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Real Glö-bies

Liz & Cristina’s Festival of Love, Friends, and Food

This couple needs little to no intro to set the tone for what their celebration is all about. Fun, fun and pretty much more fun. I’ve been waiting and waiting to have the chance to introduce you all to these great ladies – enjoy getting to know Liz and Cristina!

The Glö-Couple:

Liz, an attorney and
Cristina, a pastry chef

These gals blog! Check out Liz’s blog Bunny Loves Bacon and Cristina’s blog Cervezecal

Celebration Date & Location:

September 2011
Ceremony: Coral Gables Congregational Church,
Reception: Cristina’s parents’ house
Coral Gables, Florida USA

Tell us how you got engaged:

Cristina says: Liz had been drinking, and as I was putting her to bed she looked up sleepily and said “will you marry me?” And I said yes. And the next morning we confirmed that it was all true.

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:

The overall feeling is “family gathering with bacon.” We didn’t want anything too formal and we want people to have plenty of good food and drinks, feel comfortable, and have fun spending time with each other. For us, this means not worrying about or including chair covers, favors, or the color of cocktail napkins. :)

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:

Instead of just having a day or a weekend celebration, we are having months of celebration! We’ve invited people to join us for events leading up to and after the wedding (like a book convention, a day at the spa with us, and a trip to New York to see Lord of the Rings!). We really wanted to include people in our lives for in more than just one day. Editor’s note: these ladies are way to modest – they are planning an entire epic celebration full of a bajillion fun events for those who are free to join. I’ve already started lobbying for my own invitation….See their entire range of events below!

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?

Honestly, we just picked the design because we liked it. I like the color yellow and it was a good backdrop for the tons of text that we have.

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite!

This has got to be my absolute favorite page…

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

Cristina says: Figure out what is really important to you and stick to it. Don’t worry about all the stuff that people or wedding magazines say you “have” to have (favors, flowers, a clown, etc.), and don’t get distracted. For us, our non-negotiables were having the ceremony at our church, having good food, and being able to invite everyone we care about (since Cristina has a huge family, that means a huge guest list).

Liz says: Also, avoid wedding blogs and magazines. They can send you into a spiral of “I want my wedding to look like this and it will never be good enough waaaaaaaaah.” Not fun. I only read two wedding blogs: Offbeat Bride and A Practical Wedding. Keep talking to each other! Wedding planning can bring up emotions around lots of things that you might not have been expecting. It’s OK to realize that you care about things that you didn’t think you would (for me, it was the dress). And it’s OK to realize you *really* couldn’t care less about some things (like decorations). We made our guest list over several months – this gave us time to make sure we weren’t leaving anyone out. We started by making an excel sheet listing people. When we switched to Glo, we inputted all of the people on the list.

Liz says: Glo has been the single biggest organizational help. I was going crazy with my multiple excel sheets for multiple events. Once I inputted the guests into Glo, I could manipulate them much easier. We just sent out our email save the dates, and I would say this: if people don’t view the invitation through their email, send the link to them on Facebook! I sent out 15 messages and within a few hours everyone had viewed it.

super-great tip there about facebook!

What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?

Apparently, bridal stores are unable to comprehend that anyone *wouldn’t* want a train on her dress. We were at a certain well-known wedding dress factory trying on dresses and this is how it went:

Liz: Can the train on this dress be cut of?
Saleswoman: Not really. You’ll want it for the pictures, and then you can just bustle it.
Liz: But I don’t want a train.
Saleswoman: It looks nice in pictures.
Liz’s head explodes.

And because no one can resist the cuteness of kitties – here is ONE of Liz and Cristina’s four black cats

So tell us…If you attended Liz and Cristina’s festivities – what would YOU wear to outshine the brides??

23 Feb 2011

Register Your Way: A Great Alternative to Traditional Wedding Registries

When it comes to asking for money as a wedding gift, I’m betting even Dear Abby finds herself scratching her head and wondering what the most polite approach is. Of course, it’s something that every couple dreams of asking for; afterall, what could be better than the hassle-free reality that is cold, hard cash? But, why then, do so many newlyweds instead find themselves knee deep in wedding gifts that they’ll spend the first year of their married life returning?

The answer is obvious: asking for anything out-of-the-ordinary (especially money!) is a sensitive thing. When my husband and I were planning our wedding, we really truly didn’t need anything….except help with our home renovation.

We dreamed about creating a registry asking for money to pay for items like, “landscape lights” and “a kitchen sink.” But, we couldn’t figure out how to create that type of a registry in a tactful way and instead ended up registering for a handful of things at the usual places just for the sake of having a registry. And, of course, we were lavished with some really bizarre gifts that are now collecting dust in the “regift” pile in our basement.

