My Very Etsy Wedding - Part Two

I already shared some of my Etsy vendors with you earlier this week, but I'm back today with even more handmade goodness. Let's go.


Paper die cuts from Scraps4ever: These colorful little circles represented our guest tables on the floor plan that was displayed in the ballroom foyer. Not a really intense purchase, but it was something I needed and was easily found on Etsy.

credit: Girl Photography

Embroidered handkerchiefs by EmbroiderybyLinda: I stashed one of these hankies, complete with my husband's initials, inside my clutch on wedding day. So it was my "something borrowed," even though it's pretty nontraditional to borrow something from your beau.

credit: Embroidery by Linda

Flower girl pinwheels from ElizabethSt: Our wedding wasn't very flower heavy, and we had pretty young flower girls, so I didn't think giving them flower petals or pomanders really made sense. I figured pinwheels would be easy for them to carry, and the fact that they were so oversized made the girls look even cuter than they already are.

credit: Girl Photography

Honeymoon bag by astylishdesign: Okay, so this was technically a purchase used after the wedding. But I loved this bag so much that I still use it on plane trips now. It's big, durable, and a real attention-getter. I have since bought slightly different designs for two of my engaged friends because it really does make the perfect bride-to-be gift.

credit: A Stylish Design

Really, how did brides get a little help with their DIY, find totally unique items, or customize to their hearts desire before Etsy came along?

My Very Etsy Wedding - Part One

Like so many brides, I tore through the shops of Etsy when it came time to detailing out my wedding. Because I loved all of the vendors I worked with so much, I wanted to post about them here. They were all easy to work with and delivered exactly what I wanted. Note that some of these shops can be found outside of the Etsy world, but for convenience I've linked to their Etsy shops only.

Our cake toppers by craftyapril: I wanted these to look like tshirts we had worn back in our youthful days of running around Penn State. I believe this shop is closed now, but still wanted to give her a shout out.





My beaded headband by UntamedPetals: I chose the Poppy style headband, and asked that it be on an actual band instead of just tying it with ribbon ends. I loved how subtle this piece was.





Our invitations and programs by down2earthpaperworks: You already know what a success it was working with this shop from this previous post.





Our bouquet ribbon by mysilverbeetle: I know this sounds ridiculous, but I couldn't find the exact ribbon I envisioned for our billy ball bouquets anywhere. So I contacted Stephanie with this shop, and she found the perfect ribbon in a market in India and shipped it all the way to Philly. I'm not sure if this shop is still open.





All of the above photos were wonderfully shot by Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography.

I'll be back with another post on the rest of my Etsy vendors later this week, so stay tuned.

Notes From a Newlywed: The Videographer {Well Spun Weddings}

The last major vendor we secured for our wedding was the videographer. We weren't 100% sold on the value of having a movie done, so it took a while for us to make the call on this one. But our parents collectively asked us about getting a videographer enough times that we finally broke down and gave in.

I had long been a fan of Well Spun Wedding's work whenever I saw it pop up around the blogosphere. And, like I mentioned above, this was my last vendor to nail down so I didn't have an exhaustive search in my at this point. Well Spun it was.

Now, the only part of the DVD that I was personally looking forward to seeing was the section that features highlights set to music. And this part of the DVD turned out great (you can see for yourself below.) But we had some serious issues with the rest of the finished product - speeches that were cut off and the entire baraat was missing at one point.

It took a ton of back and forth over the past several months to get these issues fixed, and unfortunately our FINAL final product is not totally what we had hoped for. But I'm really glad we have the DVDs, so we can remember exactly how the speeches went and how everything looked that day.

I'm still not one to preach that you absolutely NEED to have a videographer at your wedding. I know that you can't fit everything into your budget, and I totally understand why some people skip this vendor altogether. Wedding planning is about making decisions and choices, and everyone just does what is right for them.

This officially marks the end of my 'Notes From a Newlywed' series. If you've missed any of the posts, feel free to scroll through and catch up.

Notes From a Newlywed: The Cake {Carvel}

Our wedding cake was figured out, at least in our minds, almost immediately after getting engaged. No eight tiers of fondant or fancy fruit fillings for us, no way. I'll tell you what we wanted in two simple words: ice cream.

An ice cream wedding cake was exactly what we got. I can't even begin to tell you how excited people were when we told them we were getting this cake. It's definitely something out of the ordinary, but everyone likes ice cream, right?




