Wednesday, October 5, 2011
We first met Erin and Josh at our bootcamp, The Smart Bride: Wedding Planning Workshop, back in January. Through their short interview, the two told us that the workshop helped them figure out how realistic their budget was and how Josh could be involved in helping Erin plan. From what we've seen so far, Erin and Josh have definitely made their budget work for them! We are so glad they reconnected with us to share their awesome engagement photos!
Shot by Becca Yager, their photos have a very personal edge as they chose locations they love. Some of their photos were taken at their favorite record shop, but most were captured at Old Made Good, an East Nashville shop that repurposes vintage furniture and antiques and sells hand-made jewelry and art from local artisans.The owners, Kate and Ashley, invited the couple to have their photos taken there at the very last minute and provided several props. "They were so hospitable about it and have become friends of ours since then," says Erin.
The couple will wed in Nashville's Germantown area with their reception at Marathon Village. A twist on the popular vintage style, Erin and Josh are leaning towards "industrial" vintage (read on to find out more!). Most of their wedding is DIY and Josh, a local DJ, is doing some of the DJing.
Enjoy their wedding plans and fun vintage photos!
Erin + Josh
Engagement Date ~ December 8, 2010
Wedding Date ~ November 19, 2011
How they got engaged.
Last fall, after spending weeks looking for the perfect engagement ring for Erin, Josh finally found the one. The one with both Josh and Erin's birth stones in the shape of a heart. Josh ordered the ring and waited. And waited some more. And then it came in the mail. And Josh immediately knew this ring would burn a hole in his pocket if he didn't propose as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Erin was hoping Josh was planning to propose during Christmas, slightly fearful that he'd wait until New Years, and extremely afraid he was holding out for Valentine's Day. She originally thought he might propose back in April when they were moving him across the country, but Josh is a bit of a slow mover.
So, with ring burning in his pocket all day, Josh drove home from work, hoping to meet Erin at home where they could take Jasper for a walk together and he could drop on a knee in a scenic location in East Nashville.
Erin had other plans. Mostly that she wanted to have dinner with their friend Taylor. And so they went to dinner. And the ring continued to burn in Josh's pocket. He thought of proposing as they were leaving for dinner, but Erin was on the phone with her parents half the drive. And the ring burned on.
Growing slightly antsy on the drive home, Josh tried to figure out how to propose. As they parked outside the house, he told Erin there was something funny he'd seen while walking Jasper earlier that she needed to see. So, in the dark, he led her down the block, pointed into the dark between two houses and, as she turned away from him, he got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and asked her to be his wife.
With the closeness to the holidays, Erin was shocked at the "early" proposal and exclaimed, "But it's just a Wednesday!" Then she started to cry and said that of course she'd marry him.
And then they spent the rest of the night on the phone and driving all over Nashville announcing the news to all their friends.
How many guests are you expecting?
We invited about 180, but we're expecting about 110-125 people.
What is your wedding budget?
$12,000
Who have you hired for your wedding team?
Ceremony Venue | Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Reception Venue | Marathon Village
Photographer | Becca Yager did the engagement session and we're lucky enough to have her for the wedding too!
Catering | Down South Delights (Rita Rowland is amazing!)
Videographer | Ryan Bernal (also awesome!)
Bridesmaid dresses | Kerried Away Couture
The rest is all us, Old Made Good and Etsy!
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Tell us about your fun wedding style.
Do-it-yourself, Nashville industrial vintage. Lots of lace, gingham, bowties, jeans and old work boots. We want it to look like a bunch of old-time factory workers who got cleaned up for a dance.
After a traditional Catholic ceremony, we're having a very laid-back reception where everyone can loosen up and enjoy themselves. Beyond serving dinner and a few toasts, the rest of the night will be one big party! Lots of drinks, dancing (Josh is a DJ and couldn't resist DJing his own wedding, at least for a little while) and merriment. No need to interrupt the good time by tossing bouquets and garters or doing money dances.
Tell us about your invitations.
We had parts of it printed but then crafted a lot of it ourselves.
You fell in love with the shops where you took your engagement photos. What made that special?
We love Old Made Good! (oldmadegood.com) We have bought several decorations, furniture and other bits and pieces for the wedding (and our apartment) from the OMG girls. We first met them a few weeks before our engagement photo session and quickly became friends. They offered to let us use their shop and property for our photos and we ended up spending most of the day with Becca Yager there before pulling off a few shots in Grimey's, our favorite record store. We went to Old Made Good because we wanted a quirky, vintage feel, which they are all about, and we love to support our local artisans, craftsmen and women. We wanted to go to Grimey's because we are avid vinyl collectors and music is a huge part of why we fell in love.
