my make up and Bridesmaid C did a beautiful job on my hair. One of the boy's groomsmen was driving in from New York and was extremely late getting to our house, which got me a little rattled, but we eventually packed it all in and were on our way to the church.
We made it to the church only 5 minutes late. I was feeling a little flustered with people calling me for directions 2 minutes before they were supposed to be there, showing up late, or not changed into church clothes yet. I also forgot the wedding party presents at home and sent back the other car to go get them. In retrospect, I should have brought the pew decorations and put them on during the rehearsal, because it became an issue the next morning when I realized there was no one to do it! No matter how much you plan, there will be small things you forget about. Hopefully, it won't actually matter to you on your wedding day.
This is inside the beautiful St. Michael Church in Independence. The rehearsal was quick, with us practicing where we would walk and stand, and a quick overview of the vows we would say. We opted for the traditional words of a Catholic ceremony, which we would repeat after the priest. Even though I no longer consider myself a Catholic, the weight of tradition behind these simple words is very moving and perfect. I have a complicated relationship with religion, but I respect the power of the vows and the ceremony in its own right.
After the rehearsal we made our way downtown to Ponte Vecchio, where we had the rehearsal dinner on the outdoor patio. The night was clear, and while it wasn't very warm, it was comfortable. The patio is a little bit of an awkward set-up, but we had around 60 people come to our rehearsal dinner, and it didn't seem too cramped. It's long and narrow, so people need to sit in tables of 4. The food had to be set up as a buffet inside to accommodate all the tables for a party this large, but it worked out great. The food was amazing! We had appetizers, including crab cakes, and the buffet included chicken, salmon, green beans, pasta, and more food that I can't remember. I was too keyed up to eat much. We also had an open bar for two hours before dinner, and one hour after.
The view from Ponte Vecchio is amazing - it looks out onto the whole city, where we were able to see a few fireworks shows. After dinner, I gave a short speech thanking everyone for coming, and we passed out our gifts to the wedding party. The girls got their jewelry for the wedding, earrings and a bracelet, and I had given them all engraved flasks during our trip to Vegas. We gave the boys flasks, their wedding ties, and cigars, so a few of them lit them up outside after dinner. We stuck around for awhile all talking and socializing. Our groups of friends all know each other from college, so there was alot of catching up to do.
On the patio, my five best friends from college and I.
At our table on the patio, my brother, his girlfriend, and my sister.
After dinner, chatting outside the restaurant.
We stayed at Ponte Vecchio until around 10, before the younger people decided to take the party over to The Chophouse on W St. Clair Avenue. We invited all of the out-of-town guests to the rehearsal dinner, which was why we had around 60 people there. Only a few people couldn't make the drive down to Cleveland in time for the dinner, and they met us at the Chophouse. There was a group of about 40 of our childhood and college friends there talking, drinking, and having a great time. It felt so amazing to have us all in one spot again. I think this may be my favorite thing about weddings - the chance to have all of your groups of friends meet and hang out, and reminisce. I would strongly recommend to build in time for socializing and actually talking to all these people that came so far to see you. It cost a little more to invite all of these people to the rehearsal dinner, but it was more than worth it.
At around 11:30 or 12:00, the girls and I decided it was time to get home and rest up for the next day. The bridesmaids were sleeping at my parents' house with me that night. The guys were going to stay out and have a little bit of a bachelor party for the boy, since he never got to have one with all of the guys being so far away (little did I realize how bad of an idea this would turn out to be...oops). I kissed the boy goodbye for the last time as an unmarried couple, and went home to try and get some sleep!
I got a call about halfway into my pedicure from the boy saying that the Courthouse doors were not open. I had an issue the last time I went down to the Courthouse which led to me almost not getting in when I had an appointment to do so, and this really angered me. I had asked for and been granted privileges to drop some stuff off earlier in the day than they usually allow for weddings because it was a holiday(day before the 4th of July was the government holiday this year), and no one would be at work except the guards. There is a serious communication break down between Wanda, the coordinator, and the guards who open the doors at the Courthouse. I really hope it has been resolved since then. I called and left a rather hysterical message for Wanda, but the boy called back and said they got in after pounding on the doors for awhile. This was one of my very very few bride freak outs, so I didn't feel too bad about it.