Oh, if only we had known about Deposit a Gift. An easy and classy way to ask your friends and family to help you pay for things you really want or need. The approach is to be specific in what you’re going to do with the money people are gifting instead of just asking for it. On the Deposit a Gift website, you’re able to insert customized items – ranging from honeymoon extravagances to charity donations to (would have been helpful in my case) home renovation items. For example:

The gifter feels good about donating to the causes because they know exactly where their money is going, and that it’s what you truly want/need.

Here’s founder Dana Ostomel’s two-cents:

Everyone is asking what you want for your wedding and where you’re registered. If you prefer money towards specific goals and dreams, how do you communicate this in a polite and tactful way? You certainly don’t want to offend your guests, but you also don’t want them wasting their money on gifts you can’t use or will return.

A cash wedding registry is the perfect solution to create a gift list of exactly what you need! It’s attractive to you, but will it be appealing to guests? I say, it’s all in the positioning. As with any gift, givers want to feel good about it and connected to their choice. Here are a few tips for smooth sailing…

How To Create a Cash Wedding Registry Guests Will Love:

Choose a Narrative: This type of registry is an awesome opportunity to share with your guests what is important to you at this time in your life. What’s your story?

Got grandiose travel plans? Create a Honeymoon Registry.
Is your eye on the prize of home-ownership? A Home Down payment Registry is perfect for you.
Want your honeymoon to last a year? Register for a year’s worth of Newlywed Activities.
Feeling generous? Donations to your favorite Charities are perfect.

Everyone Likes Options: Admit it. When you give a gift, you want to give something that you like and feel connected to. The same is true for your guests. So create a registry with choices that will appeal to all kinds of people:

A range of price points
Various gifts from the practical to the whimsical

Gifts That Feel Like Gifts: If I’ve learned anything at all, it’s about the psychology of gift-giving. People want to give you something special that you’ll cherish and always remember them for.

Dinner at a swanky restaurant or contributions to your new flat screen TV are swell, paying back your credit card debt or supplementing your electric bill for a year, not so much. Think like a gift-giver!

Be Authentic: Don’t be afraid to really put your personality into it. The more your registry feels like a reflection of you, the more fun it will be for guests and the more likely they are to use this registry. So pop your favorite wine one night, curl up together and have some fun!

If you two love ice cream, then create a gift of 7 days worth of ice cream on your honeymoon – a new flavor every day!
If your fiancé is a beer fanatic, but you’re clueless, how about a membership to the beer of the month club and home-brewing classes for the two of you?

Be Gracious: Set the stage for your registry with a personal and gracious note at the top (something you can’t do with a department store gift list) to give context to your registry and why it will be so meaningful and memorable to you. Though gifts are not expected, they are common, and it never hurts to show a little advanced appreciation.

Here’s an example of what you could say:

Thank you so much for joining us and being a part of all the joy, love and festivities! Many of you have generously asked if there’s anything we’d like as we brave new worlds, and the truth is, we’ve got most everything we need when it comes to traditional household things. What would be most memorable for us you actually can’t register for at a regular store, so we’ve created this registry that is designed to let others make partial purchases to contribute towards those very adventures we’re embarking on: a honeymoon wine country road trip, some classes to continue learning about our love of wine and food and some weekend getaways to rejuvenate from our crazy work schedules!

If you feel so inclined to help make it happen, we would be most appreciative and look forward to sharing the memories and pictures with you. Of course, the best present is having you along to share our excitement. We can’t wait to celebrate with you and are so grateful to have you in our lives!

Much love, Jennifer and Tom

So there you have it, folks; a tactful way to ask for what you really want. Thanks for sharing, Dana!

I’d love to hear fun things you’ve asked for you in your registry or hope to ask for.

Dana Ostomel is the founder and Chief Gifting Officer of Deposit a Gift, a cash gift registry service. Years before Dana got married, she wondered how anyone could store so many presents – and even if they could, how they had time to unwrap, return (often), track and use them all. Her marketing background led her to believe she could simplify the registry process – and not just for weddings, but for any big gifting event. And so Deposit a Gift, the next generation gift registry, was born. Read more about Dana. Follow Deposit a Gift on Facebook and Twitter.

17 Feb 2011

Real Glö-bies

Reflecting on the first days of wedding planning

I remember back to the first days when Enrico and I started planning our wedding. Neither of us had really thought about what we’d wanted (other than hosting a fab party in Italy that our friends and family would really enjoy.) We set out by promising ourselves that we were going to remain low stress and that we wouldn’t argue at all about any of the details. (um, yeah…I know.) E told me that he didn’t really want to be involved in the planning, and that I should only consult him on the big things. (um, yeah, I know!!) I learned that what he really meant was ‘I’m going to pretend like I’m detached, but the reality is that I want to be involved in every-single-tiny-detail-decision.’ Gotta love him.

