Bio

Our Wedding

We are high school sweethearts who started dating at the end of sophomore year. After almost 8 years we're finally gettin hitched. It's been a wonderful journey and I can't wait to marry my best friend. Because we've been together so long, we have literally grown up together. There are no "his" or "hers" friends. They're our friends. Our families also very good friends, which makes things fun.

We have a lot of out of town guests coming in for the wedding (hopefully). If everyone makes it, we'll have 10 different states represented! In fact, the only person in my bridal party who's still in Jersey is Rob's 11yr old cousin! We're inviting over 300 people, but more than likely about 250 people will come (we think). Because we have so many people we want to celebrate with them as much as possible.

We're planning a wonderful 5 day celebration between Christmas and New Years.

Thursday: Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner

Friday: Get to Know You Party (inviting everyone out for a pre-wedding party!)

Saturday: THE Wedding!!!

Sunday: Morning After Brunch

Monday: New Year's Eve Party (& My 25th Birthday!!!)

We're getting married on the 5th day of Christmas, which is 5 golden rings. So, we plan on incorporating that into our theme and logo. My heritage is Scottish and my original inspiration was to pull our wedding colors from my ancient tartan - which is orange and a dark teal. Since then, we've morphed into gold, copper, ivory and dark rust, with lots of candles.

When our caterer asked me to picture our dream wedding, I pictured my FI & I surrounded by all of our friends and famliy. Everyone was happy and celebrating, the room just glowed. It was like one big hug! We want it to feel warm and holiday-y.

If I stole any of your pics and forgot to credit you, please page me on the South Jersey board.

Our Wedding
The Details
Bridal Attire
Must Take Photos
"Day-After" Photo Shoot.
Bridal Party Pics
Vendor Info
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The Details
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The Bling that started it all!!
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Isn't it pretty?!

Our custom Save the Date Postcard
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FI is a big comic book/spidey fan, so Melis (a BM) drew this up for us. She's so talented!!

Ceremony & Reception Location
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The theatre is also called the Scottish Rite Theatre

We're planning on having the ceremony on the stage, with a reception to follow immediately.

Our reception location

The staircase my mom plans on using for MANY family pictures. It's not as green in person.

Centerpieces / Table Decor
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My centerpieces (literally) came to me in a dream. I woke up in the middle of the night with this idea and was up until 2am sketching and planning. We will be making 3' copper wire trees for each table. The copper will tie in my love for orange without being obnoxious. Pic on the left is my 1st draft. They've been fine tuned quite a bit, like the pic on the right (it's decorated for easter, but pretend there are ornaments on the branches, instead of eggs). Around the base, nestled in the fabric will be votives in glass holders and our favors. Our favors are champagne flutes with 3 different round, ball ornaments. They'll tie in with the ornaments hanging from the branches.

table number idea

Cake ideas
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A combination of these 3 cakes.

Other Reception Details
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Generational Table

Guest Book

LOVE the shimmery overlay on the table! It'll really pick up the luster in my dress.

Ornaments for centerpieces & favors

LOVE how wintery the sparklers make it look!! Maybe for on our way to the after party...

Flowers
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For the men

I found the perfect pic in a special edition Better Homes & Gardens magazine. If I can find it again, I'll scan and upload

Sparkles!!

Bridal Party Attire
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The BM's are each having different dresses (their choice) made out of this fabric. I'm also making Diggie, my Man-of-Honor, a vest and tie to match the girls' dresses. The GM's will wear gold vests & ties with black, 3-button tuxes.

Bridal Attire
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Here's what FI & I will be wearing for the Big Day! I will be wearing Ramona, in light gold (or maybe ivory) by Maggie Sottero. I didn't like it so much when looking at it on the website. But in person, it blew me away! Just goes to show you - you can't always tell online! I found it at a trunk show in Mass, 4.5hrs away from our home in Newark, NJ. God bless FI!! He woke up with me at 2:30am to get on the road and be at the salon in MA by 9am. He drove me all the way there, chose to stay in the car (he's very adamant about not seeing me in any gowns before THE big day) while I shopped. An hour and half later, he drove me home. He's SO good to me!!

FI will be wearing a 3-button black tux (like the GM's) but with an ivory vest and tie. I would REALLY like to purchase additional yards of my dress fabric from Maggie to make FI a vest & tie, so he'd match my dress. But I don't think Maggie does that. boo.

The day after the wedding - Trash the Dress!! www.trashthedress.com

Vest & tie like the left, 3-button - like the middle. I also might get FI and the Dad's photo cufflinks as part of their gift. They probably won't use them much but I just think they're cute.