Other than that, the salon was soooo relaxing! I was immediately handed a mimosa right when i walked in (which I later needed)! I had had my hair cut and highlighted, plus a facial the previous weekend at my salon in Buffalo, so I was already feeling seriously pampered. My sister booked the appt, so I don't remember the name of the place, but I would highly recommend it. I'll be sure to ask her and post it here.
After the salon, we came back to the house, and the fun was starting! Bridesmaids C and K had arrived by plane, and various of our other out-of-town friends had picked them up and were hanging out at my house talking to my dad. It was almost surreal to have them all here and to know that this wedding was really going to happen!!!
I took a shower and started getting ready for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. It was kind of crazy with all the girls in the house getting ready, but my sister did my make up and Bridesmaid C did a beautiful job on my hair. One of the boy's groomsmen was driving in from New York and was extremely late getting to our house, which got me a little rattled, but we eventually packed it all in and were on our way to the church.
We made it to the church only 5 minutes late. I was feeling a little flustered with people calling me for directions 2 minutes before they were supposed to be there, showing up late, or not changed into church clothes yet. I also forgot the wedding party presents at home and sent back the other car to go get them. In retrospect, I should have brought the pew decorations and put them on during the rehearsal, because it became an issue the next morning when I realized there was no one to do it! No matter how much you plan, there will be small things you forget about. Hopefully, it won't actually matter to you on your wedding day.
My gorgeous jewel- toned dress was made from silk chiffon by BCBG. I got it on e-bay for $60!!! I am holding my bow bouquet from the shower, and that's my sister standing right behind me, keeping me calm!
This is inside the beautiful St. Michael Church in Independence. The rehearsal was quick, with us practicing where we would walk and stand, and a quick overview of the vows we would say. We opted for the traditional words of a Catholic ceremony, which we would repeat after the priest. Even though I no longer consider myself a Catholic, the weight of tradition behind these simple words is very moving and perfect. I have a complicated relationship with religion, but I respect the power of the vows and the ceremony in its own right.
After the rehearsal we made our way downtown to Ponte Vecchio, where we had the rehearsal dinner on the outdoor patio. The night was clear, and while it wasn't very warm, it was comfortable. The patio is a little bit of an awkward set-up, but we had around 60 people come to our rehearsal dinner, and it didn't seem too cramped. It's long and narrow, so people need to sit in tables of 4. The food had to be set up as a buffet inside to accommodate all the tables for a party this large, but it worked out great. The food was amazing! We had appetizers, including crab cakes, and the buffet included chicken, salmon, green beans, pasta, and more food that I can't remember. I was too keyed up to eat much. We also had an open bar for two hours before dinner, and one hour after.
The view from Ponte Vecchio is amazing - it looks out onto the whole city, where we were able to see a few fireworks shows. After dinner, I gave a short speech thanking everyone for coming, and we passed out our gifts to the wedding party. The girls got their jewelry for the wedding, earrings and a bracelet, and I had given them all engraved flasks during our trip to Vegas. We gave the boys flasks, their wedding ties, and cigars, so a few of them lit them up outside after dinner. We stuck around for awhile all talking and socializing. Our groups of friends all know each other from college, so there was alot of catching up to do.
On the patio, my five best friends from college and I.
At our table on the patio, my brother, his girlfriend, and my sister.
After dinner, chatting outside the restaurant.
