Planning Bio  
Welcome to my Planning Bio!

We're Married!  Check out my Married Bio -- Mrs.OCandME



About Us
Engagement Party
Engagement Pictures
Planning Ideas
Flower and Decor Inspiration

Paper Products
Save the Dates
Rehearsal Dinner Invitations
Wedding Invitations
Programs
Menu Cards
Bar/Drink Menu

OOT Bags
Favors
Candy Bar
Placecards
Guestbook
DIY Extras
Wedding Attire
Bridal Shower
Bachelorette Party - Vegas!
Boudoir Pictures

Other Weddings!



About Us



We're Engaged!

We got engaged March 11, 2006 in Okemo, Vermont.  Tim proposed at the top of the mountain while we were snowboarding.  Even after 7 years of dating, it still was a total surprise, which I loved. 


We're planning a June 2007 wedding in the Hudson Valley, New York. 


If you would like to use my photographs, please credit me and the photographer, thank you!










Engagement Party

My mom threw us an engagement party at her house.  Our families were so excited to meet each other and hang out.  She put a tent in the backyard, set up a garden party type decor (everything white with green accents, paper lanterns, simple purple/green/white wildflowers on the tables).  It was perfect for us - everyone had a great time.  

My BIL made this guestbook for the party which was a huge hit - he enlarged this picture, put our heads on it and then mounted it to poster board.  Everyone passed it around, got a good laugh and signed the back.

Lanterns - www.asianideas.com
Favors - blondies/brownies (me); tags - www.myweddinglabels.com



Engagement Ring




Engagement Pictures

Irina (NYC knottie AnotherName) took our engagement pictures in Brooklyn (Prospect Park, Park Slope, and Grand Army Plaza).   She did an excellent job - I would highly recommend her.  Please email me for her contact information or for details of the shoot.










We also took some earlier DIY Engagement Photos (taken by me!) - also in Prospect Park, Brooklyn



I was very happy with these DIY pictures -
 it only required a camera, tripod, and remote shutter.  We did not budget for engagement pictures with our wedding photographer, but it was great to have these for our wedding website, annoucements, etc and best of all, they were free!

If you have any questions on how to set up the shots or equipment, shoot me an email.




Planning Ideas


We really wanted our wedding to reflect our personality - we did not have a "theme" but we did have a general look that we tried to keep with to make all the details blend.  We also were determined make the wedding fun and easy for our guests, since many of them were from out of town.  We did not have an unlimited budget so I made many of the detailed decor items myself and did a lot of research on vendors in the NYC/NJ/Hudson Valley area to make sure I was getting the most from our budget.  Please email me if you have any questions on any of the DIY items or vendors, I would be happy to help.




This is our general color scheme - ivory/white, chocolate brown, blush and apple/tropical green. 

Monogram by knottie Elucky14.


My husband and I are both scientists and are very into the ourdoors and environmental conservation, so we wanted to incorporate as many "green" ideas and natural products into our wedding as possible.   






Location - Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York



After researching a ton of locations, we chose Locust Grove.  It was perfect for us - only one event at a time, ceremony outside in the garden, cocktail hour on a blue-stone wrap-around porch, and an indoor reception room that was not too stuffy.  The building was built with a lot of green design features and the property in general has a very natural, not contrived feeling to it. 













I visited the following locations and caterers and can provide feedback on them if anyone is interested:

Catlin Creek &  Gardens
Mills Mansion
Benmarl Vineyards
Clinton Vineyards
Bridge Creek Catering
Holbert's Catering
Main Course Catering
Oliver Kita Fine Catering, Inc.
Belvedere Mansion
The Garrison
Round Hill



Flower and Decor Inspiration








Paper Products

Save-the-Dates




I created our Save-the-Dates using photographs that I took at the wedding site and around the area.
We used Vistaprint to make glossy postcards and attached a magnet with a picture from the day we got engaged to the back with clear photo corners. 

We used recycled kraft paper envelopes from Envelope Mall and made seals to
close them with labels from www.labelsbythesheet.com


Check out the pics of the finished envelopes, label designs and
DH diligently cutting out the labels!







Rehearsal Dinner Invitations



We made our rehearsal dinner invitations simple.  I purchased the blank cards at Target on clearance (!) and my husband and I came up with the wording and then I printed them on my home printer. 

