Wedding Day Sharing

I stole this off another newlyweds blog. Thanks Christy for the Sunday morning filler!

Wedding Day...Share
This is a survey for all of you married folk.

1) When was your wedding day? September 6, 2008

2) What day of the week was it? Saturday

3) Did you get married in a church? Nope. We got married in the Gateway Garden at Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, MI. My awesome sister got ordained through the Universal Life Church on-line. She did such an amazing job!

4) How many in your wedding party? We had 5 on each side and then us.

6) How many guests were invited to your wedding? We invited 220 and had about 120 show up.

7) How long did you wait to Tie The Knot after your proposal? We got engaged in April of 2007 and got married 17 months later. A long engagement meant less stress.

8) Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer? Our photographer was the amazingly talented Emily Smith of Smith Gallery Photography. She has us as customers for life. I want her to take pictures of my future children and family portraits and our dogs and us. Just beautiful! As for videographer, we did not have one and I did not miss not having one.

9) Did you have a DJ or a band? We hired 3 local high school students to play during the ceremony and a DJ for the reception. Tom Downey of Mike Staff Productions was our DJ and I really liked him. He was a big fan of my music style and played, mostly, everything I wanted. Apparently there was a country song at one point, but I really don't remember.

10) Did your father walk you down the aisle? Both of my parents walked me down the aisle. It was great to have the two most influential people in my life hold me up as I walked towards my future husband and my new married life.


11) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? My bridesmaids all wore Chocolate brown dresses of their choosing. The groomsmen wore chocolate brown pinstripe pants from Banana Republic, a white button down shirt and a green tie we got them from Dilliard's.


12) Who was your Maid Of Honor/Best Man? My best friend Becky was my MOH and Dave's brother Steve was his BM. I have too many wonderful biological sisters to choose from so I chose my non-biological sister!

14) What type of limo did you get? No limo. I drove to the wedding ceremony with Becky and to the reception with Steve, Tom and Dave in our Jeep.

15) Where did you go for your Bachelorette/Bachelor Party? My bachelorette party started at a Tiger's game in the afternoon then it was off to Ann Arbor. We had dinner at Shalimar, played billiards at the Monkey Bar and then went to Conor O'Neill's where Mary should not have drank that last beer. The men made Dave wear an Ohio State shirt and then went bar hopping in downtown Ann Arbor. I think they ate dinner at Grizzly Peak.

(all ready for the Tiger's game)

16) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? I wore a Dress by Maggie Sottero. It was called the Jessica. Dave wore a tan suit that he got at Men's Warehouse.


17) How was the weather? Perfect! September in MI can go either way and on our wedding day it was beautiful! The sky was blue and the temperature was in the low to mid 70s. My Mom told me that it was a gift from my Grandpa who passed away in 1996. I like to think that it was too!

18) Where did you go on your Honeymoon? We didn't leave for our honeymoon until 10 days after the wedding and I am thankful that we gave ourselves that down time. We went to Ireland for a week and stayed at various B&B's throughout the southern half of the country. It was amazing and right up our alley! We are not really beach people. We like woods, green, culture, and history. Ireland did not disappoint.

(Kinsale, Co. Cork)

19) What was your favorite part of your wedding day? The whole day was perfect! I loved finally marrying Dave and seeing all my family and friends and not being stressed out. Everything was just as I wanted it to be.

20) How long have you been married? Just shy of 6 months.

21) Did you have a wedding planner? You betcha! I am a perfectionist and did not want to stress on my wedding day. Kathy Bishop of I Want a Fantastic Function was my day of coordinator and I wouldn't have has it any other way. She helped out in so many ways that I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a god send she was.

22) Who designed your invites? Me and Brides magazine. I bought a kit from Michael's and then added my own maps and RSVP cards. I was super happy with the results.

23) Who was your florist? I ordered my flowers from the Whole Foods I used to work at in Ann Arbor. Melissa was amazing! She designed the most gorgeous arrangements I have ever seen and she came $100 under budget.


24) Where did you find your dress? At d'Anelli's Bridal in Lakewood, CO. They had a great variety of dresses, but I was not really impressed with the staff. I am glad that my sister was with me or else I would not have chosen the absolutely gorgeous dress that I did.