As planning continued, E and I realized that we’re very alike in some ways and very *very* different in others when it comes to party planning – and that resulted in some pretty enlightening discussions. He is much more of a traditionalist than I am – and although I wanted to wring his neck some days in that loving sort of way (particularly after a 9-day stand-off over a flower archway that he insisted upon), I did love that he cared so much about our celebration and our guests. Plus, on our wedding day, there was so much satisfaction in knowing that we’d accomplished this huge thing together.

Imagine my delight when Revanche emailed me with a guest post that touches on this very topic. This awesome lady was the winner of our recent Glö giveaway on A Practical Wedding. After I discovered she was a blogger herself, I begged her to do a post for us – and she rewarded me by writing about her experience getting started with it all. Revanche is a 20-something girl living on the West Coast who knows ALOT about finances (she’s put herself through college AND paid off $75k of debt on her family’s behalf. You. go. girlfriend!) If we all ask pretty, pretty please – I’m hoping we’ll have even more smart tips from her for managing a budget (and staying sane) during the planning process.

At a recent meet-up where my partner was introduced to the blogging part of my life, the two men present congratulated us on our recent engagement and turned to him with this sage advice:

1. “Consider yourself an honored guest with a really great seat.”
and
2. “You need a chief of staff on the wedding day. You just can’t be bothered with all the BS complaints at an Asian wedding from your guests.”

We had to laugh because clearly, Advisor #1 was a veteran of a traditional wedding and Advisor #2 had definitely weathered the trenches of your standard, grueling, traditional Asian marathon known as the wedding festivities: if it doesn’t kill you then you should be prepared for marriage. Maybe.

Understandable, these fine fellows A) had never met us before and B) have probably never heard of APW (which I loved from the moment I started reading it, thanks for the intro @tanyasnarks!). Their advice totally makes sense when all you know is the WIC world (Revanche speak for Wedding Industrial Complex, what she jokingly uses to refer to the wedding industry) – that’s all I knew up until a few years ago.

But no, my partner won’t detach himself from the planning. Frankly, life’s tough enough and I have responsibilities enough that my taking on all of the wedding planning, tiny though I’d love it to be, would be both stupid and selfish. Heck, he’s more interested in what my hair’s going to look like than I am. [Apparently, after 6 years of “Your hair looks great any way,” it’s to be long and up for our wedding. Wha?]

A couple years ago, I wrote a synopsis about our family’s wedding traditions which haven’t been bucked through my generation, even unto the cousin only 4 years older than me. I had to explain it all in detail to PiC on the long drive back home down south so that he’d fully understand what it was I wanted to veto.

Definitely check out Revanche’s Chinese family’s wedding traditions for invitations, wedding gifts, the ceremony and evening reception, and thank you notes.

It’s only fair that he gets un-veto power though it burns a little because I Don’t Want. While I hope he’s going to leave more out than in, again, he gets to make his choices and we’ll figure it out from there.

We’ve discussed some aspects privately and with family, though we haven’t made any solid decisions yet.
Whatever modifications we make, it’s going to be interesting, but it’ll be done together.
It’d better be, I’m not taking the blame for this all on my own! ;)

Revanche is a recently engaged* anonymous personal finance blogger at A Gai Shan Life. She’s a 20-something girl living on the West Coast. Since 2000, she’s put herself through college and paid off $75,000 of debt on her family’s behalf.

She and her fiance have been together for several years and he still managed to surprise her with the proposal. They plan to share many more happy years together, wedding planning, crazy family and traditional expectations notwithstanding, as what they’re aiming for is a marriage, not just a wedding.

*We’re doing well so far, it’s been over a month since the engagement and we’ve successfully held off all attempts to railroad us into planning. Anything. At. All. *fingers in ears la la la la* Actually, we’re having fun faux-planning, and haven’t committed to anything except each other. Every night, we reaffirm our love and our commitment to each other, and this marriage. That’s what we’re doing this for, no matter what “this” turns out to be.

15 Feb 2011

DIY, Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Weddings, Twists on Tradition

New Twists on Catering for your Wedding

It goes without saying, food is one of the most memorable parts about any event. So, how can you make your food really stand out without having to focus too much on it ahead of time, AND without breaking the bank? Here are four tips to help you:

1. Go local - it’s all the rage in the food industry right now: giving a nod to your local companies. And what better way to do that than when all of your friends and family are in from out of town? Just because your favorite restaurant around the corner doesn’t have the word “caterer” in it doesn’t mean they don’t do catering. Ask them! You’ll find that a good amount of restaurants are happy to fully cater, or supplement, events as well. Of course, you might lose some of the perks a true catering company can provide: dinnerware, serving spoons and maybe even waitstaff, but it is definitely a fun way to give your guests a true local experience with food that you know is good at a price can stand up to any catering cost.

