Monday, February 17, 2014

Our Wedding: The Details

So, this post is only six months late.

I just realized over the weekend that I never shared any details about our wedding with you guys, with the exception of a few (plus some photos!). We worked with some pretty cool vendors and had some unique touches to our big day that I think are worth sharing - whether you're planning a wedding of your own, are helping someone else plan their's, or you're just simply into this wedding stuff.

So, without further ado, here are some of the things that made our wedding day extra special.

The dress.

Wedding dress by Maggie Sottero

Wedding dress by Maggie Sottero

Designed by Maggie Sottero - and purchased at Modern Bride in Bedford, N.H. - this dress was like wearing satin bed sheets. It was incredibly comfortable and easy to wear (without having to worry about fixing it 100 times during the wedding). My older sister actually wore a similar dress - by the same designer - to her wedding!

The flowers.

Summer wedding flowers

Summer wedding flowers

My mom and I met with a bunch of florists - who honestly could not help a bride-to-be who knew nothing about flowers - until we found Lisa from Blooming Vineyards. Lisa totally understood that I didn't know anything about flowers, but that I wanted specific colors, textures, and designs for my bouquets (and boutineers). In our first - and only - meeting, Lisa had nailed it. She actually listened to what I wanted, and put together some beautiful arrangements. We got so many compliments on the flowers alone!

Centerpieces.
Economical centerpiece idea

I'm not a big flower girl (can you tell?), so I didn't want our centerpieces to be provided by the florist. I also wanted to keep certain aspects of the wedding economical, so Z and I decided to get crafty with our centerpieces. We picked up vases and ruby stones (they looked almost like flat marbles) from Michael's (they almost always have a 40% off coupon on their site), and my mom and I found LED lighted branches from Bed Beth & Beyond. Buying in bulk from Michael's also saves you a few bucks - just simply ask an associate how you can place an order. They were super helpful, and great to work with!

I loved the simplicity and almost organicness (that's a word now) of our centerpieces. The subtle yet apparent lights from the branches also added an elegant touch to the room. These centerpieces were also just short enough so that people could see each other (and have conversations) from across the table with ease.

Favors.
Hot sauce favors

The chef at Mountain View Grand (where we got married) makes his own hot sauces, and Z and I - being the spice fiends that we are - knew we wanted to give them as favors to our guests. The chef makes two flavors, so we gave each guest one of each. We also had Mountain View create labels for the hot sauces, with one of our engagement photos on one side and our wedding date on the other. As a bonus, the chef purposely didn't make the hot sauces for our wedding until two weeks beforehand, so they would be incredibly fresh and flavorful.

The guest "book."

Whimsical guest book idea

Whimsical guest book idea

We had an accidental bike theme for our wedding, and I found this idea for our guest "book" on Pinterest. We provided simple instructions, two stamp pads (of our wedding colors, ruby and purple), stamps, and pens, so people could sign in or around their "balloons." It ended up being a whimsical, fun, and interactive guest book!

Card holder.
Bike card holder

Speaking of our bike theme...my mom found this little bike at HomeGoods. It made the perfect card holder on our gift table!

Beer pairings.

Craft beer pairings

Z really handled this part, but we couldn't have our wedding without craft beer. We took it one step further by pairing each of our entrees (which were all vegetarian) with a craft beer chosen by Z. Basically, Mountain View could get us any beer we wanted, as long as that beer was available in New Hampshire. Thankfully, most of our favorite brews were available - including Sofie by Goose Island, Victory Helios, and Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale, to name a few. 

The cake.
Bicycle cake topper

So, this cake topper isn't just a couple on a bike...it's us on a bike! The designer, Silhouette Weddings, had me send her a photo of Z's and my face profiles. Then, she designed the cake topper so the two people on the bike looked exactly like us. It's amazing how many of our guests noticed this!

One other note about our cake: Most of my married friends said not to spend a lot of money on the cake. Yeah, people see it, but really, it's not a focal point of the wedding - and if you're going to save money somewhere, the cake is a good place to do that. Honestly, I bought some ruby-colored ribbon online, and that was our "decoration." With the cool cake topper, we really didn't need much else.

And there you have it. All of the more fun details of our summer wedding. Finally! ;)

*All photos courtesy of Eric McCallister Photography.


13 comments:

  1. Beautiful wedding! I LOVE your dress! We saved money on our cake, too, by having a small decorated cake to cut in to and then have a sheet cake in the kitchen. What was your flavor?

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    1. Thank you, Alaina! Our cake flavor was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting in the middle and vanilla buttercream on the outside.

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  2. such a fun post! these are great tips. your wedding looks beautiful

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  3. I love seeing the details from your wedding. Isn't it amazing how it all comes together?! I skipped cake altogether and went with mini desserts. :)

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    1. It is amazing how it all comes together. I am the worst at little details, but somehow, it all worked! ;) I love the idea of doing mini desserts.

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  4. Your wedding looked beautiful! I LOVE the hot sauce favors.

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  5. So fun to see all the big day details! I love the accidental bike theme. I have an accidental bird theme going on in my house, so I totally get how that happens. Thanks for sharing all these great touches!

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    1. Funny how that works out, right?? It all started with the bicycle cake topper...

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  6. love the bike details :) we're doing something similar for a guestbook, although maybe with a tree... and your cake looks so elegant!

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  7. Hi was you cake topper expensive as i think it looks great and my friend is getting married next year and they are wanting a bike theme as they are very much into bike riding, if you could let me no that would be great
    thanks
    tina miller

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