Good ol' Carvel in Mullica Hill, New Jersey prepared our four tiers (plus slicing sheets) of chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, and cookie dough deliciousness. We have gone to this Carvel for numerous birthday cakes over the past few years, and they always do a great job with our orders. For anyone in the Philly area, I highly suggest hitting up this location for all your ice cream needs. Just ask for Jan.

Sure, our cake started dripping a bit before we cut it, and not all the flavors got served since we over-sized our order, but hey...it was ice cream and it was awesome. Carvel crunchies for all!





The photos in today's post were provided courtesy of Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography. Don't know Nicole's work? Check it out here.

Notes From a Newlywed: The Suits {Macy's}

We weren't having a very formal wedding, so tuxes for the guys didn't really make sense. Once we were sure we wanted to go the suit route, we decided on a color: a light/medium grey. We also chose to make these the groomsmen gifts. Lots of decisions made. That was where the easy part ended.

Next came finding a suit that we liked. Really I deferred to my husband here, since I don't make a habit of wearing sensible pant suits in my everyday life and deemed him a more knowledgeable person in this matter. We did find one at a large chain men's store, but we ran into issues with availability and kind of felt our time there had run its course after some confusing customer service.

On a whim we returned to the suit section of Macy's, where we'd been before, but had been told (mistakenly) by a salesman that they don't really "do" wedding parties. We found a more accommodating salesman this time around, and we were on our way to buying ten suits through their personal shopping service within minutes. (And it should be noted that they outfit wedding parties all the time).

For anyone in the Philly area, I can't recommend enough to get your suits from the King of Prussia Macy's to outfit your groom and groomsmen. The thought of getting the right jacket and pant sizes, shipping them all over the country, and then dealing with exchanges or alterations for ten guys made me want to ball up in the fetal position in the shoe department (they have so much seating there). But Sherri with Macy's handled this like it wasn't a big deal at all. She was incredibly on top of our massive order, expedited exchanges when a couple different sizes were discovered to be needed, and coordinated our purchase with available sales so we could get the best price.

Can we talk about the suits for a second? The light grey Tommy Hilfiger looked great on all the guys, and complemented the bridesmaids' varying blue dresses fabulously. The suit has a slimmer cut and it's the perfect weight for the warmer months. I know a bunch of the guys have worn it several times since...including my husband.

Just a note on the ties: we also gifted these to the guys, with the g-men (left) ties from Banana Republic and the groom's tie (right) from Nordstrom.





All the suits (and the guys) were photographed perfectly by the one and only Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography.

Notes from a Newlywed: The Shoes {Badgley Mischka}

I knew before I even went wedding dress shopping that I didn't want white shoes with my dress. Not only did I not want white, I didn't want anything close to it: no bone, ivory, cream...well, you get the point. Unless you're wearing a short dress, no one even really gets a good look at your shoes other than your photographer, so I really have no valid reason to explain my aversion to white bridal shoes. I've seen lots of brides wear them and they look stunning. But for me, I just wanted a little bit more color.

There were already alot of blue elements in our wedding: the bridesmaids' ceremony saris, their reception dresses, and parts of our paper suite. So I settled on blue shoes. Plus, these would be my "something blue," although I ended up with a few blue things by the time my wedding day rolled around so that wasn't really a hard bridal requirement to fulfill.

I ordered the satin Badgley Mischka Randall pumps from Nordstrom in medium blue. Such pretty shoes! The flower at the peep toe sort of coordinated with the detailing on the bodice of my dress, and for being 4" high they weren't totally uncomfortable. Note for anyone looking to wear Badgley's for their walk down the aisle: they run big, so definitely order a half size or full size down from what you usually wear to avoid any missteps.






All fabulous footwear photos are by Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography...who only threatened to steal my heels on wedding day, but didn't actually follow through with it...!

Notes From a Newlywed: The Flowers {Flowers by Mary Elizabeth}

So, I had put off looking for a florist until the wedding was about six months away. I didn't feel a huge rush in securing one since I knew my floral order was pretty small. All I needed was ten bouquets. No centerpieces (we were going non-floral). No boutonnieres (the guy's were just going without).





I had gotten quotes from several Philly area florists, and in doing so I specified the exact number of stems I wanted assembled and delivered. I thought doing this would decrease the chance of having wildly different prices come back to me. Wrong. I really don't know how vendors can price out a service and product that is essentially identical and come up with such varying numbers. But it somehow happens.