They were much more informal than our wedding invitations, but still an actual invitation which I preferred over email or evite. 

I put "regrets only" on the invitation so people would not have to RSVP twice.










Wedding Invitations


We ordered our invitations through Not from a box.  They were great.  It allowed us to design the invitation ourselves - we chose the fonts, papers, motifs, setup, and wording.  They set up the files, print the invitations and get them to you fast.  They were great and I would highly recommend them.

We ordered the backpocket style with bronze pockets, ivory inserts and chocolate/olive green inks.  We printed the outer envelopes ourselves on our home printer and they turned out wonderful (even got several compliments and we did not hand-address them!).  We also thought that inner envelopes seemed like a waste of paper, so we did without them and no one even noticed.  We did include a sheet of handmade paper on top of invitation inside the envelope  - I think it really made the invite unique.  The paper was a recycled paper from Paper Presentation.








Other DIY Items

Programs





I made the programs myself - they were not that difficult to design and I got a ton of compliments on them.  I know that a lot of people say that programs are a waste, that people just throw them away, but I felt that our ceremony was fairy unique and it was nice to have something that showed the order of the ceremony, provided the reading and some other information.   It also gave us an opportunity to thank our families and friends for coming.

 I used 4 different scrapbooking papers and 4 different color ribbons.  I also used a leaf hole punch in the corner of each one.  I'm really happy that I did them, even though it took a long time to make all of them.  Drop me an email if you would like more information.



Menu Cards


I was really into having the tables look pulled together, so I went ahead and made menu cards.  They were simple, but the colors helped to get the look and tie in the color scheme that I wanted in the room.

I used tropical green (although they look gray in these photographs) tea length cards from Paper Presentation and attached a piece of
chocolate brown ribbon to the top of each one. 

I took these photographs before I cut the extra ribbon off from the edges....





Bar/Drink Menu

I made the bar menu at the last minute, and I bought this really cute menu stand to hold it up, but.... I forgot to put it out at the wedding!  Oh well - no one knew except for me!

I made the menu on the computer and then printed it on a thick cardstock so it wouldn't bend. 

We chose a range of signature drinks so there would be something for everyone -- I've heard that the Mango Mojito was really popular!





OOT Welcome Letter & Bags


I wanted to make OOT bags since we had a ton of guests coming from OOT and spending the weekend.  They did not cost me a lot, but all of guests really appreciated them.

Here is what I included:

Tourism Information
OOT Welcome Letter & Brunch Invite
Apple
Black & white cookie
Bottle of water
I love NY t-shirt (international guests)

I got the tourism booklets for free from my local Chamber of Commerce - they sent me about 30 of 4 different types, 2 of which came with a great map showing the wineries, historic sites, and other area activities.  


I ordered the bags from Papermart  and instead of tags, we made stickers for the front - check them out!





Favors

We decided to have reusable bags as our wedding favor.  It was unusual but really "us" and it worked out great! 
Not one bag was left after the wedding and people are still asking for more!

Tim and I have been using these bags for groceries since 2004 - we bought them in New Zealand for about $1.50 when all the canvas grocery bags available in the US were about $5-$10 each.  We have used them ever since and now the company has offices in the US - we ordered directly from them. 

Green Bag Company

We added a photo postcard that I made and
added a tag that said "Thanks for coming!"  We folded each bag in half, tied them with raffia and put one on each seat.







Candy Bar

I saw the idea for a candy bar on the knot and in Martha Stewart Weddings - it is in a ton of people's bios but I had never seen it at a wedding before.  People went nuts - seriously, it was unbelieveable!  People filled up the bags to the top and were taking 2 and 3 bags - the candy was gone in no time, even after refilling it.  

One piece of advice -- don't open the candy bar up until after dinner - or else, it will just be gone.  We thought that if we didn't put the bags out until later on, that people would look at it, but not take anything until later - that was our mistake, people were filling up their dinner plates with candy....it was hilarious.  So, we ended up just putting the bags out and people loved it.  

I got the bags from Papermart  - they are kraft paper.  I bought all my containers from TJ Maxx, Marshall's, Walmart and IKEA.  They were all under $10.  My mom got a few really good deals on the clearance rack.  I made all the labels and attached them to the containers with gluedots.

