Save The Date | Brooklyn Bride - Modern Wedding Blog

Bklynbride on Facebook Bklynbride on Twitter Bklynbride on Flickr Bklynbride on Technorati Bklynbride on Kindle Bklynbride on Formspring

07. 30. 2010 Real wedding: Katie + Lucas

Want to have your mind blown? Lucas made a majority of the flowers in this wedding! What a crafty husband you have Katie!!

Looking back at the evolution of my wedding, I’m still amazed at how perfectly it went. We had originally started planning something way more traditional. I hadn’t ever put any thought into what I might want my wedding to be so when it came time to start planning, most of what was going through my head was “Well you’re supposed to do this…” As things progressed, a lot of “this” wasn’t in the budget. We had some major disappointments letting large parts of the initial plan go. Once we were able to work through these disappointments, we realized it wasn’t what we really wanted anyway. It also wasn’t very us. I have to say, having a limited budget really forced us to be creative and make the wedding ours. It kind of gave us the freedom to just go for it. It also gave me some perspective – I wanted the wedding to be just a really good time for all involved and as stress free as possible. I am extremely grateful for all of this.

The biggest decision we then needed to make was do we try to go with vendors for everything (way less stressful – way more free time) or do we try take a lot of it on ourselves (way more affordable – way more nerve racking). Work had slowed drastically for me to the point that I was more or less unemployed. This would mean we wouldn’t be able to afford anything additional but that I would have a lot of free time. Plus given that I majored in art (photo) and had been working in production, I really felt the only way to make it mine was to attempt to create as much of it as I could. We decided to do what we could and go with vendors where it mattered.

After that, everything just fell into place. Elisabeth Millay was the first vendor we hired – even before we had a final date or a venue. Once I saw how amazing her work was, I wanted to book her a quickly as possible. She was a little out of our budget (even though she is way more reasonably priced than most) but was very willing to work with us to bring the price down some. We opted to skip the engagement session. We decided on the Metropolitan Building as our venue for both the ceremony and reception. The second floor was beautiful and ornate without being pretentious. This meant we wouldn’t need to deal with a lot of decorating or staging. As part of the space rental, we were allowed to pick antiques that we would like to use day of and this helped save a lot on rentals and having to construct pieces. We went with Sage Events for the catering as their food is absolutely unbelievable. Seriously. Try the mac n cheese at the Sage General Store and then try to fathom that ALL of your food will be this good. Leslie really worked with us to fit as much as we could into our budget. We still had passed hors d’oeuvres and a sit down dinner but we opted for only two courses so that we could afford an open bar. We had the wedding cake for the dessert course. Sage coordinated the rentals and vendors day of so that was one huge thing taken off our plate. Mandy with DJ Gaza was our DJ and was really awesome. They were really affordable to begin with and after meeting with them we had no question that they were the ones for us. We hired the best people possible and didn’t have to worry about one thing on our wedding day. Collette Foley made the cake and when we couldn’t decide on a final design that we liked the best, she just took care of it and it. was. awesome. Weeks later, we are still hearing how it was the best food/music/cake/photograph/etc they had ever experienced not only at a wedding, but anywhere.

So with all of that taken care of, Lucas and I took on the rest of it mostly ourselves (mainly because I didn’t want to involve other people in our insanity). We spent about 8 months making all of the flowers (most of which was done by Lucas while watching either Predator or Die Hard or something explode-y). I really wanted to attempt to make the bouquets out of fabric despite my very limited sewing experience. I’m really happy with how they came out, but not so happy with procrastinating and finishing them the day before. The graphic design elements were the most stressful as it’s not something that I do so it’s always a struggle. Regardless, the invites came out great. We also tried to reuse as much as we could from around our apartment – some of the vases for the centerpieces, letterpress cards I had collected over the years for the guest book, beads for the centers of the flowers from costume jewelry that had belonged to my grandmother, etc. This all made everything way more personal. We did enlist some help from friends and family. My sister and Lucas’s brother were maid of honor and best man. We tried to keep their duties to a minimum as the week before the wedding was crazy with final details and they helped tremendously with that. Our dads performed the ceremony and our moms made and assembled the favors. Any element that wasn’t created by us was usually altered in some way to make it more us. I went the Kleinfeld route for the dress but had it altered to show the tulle in front and the veil was altered with a different feather piece from the original. We kept some of the standard vows but added some including video games and cartoons and other silliness to make them our own. Sickness and health? Sure! But marathon video game sessions and weird stuff the cat does? Now that’s commitment. If we couldn’t find or make something to fit – it didn’t happen (this really only meant we didn’t have a cake topper, which we didn’t care about anyway).