Luckily for me one of the florists I found was Mary McVeigh of Flowers by Mary Elizabeth. Her prices were very competitive, she was extremely responsive to all of my questions, and she was really flexible when it came to listening to my ideas. What she delivered - in the midst of the semi-chaos of our hotel suite's prep time - was exactly what we had discussed months prior.





And yes, I kept the bouquets simple, small, cheery, and chock full o' billy balls. I thought the bright yellow would pick up the gold details on our saris for the ceremony, and then pop against our dresses for the reception. But really...I just knew you can't go wrong with some b. balls.











This floral explosion of photos provided by Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography.

Notes From a Newlywed: The Invitations {Down-to-Earth Paperworks}

When it comes to our next vendor, Down-to-Earth Paperworks, I really can't say anything but good things. If you want to read more of my gushing over working with Menna and a bit of background as to why I decided on this particular style of invites, be sure to check out this post from earlier in the year.

Menna not only designed our invitations, but also whipped up coordinating ceremony programs, too. And these weren't your average programs...they had a front and back cover plus eight interior pages of text. When you have a 90 minute Indian ceremony, you definitely want to make sure that all of your guests can follow along.









Thanks, as always, to Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography for getting some great shots of our paper products.

Notes From a Newlywed: The Horse {76 Carriage Company}

I know not everyone is looking to snag a horse for their wedding, so I'll keep this recap short. But if you are in the Philly area and do find yourself in need of services of the equine variety, then I'd definitely recommend 76 Carriage Company. After spending any amount of time in our fine city, you'll no doubt see tourists riding around in horse-drawn carriages. (Beef-A-Reeno free, I hope). 76 Carriage operates those, but is in the business of providing wedding horses, too.




Their wedding horses are pretty much regulars at our venue, so the one that showed up for us was, of course, a pro. As I've mentioned before, I didn't participate in the outdoor portion of the wedding day, but I know our guests had a great time welcoming the groom and the white horse he rode in on.






All photos courtesy of the irreplaceable Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography.

Notes From a Newlyed: The Registry {Macy's}

Right around the time we got our DJ locked down, we also got around to figuring out our registry. We decided to register at only one place, which every bridal mag and website will tell you is a no-no. You should give your guests limitless gifting options! You should get basics from a larger store and more unique items from a specialty shop! I get the point, but I also get that our lovely (but pretty cozy) post-wedding abode can only hold so much wedding gift goodness before we'd be using said gifts as makeshift pieces of furniture for lack of space.

So off to Macy's we went one day last Fall to wield the scan gun. Macy's made the most sense because it had the items we were looking to stock up on, offered a fair range of price points, and had one of the more generous registry rewards programs I had seen. This last factor proved to be huge when we made a fairly big wedding related purchase there several months later...but I'll get to that more in a future post.

The funny thing with picking out registry items is that everything looks amazing and fabulous when you're in the store or when you're shuffling items in and out online. But you just never really know how everything's going to hold up until you unpack and start using them. There are some items that were epic fails, and looking back now I see they have negative reviews online so I'm not the only one who thinks they're duds.

But I have some things, especially in the kitchen, that have proven to work out perfectly, especially with our space constraints.

These nesting magnetic measuring spoons actually fit in the drawer that I thought was too small to hold anything.





The mini food processor takes up no space at all in the cabinets and is still large enough to get all the slicing and dicing done.





I had heard from several people who had already chartered the registry waters that they'd regretted getting the cookware set that comes with every pot and pan imaginable, when you really only use so many of them every single day. I kept that in mind and hand picked the ones I wanted, and I have yet to find myself missing anything come dinner time.





These collapsible measuring cups are another space saver and super easy to clean.





Anyone else out there have any registry reports, either good or bad?

Notes From a Newlywed: The DJ {John Romani}

I've been in the band vs. DJ conversation too many times to count at this point. It's just like choosing between chocolate or vanilla. Pepsi or Coke. Leno or Letterman. Ben or Noel. There's no right or wrong answer, it's just a matter or preference.

Wait. Except for that last one. Although I love Scott Foley, it's Team Ben 4eva. It just is. But now I'm babbling about beloved WB television shows and not focused on weddings. So let's get back to weddings before I just break out my Felicity DVDs and call it a day.

