{stories and snapshots from my new york city life.}

1.10.2013

Wedding Part 3: The Devil's in the Details

Yes, I was a crafty bride. I went homemade for a lot of my wedding decor, not just to personalize the event, but because doing crafty things with my hands relaxes me and brings me joy. If it didn't, I honestly never would have logged so many hours at Michael's, cause these little DIY projects can drive you crazy if you let them.

We got a lot of great feedback on how personal our wedding was, but like anything else good in life, it's not about the stuff. The personal details added warmth to the event, but they'll never be as memorable as the people we shared it with. That said, if you're currently planning a wedding or thinking of having one in the future, don't stress out about the stuff. Get some good people in the door, and you'll have the greatest day of your life. 

Still, we had some cute details at our wedding that I think are worth sharing. So...


Welcome to the weddin', y'all!



Ceremony
 Get you some sweet tea, and have a seat. I'll show you around.

Our favorite band is the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but Vin is really the super fan. Oddly enough, the day I found this lyric and decided to use it as a display, he came home and said, "So how are we gonna incorporate John Frusciante into the wedding?" I don't think Frusciante was on this album, but it was close enough:)


A few days before the wedding, my bridesmaid Missy flew in and helped me with last-minute projects, including baking six dozen chocolate chip cookies for the program favor bags. She stayed and helped out the whole week. Did I mention she runs a business and has two children? I don't know how you begin to thank someone for being so generous with their time when it's already so hectic. The day before the wedding my grandmother and aunt rolled out the cookies and baked them, then prepped the bags. I can't tell you how much I love knowing that my grandmother made cookies for my wedding.

Flowers
I loved our flowers and what made them even more special was that my dad's next door neighbor Cindy (from yesterday's post) was the one who arranged them! My dad's wife Angie did an amazing job picking out the pedestals and vases. I wanted the color of the florals to resemble a Texas sunset, but I also wanted to incorporate lots of greenery, succulents and fresh herbs. We were married under this topiary arch right behind my dad's house.

I did some online research, and learned that rosemary is often given to guests at Croatian weddings, so I wanted to incorporate it into our bouquets and bouts to honor Vinny's family heritage. Cindy worked in some other fresh herbs (I'm seeing some sage in my bouquet) for an earthy look.



Bridesmaids
My two best friends wore sundresses from J. Crew. I found their hair flowers and earrings at H&M.


Cocktail Hour
While Vin and I took pictures, guests enjoyed cocktail hour on the other side of the yard.

We were able to get a free tiki bar for the night from a local vendor.

Anybody who's been on a wedding blog in the last few years is sick to death of the photo clothesline, but our guests really enjoyed seeing photos of me and Vin through the years. It was unique to them!

For our guest book, I used an empty photo album I already had lying around and put some glittery letters on the front to jazz it up a little.

I scattered pictures of our guests throughout the guest book, and most people ended up signing near their picture, yearbook-style.

One of my favorite details was the brainchild of my mother-in-law...the Croatian Station! Not only did she wrap up five bottles of authentic Croatian liquors to schlep from New York to Texas, she also smuggled in several pounds of homemade prosciutto made by relatives in Croatia!

Guests went crazy for the meat and cheeses, and my dad is still sipping on the liquers months later.

I kept the Croatian theme going on the escort cards by translating each table number into the language (thanks Google!). 

Reception Decor
The reception was held on the neighbor's ranch property next door to my dad's house. They were so unbelievably generous to let us use their terrific space.

Can't get married on a ranch without a few hay bales and wagon wheels laying around...

And as a matter of practicality, we rented a luxury bathroom trailer with three separate loos for our guests' comfort. Dad, ever the country boy, kept referring to it as "the three-holer".


The amazing Cindy setting things up! 

I made the table numbers into luminarias (often seen in the southwest). With the candle lit, the numbers glowed once the sun went down.