We did all white candies:

Custom white M&Ms
Rock candy lollipops
Vanilla and lime meringues
Coconut jellybeans
Chocolate non-pareils
Chocolate-covered pretzels
Yogurt-covered raisins
Jumbo marshmallows







Placecards



I was really up in the air about what I wanted to do for placecards - I was going to do the apple candles, then the individual moss flower pots, but in the end, I decided that cards would fit the best and not over do it.

I bought these placecards and printed them at home - I was so happy with them; they definitely became one of my favorite DIY projects.

My mom and I purchased two almost flat baskets from Pier 1 Imports.  We put the placecards in between the weave of the basket and added moss and river rocks in between - it looked totally natural and worked out really well. 






Guestbook

My husband actually purchased our guestbook!  We were going to make a photobook and have the guests sign in between the pictures but Tim was not happy with the quality of the books, so he went out and found one that he liked and I loved it!  He bought it at Paper Presentation (they have a website, but the store in NYC is amazing).

I had our engagement pictures printed as 5x5 square black and white prints and used photo corners to secure one to each page or every other page.  Then we put out a silver and gold pen for guests to sign the pages.  The book looks beautiful and it is definitely something that we will keep out, not tuck away never to be seen again.

We also decorated the guestbook table with family photos - this was a small thing that did not take much effort but was a HUGE hit with our families.  They loved looking at the old pictures of themselves (especially the one of my mom with her 70's afro!).  We put pictures of our parents and each of our grandparents. 




DIY Extras



I order the ecofetti from Ecoparti - it is totally biodegradable and dissolves as soon as water hits it.  I packaged it in separate bags with stickers to close them.  I also made the seating signs for my mom and my MIL and our grandparents.  



I LOVE the way my unity candle turned out!  I made this at the last second - attaching it to the candle was a bit difficult but it looked great on the table at the ceremony.  We had two smaller candles for our moms to light and then we lit this candle together during the ceremony.



Wedding Attire

Ring Bearer & Flower Girls


Ring Bearer
My oldest niece - 8 years old - is our ring bearer.  She will be walking my IL's pug up the aisle and holding a simple ring pillow. 

This is the exact dress - Jordan Sweet Beginnings: Chocolate Brown

Flower Girls

We have three 4-year old flower girls (my niece and our two goddaughters).  They will be wearing these great ivory, silk dupioni dresses from the Briar Patch





Tuxes

We rented tuxes from a local shop - very classic style.  Black jacket, vest and tie - I think they looked amazing!  We used white shirts even though my dress was diamond white/light gold.  You can't even tell - our pictures just look like classic wedding photographs.  
I'm really happy with the decision NOT to get ivory shirts.

The picture below is my husband at the tux shop - with his cargo shorts on....  If you want to see our wedding photographs,
check out my other bio - Mrs.OCandME.

 

My Wedding Dress

Well, since I didn't bring a camera to any of my fittings (genius!), I only have a few pictures of my dress before the wedding.  I bought it at RK Bridal - it was a sample and 3 sizes to big for me.  I love my dress and got the best deal!  

It is Maggie Sottoro Natalie - it is a discontinued style I believe but the lace is similar to MS Grace.




Wedding - Related Events

Bridal Shower

My Mom, Aunt & MIL threw me a shower with some help from the BMs.  My mom is incredible - she organized all the food, made all the decorations, the amazing favors - she is just the best.  I'm really lucky to have her!

It was great and I think everyone really had a nice time.  They held it at my Aunt's house  in New Jersey and had it catered - I don't know the name of the catering company off-hand but if anyone is interested, I can get the information.  All of the ladies made the desserts (and cupcakes!)













Bachelorette Party

Since 3 of my BMs, including both my MOHs, live on the West Coast, they decided to have my bachelorette party in Vegas.  So, 6 ladies converged in Vegas and we had a great time.  Sun, pool, casino, clubs, food, shopping, friends....










Boudoir Photos

My photographs were taken by the Regeti's - they were wonderful and made me feel completely comfortable.  If you would like to see more pictures (I have a ton!), drop me an email.  




Other Weddings!

I do wedding and event photography for friends and clients as well as fine art photography in the NYC area.  I thought that some of my wedding photos might help other knotties with inspiration!  If you have any questions, drop me an email.


Maine Wedding - 2006

Outdoor tented wedding near the ocean








Westchester NY Wedding - 2007

Church/Indoor Ballroom wedding