We stayed at Ponte Vecchio until around 10, before the younger people decided to take the party over to The Chophouse on W St. Clair Avenue. We invited all of the out-of-town guests to the rehearsal dinner, which was why we had around 60 people there. Only a few people couldn't make the drive down to Cleveland in time for the dinner, and they met us at the Chophouse. There was a group of about 40 of our childhood and college friends there talking, drinking, and having a great time. It felt so amazing to have us all in one spot again. I think this may be my favorite thing about weddings - the chance to have all of your groups of friends meet and hang out, and reminisce. I would strongly recommend to build in time for socializing and actually talking to all these people that came so far to see you. It cost a little more to invite all of these people to the rehearsal dinner, but it was more than worth it.At around 11:30 or 12:00, the girls and I decided it was time to get home and rest up for the next day. The bridesmaids were sleeping at my parents' house with me that night. The guys were going to stay out and have a little bit of a bachelor party for the boy, since he never got to have one with all of the guys being so far away (little did I realize how bad of an idea this would turn out to be...oops). I kissed the boy goodbye for the last time as an unmarried couple, and went home to try and get some sleep!
The last single girl kiss!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
4th of July: Last minute craziness
Ok, I know all brides say that they are not going to let it happen to them - procrastination on the little things that will then take you all night before the wedding to finish. I did ALOT of work on this wedding beforehand, but I did leave a few details until Thursday night. Honestly, I just forgot about the fact that I needed two place cards for anyone sitting at one of the long banquet tables. They each had 16 seats, so I didn't want anyone scrambling for a seat. I had to print out a sheet of place cards for these tables, and have the boy cut them all out. This also meant finalizing the seating chart once and for all. The seating chart! I'm sure any bride has heard the angst from former brides over the seating chart. I did not believe that it could be that bad. It. was. worst thing I have ever had to do.
Last minute additions and cancellations did not help at all. I spent at least an hour Thursday night tweaking my seating chart, and putting everyone in the most perfect spot. I also had to print out the table names, and I printed up several room layouts to tape to the boxes of decorations and other wedding stuff that would be taken to the hall and set up by the caterer and my cousin. I wrote out meticulous instructions and taped them to each and every box that was being taken down and dropped off at the courthouse by the boys in the morning. I was up until 2 am.
Here's what quick advice I can offer. Start you seating chart early. I has started it at least a month before , but had to spend up to the Thursday before the wedding fixing it. I used Martha's website, and her free seating software was amazing for my purposes. I initially divided everyone up on my guest list on excel. I would cut and paste people that I thought should sit near each other, and then refined it on the Martha chart. Write out lots of instructions. When I walked into the room on Saturday, I didn't find anything that was out of place. Everything had been perfectly set up, and that made the late night worth it. This is a great chance to show off some of the things I ordered for the wedding from vistaprint, and my other paper projects.
My photocards
My reminder for people to go to the photobooth
Our drink menu- just a sample of the huge variety we had
I printed this on the other side of our photocards- I don't think anyone actually did it though :(
A picture of one of the table names I printed. They were all different types of wines- reds for one side of the room, whites for the other. I printed this on blank brochure paper I ordered for free form Vistaprint.
The sparklers- one of the many favors I offered. Last minute we bought a huge pack of these for $10 from Sam's Club. The cards on these were free business cards from Vistaprint. I didn't want to do traditional favors, but these were in a basket by the door, as well as cake slices. I am also sending prints in thank you cards from my mock photobooth.
Last minute additions and cancellations did not help at all. I spent at least an hour Thursday night tweaking my seating chart, and putting everyone in the most perfect spot. I also had to print out the table names, and I printed up several room layouts to tape to the boxes of decorations and other wedding stuff that would be taken to the hall and set up by the caterer and my cousin. I wrote out meticulous instructions and taped them to each and every box that was being taken down and dropped off at the courthouse by the boys in the morning. I was up until 2 am.
Here's what quick advice I can offer. Start you seating chart early. I has started it at least a month before , but had to spend up to the Thursday before the wedding fixing it. I used Martha's website, and her free seating software was amazing for my purposes. I initially divided everyone up on my guest list on excel. I would cut and paste people that I thought should sit near each other, and then refined it on the Martha chart. Write out lots of instructions. When I walked into the room on Saturday, I didn't find anything that was out of place. Everything had been perfectly set up, and that made the late night worth it. This is a great chance to show off some of the things I ordered for the wedding from vistaprint, and my other paper projects.
