The Glö-Couple (tell us a fun fact about each of you):
Heather, a student &
John, a non-profit executive
Celebration Date & Location: Ceremony: location (linked if possible)
Medford, NJ USA
Tell us how you got engaged:
We decided to get married over a weekend camping and canoe trip where we realized we could row a boat together through punishing heat and muscle aches and then a two week long Facebook chat while John was far away adventuring. We bought engagement kayaks instead of rings.
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:
We wanted to be able to celebrate with as many people as possible. We both work with the Scouts so our friends have kids. The ability to have a lot of kids and a canoe full of beer was central to the planning. We wanted a really fun party that wasn’t stuffy, where people could relax, feel included in the day and know they were valued.
Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:
Heather is Buddhist so the ceremony including a sake ceremony and our vows had a Buddhist bent to them. We greeted all our guests before the ceremony as they came off the trolley from the parking area so that we could make sure we really saw everyone, in a nod to our camping background we had 50 or so kids making s’mores at one time in a fire pit and we had a dozen pinatas full of Ring Pops and Hershey Kisses for the kids to bash at night.
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design? If you made them yourself, tell us how you did it.
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
Lists and spreadsheets and Ask For Help from your friends and family. Everyone will want to help and give vague “anything you need” offers. If you can break what needs to be done into individual tasks you can delegate to those who want to help you and keep things manageable. This means that you have to be very organized up front so that you can let go of control on the back end. Also – get someone to run your wedding on the actual day! I had a binder of lists and instructions that was very clear and I handed it off the night before and worried about absolutely nothing for the rest of the wedding.
What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?
The wedding was in the backyard and we were greeting guests in the front yard. The officiant gathered people in the back and gave them their instructions and when they were ready for us they let up a cheer so we would know it was time to start. The cheering was one of the best parts of the day but as we rounded the house to the backyard, I swallowed a bug. I was trying to keep smiling and enjoying all the love being thrust on us while swallowing in unknown insect.
We dated for 5.5 years before getting engaged. We met while finishing up our last quarter of college. We had both already secured jobs before meeting, one job in northern CA, one in southern CA. So, after a couple years of long distance dating, we moved in together. Scott proposed to me in the town where we met, after recreating our first 3 dates (Starbucks, frozen yogurt, pizza and wine at a beautiful lookout). And I said yes!
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:
We just wanted the people we love and who love us most to be there for the wedding. We tried very hard to only invite people we both know. We ended up inviting a few people who only one of us knew and giving a “plus one” to a single friend, but it was so wonderful to look out at our guests during the ceremony and see so many people we love gathered in one place.
We knew we wanted to get married outside, and once we picked Northstar. Scott was obsessed with the idea of getting married up on the mountain. So we and our guests took two gondolas up to the ceremony site! It was really fun and different and the view was amazing!
Other than those two things, we really didn’t have any “must haves.” I just wanted pretty flowers, so I told our florist the bridesmaids would be in navy blue and let her do her thing. Having a traditional wedding cake wasn’t a big priority, so we bought several cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes and Scott’s aunt and uncle picked them up for us. They were so good, the guests were raving about the cake!
Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:
We skipped both the bouquet toss and garter toss (although I did wear my grandma’s garter!).
I had my brother walk me to the end of the aisle and Scott met me there. I walked the rest of the way down the aisle with Scott.
My aunt made Scott’s tie out of a dress shirt!
We made s’mores at the fire pit at the reception site! YUM.
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design? If you made them yourself, tell us how you did it.
I just thought the design was cute! Simple, pretty colors. It didn’t “match” our wedding, but I didn’t care about that!
Now show us your Glövites and Glösite
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
I loved Glosite! It was really fun to see that people had opened the invitations five minutes after we sent them! And super easy to use, too.
I love the blog A Practical Wedding, and recommend it to anyone I know who is engaged! Helps keep the sanity :)
What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?
You may be wondering why we are all wearing sunglasses during the ceremony. It’s not (only) because we are super cool people. It’s because when Scott and I were taking pictures an hour before the ceremony, a big gust of wind blew something into my eye. It would not come out! We called the mountain patrol guys in to help and my aunt, a nurse, tried to help too. But whatever was in my eye, was IN MY EYE like a splinter. I couldn’t open my eye at all for awhile! I think my aunt got a piece of it to break off with a q-tip, because eventually I was able to open my eye as long as I kept my gaze down. The wind and sun outside were going to be too much for my poor eye but I figured I could just wear my sunglasses. I told the wedding party to get their sunglasses on (so I wouldn’t be the only one wearing them) and we powered through the ceremony. Even our ring bearer sported shades!
My eye splinter came out on its own after the ceremony and I had a blast at the reception, even though my eye was a little wonky. During the whole eye splinter debacle everyone kept commenting on how great it was that I was so calm. I wish I had been more upset because crying would have probably flushed my eye out!
This was the ONLY crazy thing that happened the entire wedding/planning process. No family drama, no bridesmaid drama, nothing. So I think we were due for some sort of mishap!
What is your favorite memory from your celebration?
Favorite memories:
My family made a tunnel for us to run through as we entered the reception! That was really fun.
I just remember feeling really emotional as I walked down the aisle with Scott, knowing how important this moment was going to be for us. I was so worried I would cry through the ceremony, but after a couple minutes I was fine!
I had so much fun dancing at the reception! I had no idea we had so many dancers in our families!