2. Take a trip to the grocery store - Don’t be afraid to do some of the catering yourself. A quick trip to the grocery store can save you a lot of dough and your sanity. For example, if you have nagging in-laws just dying to help somehow, put them to work slicing cheese and fruit for a platter. I guarantee it won’t taste any different than a cheese platter you’ll get from an expensive caterer. Plus, you can get all the cheeses you like, instead of being at the mercy of whatever platter your caterers recommend.

3. Think outside of the warming dish – Who says catering needs to be traditional?? Street food is creating buzz around the country and is a great way to get unique and memorable with your wedding catering. Hiring a food truck to literally park in front of your venue and serve food out their window would certainly be the highlight of any event. Glöbies Shanelle and Mike were a great example of how much fun you can have with this – they had a street vendor make burgers and fries for everyone. Fun!!

4. Get funky with your desserts – I heard somewhere that 2010 was the year of the cupcake. Heaven knows we all saw cupcakes EVERYWHERE. And that worked great to help people get away from traditional wedding cakes. But, cupcakes are still cakes…get funkier if you want! Everybody loves dessert, so you really can’t go wrong with anything you do. My favorite example of this is done with straight up candy.

10 Feb 2011

Glö-nouncements, Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Weddings

And now…an Introduction (aka Chelsea and Bill’s Organic Celebration of Cross-Pacific Proportions)

Hey Glö-bies! I’m pretty excited for this post – I’d like to introduce you to Chelsea. She’ll be blogging regularly for y’all, and I know you’re going to love her. Not only is Chelsea super fun with exactly the right amount of wacky, but she was also an event planner in her former life – which means we’re all in store for some great tips on how to plan really fun celebrations in sane, thoughtful ways.

Chelsea and I thought that the best way to introduce one Glöbie to another was with a Real-Glöbie Wedding post. So we bring you….

Chelsea and Bill’s Organic Celebration of Cross-Pacific Proportions

Hi everyone! My name is Chelsea and I recently found my way into the delightful world of Glö. I’m excited to join Taryn as a regular blog writer to share some low-key wedding tips/tricks, personal experiences and to hear your fun stories.

To start off, I’d love to share my own wedding story with you. My husband and I got engaged in July of 2008 and we thoroughly enjoyed about two hours’ worth of pure bliss…and then we started announcing the news to our friends and family.

Common conversations included, “Congratulations! When’s the big day?” or “You must be so excited to plan your wedding!” or “What are your colors going to be? Do you have a dress picked out yet?” Can’t a girl enjoy her engagement for more than a few hours without being bombarded by questions about wedding logistics??

The only thing either of us knew about our wedding was that we wanted a very small and casual ceremony, followed by a huge – and once again, casual – party. We had no dates planned, no colors or first-dance songs picked and not much time or desire to figure those details out; We had lives outside of this.

I’m a professional event planner by trade, and still the thought of planning my own wedding weighed so heavy on me. I didn’t want it to be about the details or the dramas. I didn’t want people to chime in on when and where they thought we should have it. I just wanted to have a celebration where all of our good friends and family gathered around to have a really really good time with us.

That seemed next to impossible though because we come from two very strong, very different religious backgrounds where wedding ceremonies are done a certain way. Plus, we both come from huge extended families where everybody comes to everything. How in the world were we supposed to have our drama-free wedding??

Long story short, we decided to elope in New Zealand where we could have the quiet ceremony we wanted. It was so simple and couldn’t have been better. And with that out of the way, we were now able to focus on that huge party we dreamed of.

Three months after getting home from New Zealand, we threw a giant bash at our home to celebrate our marriage. I handmade the invitations and we catered and decorated most of it ourselves, without too much planning on small details. We let our fathers give speeches (but told them they could give speeches the morning before the party so they didn’t overthink them…), threw on a random music playlist and had the time of our lives.

For some brides, the details are everything – and that’s great and it’s what works for them! For others, the feeling is everything. It doesn’t matter what everybody’s wearing or how perfectly plated the food all was – it’s all about having a really really good time.

I’m excited to be part of the Glö team and am especially excited to connect with all of you out there who are looking to have a really really good time.

7 Feb 2011

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

Andrew & Diann’s Scottish-Singaporean wedding in Bali!