My photocards
My reminder for people to go to the photobooth
Our drink menu- just a sample of the huge variety we had
I printed this on the other side of our photocards- I don't think anyone actually did it though :(
A picture of one of the table names I printed. They were all different types of wines- reds for one side of the room, whites for the other. I printed this on blank brochure paper I ordered for free form Vistaprint.
The sparklers- one of the many favors I offered. Last minute we bought a huge pack of these for $10 from Sam's Club. The cards on these were free business cards from Vistaprint. I didn't want to do traditional favors, but these were in a basket by the door, as well as cake slices. I am also sending prints in thank you cards from my mock photobooth.
Friday, November 20, 2009
4th of July: Booze Breakdown
Between the flower delivery on Thursday, and before we got started on the flower making, the boy's brother had gotten into town. My sister R, the boy, his brother P, and I all headed out to buy the massive quantities of beer we would be needing. A trip to Costco, Sam's Club, and Marc's later, the garage looked like this:
This was actually quite stressful, so I would recommend doing it some other way. The stores were packed, mostly because of the impending holiday. We took my dad's truck, and my sister's car in order to have enough room, and were stuck in lots of traffic going from store to store to get what we needed. After the first 3 stores, R and I came home to work on the bouquets, and sent the boys out to finish up. Neither of them are from the area, so they ran into a few problems. They went to Giant Eagle, only to be told by several nosy customers that they would find better deals at Marc's, an area discount store. After loading up the cart at Marc's (for the exact same prices), they wheeled up to the checkout, only to find out that they do not take credit cards. Leaving the cart, they head to the bank next door. Unfortunately, the ATM inside is broken, so the boy is forced to use the drive up ATM in the parking lot. On foot. I received a call containing alot of swear words around this time, right when I was showing my grandma how to wrap a bouquet. I'm giggling remembering the story, but two very frazzled boys returned awhile later.
I think we more than doubled our original alcohol budget, but I didn't want to think about it at the time. The good news was that we didn't run out! I'll do a budget break down in a later post, but I had felt that around $1,500 would be enough to buy beer, wine, and liquor, considering the boy works in the wine and liquor business. A quick note to people buying their own alcohol- we could have done it for even less than my budget. We had massive quantities of leftovers. I think we purchased around 25 cases of beer and had around 10 leftover from a wedding of 200 heavy drinkers. We also bought two cases of vodka, and had over one whole case left. There were half cases of all the other kinds of liquor and we had leftovers in everything except the Patron, which sold out. There were also a case each of 3 white wines, and 2 red wines. This is where we had the most leftovers. I think maybe a case and a half of wine was drunk total. This was the area where we went the most over, but my in-laws insisted, and since they were paying I didn't want to turn it into a huge argument. We ultimately brought 5 cases of beer home with us, which meant I didn't buy any all summer! We also have extremely well stocked liquor and wine cellars! But for those of you on a budget, know that it is possible to spend ~$1,000 on alcohol for your wedding.
This was actually quite stressful, so I would recommend doing it some other way. The stores were packed, mostly because of the impending holiday. We took my dad's truck, and my sister's car in order to have enough room, and were stuck in lots of traffic going from store to store to get what we needed. After the first 3 stores, R and I came home to work on the bouquets, and sent the boys out to finish up. Neither of them are from the area, so they ran into a few problems. They went to Giant Eagle, only to be told by several nosy customers that they would find better deals at Marc's, an area discount store. After loading up the cart at Marc's (for the exact same prices), they wheeled up to the checkout, only to find out that they do not take credit cards. Leaving the cart, they head to the bank next door. Unfortunately, the ATM inside is broken, so the boy is forced to use the drive up ATM in the parking lot. On foot. I received a call containing alot of swear words around this time, right when I was showing my grandma how to wrap a bouquet. I'm giggling remembering the story, but two very frazzled boys returned awhile later.