One of my favorite personal touches was the wine, which was homemade and gifted to us by Vin's cousin Anthony who makes his own wine in California. Isn't that awesome?!

I didn't think individual menus were necessary since dinner was station style, so I just made one menu for each table, mounted it on a stick and stuck it in a little potted succulent. I did some basic stitching on each one for a homemade touch.


The Grub




Our caterers were amazing. We went with Southern favorites and served tacos, shrimp sauteed with garlic, jalapenos and tequila, jalapeno cheese grits and truffle mac and cheese served in tiny cast iron pots. So fun!


No traditional cake for us. We had an assortment of doughnuts (Vin's absolute favorite thing in life), cupcakes, and cake balls as well as traditional Texas favorites--pecan pie and banana pudding.

Vin's mantra. Represent.


And with that...I am officially done squawking about my wedding. Thank gawd. I'm exhausted.


I'd like to give a shout out to our terrific vendors. They all come highly recommended if you're planning an event in the Houston area.

Caterers: Behind the Bash
DJ: Space City Entertainment (Jason Garcia= PHENOMENAL)
Tent/ Furniture Rental: One Stop Tents & Events
Florals: Cindy Schnuriger, (email me for contact info)
Photography: Jason + Anna Photography (based out of Arizona, but will travel)
Cupcakes: Fiona Bakery; fionabakery.com
Donuts: Shipley's
Wedding Dress: RK Bridal (NYC)
Groom: Suit by J. Crew
Makeup: Kristin, Mystic Elegance  (281-910-2372)
Hair: Margarita Garza (713-805-5208)





10 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, I love the donut idea!! I completely agree with Vinny's mantra :) I live in Charleston, SC (where my fiance and I met) but we're getting married in my hometown in Ohio. I wanted to incorporate our Charleston life so we are doing a "Southern Table" with truffle mac and cheese, shrimp and grit shooters, and pimento cheese dip...and of course some sweet tea!

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  2. I love all of this! I am still mired in the Pinterest river without a paddle. As a starting point, I made a budget outlining all of the traditional items - the tiered cake, the plated meal. As we go through line by line and scrutinize the costs v. our actual level of desire for these wedding "shoulds," I think the direction will emerge. Creativity definitely flows from constraint (i.e. "We're not cake people...so now what?).

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  3. So I stopped doing crafts in like elementary school and regret it because I think now I will make a sub-par wife and mother. My mom did all my science projects. Maybe that is where her whole strategy went wrong. She made it too easy for me to outsource crafts and now I look at a glue gun like its a foreign object! I did buy markers last week. And glue. Made a vision board. haha Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Erica--I can tell you now...we saved hundreds by skipping cake. Donuts are freakin' cheap. Agreed that creativity flows from constraint, and these days, anything goes with weddings. You definitely can eliminate stuff that doesn't suit your budget or desires, and no one will be the wiser.

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  5. Well, the Pomeranian ringbearer is non-negotiable. We at least know that much.

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  6. I love all your homey, personal touches... so sweet and beautiful! :) You two are very creative! It looked like such a gorgeous, laid back, fun wedding! Thanks for sharing!!

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  7. All the little details were fabulous. The food looked freaking amazing. Wonderful job making it personal and unique. Loved it all!

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  8. So lovely! I'm very impressed that you planned this all from NYC. I'm actually doing the same for my Texas wedding next October (in Austin!). Would love to know if you are interested in selling the sweet tea servers.

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    1. Hi Heather! Yes, it was definitely challenging planning from afar, but my dad and his wife were super helpful as they knew of vendors in their area. The sweet tea dispensers are actually my dad's, so I don't think they're for sale. You can find beautiful ones everywhere for not too much money, and they have great ones at Macy's (You can get them for great prices during their very-frequent one-day sales). Have fun planning!

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    2. Thanks so much! I'll definitely take a look at Macy's. It's always nice to have feet on the ground to help while you are planning. I just wish there was a Hobby Lobby nearby!

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