OMG – who doesn’t want to get married in Bali? And who doesn’t want to have a Scottish-Singaporean wedding? Plus, these two are keeping the ceremony and reception location a surprise for their guests – Uber-fun! This celebration has all the necessary ingredients (not to mention a fabulously sweet bride.) Diann and Andrew sent paper invitations that guided guests to their Glösite for more information and to RSVP. Read more below….

The Glö-Couple:

Diann, a budding entrepreneur and
Andrew, an engineer

Celebration Date & Location:

May 2011
A secret location (um, how majorly fun is that?!?)
Bali, Indonesia

Tell us how you got engaged:

We made a trip to Bali over a long weekend in February 2010. Andrew and I love to travel and we try to do so every opportunity we can. Well I thought it was going to be a quiet relaxing weekend but on Day 2 of our trip, which just so coincidentally happened to be Valentine’s Day, we were having breakfast out by the pool in our villa when Andrew said he had to go back in to our room to get something. I thought nothing of it and continued eating my breakfast and before I knew it, he was by my side, on one knee, asking me to marry him. I love that he totally caught me by surprise! Later that day, I asked him why he decided to propose over breakfast instead of dinner and he said something I’ll never forget….”I wanted to have a whole day enjoying our engagement together”. And true to that, we had the most memorable day together. The phone calls and text messages we got made us feel so loved. We were amazed at how many people expressed their joy about our engagement. Thanks to our parents and some friends, word spread pretty fast! :)

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:

We chose Bali since it’s so (obviously!) special to us. Even before we got engaged there, it’s always been a magical place that makes us feel so relaxed and at peace. The venue we’ve selected is a beautiful villa on a cliff overlooking the ocean. We chose it as it resounds with the “feeling” we’re going for – intimate and memorable. We are keeping the guest list very small….only our closest family and friends to share with us on this special day and we want them all to have an unforgettable time. Being a destination wedding, we thought it would be nice to have a few days of celebration since everyone’s making such a huge effort to travel and be with us. So we’ve organised a cocktail party at a gorgeous restaurant on Thursday, followed by our wedding ceremony & reception on Saturday and a casual poolside lunch on Sunday. We really just want everyone to have a great time celebrating with us and enjoying themselves. Noting too fancy, just lots of food, drink, music and dancing!

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:

Aunt Montel’s Sugee Cake from: Cherry on a Cake Blog

Quite a few actually! For music, we’ve got a good friend, who’s a musician in Singapore, to perform at our wedding. You can’t beat live music! He’s so talented and we’re thrilled he’ll be singing at our wedding. Since Andrew and I have different cultural backgrounds, we thought it would be nice to incorporate a little of both. Besides the Scottish lads wearing kilts, we’re serving single malt Scottish whisky and incorporating some tartan for our wedding favours. We’ll also have ceilidh dancing (Scottish folk dancing) a must-have at any Scottish wedding! Our wedding cake, made from semolina and almonds, is called Sugee Cake. It’s a traditional cake made by Eurasians (my Mum’s heritage) full of buttery goodness….very scrumptious! We’re also having a very dear friend as our celebrant during the ceremony. He’s so sweetly agreed to marry us and we couldn’t be more thrilled. His wife is my maid-of-honour and their son is my ring bearer!

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?

We initially decided to do a website as an easy way to communicate the many events we’re having. We did consider putting an insert into our paper invitation but it seemed too cluttered. So having a Glösite just made sense, especially for RSVPs. It’s made everything so simple for me! From the initial idea of using it for RSVPs, it’s grown to be quite informative, providing details about Bali such as flights, accommodation, restaurants, and attractions. All important info for a destination wedding! We chose a simple design from the templates available and so far, we’ve got lots of compliments from everyone about how great the site is!

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite!

These are Diann and Andrew’s Paper invitations:

and here is their Glösite:

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

Time really does fly so try to be as organised as possible! It can be difficult but the best thing I’ve found is to keep notes somewhere….be it an actual notebook, an app on your iPhone or an Excel sheet. It just helps to pen down thoughts as they just seem to come randomly and sometimes they can be the best ideas you don’t want to forget!

28 Jan 2011

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

Rowan and Kevin’s Vermont Weekend

I’m so super-pleased to introduce Rowan and Kevin. These two met in Alaska, were engaged in Ireland and will be married in Vermont later this year. With the support of the adorable Kinsey and Roxy, this couple is sure to throw an amazing celebration for their friends and family.