I think we more than doubled our original alcohol budget, but I didn't want to think about it at the time. The good news was that we didn't run out! I'll do a budget break down in a later post, but I had felt that around $1,500 would be enough to buy beer, wine, and liquor, considering the boy works in the wine and liquor business. A quick note to people buying their own alcohol- we could have done it for even less than my budget. We had massive quantities of leftovers. I think we purchased around 25 cases of beer and had around 10 leftover from a wedding of 200 heavy drinkers. We also bought two cases of vodka, and had over one whole case left. There were half cases of all the other kinds of liquor and we had leftovers in everything except the Patron, which sold out. There were also a case each of 3 white wines, and 2 red wines. This is where we had the most leftovers. I think maybe a case and a half of wine was drunk total. This was the area where we went the most over, but my in-laws insisted, and since they were paying I didn't want to turn it into a huge argument. We ultimately brought 5 cases of beer home with us, which meant I didn't buy any all summer! We also have extremely well stocked liquor and wine cellars! But for those of you on a budget, know that it is possible to spend ~$1,000 on alcohol for your wedding.
4th of July: Doing my own flowers!
Early Thursday morning, my mom and I were awakened by the delivery of a new kitchen table. They were also cutting it really close! We were able to move their old table into the garage, which turned out perfectly, because an hour later I received my shipment of flowers! My original order had been to Fifty Flowers for 100 white ranunculus, but they canceled it a few days before the wedding due to shortages. I was very disappointed, but unwilling to substitute with a more expensive flower. I quickly placed my order with Flowers and Freshness. I ordered 100 roses, and 50 stems of hypericum berries.
They were great, and I highly recommend them. I was able to order 25 each of 4 different rose types, which were jade(green), limo(green), twin(green), and cream. With shipping, the total was $160. I also purchased a bunch of green hydrangeas for my bouquet, and a huge bunch of orange roses at a local Sam's Club for about $30. Including supplies I bought at the dollar store(floral tape, wire, ribbon), I spent about $200.
I wish I had more pictures of the bouquet making, but we were all busy. My mom and I filled big buckets with water and flower food, and stuck all the flowers in them in the garage. This past summer in the northeast/Midwest area was quite rainy and cool, and the few days leading up to my wedding was no exception, so the flowers did great sitting in the garage. My grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, and sister came over, and we got started. I have never made a bouquet or have any experience with flower arranging, and neither did any of my helpers. I just want to clarify that. I don't think my bouquets were an amazing work of art, but I thought they were lovely and worked for our purposes.
Our basic strategy was to wrap 3 roses together (1 of each of the greens)with one stem of hypericum berries, and then wrap 4 of these together into a bouquet for the bridesmaids. I also added a few peacock feathers to kind of fan out from the edge. We wrapped these all with lots of floral tape, and double secured the edges with some hot glue. We left long stems that we could then stick back in the buckets. They would be finished on Saturday morning!
For my own bouquet, I used the whole bunch of green hydrangeas, and the cream roses. This bouquet was extremely difficult to make, because the hydrangea stems are very thick, and the cream rose heads kept getting popped off. I put in the ostrich feathers to see how it would look, but later pulled them out.
We then worked on the boutonnieres. For the two fathers, we used a rose, a stem of hypericum berries, and a peacock feather. The groomsmen got a large stem of hypericum berries, and a peacock feather. I didn't make the groom's yet, as I would use a stem from my own bouquet on Saturday morning. We also left these stems very long, so they could sit in the water until they were ready to be finished. My mom also made small bouquets for her and my mother-in-law using the orange roses.
I enjoyed this work and very much appreciated my group of impromptu helpers. It was actually quite enjoyable to spend this time with my family in the calm before the storm. However, it did take the five of us around five hours to make eight bouquets, and seven boutonnieres. So make sure you allot a good amount of time. I did not find this to be difficult at all though. There are many great videos on Youtube that will show you the basic art of using floral tape. It is weird to work with at first, but just pull and stretch it, and it will stick to itself.
Saturday morning, before hair and make-up, I sat out on my deck with a few of my bridesmaids to cut the stems, and wrap them in ribbon. I used a gauzy gold for the girls and boys, and a satin cream for mine and the boy's. After wrapping them I stuck green push pins up into the stems to hold the ribbon. I showed the girls, and they were able to finish the bouquets easily. For the boy, I pulled out a spring of hydrangea from my bouquet, paired it with a berry sprig, and wrapped it in cream ribbon. The boutonnieres need more glue gun glue to get the ribbon to stick. There was also a slight crisis when I realized I didn't have any pins, which I solved by snipping the longer bouquet pics off halfway.
