Adam and Pete were married on October 8 of last year, shortly after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” You can read more about their story of love, marriage and the military in this article from the Huffington Post. Since they were sans photographer for their big day, Melissa of Melissa McClure Photography took these lovely engagement style portraits for the couple this last December.
Thank you, Melissa, for sharing these great portraits and congratulations to Adam & Pete!
Wanda and Brian of Love Madly sent this beautiful vintage wedding to me and I’m so pleased to be able to share it with you! Leah and Lorraine were married on 9/10/11 at Juniper Hill Inn in Windsor Vermont. So… get excited – here are gorgeous pics AND a breathtaking wedding film from their big day!
From the Brides:
Lorraine and I had been planning our wedding basically from the day our relationship began. But due to college, law school and the bar exam, we ended up setting the date about five and a half years after our first date. We knew we wanted something intimate, “classic” and even whittled our wedding down to colors we loved, but there were so many directions we could have gone. So we focused on the things we loved: San Francisco, our dogs, DIY projects, and most importantly family.
As an homage to the city where we met, we designed a delicious, champagne, gold sugar rimmed cocktail served during cocktail hour which we named a “San Francisco Sweetheart”. For our two little dogs, who are basically our children, we employed the artistry of a local Vermont bakery to assist us in crafting “Bailey and Winston’s Treats Bar” stocked with our favorite candies and cookies that looked just like Bailey and Winston.
The best part of the experience was coming home after long days at work and sitting down together to design and work on our DIY projects. We crafted everything from our Save the Dates and key tag place cards, to little packets of tissue for guests during the ceremony. We were even lucky enough to have a friend who owns a small calligraphy business, address all of our invitations and hand-write our place cards. We had so much fun planning the wedding that we joke about getting married several more times!
Lastly, acknowledging our family and friends was incredibly important to us. It was our hope to have an intimate affair in a setting that made everyone feel like they were coming to a fancier version of “family dinner”. Rather than seating everyone at round tables, we opted for long banquet tables with small flower arrangements and tea light votives where our guest could lean over, turn around, or look down the table to talk to whomever they wanted to without obstructions. We wanted everyone, even those who were meeting one another for the first time, to feel like family.
In the end we executed everything beautifully by making our wedding day as much about the things we love as the people who love us.
Vendors:
- Venue: Juniper Hill Inn, Windsor, Vermont
- Wedding Planner: Joelle Smith, Easthill Events
- Cinematography + Photography: Love Madly
- Floral Design: Vermont Country Flowers
- Cake: Irene’s Cakes by Design
- Invitations: Fontly Yours
- Dress: Style 8002 by Jim Hjelm
Thank you again to Love Madly for the beautiful images and film, and congratulations to Leah and Lorraine!
Jenifour Jones of Go Get It Events & Weddings sent along these lovely images of Jennifer and Mandy’s New York marriage. Here’s what Jenifour had to say about their big day:
“On Monday they flew to NYC where they had their civil ceremony outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They wore matching white coats. After the ceremony, they toasted their future with a glass of champagne and enjoyed a delicious vanilla cupcake. They then went around for a few hours with the photographer to have fun! And then on January 31st they boarded their first class seats on a flight to Kauai, Hawaii (with dresses as their carry on) to have their spiritual ceremony. Their wedding took place on a cliff at Shipwreck beach at sunset, overlooking the ocean.”
Over a year ago, Jenifour helped plan Mandy’s proposal to Jennifer in Central Park. Here’s the video:
Wedding Professionals:
- Wedding Planner: Jenifour Jones of Go Get It Events & Weddings
- Photographer: Sean Kim
- Officiate: Sarah Ritchie
- Hotel: The New York Palace
Thank you Jenifour for sharing this lovely event and congratulations to Mandy and Jennifer!!
Look at what I have for this Friday – quite possibly the most AMAZING wedding invitation ever! Available on Melangerie Inc.’s Etsy store, these Viewmaster invitations are custom designed with your photos and text! Pricey? Yes. Totally worth it? Definitely.
{images © Jen Huang}
Happy Planning!
I received an email the other day from Bella Figura letting me know that they are offering this special promotion to same sex couples in honor of the recent win in NY! I’m so excited about all of the awesome vendors and wedding pros who are contacting me about different ways in which their companies want to show support for marriage equality! Rock on! And, by the way, I stopped by their online store earlier and they have some GORGEOUS stuff! So if you’re shopping for wedding invites be sure to check out Bella Figura. Here are the deets about their special promotion:
In honor of New York State passing the Marriage Equality Act, letterpress stationer Bella Figura is offering an exclusive, month-long promotion to same-sex couples. Same-sex couples will be offered free envelope liners with any order placed during the special, which runs from August 25 – September 25. While there is a limit of one set of free envelope liners per order, the special is not limited to any particular size – so couples may order invitations, save the dates, or other stationery – and still receive the offer.
Bella Figura, a leader in the eco-friendly letterpress movement, is a stationery line with an extensive design collection of over 225+ exclusive designs from over 25 of the nation’s most talented graphic designers and calligraphers. Designs styles include modern, vintage, traditional, whimsical, and everything in between.
Bella Figura invitations and stationery may be ordered through fine stationery retailers across the United States and abroad, or online at www.bellafigura.com.
