I love Instagram. I love seeing what everyone is up to with a photo and a cute caption, as well as sharing what we are up to on a daily basis. However, my long time love has been my near and dear Vander"blog."
I hate that she has been neglected and is lacking so many great stories, anecdotes, shooting tips, home decorating ideas, personal photos, client photos...but I am doing my best to keep it alive. Unfortunately I don't think it will get easier as the busy season picks up again. But, I am in this for the long haul, so let's get back at it already.
Here is an amazing wedding from last August we shot in Cincinnati that blew us away. The details, the people, the venue, the emotion...could not have made more of an impact on us....
Here is what the bride, Katie, had to say about her wedding...in her own words:
Andrew and I met senior year of college at Miami University. I was a bartender at the time and he was my loyal Thursday night taco night patron. After many many Thursdays we finally went out on a date outside of the bar and have been together ever since. After college, we moved to Chicago and 5 years later he proposed. I am never one for surprises and had a hunch this may be coming so in true Andrew fashion he purposed on a Tuesday right after work. I walked into our front door and found him on his knee asking to spend the rest of our lives together. It took my breath away and totally caught me off guard. He purposed with his great grandmothers engagement ring given to her in 1924 and like fate it fit my ring finger perfectly. After a glass of champagne and a dance to our song he handed me my cell and allowed me to call the universe to give them our great news.
Andrew and I were married at the Krippendorf Logdge in Milford, Ohio on August 24, 2012 at 6pm. Soon after we got engaged we knew we wanted to be married outside in a very low key casual way. We wanted our big day to be about us and our friends and family. We began our venue search from Chicago and new right away we would NOT be married in your traditional wedding halls so our search included anything outside of the "wedding box."
At last we found the Krippendorf Lodge online and booked without even seeing it in person, the pictures themselves spoke wonders and Andrew and I just knew this would be the place we say I do. Going with the casual feel of the venue we were off and planning - we only had 8 months and lots to accomplish. My amazing mother and I turned into wedding DIY Gods and tackled pretty much anything we could on our own.
Our very first DIY project was our table numbers, I had decided to put our table numbers in a white washed frame and use chalkboard paint to make the insert into the frame to white each number. On our very first of many trips to Micheal's we found children's unfinished wood frames for $1, grabbed white paint and a huge budget of chalkboard paint (the chalk board paint was going to make several appearances). At home we watered down the white paint lightly painted the frames and waited for them to dry. Once they were dry we were having a hard time getting to that distressed look I was hoping to achieve. We used hammers, sandpaper, etc., it just was not getting to the look I was hoping and then out of the blue my mom slid the frames as you would a Frisbee across our blacktop drive way and I'm not sure how it happened but it looked perfect. My mom and I had so much fun doing this - it was crazy but it worked. We couldn't stop laughing and I'm pretty sure my dad thought we were nuts. Once we achieved that perfect "look" we painted the frame insert with blackboard paint added a table number with chalk and they were done.
The "making" of the table numbers was my favorite DYI moment of all time. Other DYI projects included our escort cards made with handled mason jars. We bought our mason jars in bulk from a glass distributor for just under a $1 a mug. My thought was with blackboard paint I would paint a section of the glass so that I would be able to write each guests name and table number on it with chalkboard marker. A note to anyone who has thought about trying this, blackboard paint does not stick to glass. The options we were left with were to sandpaper each section so the paint would be able to stick or using special paint and "cook" each glass in the oven to stick, we were not happy with both of those choices. So, back to Michael's and we fell upon stickers in the Martha Stewart wedding section in a very cute shape. The stickers were the perfect size for the glass and my mom suggested we just paint the stickers and then place them on the mugs, genius! By far a huge time saver and the outcome looked much cleaner and the fun shape to the mugs added a little more as well. The mugs came together in a matter of minutes using stickers. This was my favorite DYI outcome, I was so happy with them and I think they guests enjoyed them as well. Also the mugs turned into a small favor as well.
Then we were off to center pieces and flowers. This is where everything can get pretty pricey and for the overall look I was hoping to achieve I was not willing to pay much to a vendor. I wanted our centerpieces to look like you just found a bunch of vases, mason jars, interesting containers and placed them on the table with wild flowers. So we went to a candle and glass outlet located in Cincinnati to purchase anything glass and stock up on candles. My amazing step-mother in law was a retired florist and her and Andrew's uncles decided to create our centerpiece flowers as a wedding gift. They did an amazing job and saved us big time on our floral cost. Lastly, I have a wonderful cousin who is a graphic designer and offered to make our invitations for us. Once the design was settled on we printed and had them cut at FedEx Kinko's on butcher block paper. Using an additional discount we were able to print all of our invitations for right around $100.00. We put them together with a doilie and a piece of twine and they were off. We also had our programs printed at Kinko's and put them together at home as fans. We used vintage scrapbook paper in any color / design we could find and glued all the pieces to extra large Popsicle sticks.
Our wedding day was the most beautiful day of the entire summer. It was the perfect temperature and not a cloud in the sky. The entire day just floated by without any hiccups. Spending the morning with all my favorite ladies was one of my favorite moments. It was time to relax and get pampered and we had so much fun. Andrew and I had waited to see each other until the wedding ceremony and it was by far the best decision we made. That moment when I got to see him for the first time will be my favorite wedding memory of all time. It was such an emotional moment and our true feelings were on display for everyone to see. We spent the entire wedding ceremony carrying on our own conversation it was like all the guest disappeared and it was just him and I - it truly was a once in a lifetime moment. We knew spending the evening with friends and family we wanted the fun party of the event to shine. So as fast as possible we had the music on, cocktails flowing, and the line for the photo booth was down the porch. The rest of the night was spent taking in each moment and enjoying spending that night with everyone we cared so much about. Everyone says this, but it was the best night of my life. So as for advice, that's mine, enjoy every second of your wedding. Take in each moment because those 6 or so hours fly by.
Vendors:
Photography: Kelly Vanderploeg www.kellyvanderploegphotography.com
Event Planning: Elegant Fare Catering www.elegantfare.com
Floral Designs: Marti's Floral Designs www.www.martisfloraldesigns.com
Wedding Venue: http://www.cincynature.org/krippendorf.html
Wedding Desserts: Sweet Petits http://www.sweetpetitdesserts.com/
Wedding Dress: Blue by Enzoani http://enzoani.com/Enzoani/Blue/Danbury.html
Wedding Shoes: BHLDN www.bhldn.com
Brides Jewelry: Anne Taylor www.annetaylor.com
Bridesmaid Dresses: Jenny Yoo www.jennyyoo.com
Bridesmaid Jewelry: JCrew www.jcrew.com
Groom/Groomsmen Suits: Calvin Klein www.calvinklein.com
Groom/Groomsmen Shoes: Converse www.converse.com
These Jenny Yoo bridesmaid dresses are an unlimited number of dresses in one. There are countless ways each bridesmaid can wear it to make it her own design.
Katie's reaction to how her hair turned out was precious. She was overcome with joy. It was exactly how she envisioned it and it all started to feel pretty real with her veil on.
This is a girl who thought she was unphotogenic...rawr.
Gettin' out those pre-wedding jitters.
Married!!!
Andrew surprised her with the photo clothesline of pics of both of them at all stages in their lives.
Reelin' in that fish.
Yet another way to wear that Jenny Yoo bridesmaid dress! They got very creative towards the end of the night.
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