The sun was shining with promise for the beautiful day ahead, and I have never been more at peace and clear- minded than I was on that morning. It took about an hour to finish the bouquets and boutonnieres. Most people have commented on how easy- going I was on my wedding day, so I know that this is not for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second, and would not have done it any other way. I got all these bouquets and boutonnieres for $200, and we also used the leftover flowers for my cake and to decorate the house. My photographer took a few pictures of them on the deck when she got to the house.
Here's a teaser picture of them in action on the big day!
They were great, and I highly recommend them. I was able to order 25 each of 4 different rose types, which were jade(green), limo(green), twin(green), and cream. With shipping, the total was $160. I also purchased a bunch of green hydrangeas for my bouquet, and a huge bunch of orange roses at a local Sam's Club for about $30. Including supplies I bought at the dollar store(floral tape, wire, ribbon), I spent about $200.
I wish I had more pictures of the bouquet making, but we were all busy. My mom and I filled big buckets with water and flower food, and stuck all the flowers in them in the garage. This past summer in the northeast/Midwest area was quite rainy and cool, and the few days leading up to my wedding was no exception, so the flowers did great sitting in the garage. My grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, and sister came over, and we got started. I have never made a bouquet or have any experience with flower arranging, and neither did any of my helpers. I just want to clarify that. I don't think my bouquets were an amazing work of art, but I thought they were lovely and worked for our purposes.
Our basic strategy was to wrap 3 roses together (1 of each of the greens)with one stem of hypericum berries, and then wrap 4 of these together into a bouquet for the bridesmaids. I also added a few peacock feathers to kind of fan out from the edge. We wrapped these all with lots of floral tape, and double secured the edges with some hot glue. We left long stems that we could then stick back in the buckets. They would be finished on Saturday morning!
For my own bouquet, I used the whole bunch of green hydrangeas, and the cream roses. This bouquet was extremely difficult to make, because the hydrangea stems are very thick, and the cream rose heads kept getting popped off. I put in the ostrich feathers to see how it would look, but later pulled them out.
We then worked on the boutonnieres. For the two fathers, we used a rose, a stem of hypericum berries, and a peacock feather. The groomsmen got a large stem of hypericum berries, and a peacock feather. I didn't make the groom's yet, as I would use a stem from my own bouquet on Saturday morning. We also left these stems very long, so they could sit in the water until they were ready to be finished. My mom also made small bouquets for her and my mother-in-law using the orange roses.
I enjoyed this work and very much appreciated my group of impromptu helpers. It was actually quite enjoyable to spend this time with my family in the calm before the storm. However, it did take the five of us around five hours to make eight bouquets, and seven boutonnieres. So make sure you allot a good amount of time. I did not find this to be difficult at all though. There are many great videos on Youtube that will show you the basic art of using floral tape. It is weird to work with at first, but just pull and stretch it, and it will stick to itself.
Saturday morning, before hair and make-up, I sat out on my deck with a few of my bridesmaids to cut the stems, and wrap them in ribbon. I used a gauzy gold for the girls and boys, and a satin cream for mine and the boy's. After wrapping them I stuck green push pins up into the stems to hold the ribbon. I showed the girls, and they were able to finish the bouquets easily. For the boy, I pulled out a spring of hydrangea from my bouquet, paired it with a berry sprig, and wrapped it in cream ribbon. The boutonnieres need more glue gun glue to get the ribbon to stick. There was also a slight crisis when I realized I didn't have any pins, which I solved by snipping the longer bouquet pics off halfway.
The sun was shining with promise for the beautiful day ahead, and I have never been more at peace and clear- minded than I was on that morning. It took about an hour to finish the bouquets and boutonnieres. Most people have commented on how easy- going I was on my wedding day, so I know that this is not for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second, and would not have done it any other way. I got all these bouquets and boutonnieres for $200, and we also used the leftover flowers for my cake and to decorate the house. My photographer took a few pictures of them on the deck when she got to the house.