Many thanks to Erin and Josh for sharing their engagement story with us! We were so happy to hear from you! Good luck with your upcoming nuptials - we hope to see more photos afterward!
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Posted by Megan |
Filed under: DIY & Budget Wed Finds, Engagements & Proposals, Real Nashville Brides
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Staying within budget is an important part of wedding planning for every couple. No matter what your budget, there are elements that you have dreamed of that you want to find ways to include in your big day. We sat down with Lori from Crumb de la Crumb to find out a few ways to save on your wedding cakes and desserts.
ABG: Can you share with us some ways for brides and grooms to save money on their wedding cake or desserts while still getting what they have always envisioned?
CRUMB DE LA CRUMB: The first thing is to be honest and upfront with your budget. If I know what your budget is, and I know we can’t meet it, I don’t want to waste your time. If a client doesn’t put a budget on our info form, we encourage them to do that so that we can know whether or not we can work with them up front.
If a client still wants to work with us but we can’t do exactly what they originally wanted, there are a couple of options we can offer:
~ We can make a simpler cake with fewer details and embellishments that will bring the cost down a bit.
~ Or, we can make a smaller cake that will feed up to 100 people.
~ If a couple is having more guests than that, they can get our smaller custom cake and then cupcakes or a kitchen cake (a basic sheet cake without design that is pre-cut in the kitchen). That will save about half on the remaining servings.
Be sure to contact Crumb de la Crumb for all of your event dessert needs. And remember that being upfront with your vendors is the first step to getting the wedding of your dreams for the budget you have in mind!
All photos courtesy of Crumb de la Crumb.
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Posted by Newlywed Sara |
Filed under: Advice & Planning, Cakes & Catering, DIY & Budget Wed Finds, Real Nashville Brides, Wedding Resources
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Monday, July 25, 2011
Nashville is becoming a melting pot. From 1990-2000, our foreign-born population has tripled. (Source: Wikipedia) Our city attracts people from Seattle (ask Genna) and Singapore (ask Tabitha) to Texas (ask Meg and Danielle). In fact, I'm the only Nashville native on our team! Nashville is becoming more and more diverse, welcoming people of different faiths and cultures. And while you may not see them often, our weddings are intercultural, interracial, and multicultural.
Today we're sharing some our favorite wedding photos that represent our diverse newcomers, cultures, faiths and unions. It's a vibrant look into the colorful, cultural side of Nashville weddings.
East Meets West
Lotus Blossom Photography captured some vibrant, beautiful pictures from the Bengali wedding of Saqi to Alex. The groom is Korean, and the bride and groom also celebrated his culture by donning Korean dress for the reception. They look like such a fun couple! The couple started out honoring the bride's Bengali heritage. For the ceremony they switched into traditional Korean dress.
Some of you may remember the Indian wedding by A Delightful Day Planning that we shared not too long ago. In our feature, Sneha shared her wedding inspiration: "I got my inspiration mostly from my mom’s sarees and other Indian fabrics that I had seen..." Don't you love the beautiful mehndi applied to the bride (and sometimes the groom's) hands and feet. This ritual which can take hours is to signify love and affection in marriage.
Images by McLellan Style
The lovely ladies of The Photographix captured some intimate moments during the traditional tea ceremonies of Heidi and Lan's Korean/Vietnamese wedding. The bride and groom honored both cultures by dressing in each others traditional robes/dress to present tea to their families. Starting with the traditional Korean dress - each aspect from the hats to the sashes and colors have significance to the culture. Tea ceremonies are rituals of respect where the bride and groom offer tea to their elders. The elders, in turn, give the happy couple their blessings.
InterCultural Connections
We enjoyed seeing this beautiful wedding at the Hermitage Hotel captured by Divine Images and shared via their Facebook album. Hodgen and Amber had such an elegant day surrounded by friends and family.
In March, we featured another wedding honoring both the groom's English heritage and the bride's Indian traditions, photographed by Krista Lee Photography. To honor their unique heritages, they "... tried to create a fusion of both our cultures and have the best aspects of each highlighted in every part of our wedding. With our food we served British appetizers, then an Indian feast for dinner, and lastly a rich decadent dessert with a mix of both cultures. With our wardrobe choices we mixed it up with a traditional Scottish Kilt and classy ivory wedding gown for the ceremony, and then a glamourous Indian Lengha and Kurtha Suit for the reception. Our music was also a fusion of Indian bhangra hits and European beats that had our guests dancing all night! Our décor of the room had a touch of old world European romance with the glitz and glamour of a typical Indian celebration!"
