Tag Archives: reception

The 2nd New York City NotWedding

Thursday night, I went to a fake wedding…the 2nd NYC NotWedding that is. These alternative bridal shows can be found in major cities around the country and are the perfect way for brides to meet vendors and sample their services, while having a pretty great time out. The evening starts with a brief vow renewal ceremony between a happily married couple, and is followed by a legitimately fun reception with drinks, dinner and dancing. All the vendors behind the event are present and the guests consist of local engaged couples looking to scout out photographers, party planners and all the rest for their big days. For their second trip to NYC, The NotWedding chose the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn. I invited my engaged friend Nichole to attend and we were greeted at the door by a welcome glass of Ferrari sparkling wine. Then we got down to business (aka, drinking that wine…and talking to all the vendors, of course!).

I hate to play favorites, but meeting The Haiku Guys was certainly a highlight of my night. This gentleman and lady sat perched behind two typewriters and were on call to compose haikus for you on a topic of your choice. After a panicked moment of thought, I asked for a poem about moving to Brooklyn this year with my boyfriend, Andrew. The result seriously made my heart happy—I’m definitely framing this.

I also got to catch up with the ladies from Little Borrowed Dress, the genius company that lets you rent bridesmaid dresses for a whole lot less. We took a peek at their expanded color palette and new styles for spring and summer—they now have 18 shades and 10 silhouettes that rent for between $50 and $75. They also shared a few really interesting behind-the-scenes details with me…but more to come on that soon! (Bonus: Tote bags galore, plus three of my favorite colors from the LBD spring line.)

Another “this is genius” discovery: Makr, an app that makes designing invitations incredibly simple and seamless. Modern, colorful templates can be customized in a second with the easy swiping and dragging functionality of a tablet. I seriously wanted to hug these ladies their app was so intuitive and easy. Plus, it’s not just for invitations: You can create labels, stickers, and even temporary tattoos! Much of the printing can be done at home, or you can order prints through Makr. I made a desperate plea for them to design some chic, classy bachelorette invitations (no pink and black, please!). In the meantime, check out their newly released bridal shower invite—and these diamond tattoos.

One last lovely I just have to share is the sanity-saving travel coordination from Bliss by LTC. Founder Lauren hates the word “travel agency,” so she describes what she does as “designing vacations.” The service is often used for honeymoons, but my ears perked up when she said the words “bachelorette weekend.” Lauren consults with you on the general vibe of the weekend (Are you more of a clubbing and dancing or wine tasting and fine dining group?) and then turn over the names of the invitees—and she’ll coordinate from there! Just imagine, no badgering girls for RSVPs…sounds like heaven to me. She also hosted a giveaway for a trip anywhere in the world—I pinned New Zealand on the map to enter to win!

Photo via Page Photography.

This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own and derived from meeting really passionate and cool people.

Marisa and Justin are married!

Last weekend I traveled to Florida for Marisa’s wedding in St. Augustine. I cannot wait to see the professional photographs and share a few with you, but in the meantime here are a couple of my snaps from the day and some highlights from the bridesmaid front.

The happily married couple in our wedding trolley!

Marisa had a rainbow vision for her bridesmaids, a wash of jewel-toned dupioni. We didn’t see the dresses all together until the day of the wedding and we were all blown away with how pretty they looked together. She picked just the right shades! We each chose a style from a selection of three. You can find my ivy V-neck with cap sleeves here, Alyssa’s strapless number here, and Maria’s violet scoopneck here, all by Alfred Sung.

Instead of bouquets, Marisa made us these clutches with retro brooches chosen to match our dresses. They definitely came in handy since we could slip in tissues, lip gloss and even our cameras! I was able to take more pictures before and after the ceremony because of them, although all of my photos conspicuously stop when I reach the reception, probably because I was busy “partying my face off” as Marisa would say. Oh, and stressing about my speech.

Marisa and I before the ceremony! The bridesmaids seriously earned our keep with her gorgeous dress. It was ridiculously heavy and required at least two helping hands to get her in and out of the trolley (or one groomsman lifting her up like a doll. This was much more effective.). All the bridesmaids had something to manage to get her around—her train, her veil, her spectacular oversize bouquet, her towel for dabbing off in the summer heat. Like I always say, being a bridesmaid is hard work!

Probably our favorite activity at the reception was this amazing photobooth, stocked with props. I was really impressed with the photo quality and the imaginative facial expressions. The results can be seen below and the Florida-based company Marisa used is Phobooth.

My darling boyfriend and I. He’s gotten quite good at attending weddings with me. The arrow was supposed to point at him…in the heat of the moment I made a fatal error.

Fellow Maid of Honor Alyssa joins the picture. This is post-speeches, hence our relaxed demeanor.

A gathering of excellent people.

Many more wedding details to come, including Maid of Honor speech tips and Marisa’s amazing bridesmaid survival kits.

DIY Bridesmaid: Thumbprint Tree

My friend Nicole should be the poster girl for DIY weddings. She arranged a sunset ceremony in her backyard right on the St. John’s River, and we were surrounded by sunflowers while two of her friends strummed guitar and other friends snapped photos. Nicole even made all the food herself, with the help of her aunts and Mom (more on that later). One of my favorite projects from the wedding though was her Thumbprint Tree Guest Book.

You can find lots of trees on Etsy, but they’re a bit expensive. Nicole’s fiance Brenhan is a great artist, so he painted this one himself and I added the calligraphy. Then we set it out on a small table with four different shades of green ink (found at Michael’s) and paper towels and water to clean your finger after leaving your print. We also set out a pen so that guests could sign their name next to their print. At informal receptions, bridesmaids can be a huge help in getting things like this done. I offered to take charge of the guest book, circulated and asked guests if they’d had a chance to “sign” it yet and helped show them what to do. The result was absolutely gorgeous!