The Glö-Couple:

Rowan, an environmental lawyer and
Kevin, a veterinarian

Celebration Date & Location:

September 2011
The Alerin Barn
St. Johnsbury, VT

Tell us how you got engaged:

The official engagement happened while we were on vacation in Ireland, at a misty lake with sweet words and an amazing heirloom ring that was Kevin’s great grandmother’s. The actual engagement happened a couple months before when we were talking about moving, and Kevin wanted to move me again (I already followed him once cross-country). I was pretty hesitant about it and he asked if it would be better if we were married. I said yes, it would help and he wondered aloud if he should ask at that moment or wait until Ireland. I told him to wait but considered us engaged at that point (although I waited to tell everyone until the official “will you marry me” happened).

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:

We are focusing on what would make it a good party for us and for our guests. We are trying to downplay the “show” aspect of weddings. So no colors, not too worried about centerpieces, we’re not having a garter/bouquet toss, and we may even skip the first dance. It’s important to me for it to be pretty, but it doesn’t have to be amazing and super coordinated.

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:

Kevin and I will be walking down the aisle together. Nothing against my dad (or mom since I would have them both walk me down the aisle if we went that route), but I feel like they “gave me away” when they dropped me off for college 13 years ago. Since Kevin and I have been living together for awhile now it feels right that we will be walking down the aisle together. I hope it will relieve some of the anxiety of first seeing each other if it’s done in private and that it will take some of the attention off me (I have never really liked being the center of attention).

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?

For the Glosite, I used Glö’s templates and just modified from there. I’m not tech-savvy AT ALL but it was super easy to create and embellish. I am particularly proud of the slideshow I made and love the pac-man game.

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite!

If you created your own design – how did you do it?

The Save the Dates are a photo taken by a friend of ours which I uploaded and then wrote over (easy)!

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

The wedding planning is an excellent time to start asserting yourself as a unit and figuring out where you want to compromise in order to please others. So while some things may feel trivial and “just an extra 20 people to keep the peace with your mother” it also can set the tone for future dealings. You may want to let her invite her friends because it really would make her happy and it doesn’t really matter to you. Or those 20 extra people might tip it from being a small intimate celebration to a large one you don’t want or can’t afford. Figuring out where to compromise and when to assert yourselves will happen over and over (planning where to spend a Christmas, deciding whether or not to baptize your baby, etc.) and wedding planning is a great time to set yourselves up as a unit and practice saying [gentle] no’s to invested people. Also, step away from the bridal magazines. They will only make you feel bad and buy stuff. Find a few blogs that inspire you and ignore the rest.

13 Jan 2011

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites, Real Glö-Weddings

Ilene and Victor’s Celebration of Cherished Friends, Family (and Golf)

Look at this amazing wedding! I’ve loved working with Ilene and Victor over the past months – these two planned a wedding while practically on a world-tour. That was enough to tell me how put.to.gether these two are. Let’s get reading!

The Glö-Couple:

Ilene, an angel investor &
Victor

Celebration Date & Location:

November 2010
The Lodge at Ventana Canyon
Tuscon, Arizona USA

Tell us how you got engaged:

Vic first said that if I parred our last hole in a golf tournament we were in, he would ask me to marry him. I did! But the real story was that he realized that sanctifying our relationship with marriage was important to him. He was going to surprise me at his “surprise” birthday party, but he could not wait and asked me to marry him in our kitchen! We planned the wedding in less than four months as we traveled around the globe from California to Tucson to Israel and Piemonte, Italy.

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you were aiming for with your celebration:

Our cherished friends and family are the center of our lives and were the center of our wedding. The natural beauty of the outdoors set the stage for the ceremony. Dancing and good food set the stage for the celebration. It was elegant!

Did you add any fun twists on tradition:

As an older couple, we chose to have our grandchildren walk down the aisle. They were spectacular!

We not only had a cake dessert, we had a Gelato Cart! (mmmmm)

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite!

What’s a favorite moment or memory from your celebration?

Ilene says that the lovely words she received from their guests after the celebration was one of the best parts. I encouraged her to share some quotes, so here are some of the fabulous things their guests wrote to them:

Thank you so much for this weekend! It was so awesome!! It was great to be part of it, you guys did a superb job with hosting us all and the wedding was so beautiful and moving, planned to the last detail !! Your wedding weekend was such a joyous one, and we are so happy to have been here to share it with you.

The garden and dining room last night was filled with such love. And all the little things went well too: you both look fantastic, all the kids/grandkids get along swimmingly, and the gelato…nice touch!

We just got home and have not stopped talking about how lovely the wedding was. Everything was perfect, especially the bride and groom. The wonderful feelings that were at the wedding and throughout the entire weekend were sheer joy to be a part of this union. We were thrilled to be there. We wish you many wonderful years continuing to share your love.

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

I have to confess that I was totally chuffed to find out how helpful Glö was for Ilene and Victor when planning!