About Bella Figura:
Bella Figura creates letterpress wedding invitations the old-fashioned way, using vintage castiron presses, the best paper, time, patience, perfection, and a whole lot of love. Bella Figura is a true environmental letterpress shop: they are a wind-powered, a member of Green America’s Green Business Network and donate 1% of sales to environmental causes. Their line of letterpress invitations is printed on 100% reclaimed cotton paper, made at a historic European paper mill exclusively for them. Bella Figura’s letterpress wedding invitations have been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, New York Weddings, BRIDES, Modern Bride, Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, Inside Weddings, and The Knot, in addition to mentions on wedding blogs such as Style Me Pretty and Once Wed.
Bella Figura will also be creating several blog posts for their company blog which will coordinate with the promotion and include tips on invitation and program wording from etiquette expert and event planner Mark Kingsdorf and real weddings from same sex couples who were recently married. So be sure to check it out!
Happy Planning!
I was so excited when I opened my email Saturday morning and found a message from real groom, Steve, with this video from his wedding! I watched it three times in a row and then immediately emailed him back digging for more details about his big day.
This is what Steve had to say about his wedding:
“Gavin and I met while I was travelling around Australia, we were both working at a popular gay bar in Melbourne, which was later the venue for our wedding. We didn’t really speak much at first but got to know each other at the staff Christmas party and after a few dates love began to blossom.
Gay marriage still isn’t legal in Australia but as a British resident we had a civil union at the British Embassy in Melbourne. We wanted to follow it up with a proper wedding for our family and friends but we had to do it on a budget.
I wanted something fun and lighthearted. I believe with gay marriage we have the chance to move away from all the old stuffy Christian traditions and make them colourful celebrations. I wanted by best friends Andy, Tom and Peta as bridesmaids. There were a few reservations at first about wearing heels but eventually they all agreed.
I make costumes for theatre so I designed and made our 70′s suits. I wanted to do something special for Gavin. Since he loves wolves, I ordered this really tacky wolf print fabric from the states and made it into a flyaway collar shirt. It was awesome and he LOVED it. The bridesmaid dresses were the biggest trial as I made them too short so I had to put a frill on the bottom to that could all keep their dignity.
I chose the song ‘Tomorrow is my wedding day’ by Jem and the holograms as it was my favourite cartoon growing up and the episode where Kimber gets married was my favourite…I used to watch it over and over again. Plus I choreographed their dance, except they got a bit drunk beforehand so some of the steps are even more dramatic than I remembered from rehearsal! The overall colour theme was pink and green as I wanted to give a garden feel as the venue was quite dark.
I think overall, what I learned from planning our wedding is that less really is more and its possible to do it on a budget. Just don’t lose sight of who you are and definitely DO NOT WATCH wedding shows. They make spending $100,000 on flowers seem perfectly plausible.”
Congratulations Steve and Gavin! Thank you so much for sharing your part of your big day with WedHaute!
Hello Hello Everyone! And Happy Friday!
We’re all celebrating the victory in New York for marriage equality! Yayyyyyyy!
I recently received an email from Kristin at Photomuse who created a contest in honor of New York’s momentous achievement. Here are all the deets:
Photomuse is offering a free wedding photography contest to a same sex couple in New York (valued up to $ 4,000). To submit, send a photo of yourselves, a brief story about both of you and your wedding date and venue by email to Kristin@photomuse.com before July 15, 2011.
The winning couple will receive wedding photography coverage by two photographers and a DVD of high resolution images. We are looking for a same sex couple who are planning to get married within the first two months after the law goes into effect. Five couples will be chosen by Photomuse and the final couple will be then be chosen by the public via Facebook.
Photomuse is a Fine Art/Documentary style wedding and portrait company that specializes in capturing the moments and emotions that make you unique. Photomuse continues to garner award-winning imagery that is recognized by its international member guilds, the Wedding Photojournalists Association (WPJA), the Artistic Guild of Wedding Photography (AGWPJA) and the International Society of Wedding Professionals (ISPWP).
OMG! Isn’t this fabulous! So if you’re planning your NY nuptials be sure to check out this awesome contest by Photomuse! I’ll definitely be following on Facebook to see who the winning couple is!!!
Have a great weekend!
Hello Friends!
I just received an email from HRC.org explaining how marriage equality is close to becoming a reality in New York (Yay!… About time!). The state legislature is expected to vote on a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. And the vote could come very soon. So HRC is asking for donations to help run this really great advertisement on New York television stations to help win marriage equality in the state. This ad has a great message – so please have a watch and think about donating to the cause if you can!
Come on New York! I know you can pass the bill and be an example for so many other states! Let’s make it happen!!
Do-It-Yourself. How do you feel about the DIY wedding trends? Personally, #ImAFan. A big one. I know that DIY doesn’t sound glamorous, and perhaps it’s a sign of the times. There’s been a lot of talk in the wedding industry about the dreadful dip in weddings during 2010 because of the economy. So, perhaps the DIY movement was birthed out of that. “Necessity is the mother of invention…” or something like that. However, I am personally inspired by the amazing creativity I’ve seen from DIY-ers. If you’d like to get in on the DIY action for your own nuptials take a look at save-on-crafts.com. A fellow photog friend introduced me to the site for an upcoming photo shoot. And I just. about. died. when I scrolled through the awesome-ness! Vases, birdcages, lanterns, dried flowers, and all other sorts of gorgeous to make your wedding day (or engagement session) your very own.
So, how about you? Are you creating a DIY wedding?
Happy Planning!