We decided on hiring a DJ early in the planning process. For the type of songs we wanted played during the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception, not having live music made sense for us. But like I always tell people when I am asked to weigh in on this debate: I've seen good DJs and bad DJs, and I've seen good bands and bad bands. You aren't guaranteed anything by simply choosing one or the other.

Choosing to go with a DJ was the easy part. Choosing the actual DJ took so much more time than I originally thought it would. There were several weeks of discouraging emails being exchanged with some DJs and cheesy press kits arriving in the mail from others. Finally I stumbled upon this post in the Weddingbee boards from local bee Mrs. Cupcake and it led me to our DJ salvation: John Romani.

From our first meeting with him, I knew John was exactly the DJ we were looking for. He was incredibly receptive to our requests and flexible enough to work within our day's timelines. He listened to our "must play" song list and followed our "do not play" list just the same. John kept everything flowing smoothly from the start of the ceremony to the end of the reception, and had people dancing with a great mix of songs in between. He also didn't keep the music too loud, which was actually something we had specifically asked of him. We hate going to weddings and not being able to talk to the person sitting right next to you when you're at your table.





John's not the type of DJ that's there to put on a flashy show for the crowd or promote his name in between songs. He doesn't bring along crazy strobe lights or fog machines (score!), but the equipment he does bring is reliable and he brings back-ups just to be safe, too. He's super prepared, extremely professional, and incredibly easy to work with. I'd recommend him to anyone!





*All of the above photos of our guests getting their Footloose on are courtesy of Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography.

Notes From a Newlywed: The Dress {Melissa Sweet}

This post is a little difficult to write with the recent news that the entire Priscilla of Boston line is closing up shop as of the end of this year. I had a great experience as a POB bride, from the moment I started trying on dresses to the day I picked up my perfectly altered wedding gown. And you know that TWB is a huge fan of their bridesmaid lines, too.

For anyone who is still looking to score a POB creation, take note that the salons are having huge sales to clear out their inventories. Also, as you'll read at the end of this post, my own dress is now in circulation within a charitable cause's gown sale...so you never know where you'll be able to score a "vintage" POB dress going forward!





When it was time to go shopping for my wedding dress, I really didn't want to look anywhere else besides Priscilla of Boston. I have long been a fan of the brand's many lines (including POB, Melissa Sweet, and Vineyard) not only for their mix of classic silhouettes with modern details but also for their wide availability of price points offered. Looking ahead to alterations, I knew that the convenience of POB's Ardmore, PA location - a quick 5 minute drive from my pre-marriage home - would be an added bonus. Done and done.

But wait...am I trying to tell you that I was sure I was going to walk out of my one and only appointment at POB with a dress before I even went in? Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you. I was a bride-to-be on a mission, TWBers. I actually tried on about 10 dresses at the Short Hills, NJ POB, chosen because it was easier for my mom and sister in Connecticut to join in on an appointment there, and had all but signed on the dotted line for a mermaid style with a box pleat train and lace appliques on the bodice before trying on the very last dress my consultant had brought into the dressing room. It is the Talita style by Melissa Sweet, and it had just what I was looking for.

(all photos by Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography)

It's a fit-and-flare style, with a modified sweetheart neckline, and the silk satin organza was light and flowy. It wasn't too fussy, too bling-y, too classic, or too trendy. I never would've thought that I'd want a dress with flowers on it, because that's so not my usual style, but this just seemed to work. It was seriously so much fun to wear on my wedding day.

Once I came back from our honeymoon, and got the dress back from the cleaners, I had a decision to make: keep the dress or don't keep the dress. For me, keeping it just seemed like too much of a waste. I had my moment in it, and to keep it boxed up for years on end just wasn't what I ultimately wanted to do. So I turned to Brides Against Breast Cancer, an awesome organization that hosts traveling gown sales throughout the U.S. and uses the proceeds to fund the wish fulfillment of those suffering from breast cancer and overall breast cancer awareness.

I boxed up my dress and shipped it across the country to the BABC warehouse, where it will be assessed, re-cleaned/re-steamed, and set out on its way to be sold. I am so happy when I think that a bride will be able to enjoy my dress, score an amazing discount (I love it when we get to help each other out like that), and also help others all with one very special shopping trip to a BABC sale. You can find out a ton more about BABC at their website, but I've also posted the remaining 2011 sale dates that are currently announced below:

Baltimore, MD: September 30 - October 1
Eugene, OR: October 1 - Dress Dash Clearance Event
Los Angeles, CA: October 14-15
San Francisco, CA: October 21-22
Chico, CA: October 22 - Dress Dash Clearance Event.