(shown in light gold)

Since I was there by myself, I had to sneak some self-portraits in the dressing room. Hope you get the idea.

Bodice Detail

more front detail

Back and full length detail

Accessories & Hair Styles
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I plan on wearing my hair all up, but not super tight. I like a little softer look. Also want to wear my veil on top of my hair.

I know I don't want ivory or white shoes. Bring on the color!!

FI thinks these are silly but I'm making one anyway. I think they're cute!

Must Take Photos
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Even though we're having a giant wedding, I still want to try and do a group shot. Keep your fingers crossed!

Love how both these shots are different than your typical BP layout. It gives so much more depth and personality to the picture!

I <3 black & white!

"Day-After" Photo Shoot.
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We plan on doing a "day-after" photo shoot on the 30th, after brunch. Since our ceremony & reception are in the same location we want to use only a half hour for pictures. Both of us have tons of family and friends, so we want our focus to be group shots with them. But the next day, we will getting back in the dress & tux for a really fun, funky and totally unconventional shoot. Also, we are not doing e-pics.

Our photographers (Dollface Studio) have an amazing studio in this arts only loft building in Philly. Looks like an old converted factory or warehouse. I think we're going to start there and work our way around the city. I'm looking for pictures in unique, industrial places one wouldn't typically categorize as pretty. I think the juxtaposition of that with the soft, timeless beauty of bridal attire creates a beautiful aesthetic. I'm getting a lot of inspiration from John Michael Cooper's photographs and the pictures on trashthedress.com. Below are a few other pictures I really like.

Bridal Party Pics
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Us: Then & Now

Vendor Information
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Ceremony Location - The Scottish Rite Theatre

We both come from artistic background. Rob was a vocal performance major and I was a theatre major. We wanted to get married in a location that was different. We saw Ben Folds here and just loved this space! It's an old Masonic Temple converted to a 1,000 person theatre. All the windows are stained glass, so it still looks a little like a church but it's also very different. Very us!

Officiant - Jeff Edwards

My uncle, a Methodist minister, and all around good guy.

Reception Location - Collingswood Grand Ballroom

The Grand Ballroom is actually located underneath the theatre. It was recently renovated but done in a way that stays true to the time period of the building. Simply beautiful. For someone who was set against a hotel ballroom but has a 300 person guestlist, this was a perfect compromise. Barbara is their event coordinator and has been WONDERFUL so far. She just gets it.

Caterers - Barry's Catering

Not the cheapest caterer we interviewed, but we get SO much for our money. After calling all of the approved caterers (Collingswood has a list of 7), we just clicked with Barry & Dan. Our family and friends are def. more eater than drinkers, so we wanted to make sure they were well fed. I have no doubts that they will be stuffed! We haven't done a tasting yet, but we're really looking forward to it.

Cake Creator - Barry's Catering

It's included in our catering costs.

Florist - Haddonfield Florist Guild

They are a not-for-profit group that works with the largest Methodist church in south jersey. The guy who runs it, David, is an old family friend. Because they are not-for-profit, all their florist are volunteers, so basically all your paying for is the flowers (plus a little extra to cover their expense and make a little profit). While they're not a full service florist, I've seen their work and am totally stoked to be working with them. David is even going to take me to the Philly floral market to look at flowers so I can see all the options. We're not doing any floral centerpieces, just bouquets & boutonnieres (plus stuff for the moms). Either way, they are a HUGE find and will save us tons of money.

Photographer - Dollface Studio

The deposit is in and the contract has been signed. Our day-of pics will be done by Sarah & another photographer (TBD). Siobhan (the owner) will do our Day-After shoot. They seem to be very photojournalistic and unobtrusive. Our personalities just clickedGreat package for the money.

Bridesmaid Dresses - Jack B.'s on 4th St. in Philly

Bought the fabric and are making dresses. This is where we got the fabric. They're very pleasant to work with!!

Hair Stylist - Moments Salon & Spa

I go here. FI, his mom, dad, aunts, and cousins all go here. They are fantastic!!!

Other Vendor - Trunk Show - New York Lace Store Ltd.

They are located in Taunton, MA and were the only shop on the eastern seaboard having a Maggie Trunk Show within a reasonable amount of time for me. FI & I drove 4.5 hrs from NJ to MA and showed up on their doorstep at 8:45am Saturday morning. I didn't have an appointment but they were able to squeeze me in before it got crazy busy. I found the perfect dress. The sales girl who helped me was just lovely!! While I won't be buying my dress from them (we don't pay any sales tax on clothes here in jersey), I would recommend their shop to anyone in that area!! They were very accommodating and helpful.

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