I don’t know where to begin – there are so many features on Glö that made our planning seamless. I will use Glösite for all celebrations in the future! In particular, Glosite prevents duplicate RSVP responses, unlike Evite. It allows for multiple activities, such as Rehearsal Dinner, Sunday Brunch, Golf Tournaments, etc in addition to the wedding, to be sent to targeted guests. Extremely important was not only the choice of meals capability but also the ability to put open ended questions such as “Do you have any food allergies?” We were surprised at the severity and number of allergies. Our Chef John was grateful to have this information in advance. Then the ability to learn any glitches in our email addresses or people not receiving the Glövite for any reason gave us confidence that everyone would be included. Most important to us, as our time frame was truncated, is the ability to manipulate the RSVP data responses both on the Glösite and also once exported to Excel. The support at Glösite helps make it the best site. Being a VC, we learn to bet on the jockeys as well as the horses – Glösite has a winning team.

Now that I’m thoroughly blushing…let’s see some of Ilene and Victor’s amazing wedding photos:

Photos by SpencerBoerup Photography

17 Dec 2010

Cool finds, Guest Post, Vendors

Wear-me-forever wedding jewelry

How many of us go crazy when we find the perfect pair of shoes / skinny jeans / sexy + comfy sweater that we know we’ll wear until the end of time (or at least until it completely falls apart.) For me, my wedding shoes definitely fell into that category. Yes, I fell in lust the moment I saw those perfect, strappy, gold, comfortable, goes with everything shoes. I even wore them twice before my wedding day, I couldn’t wait to get them on my feet. Three years on and those shoes have almost disintegrated but still sit lovingly on my shoe rack. Sigh – I should have bought two pairs!

My love-em-til-they-fall-apart wedding shoes

The super talented Neallie Walvatne knows exactly how this feels. Neallie’s euphoric discovery of her wedding earrings actually inspired her to start an entire line of knock-me-down-gorgeous pieces of wear-me-forever jewelry. It’s so beautiful that I want it all. I asked Neallie to share a bit of wisdom about choosing the right accessories for you wedding celebration – and here’s what she had to say:

I bought the beautiful earrings I wore on my wedding day in a little shop in Paris. I found them while roaming the boutique filled streets; the details of which little rue I was on have left me completely. The precious earrings however, I remember quite well: vintage-inspired sterling silver rounds with tiny ivory pearls and AB rhinestones. I knew the moment I saw them that I would wear them again and again, and I did – until I wore them out entirely.

This is the main question I would consider when shopping for your bridal jewelry is “Will I wear it again?” Ultimately the jewelry you choose for your big day will make you look and feel amazing, and they will continually do this for you on any ordinary day in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. It may become your go-to accessory when you’re in a hurry because it never fails. It may be the extra sparkle you need to brighten your day, or the fun and funky piece that makes every outfit complete.

Of course, you may also consider the look and feel of your wedding, the style of your gown, how you will wear your hair or whether your wedding is going to be traditional, vintage, modern or bohemian chic. With all the many options to choose from, I still say “choose jewelry that feels like you” and it will remain your favorite for years to come. I am sure of this because for years later, I smiled every time I looked in the mirror and saw my little Parisian finds dangling from my ears.

Amazing, huh? It’s no wonder that Neallie’s entire line at Vatne Designs captures this same feeling. Loooook at these!:

And (total bonus for us all!) she’s offering a 25% discount and free shipping especially for Glö-bies – just enter promo code GLOBRIDE at checkout.

About Neallie and Vatne Designs

I create and handcraft each unique piece with this same inspiration, knowing my brides and all customers want the memory of the Big Day to be accessible everyday. The casual elegance in my collection easily takes you from day to night, completely wearable everyday out and about or to a special event. I love to customize my collection, and design according to my customer’s vision and make each piece the perfect one for you.

Visit my online shop at www.vatnedesignsshop.com and you can now find me on wedzu.

You can also find Vatne Designs on Facebook

23 Nov 2010

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

Alejandra and Horacio’s Mexican-Argentinian At-Home Celebration

Over the past several weeks, I have had the joy to get to know Alejandra. Not only is Alejandra a rockin’ female engineer studying along with her fiance Horacio at my own alma mater MIT, but there is Mariachi music involved in their engagement story. Plus, their streamlined-elegant ‘vites and ‘site are a great example of how to tackle the challenge of dual-language guests!