Here's a teaser picture of them in action on the big day!
Monday, August 3, 2009
4th of July: Wedding Recaps
Well hello Clevelanders! My first blog from the other side! I have had several e-mails in the past month asking me all about the Courthouse and what it is like getting married there. I had no idea that so many people were getting help from my blog. I appreciate the e-mails very much, and will do as much as I can to help everyone. (Incidentally, I am starting a small business as a wedding coordinator. Since the wedding I have had numerous requests from friends/family to help out with their weddings, and because of my genuine enjoyment of the process, I am hoping to turn it into something I can do on a regular basis. I will likely be extremely cheap or free for my first few attempts, but I am excited!!)
On Wednesday morning, the boy and I packed the car up, and made our way into Cleveland, and drove immediately to my hair trial. I know I was cutting it close, but I was never able to meet up with a hairstylist on any of my other trips into town. I brought a pack of hair extensions I bought At Sally's beauty supply, and my laptop full of inspiration pictures of Carrie Underwood.
I immediately clicked with my stylist Becky as she played around with my hair. I left feeling confident that she would pull off what I wanted for my hair. Here's a few pics of the trial (I have NO make up on here, so just look at the hair :) I wanted to have my bangs pulled back a little more on the day, and have a little more height on top. She will be coming to my house on the morning of the wedding.
After that, we made our way downtown to pick up our marriage license. Since we are getting married in Cleveland, the spot to pick up our licence is the Courthouse! It was so surreal walking in there and realizing that in just a few days we would be back there at our reception! It only took us about 15 minutes to park, walk in, fill out a quick paper, pay $40 cash, and walk out with our marriage license!!!!
After that, we made our way to my house to unpack the car. We had a bunch of liquor, boxes of chargers, all of our luggage, and my wedding dress in the back! After unpacking, the boy, my mom, and I ran out to the store to pick up some foot pads for our shoes, and for the boy to pick up a last minute gift for his groomsmen. I also did not have a wedding band. The fantasy band with emeralds that I had wanted did not exist anywhere, so I had to end up getting it custom made. I wanted to look around for a good fake option to use for the ceremony, but they didn't make anything small enough for my minuscule finger(4.25), and I realized that I just wanted to use my engagement ring in the ceremony, since it already had alot of meaning to me. Besides, I already had a brand new fabulous 3 carat blue topaz ring that I would be wearing on the big day as my something blue.
After we went home, my friend (and bridesmaid!) and her husband stopped over for some beers and to help us assemble my programs. The boy and I had stayed up late at his work to print them the night before. This was honestly a very last minute project for me that I did not feel like spending a whole lot of effort on. I printed the pages off on a laser printer in black and white, and bought some cardstock in shiny gold, white, and black, and figured I could figure out some way to bind them. We ended up just folding the pages inside the cardstock, and using some stretchy ribbon to hold them together. We had a Catholic ceremony, so if anyone wants my template, just ask! Here is a picture of a finished one. These went into a basket at the front door of the church, and I only had one left out of the 75 I made. My sister stamped the peacock stamp at the back underneath the quotes I had looked up about peacocks.
They also helped us to put our place cards into our wine corks that we had cut slits into and alphabetize them all. I don't have any pictures of us putting them together, but here is a picture of them in action on the big day.
After that it was time for bed! One day closer to the wedding!
On Wednesday morning, the boy and I packed the car up, and made our way into Cleveland, and drove immediately to my hair trial. I know I was cutting it close, but I was never able to meet up with a hairstylist on any of my other trips into town. I brought a pack of hair extensions I bought At Sally's beauty supply, and my laptop full of inspiration pictures of Carrie Underwood.
I immediately clicked with my stylist Becky as she played around with my hair. I left feeling confident that she would pull off what I wanted for my hair. Here's a few pics of the trial (I have NO make up on here, so just look at the hair :) I wanted to have my bangs pulled back a little more on the day, and have a little more height on top. She will be coming to my house on the morning of the wedding.
