Happy New Year!!! I hope that your time off was well spent and refreshing. I must say that after Christmas, we certainly enjoyed many relaxing hours on the couch with nary an email or telephone in reach. The last week has been a wonderful opportunity to really reflect on 2010. I cannot begin to say how thankful I am for each of my readers that make us a part of your own journey for beauty and inspiration. You all (vendors, photographers, brides, and pretty-lovers) make my job the most rewarding and fulfilling venture that I could possibly imagine. I’ve never been more excited about the direction of Grey Likes and I know this year has so much in store. We’ve got some wonderful projects, ideas, and goals to continue our effort to keep you inspired. Get excited because it’s only going to get better.
To start off 2011, our first wedding of the year is Kristin and Brian’s celebration full of romantic, creative ideas. Because their theme centered around the idea of “home” they put together a really thoughtful wedding that included family oriented details, including old pictures of their parents’ and grandparents’ weddings, directional maps, and mix-and-match table settings. Kristin’s dress is actually an heirloom from her grandmother! She tells the story, along with other details below.
Very special thanks to Jennifer from Ever Whim Photography. She gave us a chance to see Kristin and Brian’s engagement session as well, and it’s always special for me to feature a couple’s entire story on Grey Likes.
From Kristin:
My dress was originally worn by my dad’s mom, Grandma Betty, back in 1954. She was 19 and marrying my Grandpa, fresh off the ship from the Korean War. The original design had about 5 more feet of train, a high collar with long sleeves made of lace and a bigger bust. Betty passed away 2 years ago and a few months before Brian proposed, my dad had the dress along with a bunch of other stuff shipped here from Ohio. I tried on the dress on a whim and it actually fit pretty well. My dad saw me trying it on and got all teary, realizing the reality of me wearing could happen, and happen soon. When we got engaged, I contacted a local seamstress and after a few consultations and a bunch of alterations, we had the perfect vintage dress.
The table decor was collected over the period of a few months. We scoured flea markets, thrift stores all over SC and San Jose, and even ventured to Bargain Barn a couple of times – Brian was a trooper and helped collect a lot of the decor. The hunt was the best part. We had a color palette in mind, and we knew we wanted books and maps to be incorporated and so we just kept collecting. Many of the vases are borrowed from Jenny, a friend who got married a few months prior. Every table was different, so in order for the set up to be simple and for us to make the most of our collection of linens, glassware, books and such, me, my sister and then-future sister-in-law took an afternoon and did a mock table set up of all 22 tables and took pictures and separated all the decor into labeled bags so that the set up people knew exactly what we wanted. That was one of the best memories.
Maps didn’t quite make it into the tables, so we had our wedding coordinator Katie Hund, of Wylie Weddings create handmade map boutineers (and one map hair piece) for the groom and his grooms peeps. We also used maps as a design detail for all of our signage and for our wall of memories. Directional signage was created from left over wood from Brian’s sister and brother-in-law’s house, which dated back to the 1900’s. We had a creative craft day a few weeks before the wedding and our dear friends hand painted the signs. Dishes people ate from were borrowed from other friends who got married a few months prior- they had collected them from thrift stores all over the city and loaned them to us.
The necklace I wore was my stepmom’s mom’s, probably from the 1920’s we think. My hair piece was made by Sara Wysuph (a long time friend and talented accessory designer) out of flowers and a couple of vintage earrings from my grandma Betty. Brian’s and the groomsmen’s ties were actually handmade by our seamstress out of a fun vintage tablecloth we found at Teen Challenge in San Jose. The cup cakes were made by brian’s brother in law’s mom, anitra lamoint, she used to be a professional baker and did them for free (including a sugar free option for me!). Brian got his suit at H&M, shoes at Front St Thrift in SC ($6!). Sunny Stickel did the catering, a friend and fellow VFC-er. Gabe Cortez was our DJ. Flowers were purchased in bulk from Boulder Creek Flowers and the bouquets and floral arrangements for the tables were hand crafted by my bridesmaids. Our wedding was coordinated and partially designed by Katie Hund, of Wylie Weddings. Wedding favors were gourmet individually wrapped cookies from Chocolate Star Bakery, owned by Brian’s sister in law, Suzanne.