Wedding date:
September 29, 2012
Why did you choose this date?
My favorite season is the autumn, so I wanted a fall wedding, but I also wanted to honor my Gram and Gramp, who were married September 30, 1940. Unfortunately, 2012 was a Leap Year, so the 30th jumped Saturday. We didn't want to make our already traveling guests plan for a Sunday wedding, so we went with the 29th.
Wedding location:
Both the ceremony and reception took place at Port of York on the US Coast Guard Training Center base in Yorktown, Virginia.
Why did you choose this location?
We chose Virginia because we knew almost all of our guests would be forced to travel to attend the wedding. This was a "halfway point" for most of them, plus we felt we weren't asking anything of our guests that we weren't also doing ourselves, since we had to make a thirtenn hour drive there. This specific location came about after Hurricane Ireme flooded T's sister's yard (our original location) and she worried what would happen if bad weather hit for the wedding. She was the one who suggested Port of York, so that's what we went with. The site was beautiful, looking out over the York River.
Approximate guest count:
We invited 92. 36 attended. It didn't matter how small our group was, we had a ton of fun!
How would you describe your wedding?
Intimate. Filled with people we love. Lots of dancing. Lots of laughter. So much fun.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself?
Don't be afraid to take help when it is offered. Don't exclude the groom--it's his day too. Everyone will have an opinion on what you should or shouldn't do--learn to use a brain filter, because it's *your* day and, while you want your guests to enjoy it, it's not really about the party, and those who love you will find a way to have fun celebrating you.
What inspired you while you were planning your wedding?
I looked at a roughly a million wedding blogs, wedding photography blogs and pins on Pinterest. The magazines just didn't offer what I was looking for. But I also had a vision in my mind of what "theme" I wanted to use, so I was mostly looking for ideas on how to execute what I was imagining, more than anything else.
What was the theme of your wedding?
If I had to call it something, it would be "Fall Classic." To describe it, it was autumn colors, autumn flowers, soft but not ultra feminine, with a touch of baseball thrown in (subtle, not like a little boy's birthday party). I really think it was so perfectly us. It came out even better than I hoped.
Did you include any traditions in your wedding?
We had a very traditional format for our ceremony, including my dad walking me down the aisle and giving me away. (No candle lighting or sand blending or anything like that though.) I had my "something old, something new..." We had a father-daughter dance and fed each other cake. All the typical stuff.
What was unique about your wedding?
Well, I had no designated maid/matron of honor. I just couldn't choose between my three closest girls, so they were all my honor attendants. We had an unequal wedding party--three girls for me, two guys for T--so one of the guys got to escort two girls. We did a bridal party dance after our first dance, but instead of pairing up people from the wedding party, we had each person dance with their significant other (except for one of my girls and one of T's guys, whose spouses were unable to attend, so they danced with each other). Instead of a traditional cake, we did cupcakes for dessert. No garter or bouquet toss--I have never been a fan of that tradition, which always made me feel like my unmarried status was being spotlighted--gee, thanks.
What was your favorite moment of the day?
The Kiss.
But also, when we were being introduced at the reception, as we walked past the appetizer table, T reached out a hand, snagged a bacon-wrapped scallop and popped it into his mouth. I could not stop laughing.
What were your top five favorite things about your wedding?
1. The song we used for our first dance. "In the Shape of Us," by Ian Britt. It was important to me that the words suited us and once I heard this song, I knew it was what I wanted. (Lucky for me, T agreed.) The problem with this is that you have to try not to cry while you're dancing to it.
2. My flowers. Oh, how I love the flowers.
3. My girls' dresses. I love the color red, especially with the flowers, and I adore the dresses they chose. (I picked the color and they were free to choose a dress that suited them individually.)
4. They were a last minute addition to the decor, but we lined the aisle with this black lanterns, wrapped in autumn foliage, and they really just brought the whole ceremony site together.
5. Watching how much fun our guests were clearly having. I don't know if I have ever laughed so much before in my life, but I am certain I have never danced more!
What were your "something old, something new...?"
Something old: An original key to my grandparents' kitchen door--a key I must have turned thousands of times, growing up--tied into my bouquet.
Something new: A hairclip that my online friend, Valerie, made for me out of a piece of my dress that we removed.
Something borrowed: One of my girls, Alison, loaned me a diamond tennis bracelet that had belonged to her grandmother.
Something blue: Looking at my color palette (apple red, chocolate brown, coppery orange), blue just did NOT belong, so I painted my toes silver with a coat of blue glitter on top! It was simple, it was subtle, you didn't see it unless I showed you, but I still had my blue.
What was the best piece of wedding advice you received?
Steal away with your groom for a few minutes, just the two of you, and watch your guests from a distance. In the midst of being pulled in every direction, it was exactly what I needed to have a few quiet minutes alone with him.
Any other words of wisdom?
Don't spend so much time comparing your wedding to anyone else's. It's a reflection of you, as a couple, which means it doesn't have to look like any other wedding. It should look like the two of you.
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