We are married!

We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful day! Thanks to all the Knotties for your wonderful ideas and help! There are some things that were absolutely perfect, and some others that could have been improved on, so I have decided to share some of the things that worked and the things that I learned. Hopefully this will help those of you still in planning stages! Professional and non-professional pictures are below. Feel free to borrow them, but please give me and my photograher (Natalie Hagen) credit if you're using a professional photo.

Bachelor/Bachelorette Night
What worked:
Quite a few of our friends came into town on Thursday before the wedding, so rather than doing separate bachelor and bachelorette parties, we decided to all go out together, and I'm so glad we did it that way! I felt much more comfortable with Stewart there, and it was a wonderful opportunity for our different groups of friends to start to get to know each other.
What we would do differently:
In our case it wasn't possible, but it would have been a little less stressful if it hadn't been two days before the wedding. Despite our best intentions not to get too crazy, our friends had other ideas and we both ended up with major hangovers. Not fun when trying to get the last minute details taken care of the morning before the wedding (or on Stewart's case, his golf game!)

Stewart and I with our college friends

Yes, we even danced on a bar

Preparations
What worked:
Trying to get everything done ahead of time (trust me, it's not possible)
What I would do differently:
I would have been smarter about what I spent my time on the last few days before the wedding. You will have people who offer to help....take them up on it! Spend your time doing things that only you can do, give the easy but time consuming tasks (like tying bows, assembling programs,e tc.) to others. If I had spent those last couple days communicating with vendors and double checking things, rather than punching holes in the programs, some things might have gone more smoothly.

Photo Booth
What worked:
We wanted to rent a photo booth but the budget couldn't handle it. Instead, we hung a curtain and set up a little photo area. Two friends traded off and took digital pictures of guests as they came in. We're going to put the pictures with the wish cards to make a guest book, and send a copy of the pictures with our thank-you notes. The pictures came out really cute.
What I would do differently:
Not everyone had their picture taken, so I would try to make sure everyone knows about it somehow. Also, we spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to leave the camera set up and on a timer so people could come back downstairs and take silly pictures as the night went on. Not a single person did, so I wish we hadn't bothered with that.

Receiving Line
What worked:
At our day-of coordinator's suggestion, we didn't do a receiving line at the church. Instead, we let people get to the reception and start enjoying themselves with cocktails. After pictures, when we arrived at the reception, we stood on the landing of the stairs leading up to the ballroom and greeted our guests as they made their way up the stairs. It was a relaxed setting, and it gave us a chance to make sure we spoke to every person. Worked perfectly!

Greeting old friends as they made their way up to the ballroom

Drinks
What worked:
Serving wine and beer as the only alcohol was a good compromise, since Stewart's family doesn't drink at all, but my family and our friends certainly do. It probably helped save us some money too.

Cake
What worked:
A fancy cake wasn't a priority, so we found a lady who was not a professional baker but made delicious cakes. We choose a super-simple shape with no minimal decoration and had the florist put a couple sprigs of hydrangea on it. Personally, I loved the way it looked! We even got to choose different flavors (two layers of carrot cake, two layers of vanilla with mocha filling). Cost of the 4 layer cake (enough to feed 200 people): $200!
What we would do diffently:
We forgot to tell the caterer that different layers had different flavors, and that we wanted people to be able to choose. They just put a piece in front of each person, without asking what they wanted. Most people didn't know there were multiple flavors, so they didn't know to ask. I would make sure to let the caterer know to give people a choice.

Cutting our inexpensive but beautiful (and delicious) cake

Day-after Brunch
What worked:
I insisted on having a casual brunch the day after the wedding. So many of our guests were people we don't usually get to see, so I wanted to spend as much time with everyone as possible. We booked a pavillion at a local park and had juice, coffee, doughnuts, bagels, fruit, etc. It was super simple, but turned out to be so nice. When the alarm first went off in the morning I asked myself what I had been thinking, but once people started arriving, I was so glad that we had done it. It ended up being mostly family with a few close friends showing up. It was such a nice way to relax and chat with everyone for a few extra hours.
What we would do differently:
We were not very organized about informing people about the brunch, so we Stewart and I pulled away from the reception, I remember yelling to my mom "Tell people about the brunch!!" We should have let people know ahead of time (possibly even before they made their travel plans.)

Stewart's mom and grandmother at the brunch.

Our familes really got to relax and get to know each other even more.

Professional Photos

Flip-flops my mom made for the bridesmaids

My grandmother's purse

Going in to the church to take pictures

Loved my bouquet!

We laughed a lot!

