Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: The Details

Wedding Wednesday

Happy Wedding Wednesday!

This is crazy to think, but I only have a couple more posts planned for this link-up.
Not gonna lie, I'm pretty sad about it, but I have stretched this content to the max, it seems.
For almost two years I have had a reason to blog, but once it's over I'm not sure of the future for my little space online. But that's another discussion for another day.

In the meantime, let's talk about the deets.
We put a lot of thought into everything, so please forgive the lengthy post! I could split this into multiple posts, but I wrote it all so I'm posting it, gosh darn it!
(Unless otherwise noted, all photos are from Starling Studio)

Let's start with the welcome bags!
As a wedding guest I love receiving welcome bags from the couple when I arrive at the hotel. It's so thoughtful to receive treats and Tylenol and water! We wanted to do the same for our guests and add treats from the area since many had never been to Columbus or Lancaster.
I made the letter and my parents got everything for the bags (they were SO amazing handling this!!!)

 The bags are from Oriental Trading and are in the shape of wedding cakes. We thought they were too cute and had to get them!
{via}

Here are some of the wardrobe details. I loved my simple accessories. You've seen the dress before, so I won't go on and on about that. The others deserve more explanation, though. The garter is from Etsy and I loved it! I personally don't like the garter toss at receptions, especially with family looking on, so I wore one but didn't toss one. Call me a prude, but I get creeped out by it! Also, check out the bracelets in the lower left. I got the bangle from Megan at my Pittsburgh Bachelorette and the thin bracelet is the same one that I got my bridesmaids when I asked them to stand up for me! My engagement ring is an heirloom, given to Andrew by his grandmother who wore it as her engagement ring, too! It's apparently from the 1800s! It's such an honor to wear it and I absolutely love that it's different from anything else I have ever seen! Our wedding bands were purchased in Chicago on Jewelers Row from a friend of a friend. We got a great deal and met a lovely jeweler on top of it!

This image below shows my jewelry, too, from the pearls I've had since I was 16, the vintage brooch-turned hair clip that I found at a vintage Chicago shop and the pearl and sapphire earrings I treated myself to for my Something Blue:



Next up is the church, the beautiful St. Mary of the Assumption. I grew up going here and attending the adjoining school. Lots of happy memories here!


Next, our venue, the gorgeous Athletic Club of Columbus:





So dreamy!!

Next, our Escort Cards and Table Settings!
Andrew came up with this idea, just like he did for our Guest Book!

Each table represented a location special to us and was identified by the location's address. The locations included the house where each of us grew up, our colleges, stadiums and other places that hold memories. The escort cards themselves were mini envelopes. I wrote each guest's name in calligraphy with the address to the special location below it. We wrote a traditional table number where a stamp would go on a letter (in case there was confusion). Once guests got to their tables there was a picture of the two of us with an explanation on the back of the photo of why the location is special. We loved putting this together and were so happy with the unique result!
We also had a non-traditional favor: we donated to PAWS Chicago in everyone's name and had a little business card (pictured bottom center), tucked in the napkin explaining that we adopted our cat, Teddy, from PAWS!


We also wanted to give treats to our guests, so in addition to our delicious cake, we also had a cookie table! So many treats!
I want a picture of the whole cookie table (do any of you reading this and were there have one?!?!)!

Next up are the flowers!
We thankfully did not need to decorate the church. Not only is it beautiful on its own, our wedding was also the week after Easter, so there were plenty for our day! It was so pretty!


I absolutely loved my bouquet and the flowers at the reception. The boutonnieres fell a little throughout the day, but I overall liked how they looked. The bridesmaid's bouquets were not what I imagined, but the color combo worked beautifully with their dresses, so I couldn't be too disappointed.

Our toasting flutes are one of our Something Old and one of our Something Borrowed items, used by my parents as well as my sister and brother-in-law at their weddings:


Finally, the other Something Old/Something Borrowed, which I have written about many times: the veil!

I loved wearing this veil. It has been in Andrew's family for more than 60 years and has been worn by many ladies (now including me!). We also wanted to highlight it in some way, so we had five photos in frames on our cocktail tables. I cherish these beautiful photos of Andrew's family!


It was such an honor to wear the veil and I had a lot of fun posing with it!

{via}


Phew!
This post took me forever to put together!

Tell me what's going on with you this week!

Missed a Wedding Wednesday post? Here are the big ones:

All non-Instagram photos from this post are from Starling Studio (you can tell which ones they are because they are beautiful photos!!!): website | Facebook
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 Have a wedding story that you want to share? Please join the linkup!
All I ask is that you grab the button, link back to me and visit the other blogs!

Please share the linkup on social, too, if you wish!
 @marysue20 is the name, #WeddingWednesday is the game.

I'm joining another linkup as well!
NC Belle In Boots

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: I was (flash) mobbed!

Wedding Wednesday


Happy Wedding Wednesday!
I am so excited to finally share the big surprise with you today!

But first, please allow me to tell you a story today.
One that starts back in 8th grade, when I first fell in love...

...in love with *NSYNC.

I was "that girl" and I am not even embarrassed about it.


  • 4 concerts, 4 t-shirts from concerts
  • The wallpaper in my room was completely covered by posters, magazine pages, Internet photos and anything and everything I could gather
    • (My sister and I shared a room growing up, but she was in college so I completely took over!)
  • I entered contests
  • I wrote a letter to JC (yep, not even Justin. That one I am a little embarrassed about!)
  • I knew every song
  • I lost my voice screaming to their concerts, whether in person or on TV
  • I taped every music video from MTV and loved TRL
  • I HATED the Backstreet Boys (who am I kidding? I always will.)
  • I begged my parents to wake up early to take me to get the newest CD while on vacation
  • I took a four-foot cardboard cutout poster from a music store
  • I stole huge advertisement banners from concerts and hung them in our garage

...the list goes on...