Any past brides out there do anything kind of different with their dress after the big day? Let us know in the comments!

Notes From a Newlywed: The DOC {Danielle Pasternak}

Having had the opportunity to offer day-of coordination services for brides before getting married myself, I always knew that I wanted a DOC. Strike that. That I needed a DOC. Erin was the same way. We've been in that role for other brides, so why wouldn't we want a DOC to be there for our own weddings?

This was by far the trickiest vendor for me to scope out. I definitely had a Bizarro World moment or two when I was asking potential DOCs all the questions that our clients ask us all the time. Being on the other side of the clipboard took some getting used to, but once I found the right DOC for me, all was right in the wedding planning world again.

So who was the right DOC? Well that was Danielle Pasternak. From our first meeting, I could tell that she was super organized and paid attention to the little details. Those are both two DOC biggies. But I also immediately jived with her sense of style and appreciated her cheerfulness. I knew that at the wedding she would be able to wrangle all of the major players, place decor elements the way I wanted, and do it all with a smile on her face.

Danielle did an amazing job at our wedding. There were so many little things that popped up on the day (remember that last minute dhol player fill-in?) that she handled without worrying me. And the countless small details that I had buzzing around in my head before the wedding were easily put in her control...and everything was executed flawlessly.

All the photos below, which show items that I handed over to Danielle for her to manage the set-up of, are courtesy of Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography...but if you've been paying attention you already knew that, right?

The bridesmaids (and groomsmen) got front row ceremony seating.

Hand-stamped escort cards: hand-written notes inside envelopes from Paper Presentation.

Guest tables were each named after a Seinfeld episode, with a funny scene's dialogue from that ep on each table.

Seating chart...since there isn't a logical way for someone to find "The Big Salad" or "The Marine Biologist" in a ballroom.

Notes From a Newlywed: Hair & Makeup {Daneene Jensen}

Yes, I booked my hair and makeup, complete with a trial appointment, a full ten months before my wedding date. I know alot of brides don't book this vendor until much closer to the wedding, but I'm just crazy like that.

There were quite a few heads to beautify - me plus nine bridesmaids - so I wanted to be sure that someone would be available to come to us in the hotel suite. Herding everyone to a salon the morning of the wedding just didn't sound like a good time to me, and we had so much fun hanging out in a suite at Erin's wedding that I knew this was the way to go. And since the wedding was on a Sunday, many of the nearby salons wouldn't even be open that day, anyway.

Enter Daneene Jensen, one of my favorite finds from planning this shindig. She is laid back, funny, and works to make sure that your final look is exactly what you asked for. I didn't have a crazy bridal updo in mind, and didn't want heavy makeup...and Daneene worked her magic and had me looking just like I wanted on my wedding day. Her and another of her stylists also get bonus points for arriving early and finishing slightly ahead of schedule. They jumped right into the giddy excitement/controlled chaos of all of us getting ready and were true pros.

Hopefully the below photos (again from Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography) convey just a little bit of the great work that Daneene did for us.

Notes From a Newlywed: The Dhol Player {Manish Kataria}

I should start off this post by first answering the question, "What is a dhol player, exactly?" It's okay if you don't know, because I had never really heard of one before planning my own wedding.


A dhol is a type of Indian drum, and having a dhol player was one of the few things at the very top of the hubster's wedding must-have list. And believe me, that list was microscopically small. So getting a dhol player was a definite priority.


We contacted and booked Manish Kataria, but due to a very last minute travel hiccup* he couldn't make it to the wedding. Luckily he was able to book a back-up, who you'll see in the photos below. Sorry, Mr. Dhol Player, because I don't know your name and I only heard your work as I was tucked away inside my holding room while everyone else was outside having fun with you. But thanks for playing that dhol, nonetheless.

Of course all of the photos are once again provided by our photographer, Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography.


*This situation was handled flawlessly by my day-of coordinator, who you'll hear more about in a later post. I only had a second to contemplate how disappointing it would be to go sans-dhol player before I was reassured that a fill-in would be swooping in. Just another instance where a DOC saves the day. But like I said, more on that later.