With my crazy little brother

Me and mom

I thought this picture would be cheesy but I kind of like it!

With beautiful little Grace

Susan's husband Jonathan got stuck handing out programs

Stewart's mom lighting the family candle.

My brother walking my mom down the aisle.

My dear friend Erica singing "Gratitude" by Nichole Nordeman

My cousin Allison coaxing Grace down the aisle. She made it!

I carried my late grandfather's ring with me.

Me and Gram

This one is one of my favorites!

I melt when he kisses my forehead...

Now on to the reception.....

"Baby Got Back" came on the radio as we pulled up to the reception!

My bustle had popped off when I sat down in the car, so I'm holding my train up.

Greeting my friends from Nashville.

The upstairs ballroom. It looked to magical with the lights!

One of the floral centerpieces.

The cd favor was at each placesetting. They were a big hit!

The wedding cake and Krispy Kreme grooms cake (which was half devoured before we could even get a picture!)

We did it!

First dance to "Someone Like You" by Van Morrison

My brother with some of my high school friends.

My family sure had fun!

Chatting with Stewart's aunts and uncles.

Stewart dancing with his mom.

Me dancing with my Dad. (It is still a mystery why he thought it was a good idea to change out of his tux...)

In honor of Father's Day (which was the following day), we invited all the fathers and daughters that were there to join us on the dance floor about halfway through the song. People loved it!

Even Grace danced with her Daddy.

Our friends can really dance!

We took a couple dance lessons so we could keep up with them!

So proud of our dancing!

My "Don't smash it!" face

My best friend's toast made me cry.

Our faces in the sparkler pictures crack me up!

Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

My brother walked me down the aisle and my dad gave me away.

My uncle keeping Grace entertained

Watching the wonderful slideshow that our friends put together

Vendor Reviews

Invitations and paper products- Smashing Cards- I wanted a simple and colorful invitation but couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. I considered trying to do it myself but after making the Save the Dates, I decided I didn’t want to invest that type of time. Ashley at Smashing Cards custom designed our invitations for much less than we would have paid at most other companies. We also used her for our CD labels, program labels, and table numbers. There was a mix-up in the shipping that delayed our invitations, so she offered to give us 25% off the other items we were planning to order. I was very happy with the invitations and we received MANY compliments on them. Unfortunately, one of my mom’s co-workers found a major typo that managed to slip by the rest of us: apparently we were getting married on June SEVENTEETH. I don’t know how many guests, if any, noticed the mistake, but I was still upset. Ashley responded by giving us our program labels and table numbers for free, even though I was partially at fault for missing the error on the sample. She also re-printed 10 invitations so we and our parents could have corrected copies for our scrapbooks and such. Overall I am pleased with Smashing Cards- I think Ashley has a great eye for design, good prices, and is nice to work with. She posts the designs as she is working on them on a website for you to view and make changes. Her small business is growing so her response time toward the end was somewhat delayed, but if you have the time I would recommend looking into her company (just spellcheck!!) Bonus: She got all the ribbon we needed at wholesale process and allowed us to order as much as we wanted.

Gown- Berti’s Bridals in Boca Raton- I went to a lot of places looking for gowns; most had one or two that I even remotely considered trying on. Berti’s had about 10 times that many that I liked. I loved my gown, and it was one of the least expensive that I had tried on. Suzanne, the owner, has a good eye for beautiful gowns that will not break the bank. I went back to try it on several times and Suzanne was just as sweet as she could be (she even kept up with my weight loss and encouraged me along the way). They had just gotten a new seamstress who did not impress me too much….Suzanne had to tell her how to do the bustle, and then she forgot to put the loops on for it to hook to. Luckily we figured it out with plenty of time for her to fix it. My gown had a weird wrinkle right at the waist….when I had tried on the sample Suzanne assured me that once we got the actual gown and I had my bustier on that it would be fine. Well, it was definitely still there when I went for my fittings, and at that point she totally changed her tune and said “Well that’s just naturally where your body bends, every dress would do that.” At that point it was too late to do anything else but suck it up and deal with it. It did bother me….I wanted to feel perfect in my gown but I worried about that stupid wrinkle.

Veil- Occansey Designs- I loved my veil, it came very quickly, and it was reasonably priced. It was custom cut so it was less poofy on top, and I got to specify all the measurements. Customer service was great….I e-mailed a picture of my gown and they even helped give suggestions as to the cut of the veil. I believe it cost around $50 including shipping for a custom cut cathedral length veil. Highly recommended.