Yep, "that girl."

Imagine my excitement, then, when "It's Gonna Be Me" starts playing during the reception!

The only difference was that I wasn't allowed to dance.

My bridesmaids took care of that for me.

I guess I can throw in some pictures now ;)

(All photos are from Starling Studio)

Here they are, looking gorgeous and adorable, getting it all started.
The crowd has formed and I try to join:


The second verse started and the groomsmen joined!


I'm cracking up at this point, mainly at my brother and at the *NSYNC 4-foot cardboard cutout board that I forgot to toss years ago. My parents found it and brought it. Here's me freaking out, trying to join the dance but Andrew's Mom is holding me back:


As the music continues tons of people join the bridal party and then when the third verse starts I finally get it: IT'S A FLASH MOB!!!!!!

In the lower left you can see my 3-year old niece doing the dance!

Then, when I didn't think I could possibly smile more, laugh harder or be more surprised, Andrew starts to sing and dance...

And then he joins and I am so shocked I can't even take it:

And then Andrew finishes the song.
"It's Gonna Be Me"
Sure is, Andrew!!

And then madness ensues! The flash mob was a total success!!!

Oh and many people posed with the cardboard poster for the rest of the reception.
Here are my parents:


So how did they pull it off?

Well, my sister (Kate) came up with the idea, and my sister-in-law (Jackie) helped!
They made a private Facebook group and invited everyone they knew who was coming to the wedding. They brought Andrew into the mix about 4-6 weeks before the wedding.
Jackie choreographed the dance, made videos and posted them on the private Facebook page with instructions so that everyone could practice the dance.
Jackie and Kate kept posting updates about how I knew nothing (I really had no idea!), a code word for the flash mob ("chicken"), how our parents found the cardboard cutout, and how "Footloose" would be the trigger song to ensure that everyone was out on the dance floor in time.

And then they waited.
Hoping that people would join.

And my oh my did they join.

Family, family friends, friends from all over the country! They all practiced.

As I put together bridal party gifts on the day before the wedding, a group practiced in our basement with the music playing on a super low volume.

After the Rehearsal Dinner a larger group stuck around and practiced once I left.

During the reception, our Under-21 party of my cousins practiced after they ate their dinner in another room before they came out for the dancing.

A number of people apparently almost spilled the beans, but yeah, I was completely oblivious!

...I'm sure there are many other stories that I don't even know yet!

Oh and about a month before the wedding my parents said we should get a videographer!
Imagine me, four weeks before the wedding, one week before starting a new job, trying to find an affordable and AVAILABLE vendor!!!!

My Mom thankfully took over and found Curt from Curt Good Photography and let him in on the surprise. He used two camera angles to not only record the flash mob, but also my reactions and my foolish attempts to dance along.

And here is the incredible result!!!!


Amazing, right?!?!

Whenever I'm in a bad mood or miss family I think back to the mob, and I am so thankful that I can watch it and remember the shock I felt and how overwhelmed I was. Of course this is the corniest thing to write possible, but I felt blessed, special and loved.

It was just plain awesome.
Better than awesome.
There really isn't a word to describe it.

Sigh...I really have the best family, friends, and husband a girl could ask for!

And for Pinterest/Instagram:



All photos from this post are from Starling Studio: website | Facebook
Video by Curt Good/Eye on the World Productions: Facebook
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 Have a wedding story that you want to share? Please join the linkup!
All I ask is that you grab the button, link back to me and visit the other blogs!

Please share the linkup on social, too, if you wish!
 @marysue20 is the name, #WeddingWednesday is the game.

I'm joining another linkup as well!
NC Belle In Boots

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: Our Guest Book!

Wedding Wednesday


Happy Wedding Wednesday!

I know I teased a big surprise for this post last week, but I need more time.
The video isn't quite ready yet. I'm itching to share it with all of you, though!

In the meantime I'm really excited to share our guest book with you.
This was ALL Andrew's idea!

If you remember, Andrew and I are big sports fans, and our save the dates looked like tickets to a baseball game.

Well, to keep the theme going and to have something that we could enjoy forever, we got a dozen baseballs and asked for our guests to autograph them!

(Admittedly when Andrew first shared his idea, I thought he wanted guests to sign one ball EACH and that we would have 150 baseballs on our hands. #Blondemoment)

We got a dozen baseballs to fit into a shadow box that we bought from Michael's.
We borrowed a decorative stand and some pens from my parents, I wrote the sign and voila!

Best guest book EVER!!!

{This photo is from our photographer!}

Guests snapped photos and shared them on our #AndrewMarriesMary feed, too!




We had the bridal party sign one baseball during our cocktail hour and the rest of the guests wrote on the remaining 11 baseballs. The messages were amazing, ranging from baseball-themed ("You two hit it out of the park!") to sweet and sentimental.

We could not wait to put the shadow box together and display it in our home!
It's currently by some of Andrew's Detroit Tiger's World Series memorabelia and stadium seats from Tiger's Stadium. In our future home this could go in a Fan Cave or on a gallery wall!




We are so happy with the result and look forward to rearranging the baseballs every now and then to see the different messages. It's so fun having a sentimental and unique memento of our wedding to see every day!

Andrew deserves all of the credit! Amazing idea, right?!?!

And I made a collage so I can pin this :)




Our photographer was Tessa of Starling Studio: website | Facebook
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 Have a wedding story that you want to share? Please join the linkup!
All I ask is that you grab the button, link back to me and visit the other blogs!

Please share the linkup on social, too, if you wish!
 @marysue20 is the name, #WeddingWednesday is the game.

I'm joining another linkup as well!
NC Belle In Boots