Where Art Thou?

I'm currently hammering down the details for photo locations before the wedding ceremony. We are getting ready in NY at the London Hotel, then making our way south and stopping along the way for photos.

Our first stop is Bryant Park. I wanted to have photos on the cute Le Carrousel


courtesy of flicker

Then, which is where I got stuck, we wanted some fab pics on a cobblestone street. I just love the texture it gives photos, especially in black and white. Like this:


courtesy of Karen Hill

But for the life of me, I don't know where this location is. Anyone know? Or have any suggestions for cobblestone photo goodness?

Lastly, as we are taking the ferry from Financial District to the venue, we figured we'd take photos in the area. So the South Street area might be a good idea. Like these:




courtesy of WeddingBee, Miss Swan and Dante Williams

Aren't they lovely!?!? I especially love that they are by the water, have a view of a skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. Initially, we wanted to take photos on the Brooklyn Bridge but my photographer shared that we would have to walk to the Bridge and I wasn't sure if I was feeling that idea.. with me and my Party in with heels, big dresses. I don't know..maybe we'll do a dry run one of these weekends. But South Street is definitely a picturesque option.

Should I let go of my dream of a photo like this?


courtesy of Globetrotting Bride

Parasol Madness

Aren't parasols in photos just gorge?!?! I want one!

Besides being fabulous eye candy in photos, we wanted parasols for our guests as the wedding is outside, with no natural shade and in August. So I began to try to source these and have been met with outrageous prices. The least expensive I found was from Oriental Trading. They are selling them 12 for $29.00, not bad AT ALL! Also because they are plain, we can decorate them ourselves. I won't even begin to share how much ONE already painted "Thank You" or "Love" parasol costs!

My only concern is that from the reviews, is that while the price is fab the quality.. not so much. I'm just hoping to get at least 10 usable out of the bunch.

Guestbook Blues

I had been thinking about whether or not to do a guestbook. I mean we will have photos and video of everyone and will get their sentiments and well wishes at the wedding so I was thinking, is a guestbook really necessary for our wedding?

But then I came across an idea that was truly fabulous and served dual purposes. Guestbook table numbers!!! Genuis. It's such a cute idea..not only serves as table number marker, it will help guest engage in convo as they peruse the pages and add comments. I wish I was more DIY talented..but I think I can do this.

Supplies

• Hardcover book ( here )
  
• Fabric (My fab Pucci-esque fabric, of course)
• Number stencils
• Cardstock for the numbers and for the inside covers
• Pencil, ruler & scissors
  
• Tacky glue & glue stick

1) Cut your fabric so it's just slightly (half an inch or more all the way around) bigger than the cover of the book when layed with both covers flat against the table. Cut little slits at the binding so that you can fold your fabric over the cover. You will be putting paper over the inside cover so no one will see your edges.

2) Glue your fabric to the inside cover of one side. Then run your tacky glue all around the binding. Then move to the other side and glue your fabric to the other inside cover. Moving in this manner will keep your fabric tight against the book and help eliminate wrinkles.

3) Cut your paper to go over the inside covers. I cut mine 5 1/2" X 7 3/4" for each inside cover, so I used one sheet of 8.5 X 11 cardstock per book. Use tacky glue around the edges and a glue stick for the center to prevent bumps on the paper.

4) Using your number stencil, trace with a pencil and then cut out your number. Do this twice so you can have a number on either side of the book if you want. You can get quite a few numbers on one sheet of 8.5 X 11 cardstock. I glued mine with tacky glue.

5) For the inside of your book, feel free to write a message to your guests, prompts for their writing or even drawing. My favorite is "Draw the bride and groom on their wedding day". Don't forget to provide guests something to write with!

courtesy Project Wedding

Wedding Film

I thought I was sold and ready to place a contract on my last wedding video vendor but Murphy's Law is in full effect and now we simply don't have the funds for a 4k video. But I still wanted to capture our wedding on video. I know we will have a billion and one photos but film is another dimension that shouldn't be missed, in my opinion. So I started brainstorming...

I remembered awhile ago receiving a demo dvd from Well Spun Weddings. Great company, wonderful work but still out of range. Fast forward to today.. I received a follow up call from Janis, SUPER NICE and HELPFUL!! I explained that video is out of reach right now and she gave me two awesome suggestions.

1. We could utilize their sister company, Hitched On Film, that provides the same quality, same shooters and fabulous videos for $995.00!!! The only catch - only 4 hours of coverage. Not a problem at all for us as we only wanted the "getting ready" and ceremony on video.

2. We could have a friend or family member do all the filming and then submit our mini tapes to them for editing. This option is $695. The biggest selling point for us with this option is we can wait until after the wedding to submit and pay for it.

Option 2 is most likely going to be our choice.

I so love their work.. it's consistent and simply perfect.

wedding film from Hitched on Film on Vimeo.

That Cake Was Boss

Another item crossed off my "To-Do" list was visiting the bakery for our wedding cake. The Liberty House works with the fabulous Carlos Bakery located in Hoboken, NJ. Yup, the same one that can be seen on Food Network and more recently getting geared up for his own reality show, "Cake Boss". How exciting!

The tasting was great. We got to meet Buddy the baker. He looks exactly the same as he does on TV.



Of course, the cakes we had to choose from were from several pre-configured cakes.. which I was fine with. I had been obsessing too long on too many elements of the wedding. At this point I just wanted a good cake that looks pretty.

We chose a 3 tier, square vanilla cake with lemon french cream and fresh raspberry filling. It tasted like SUMMER!! I can't wait to gobble it up again on the wedding day.

Since it will be generic in design, I will add my own touches, including wrapping thin "Pucci" ribbon around the base of each tear and placing white orchids on the first and last tier.

We decided to nix the Pucci cupcakes because the fiance wanted something more traditional. I'm ok with that. I get the warm fuzzies just thinking about that element being special to him.

Time Flies

OMGoodness, I can't believe it's almost been a month since my last post. It's probably because I can NOT believe that the wedding is happening in 2 months and a week. EEEK!!

Currently I've been diligently trying to find affordable transportation. We didn't want limos.. I've always found them difficult to get into and out of gracefully. I will probably already be hot (August 30 wedding = temperature on HELL) and tussling with my fab gown...so the less drama the better.

Enter BusBank. This company has been heaven sent. We will be transporting our entire bridal party, 18 in total, including us. I wanted to keep everyone together as we will be taking photos before the ceremony at three different locations in the City before heading over to the venue. The mini coach price includes a driver for 5 hours for around $500.00!! Score!!



Sure, it's not as glam as I would like..but it will get us from Point A to Point B, C, and D.