Florist- Lynda Tartaro at the Blossom Shoppe- Lynda was absolutely amazing! Definitely one of my favorite vendors. I initially was frustrated with the florist search, but Lynda was an angel. I felt like she really took the time to learn what I wanted, and she absolutely came through. I had my heart set on mainly hydrangeas and peonies, which I know are not cheap, but I was amazed by how low her final cost was. I had also shown her pictures of tweedia, which are the tiny blue flowers in my bouquet. At our first meeting she said that she had never used them and didn’t even know where she could get them. (That’s what most florists had said). About a week after we booked Lynda, she e-mailed me to say that she had found a grower somewhere that could get them. It really impressed me that even though I had said it wasn’t a big deal and that I didn’t really need to have them, she went above and beyond and found them for me. She even placed a small blue vase of all tweedia on our table along with the centerpiece. She was super sweet the day of the wedding and afterward, even after some MAJOR inconveniences (see review of Boynton Woman’s Club). Highly recommended.

DJ- Matt from Vision DJ’s- We booked Vision in part because of their interactive database on the website, and also as a result of a couple good conversations with Jorge, the owner. Unfortunately Jorge was already booked for our weekend, so Matt was our DJ. Overall he did a very good job at getting people on the dance floor, which is what I wanted. He kept things very upbeat without any of the cheesiness! I do wish that he had played a couple more slow songs….I don’t remember any (aside from the special dances) until the very end of the night. He had a little bit of speaker trouble in the beginning but that seemed to resolve itself. I think people had a little bit of trouble understanding him when he was using the mike, but that wasn’t very often so it wasn’t a big deal. The only thing that I was really disappointed in was that he messed up the “University of Florida” song that I had planned. I had told him to invite all the UF alumni to the dance floor, and once everyone had come out he was supposed to start the music to “We Are the Boys from Old Florida” (which is sung at every football game). I had printed out copies of the lyrics to give to people who might had forgotten the words. Twice I told him what to do, once at our meeting and once when we first got to the reception. Well after the cake cutting and the toasts, all of the sudden he just started the music, with no lead-in or anything. So people were totally confused, didn’t really realize why the music was playing, etc. My poor mom was so upset because she had forgotten the words and was planning on using one of the copies (which I didn’t have a chance to pass out!) It was one of the “unique” aspects of the evening which I think would have been really neat. I guess I should have written down exactly what I wanted him to do, rather than just telling him verbally. But overall, the music of the evening was good.

Reception- Boynton Woman’s Club- I think this was a big part of what made our wedding seem so special. The BWC is a beautiful, historic building, and people really seemed to enjoy and appreciate that fact. It’s definitely old, and I stressed about whether it would look dingy, but it ended up being just the opposite. I worried about the ugly peach walls, but in the candlelight, that ugly peach color seemed to add to the glow of the room. The ugly mural on the stage somehow turned out to be a beautiful backdrop for the cake and our table, once we added some ficus trees. I loved all the dark wood, the exposed beam ceilings, etc. However, there was a major problem. The BWC is two stories, with the kitchen and the rooms for the cocktail hour downstairs, and the ballroom upstairs. There is an elevator, which we specifically asked about and were assured that it worked. Well, on the day before the wedding, it stopped working. After repeated calls to the contact person, we were told that someone was coming to fix it. Well, I guess they came and it worked for a while, but apparently when the florist came to bring the flowers up the stairs, she got stuck. In the elevator. For 45 minutes. Thank goodness I didn’t find out about it until afterwards, because I would have freaked out. I still don’t know how they got her out. Obviously then the elevator was non-functional for the rest of the night. As a result, my elderly grandmother had to be carried up the stairs, and the serving of dinner was impacted. My mom contacted the BWC after the wedding about it, and they have NOT been very understanding or apologetic. Recommend with reservations.

Catering- Americaters- I was very lucky to find Americaters, who was able to provide the food, staff, and all the rentals we needed for the wedding. The Chivary chairs were the deal-maker, since I knew they would have a big visual impact but were too expensive to rent from anywhere else. The staff of Americaters, particularly Alex and Victor, were so easy to work with and very sweet throughout the planning process. I was very pleased with our menu selections (Chicken Marsala or Pork Tendeloin with mango sauce), unfortunately most of the food at the wedding itself was cold. Alex has informed me that this was because the wait staff had to carry the food up and down stairs instead of using the elevator. Obviously that was disappointing, because I feel that a lot of people did not enjoy their meal. There were also some drink issues: I had informed them ahead of time that a large portion of our guests don’t drink alcohol, and requested that in addition to the beer, wine, and soda, we also have sweet tea served. At the start of dinner when Stewart asked for sweet tea, we were told that it was only for the cocktail hour (which is not what I had asked for.) In addition, the servers were only offering wine to the seated guests, meaning that the non-drinking guests had to go up to the bar to get their soda. This normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but most of Stewart’s family has probably never had a drink in their lives and were not thrilled with having to go wait behind my beer-drinking college buddies to approach a BAR to get a soda. However, when my mom informed Alex about the problem, it was quickly adjusted. Overall I am happy with Americaters.

