The joy in Catherine and Eric’s wedding photos was ever apparent. From their first look to their stop at Left Bank Books. Their simple and uncomplicated details, and big smiles. I loved how Catherine took an easy approach to her planning – staying true to her personality and just running with whatever was thrown her way.
From the Bride:
Since I never fell into the dreaming-of-my-wedding-day-since-I-was-five category but rather squarely into the what?-I’m-getting-married?-Oh-dear-heavens-I-have-to-plan-this-wedding-thing-now-don’t-I camp, I had absolutely no idea where to begin. All I knew was that I wanted an autumn wedding, and we wanted something simple but classy, relaxed yet elegant, and not terribly large but not terribly exclusive.
Finding a dress was pretty easy – I just hopped online and looked for a simple white dress. (Being one to avoid the limelight whenever possible, I knew the bridal boutiques were not for me.) I found the bridesmaid dresses in the same way – although many places don’t release their ‘fall’ colors until late summer which was frustrating, and is something to keep in mind. The groom & groomsmen just wore grey suits (tuxes were not very ‘us’), and we somehow forgot to coordinate tie-color – I’d recommend not assuming the groom will take care of that lest one of your groomsmen end up wearing a bright pink tie out of nowhere (but it worked, somehow). The venue we chose was all inclusive – in-house catering, tables, linens, chairs, dishes, glassware – so there wasn’t much to fuss about there, which was perfect for us, being non-planners.
Pinterest was extremely useful in gathering images and color palettes and other ideas for the wedding. To add personal touches, my now sister-in-law suggested a bookish theme (I’m a bit of a book-nerd and the groom reads quite a bit as well), and since her partner-in-crime works at a library, we were able to get a hold of loads of old, discarded books to stack use as centerpieces. We also made ‘poofs’ from pages of an old dictionary to complement the books (and our one activity at the shower was to invite the guests to help make them). I found some adorable little wedding favors on Etsy – tiny little flower pots with seeds in little autumn leaves. We did the music ourselves – in that we created a playlist and bought any songs we wanted but didn’t have. Again, sister-in-law and her partner-in-crime were crucial to pulling that off as well, as they manned the computer.
Everything went pretty smoothly in the end – it was a great day and a great wedding. I only wish we could have danced more (or at all, really)! All that planning, and it seems to go by in seconds.
Ceremony / Reception Venue: Windows On Washington | Cake: McArthur’s Bakery | Florist: Lesher’s Flowers | Photographer: The Rasers Photography | Wedding Gown: BCBG | Bride’s Shoes: Calvin Klein | Bride’s Necklace: Banana Republic | Bridesmaids Dresses: J.Crew | Groom’s Suit: Brooks Brothers | Groomsmen Suits: Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic
