Good Monday morning, lovely ELD readers! Yes, it’s Kristine again. I hope you’re all enjoying a great start to your week. I realize that I’ve been hanging out with you for some time now, sharing weddings and such, and you don’t know all that much about me. That will change soon, I promise!
But let’s focus for today on this wedding I have for you from Amanda Donaho Photography. It comes with a punch of color. Or colors to be exact–navy, green, and bright pink. The couple did such a great job infusing the three throughout their details from the ties, to the ribbon on the bouquets, to the green apples as seating cards and centerpieces. Let’s get to it, why don’t we?! There’s also an interview with the lovely bride, Dusty, which you won’t want to miss!
What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?
What helped most in my planning process was probably having a longer engagement (about 15 months). This helped because I was able to spread out the tasks and didn’t feel pressured to make decisions too quickly. I had the time to research many vendors and I utilized local wedding boards for vendor reviews, which I found very helpful. On my wedding day the biggest help was deciding ahead of time to have a designated point-person for absolutely everything. It helped me relax and enjoy the day to know everything was taken care of by someone.
What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?
Since I planned my wedding from out of town I relied heavily on vendor reviews from other brides. It was very important to me that the vendor had a good reputation and was very responsive to calls/emails. I found that the vendors who were quick to respond were the most well organized and responsible vendors, and that I could feel comfortable relying on them on the big day.
Did any of your vendors do anything special for you before, on, or after your wedding day that you would like to share?
Our caterer was extremely accommodating to our requests and really went above-and-beyond what I expected of them. Our catering manager allowed me to drop off any additional decoration pieces for our ceremony and reception a few days in advance and she and her team set up the reception room with not only the place settings, but other special details, such as the table signs, guest-book area, cake area, etc. We had a few other detail pieces to hang, etc. and she set up everything for us. When I walked into the reception area for the first time I was almost speechless it was so perfect. She truly understood what I wanted and had everything set up just as I had envisioned it.
What was your favorite thing about your wedding?
That is such a difficult question—I loved it all! I think our venue in general was one of my favorite things because it was so unique and beautiful. Without adding much to it at all the beauty of the room spoke for itself and we got many compliments from our guests on the venue. In addition, I am SO happy we “splurged” on the photobooth. Although it was a little over our budget it was absolutely worth every penny. The guests loved it and we have a whole scrapbook made of photo-strips from all our guests throughout the evening – it was a wonderful way to get to see all the guests express their own personalities.
What is your best piece of advice for other brides?
The one piece of advice that I can give is to just be as prepared as possible. Try to think of every imaginable detail before the big day, and whatever you may have missed or forgotten (it will happen) you must be prepared to just go with the flow. By doing this it will help you be able to relax and enjoy your special day. I was worried I might be too concerned with making certain everything was going perfectly, but by being prepared and designating tasks to others (they are there to help you – use them!), I was able to let it all go and truly enjoy and celebrate the day, stress free, with my husband, friends and family. A wedding is a reflection of the couple being wed – so if you are able to be happy and joyful, rather than stressed, your guests will feed off of your positive energy and your wedding will surely be a success!
You know, I think Dusty makes a really good point about guests feeding off of your joy and energy. It’s so true. Thanks for sharing, Dusty. And thanks to Amanda Donaho Photography for the wonderful images of the day.
Aren’t those colors great? They really pop in the photos. And I l-o-v-e the apples–the ring shot, the seating cards, the tall centerpieces. Perfect. It helps when you have a gorgeous venue, too. What was your favorite part? I’d love to hear.
xo-Kristine
Vendors Who Made It All Happen…
Photography: Amanda Donaho Photography | Venue: Franklin Park Conservatory | Flowers: Bella Couture Events | Catering: Metro Cuisines | Cake: Short North Piece of Cake | Dress: Blue by Enzoani | Bridesmaids Dresses: Ann Taylor | Groomsmen Suits: Jos A Banks | Hair: Square One Salon | Makeup: Magics in the Make-up
Latest posts by Kristine (see all)
- Hot Pink and Navy Georgia Wedding - December 7, 2012
- Yellow, Red, and Orange Mexico Destination Wedding - November 30, 2012
- Purple and Blue Jewel-Toned Florida Wedding - November 16, 2012
lovely wedding!
Such a beautiful ceremony venue!!! Love that draped canopy, too!
wow the conservatory is a beautiful venue!
nice dress!! which style no is it?
Beautiful! I was just wondering what the table “numbers” were.
Amanda, I believe instead of table numbers, they went with table “names”, which were written on little chalkboards :)