Heritage Abounds
As you can see in this wedding photographed by Kristyn Hogan, jumping the broom is a ritual that is sometimes included in African American weddings to symbolize heritage, history and to pay homage to ancestors in America and Africa. This Nashville, African American wedding also inclded to the couple's fraternity brothers and sorority sisters, who are considered extended family.
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Nashville has the largest Kurdish community in the United States, numbering approximately 11,000. (Source: Wikipedia.) This wedding was captured by Jamie Lynn Chevillet and gives us a peek into a large and unique Nashville subculture.
Jet-Setter Celebrations
Let's not forget the cross-continent wedding celebrations of Terri Ann (from the Caribbean via New York) and her husband Berchaun. Their incredibly intimate wedding took place in South Africa and the reception was hosted at Historic Cedarwood. Their reception, which you can enjoy via this link, really was a multicultural affair with family coming from all over the Caribbean and the US.
South African images by Phonix Capture
Nashville reception at Cedarwood; Image by Daniel Meigs Photography.
The Angazas are one facinating couple whose story and mission you'll love. According to their website, "Jared and Ilea lived in Rwanda for two years (a total of four years in Rwanda for Jared), then spent a year back in the US, floating from Los Angeles to New York City to Nashville to establish the business foundation for KEZA. Now they are heading for Mombasa, Kenya to set up the new KEZA headquarters and their new home. They plan to live there indefinitely."
Images left: Shane and Rachle Photography; Image right: Jared Angaza
No matter what the traditions, colors and practices, there's no doubt that weddings and the union of two people who love each other transcend continents and cultures. We would really love to see more pictures so if you have any that you'd like to share or you think ought to be featured on ABG please do send them our way!
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Posted by Ashley of Ashley's Bride Guide |
Filed under: Inspiration & Trends, Real Nashville Brides
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Wednesday, June 22, 2011
When Nate and I first got engaged, we sat down and made a list of the things we wanted and needed to make our big day complete. The usual things were on that list – great photography, delicious catering, good music, etc. One thing that wasn’t on it was a videographer. While we would have loved to have it, we just didn’t think we could afford it and if something had to go, that was it. We’d have photos, and surely that would be enough to help us remember our day.
{Bill & Deanna Vincent of First Dance Pictures at work}
{Enjoy our highlight clip courtesy of First Dance PIctures}
As time went on, we started to doubt that we could do without it. Since we didn’t think we could afford a professional videographer, we started to wonder if maybe a friend or a family member could help us out. There are a couple of problems with that idea though. First, none of our friends or family are what we would call “great” with a video camera as far as we know. Secondly, who would we ask? If we asked a wedding guest, they would have to spend the day behind a camera and miss out on the actual festivities. And we didn’t feel right about asking someone who we hadn’t invited to the wedding in the first place.
After a little bit of thinking, and some moving around of the budget, we finally decided to hire a professional videographer. We actually ended up hiring our videographers, First Dance Pictures, because of Ashley’s Bride Guide. I had worked with Bill Vincent, one of the owners, at CMT a few years back and ABG was advertising a special that First Dance Pictures was running – it was perfect! We were able to get amazing videographers for a great price and not break our budget!
Once we met with Bill and Deanna we knew we had made the right decision! They were with us throughout our day and caught some amazing moments! We both cried watching our highlight video and immediately sent it to our family and friends. We received our final DVDs last week and had an afternoon filled with laughter and tears (mostly from laughing too much). It was the perfect way to capture every little moment of our day and we’re so glad that we ended up doing it. The quality of the video is only something that professionals could have brought us. If you are on the fence about hiring a videographer, take my word for it and do it! You will remember your day forever, but there is so much that you won’t see or won’t be able to remember that you’ll be glad you have it on video later on.
{Me and Nate on our wedding day}
All images courtesy of Betsy Limbaugh Photography
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Posted by Newlywed Sara |
Filed under: Advice & Planning, Photography, Real Nashville Brides
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
Chris and Cressie got engaged in New Zealand last October after dating long-distance for over five years. And how did he propose? He asked Cressie to change her Facebook status to “engaged”! To celebrate their engagement, they threw a 1950s murder mystery party with a surprise reveal - their wedding date! Jennifer Fox Photography captured the thematic night full of throwback costumes, décor and even food. Enjoy the details as Cressie takes us through her DIY evening.