In the end it was worth all of the effort, stress, insanity and having our apartment turned into something of a sweatshop (which we’re still trying to get back in order). The day was perfect. It came out exactly as planned. We received kudos from some of the vendors for being so organized. We weren’t the least bit stressed and everyone had a really really really great time. We’re still surprised at the number of people that told us it was the best wedding ever. We’re just happy that our guests had as much fun as they did and everyone got out of it what we put in to it. We wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Vendors:

Caterer – Sage Events
Photography – Elisabeth Millay
DJ – Mandy Graves with DJ Gaza
Cake – Collette Foley
Dress – Priscilla of Boston
Veil – Castle Bride Couture
Shrug: – Louise Broad
Make Up – Stacie Ford
Hair – Jean Barton
Ties – Cyberoptix Tie Lab
Brides Shoes – JCrew
Groom & Best Man Suits – JCrew
Bridesmaid dress – Anna Elyse

[images from Elisabeth Millay with Jonathan Young]

Elisabeth Millay and Jonathan Young are members of Brooklyn Bride’s preferred vendor listings

posted by Vane

07. 21. 2010 Engagement shoot: Kim + Curt

Cute engagement shoot in Portland’s Waterfront Park…

save the date

[images from Sara Gray Photography]

posted by Vane

labels: engagement shoot kim + curt sara gray photography
3 comments

06. 28. 2010 Parcel Post for Brooklyn Bride [no. 23]

Hi everyone at Brooklyn Bride, hope your summer is off to a great start! I myself have been daydreaming of a vacation lately, so I’m feeling kind of “mappy”.

vintage trophies + map award - roberta grove | save the dates + map wedding invitation set for Carlsbad California - nothing but bonfires | pencils – etsy | heart cards – not on the high street | wedding invitation set w. Texas map - Martha Stewart | thank you labels – kis for calligraphy

posted by Vane

06. 24. 2010 Real wedding: Sandra + Nate

What really sold me on this wedding was the incredible space, the white lanterns, and the overall modern feel of the whole shebang! Sandra gives all the details below…enjoy!

We met on April 3rd, 2009 at a friend’s birthday party. After six wonderful months of dating, we were engaged.

We had only three months to plan our wedding (due to our choice of venue and their availability). A bit ambitious, however we were confident we could pull it off, even without a wedding planner. We wanted a relaxed, sophisticated, and contemporary vibe with wonderful food, drinks, and entertainment. We wanted to throw a fun party. We didn’t realize it at the time we booked our venue, but we had chosen to get married exactly one yearfrom the date we met. Serendipitous!

The ball starts rolling

On a business trip to Minneapolis two months after we got engaged, we decided on a whim to check out wedding dresses at Macy’s. Despite thinking there would be nothing but disappointment at a traditional department store, I was stunned that they had one of three dresses I had bookmarked when perusing dresses online for ideas – a Vera Wang. This one was the favorite, and was offered at a deep discount during a floor sample sale. Lucky! The sales lady insisted the alterations could be done before we left town…in three days. Done. (The husband-to-be already had a dapper Hugo Boss suit, coincidentally also purchased at a Macy’s years ago).

Less than a month later, on January 2nd, we decided to look for a wedding venue in Chicago, the city where we live and met. We were hoping for a one stop deal where we could have the ceremony and reception at the same place, to get the fullest use of our short day and to make things easier for our out-of-town guests. We also wanted a place that was unique, modern, and not too big for our small wedding, and we were cognizant that a space’s decor (or lack thereof) could make or break a photo. So we called one of our top contenders, Prairie Production, and we were able to see it that day. It was a blank slate: white walls, some with exposed white brick, concrete floors, and the best part, enormous floor to ceiling windows facing south that allowed for beautiful natural lighting. As a bonus, we liked the location because we had spent some time there on our first city photo excursion together. Booked.

Real planning begins

Photography is important to both of us and we did not want to compromise in this area. Memories fade over the years and we wanted images that would bring us back emotionally. After a lot of searching, we found a great photograher. Her work stood apart from the rest, and we liked that she had a fine art photography background. She was the only photographer we contacted, but when you know it’s right, it’s right.

Through phone calls, online searches and Yelp reviews, we selected four caterers. Upon receiving bids, we elected to set up tastings with two. We couldn’t have gone wrong with either caterer, making this one of the hardest decisions we had to make. We finally decided chose Food for Thought, and they did great.