The Glö-Couple:

Alejandra, a Mechanical Engineering PhD student &
Horacio, an Economics PhD student

Celebration Date & Location:

March 2011
Alejandra’s home,
Mexico City, Mexico

Tell us how you got engaged:

Horacio is (was, I should say) the worst with secrets. He tended to get over-excited with stuff, and managed to blow off many surprises over our first years dating. So he got a warning: if you ever propose, you’d better do it right. Then, the getting married talk started to get serious. So during our spring break vacation in Mexico (my home country), he suggested going together to a small silver-mining village called Taxco to get the rings (he’s Argentinean, and in Argentina both fiances wear an engagement ring). None of us had ever worn a ring before, so it made sense we got them together to make sure they fit. As soon as we got the rings, in his very very transparent way of saying things, he told me “ok cool. Got the rings. I don’t think I’ll be able to talk to your dad in this trip, so I’ll try to come up with a way of calling him from Boston… and then I’ll probably propose sometime in summer…”. Great, he had just forgotten to tell me the proposal date to perfectly ruin a hardly-attempted surprise.

A couple of days later, at 7am we woke up to Mariachi music. At first I thought I had forgotten somebody’s birthday (at home we usually play a mariachi CD to wake up the b’day person)… to later conclude it must have been the neighbor serenading his wife (and, by passing, not letting us sleep). Horacio, of course, pretended like he had no clue what was going on (of course! what does an Argentinean know about mariachis anyway?!). It was only until I got out of bed and looked out the window that I realized that the mariachis were pointing at my room!! He then he knelt down and proposed. To make things more exciting, half way though “the question”, my dad rushed into my room with a poncho and sombrero in hand, and shouted “Horacio, this is a Mexican serenade, you should be singing downstairs!!”. And so he did, and it was fantastic. I later learned that he had secretly talked to my parents the night before, and that they were the ones picking the mariachi playlist! It was the best surprise I’ve ever had.

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:

We’re excited!!! We are getting married in my house (right where the serenade happened), which means it will be a small outdoors celebration. The religious ceremony will take place at a chapel a few blocks from my house, in the middle of the woods. Both Horacio and I are really simple, so we’re aiming for good food, good music, and minimal monetary and material waste. No bridesmaids, no groomsmen. We’re avoiding things like fancy furniture or silverware. We’re sticking to functional instead of elegant. (Actually, the wedding color is blue because the cheapest chairs we found were blue… and we realized that to turn them into the cutest chairs, we only had to make everything else match their blue — from invitations to decoration.) My family has always been pretty much DIY, so my sister will be helping out with decorations and dad will be in charge of building a platform to fit all of our guests. We’re hiring friends to take care of the music, photographs and baking…

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:

We are trying to combine Mexican and Argentinean traditions to the ceremony and the party. For instance, we’re both going to be wearing traditional Mexican garments, and we will introduce the fabulous Argentinean concept of dessert table to the party. Our philosophy is: the more sugar we give the guests, the longer they will dance. Within our simplified life and minimal waste philosophy, we decided to send Glövites instead of paper invitations. People in Latin America are not used to the concept of wedding websites, so our Glösite has definitely been a twist for most of our guests!

What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?

We really wanted something simple and pretty… and blue (matching the chairs, remember?). The website really came from the invitation itself, all blue and white. As for the pictures, we tried to keep them as informal as possible, to give people the impression that they’re really coming to a human celebration, more than a place with fancy tables and high heels. That, and the fact that we really don’t have any formal pictures of us!

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite!

If you created your own design – how did you do it?

Our inspiration came from a design we found at minted.com and a tablet pc. We liked the handwriting of the design, because it couldn’t be more simple. So we downloaded the font from the web, and I did some scribbles on my tablet until we liked one. We made it all on word and then took screenshots of it. Fairly primitive.

What’s the craziest/funniest/biggest ‘SAY WHAT?” moment you’ve had while planning?

Ohhhh, that one will have to wait til after the wedding, because Horacio is not allowed to hear dress-related stories just yet!

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?

1. Read A Practical Wedding on a weekly basis. That’s where I found out about Glösite (the best tip we could give!), and about so many other things. It’s a fantastic blog that brings you down to earth, and reminds you that the wedding isn’t about a 5K dress, but about the bride and the groom starting a new life together.

2. Friends are dying to help out with something. Our friends in Mexico have been extremely helpful at finding stuff for us that can’t be found online.

3. Having a good DIY magazine is crucial to having an idea of what is realistic to do yourself, and what not.

4. Get both involved in the wedding planning process. Making the groom understand (and feel) that it’s as much of a celebration for him as it is for the bride. Let him help out with the website, give his opinion about colors and music, decide what hairstyle fits the bride best.

5. Most importanly, promise yourselves from the moment you get engaged, that no matter what family craziness surrounds you during the planning, it should help you to build a stronger marriage, and not one full of family drama.

10 Nov 2010

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