Day-Of Coordinator- Wedding Planning Firm- Since I was one of the unlucky brides who lost my money to Martha of Bridal Bliss, the wedding planner who took our money and run, I didn’t have a lot of money left for that part of the budget. Since we were already using Americaters and the Wedding Planning Firm was the least expensive, it was an easy decision to go with them. I would say that hiring Alex was worth it just for all the set-up that she did on the day before and day of the wedding. Since our reception venue was definitely a blank canvas, it needed a lot of work and she absolutely made it magical. She brought an assistant the day before the wedding to hang the globe lights, which I think were one of the things that made the reception so beautiful. In the last couple days I probably left her with a lot of unanswered questions, but she put all the pieces together and made everything work. I think that during the wedding itself she was having to devote some time to her Americaters responsibilities, but like I said, having her to do all the set-up was worth the extra expense. Recommended.

Photographer- Natalie Hagen, Nicholasville, KY- Natalie is a personal friend, so obviously I am somewhat biased. OK, very biased. But I believe that her photos speak for themselves. She is one of the sweetest, most energetic people that I know. A lot of my family and friends already knew her, but after the wedding I had several people in Stewart's family ask me about her. "That photographer of yours was so sweet!!! Where did you find her??" You can't be around Natalie for very long without smiling. I could go on and on.....she's wonderful! Highly recommended.

Videographer- Kennedy Video Productions, St. Petersburg, FL- I fell in love with their work after watching another knottie's video, and gladly paid the very reasonable travel fee to have them film my wedding. I haven't received the video yet, but this husband and wife team were a joy to work with. I never met them face to face until I arrived at the church the day of the wedding, but I immediately felt completely at ease with Kathleen. She was with me practically all day without being intrusive. I can't wait to see the video!

Non-professional pictures

Getting ready

Ceremony

Reception

Go Gators!!!

Planning Bio

Engagement

Stewart proposed in his backyard, which was completely lit up with candles.
It was beautiful! Here are a couple pictures from that night...

Go Gators!!

Stewart and I were born and raised as Gators, and we met at the University of Florida. This picture was taken right after the win over Georgia this season. We're planning to invite all the UF alumni (there will be tons of them) to sing "We are the boys from Ol' Florida" at the reception. We've even talked about naming our reception tables after Gator football greats...although I don't think my mom was too thrilled about that suggestion. What can I say...it's our shared passion!

Planning

I've drawn some great inspiration from other Knottie brides. I've tried to give credit for a many pictures as I could. If I didn't give you credit for something, page me on the South Florida board and let me know!

Church: Trinity United Methodist (thanks to my wonderful MOH)

Reception: Boynton Woman's Club

Photography: Natalie Hagen
Our dear friend Natalie is going to be our photographer. I have known her practically my whole life, and I am so excited to have her right there with us, instead of someone we don't know. Below are a few of her photos from other weddings. Click here to view her website. She's based in Kentucky, but will travel!

Videography: Kennedy Video Productions

Caterer: Americaters

Day of the wedding coordinator: Alex at The Wedding Planning Firm

DJ: Matt from Vision DJ's

Florist: Lynda from The Blossom Shoppe

Rings

I love my wedding band, I can't wait to wear it!

Stewart's ring...it's brushed on the top and shiny on the sides and inside.

Colors

I'm currently obsessed with blue and green, and the following pictures from ad52905 are basically the cause for the obsession...

Reception Table Ideas

On half of the tables we are going to have hurricane vases filled with apples like the photo below.

The other tables will have galvanized pails filled with blue, green and white flowers.

Other decorations

I adore this hydrangea wreath, but it was cut out due to budget :-(

(from SuthrnGal)

I love these galvanized pew buckets!

We're going to hang strings of globe lights from the exposed wood beam ceilings at the reception site, like at the Opryland Hotel below.

Wedding Party Attire

The bridesmaid dresses are in! They will all be wearing different dresses from Aria in Light Blue. We ordered them with an additional 6" in length to make them more tea-length than knee length.

Light Blue

Maid of Honor's dress

Bridesmaid Dresses