Instead of a cake, we decided to go with cupcakes. This allowed for a greater variety of flavors. Something for everyone.

Flowers were next on the agenda and we met with two vendors. With a few starting points from us, our florist created some beautiful arrangements. We opted for an arrangement that would complement a room with 22 foot ceilings that did not look out of place in such a contemporary setting.

After shopping around a bit for invitations, we decided to save some money by creating our own, along with RSVP cards, table cards, and escort cards. In the end they turned out well, but the design, printing and assembly was a lot of work.

For decorations, we had photos printed from our adventures together and matted them to hang along a long wall at the venue. We also designed and built pillars to hold illuminated pussy willows along the walls. Satisfying, but time-consuming.

For the following items, we were able to whittle down our choice in vendors so we only met with one in each area. This saved us valuable time to work on the invitations and decorations…

For entertainment, we chose a string quartet to perform during the ceremony and cocktail hour. The quartet was amazing and added a flavor of sophistication we were looking for. We hired a deejay to provide music during dinner and dancing.

To perform the ceremony, we found a reverend that was non-denominational, but was spiritual. We were impressed with him from day one. He was extremely organized and detail oriented. The ceremony was brief, yet relevant and thoughtful.

A dear friend who works in the lighting industry provided all of the lights at the venue. The venue has dramatically high white walls, and the lighting was a perfect balance for the space.

The Wedding Day
Some say that something always goes wrong on the wedding day, but we were optimistic that things would be stellar. We had confidence in our vendors and expected to spend the day relaxed, yet excited. The whirlwind of planning was coming to an end. The early morning rain cleared up for pre-wedding photos. Blissful.

In Conclusion

We had such a wonderful time, and it was truly amazing to see everyone that is so important to us there in one place. Everyone we talked to afterward said they had fun, and some of our guests commented that everything reflected our style. Mission accomplished.

Venue: Prairie Production
Officiant: Bruce Otto

Photography: Olivia Leigh Photographie

Florist: Kloeckner Preferred Flowers

Catering: Food for Thought

String Quartet: Park West Strings

DJ: Style Matters

Cupcakes: Luscious Layers
Jewelry: Steve Quick

Dress: Vera Wang

Suit: Hugo Boss

[images from Olivia Leigh Photographie]

posted by Vane

06. 15. 2010 Studio tour: Inspired Goodness

Name: Kimberly Canale
Location: Brooklyn, New York (Park Slope)
Company: Inspired Goodness

What is your aesthetic?

I favor mixing vintage elements with modern materials and techniques for a chic and timeless look. Like calligraphy on bright colored envelopes or using a scraps of vintage ribbon to wrap a party favor, it’s about taking things that are beautifully made and finding new and interesting ways to use them – a modern interpretation of time-honored materials.

How does your studio style convey your professional aesthetic? Since my studio is located in my home, much of the look of it comes from what I’m personally drawn to. We have vignettes of vintage treasures – industrial influences and family heirlooms are mixed with flea market finds. Inspired Goodness tends to have those same sensibilities but with a feminine twist; think subdued colors and delicate accents like flowers, ephemera and vintage jewelry.

Favorite part of your studio? My favorite area of my studio is the large window to the left of my desk. Seated, I can view the back garden of the apartments below and brick walls covered in decades of ivy. Birds and squirrels are constantly stopping on the fire escape to say hello. It reminds me what I love most – being outdoors in the city.

Where do you go for inspiration? After living in New York for almost 15 years, I’ve amassed a list of shops that not only inspire me but have become essential resources for fueling my creativity. Anthropologie is my go-to source for cute clothes and home accents. ABC Carpet + Home has amazing gifts and is full of hidden gems around every corner. For materials and supplies, you can usually find me at MJ Trim, Tinsel Trading or Paper Presentation. And Etsy is my weakness for anything vintage.

What tool do you use in your business that you can’t live without? My computer is my essential tool – along with my calculator, a sharp xacto knife and self-healing cutting mat, I could pretty much work from anywhere. I could not function without mountains of blank paper and black Pentel EnerGel Pens.

Is there anything you’d upgrade to? I enjoy having clients over to my space – but sometimes I dream about having a small storefront so that I could interact more with the local neighborhood. I’d love the opportunity to create beautiful window displays for the people walking by. On the inside, the focus would be on providing an inviting environment to meet and entertain clients.

Anything else we should know? My first love is graphic design and along with the event design services, we also offer clients a full range of custom paper goods. From save the dates to invitations and day-of details, the stationery gives us a unique outlet to bring the story of each client to life in a more focused and creative medium.