Chris Lewis + Cressie Teague
Engagement date ~ October 14, 2010
Wedding date ~ June 2, 2012
Our Blog: http://chrisandcressie.com/
Why host an engagement party? Why a themed party?
We got engaged on a trip to New Zealand but because we were so far away no friends or family could join in our celebration and excitement (except on Facebook) so a home town party was in order. We also wanted to officially announce the wedding date at this party and give our two sets of families and friends an opportunity to meet and mingle.
The theme developed out of a previous party I hosted - a 1920's Murder Mystery Birthday Party two years ago. I received rave reviews from my friends in attendance and pictures we posted from the 1920's party went viral; we even won a FREE 1950's Murder Mystery Party from the creator Dinner and a Murder (a wonderful Tennessee company). I was astonished at the support of family and friends who encouraged me to host another mystery party! Our engagement was the perfect catalyst to set the party into motion! As for the 1950's, I adore the fashion of that decade and I grew up singing along to Grease. It was the perfect decade for all of our guests who ranged in age from 25 to 85.
Costumes added to the fun and helped guests connect to the era of the murder mystery game!
Where did you splurge? Where did you save/DIY?
Everything was DIY (are you impressed? Because we are!). The decorations were provided by myself and a few family members. Most of the items were borrowed, like a yellow rotary phone, cookie jars and dollies. I created the placemats out of old records and personalized them with 4-inch circle stickers created on my ink-jet printer. The goodie bags were white lunch bags that I ran through my printer and personalized with our logo. The dessert stands were records that were crazy-glued to $1 candle sticks from Dollar Tree. They were perfect for holding the petit fours. Prizes for Best Costume, Best Performer and Wealthiest Player were created by framing records that were spray painted to mimic the gold albums of recording artists. The table runners were cut from 1950's fabric featuring Elvis, I love Lucy, Betty Crocker and other retro scenes. All of the flowers were created from coffee filters and sprayed with food coloring to match the table runners. Pictures of Bob Hope, Lawrence Welk and other period characters were framed and placed around the house. The restroom was re-named a "Fall Out Shelter" and a personalized "Drive-In" sign was created from foam board and placed beside a flat screen TV that played commercials from the 1950's.
Tell us about the costumes!
I love sewing costumes as a hobby. I design and create sci-fi, Civil War reenactment , and the occasional renaissance fair costumes. So I naturally jumped at the challenge of 1950‘s period costumes for this party. I created my yellow dress along with Chris's plaid jacket, the five "diner-girl" aprons/hats for the servers, 2 poodle skirts and 3 pill box style hats for guests. We asked that guests wear 1950's attire and they did not disappoint. Several guests also made their own costumes and everyone was extremely original.
What was the most important design element for you?
My dress! I love the “Beautiful Blonde Pineapple” dress that Frenchy wore to the prom in Grease and I based my dress off this design. I also added a matching bolero from a dress I saw on the Lawrence Welk show.
Can you believe she made this dress? So beautiful!
Vendors
Venue | Paris Henry County Heritage Center in Paris, Tennessee. It is a historic 1920's Italian Villa turned museum and rental facility. Norma Steele, the director, was so accommodating and a dream to work with.
Murder Mystery Game Creator | dinnerandamurder.com
Decorations | DIY with set-up assistance by Dana Wyatt
Photography | Jennifer Fox Photography. The fantastic Jennifer Fox took all of our pictures, set up the photo booth and even took pictures in the rain in front of the 1956 Chevy. She really captured the fun mood of the party.
Food | My mother, grandmother and aunts provided all of the food. We wanted our guests to feel like they were in a 1950's diner. Period appetizers included stuffed celery, molded jello, popcorn and casseroles. For dinner we served hamburgers, hotdogs, pork loin sandwiches and french fries in baskets with paper liners. Banana splits and other ice cream creations were served with the petit fours and cake for dessert.
Cake | E.W. James & Sons
Petit fours | Peggy Ann Bakery - Huntsville, AL
Invitations | iPhoto/Apple Printing
1956 Chevy | family friends
Big thanks to Cressie for sharing her awesome party with us! The extent of DIY is so impressive! If you're not feeling as creative, test-drive your wedding planner, photographer, and other vendors by planning an engagement party first. We have an extensive list of planners who have enough creativity for you engagement and wedding celebrations.
All images by Jennifer Fox Photography.
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Posted by Megan |
Filed under: DIY & Budget Wed Finds, Engagements & Proposals, Real Nashville Brides
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