After that, we made our way downtown to pick up our marriage license. Since we are getting married in Cleveland, the spot to pick up our licence is the Courthouse! It was so surreal walking in there and realizing that in just a few days we would be back there at our reception! It only took us about 15 minutes to park, walk in, fill out a quick paper, pay $40 cash, and walk out with our marriage license!!!!
After that, we made our way to my house to unpack the car. We had a bunch of liquor, boxes of chargers, all of our luggage, and my wedding dress in the back! After unpacking, the boy, my mom, and I ran out to the store to pick up some foot pads for our shoes, and for the boy to pick up a last minute gift for his groomsmen. I also did not have a wedding band. The fantasy band with emeralds that I had wanted did not exist anywhere, so I had to end up getting it custom made. I wanted to look around for a good fake option to use for the ceremony, but they didn't make anything small enough for my minuscule finger(4.25), and I realized that I just wanted to use my engagement ring in the ceremony, since it already had alot of meaning to me. Besides, I already had a brand new fabulous 3 carat blue topaz ring that I would be wearing on the big day as my something blue.
After we went home, my friend (and bridesmaid!) and her husband stopped over for some beers and to help us assemble my programs. The boy and I had stayed up late at his work to print them the night before. This was honestly a very last minute project for me that I did not feel like spending a whole lot of effort on. I printed the pages off on a laser printer in black and white, and bought some cardstock in shiny gold, white, and black, and figured I could figure out some way to bind them. We ended up just folding the pages inside the cardstock, and using some stretchy ribbon to hold them together. We had a Catholic ceremony, so if anyone wants my template, just ask! Here is a picture of a finished one. These went into a basket at the front door of the church, and I only had one left out of the 75 I made. My sister stamped the peacock stamp at the back underneath the quotes I had looked up about peacocks.
They also helped us to put our place cards into our wine corks that we had cut slits into and alphabetize them all. I don't have any pictures of us putting them together, but here is a picture of them in action on the big day.
After that it was time for bed! One day closer to the wedding!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Courthouse Acoustics
I've had two comments on this issue, so I want to try and give my opinion. My wedding is still two and a half weeks away, so I can't be sure on how this is going to turn out. I can say that I hired a DJ, mostly because the bands I looked into seemed really expensive, and then they are limited on the music they can play. My friends and family like to get down to some current music, especially later in the night! The DJ is the brother of my best friend, so I trust him, have heard him before, and am getting a little bit of a deal.
Last week we stopped by the courthouse to check it out. Adam the DJ met me there, and he walked around, listening to the acoustics. It is very hard to tell where the echo will be when it is completely empty inside. He is going to set up on the opposite side of the staircase, with big speakers on either side of the pillars. I spoke with guards there, who have sat through many weddings, and offered the advice that sometimes it sounds good and sometimes it doesn't. Great help! Hopefully Adam can show up a little early to set up, crank the music, and make any needed adjustments. When the building is full of tables and people, the echo might be absorbed too. Here is a picture of the layout we are going with. Depending on the final count, the buffet will be either set up on the dance floor and taken down, or set up against the area they curtain off for the kitchen in the back.
Also, I am sooo glad to help anyone who is having a wedding at the courthouse! There was virtually NO information out there when I started planning, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me! daas325@gmail
Friday, May 8, 2009
Downtown Cleveland Map
Even though I had the invitations designed by a professional, I figured I could handle the map all on my own. Some custom maps can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. It took me several hours with PowerPoint but I'm quite pleased with the results!
I used google maps, and the tracing tool in PowerPoint to make this. A very good tutorial was over at Weddingbee by Miss Ballet Flat. The icons were either free on the web, or found in PowerPoint clip art. Hopefully this will help our less downtown savvy guests!
Would you try making your own map?
I used google maps, and the tracing tool in PowerPoint to make this. A very good tutorial was over at Weddingbee by Miss Ballet Flat. The icons were either free on the web, or found in PowerPoint clip art. Hopefully this will help our less downtown savvy guests!
Would you try making your own map?
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