The Glö-Couple (tell us a fun fact about each of you):
Beverly, a Life/Movement Coach and baklava addict &
Brandon, a Visual Effects Artist, expert precision rifle shooter, and blueberry pancake baker
Celebration Date & Location:
February 2012 Jashita Hotel
Tulum, Mexico
Tell us how you got engaged:
One Day, Brandon sketched Beverly a book called “Tale of the Princess”. The first 10 pages had the beginning of their love story with blank pages to follow which represent their future. A year later, on a rainy day in Los Angeles, they checked themselves into the Ritz Carlton for a little R&R. It was there, he got down on one knee and proposed. Stunned, it took Beverly a few moments to realize that the word yes hadn’t made it’s way from her heart and out her mouth…and after a few repeated “pleases” from Brandon, she accepted. Beverly is sketching in the book where Brandon left off and is giving it to him on their 1 year anniversary…sssshhhhhh
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you were aiming for with your celebration:
Everything had purpose.
We’re both born and raised Californian’s. We’ve been living and working in New Zealand for the past couple years and when it came to planning our wedding, we decided to have a small destination wedding in Tulum, Mexico. This way, we got to spend quality time with our closest friends and family (30 in total). A vacation for all, if you will. We rented out an incredible beach front resort for the week, so everywhere we looked, it was people we knew. Even our photographer was a friend (fortunately for us he’s a professional to the stars…)
My husband’s niece was the flower girl and had a matching mini (age appropriate) version of my dress
International influences: The resort in Tulum Mexico is owned and run by an incredible Italian family, my day of wedding coordinator was French, my dress was custom made by Wai-Ching (Cantonese for wisdom and virtue) who’s based out of Washington, the chef was flown in from Prague and I planned the entire thing from New Zealand.
We wanted to spoil everybody. This wasn’t just about us. It was about love and union and friendship. The Weekend included: Fire-dancing, zip lining at night, massages, all the meals were freshly caught that day, on-site chauffeurs & boats/captain anytime/where we wanted, live music and waitstaff.
Our married guests said that it felt like they renewed their vows. Our engaged guests said it helped them break the expectations of tradition and inspired them to plan according to what THEY wanted and our single friends got to flirt with each other and bask in the comfort that they weren’t the only ones holding out for the BEST.
Did you add any fun twists on tradition:
Our moms married us in a circle-esque ceremony. (We did the legal paperwork at the Beverly Hills Courthouse). We just didn’t feel right about a stranger marrying us and who better to say the words.. “Do you Brandon, take my daughter Beverly” than Mom herself. There wasn’t a dry eye on the beach.
My friends and I made my bouquet of Something old, new, borrowed and blue. Although it broke in the airport when I helped a man who almost dropped his child and luggage. It ended up as our main dinner centerpiece instead :)
Our registry was a “Celebration Registry” we did right on a Glosite Page using paypal. All the money went straight into our paypal account which helped us fund the weekend. So our guests didn’t have to pay for anything specific, or get us a tangible gift, but rather they contributed to the whole experience. (snorkeling, massages, gratuities, etc…)
We delegated certain people to pack our favorite wines in their suitcase. One person was allowed 3 bottles into Mexico, so we bought our favorites in California, wrapped them all cute and delivered them to our friends to pack with them.
Our best friends two boys walked me down the isle. One was responsible for making me laugh and the other one for reminding me to breathe. You can tell by the pics who had what job :)
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design? If you made them yourself, tell us how you did it. Celebration + Vacation= Celecation
Our guests’ experience with Glovite/Site was like booking a vacation. Right down to the music and villa bookings….
Now show us your Glövites and Glösite
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
For the communication, keep it consistent. When you’re communicating online with your guests, it’s easy to break off and have side convos in your personal email accounts. Chances are, if one person had a question, there are 3 other people that had the same one.. so don’t be afraid to update your site with the new info, and answer that way. On the same note though, anticipate any questions your guests might have so you don’t have to keep sending out “updates”…most likely your guests will tune out from you in their inbox. I suggest you have 2 of your closest friends receive the first ones to proof it (1 male and 1 female because we just think differently).
We sent 4 ‘Glovites’ in total
1. Save the Date
2. Invite (with an RSVP date)
3. Reminder to RSVP (1 week before the date listed on invite)
4. Thank You’s (this way when they clicked on the link, they got to experience the “After Math” of the wedding.. where we added a photo section, which was really just a link to pictage our photographer created, a lost and found page and our new address… You could even send a thank you to people who didn’t attend, but did send you a gift, that way they can see the site & pics too!
For the decor, don’t be afraid to mix DIY with professional help. i.e., we paid big bucks to rent out the resort, but when it came to table decor, we ordered clear votives and candles online (75 for $30), brought them in our suitcase and filled them with sand. WAY cheaper than renting candlelight from the decorators.
What is your favorite memory from your celebration?
My favorite memory was sitting at breakfast, watching my friends and family play in the environment we created for them. My husband looked at me and said.. “I didn’t know this is what I wanted.” Meaning, even he was surprised by the incredible outcome of following the vision only you guys could have made.
What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?
There are 2!
1. A baton of bubbles.
Sooooo, our friends in New Zealand called the resort and said they wanted to treat us to a “Bottle of Bubbles”. They interpreted this as a “Baton of Bubbles” and proudly gave it to us with a note from our friends. We looked at the incredibly sweet concierge and said, “Are you sure they didn’t mean champagne?” And he said, “No..they said bubbles”. We didn’t have the heart to push it any further because he searched high and low for bubbles that came in a baton! So we just giggled said “Muchas Gracias”! To our surprise one of our guests actually blew them as I walked down the isle. Which turned out to be a MUCH better contribution to our wedding.
2. Part of the ceremony decor was beans sprinkled out in a circle that our guest’s stood around. Jashita left the decorations there for the week and they ended up sprouting! To this day, they’ve left the greenery there (where it was once just sand) because they believe it is a sign of life/fertility… pretty sweet.
It was 4th of July, 2010. I had taken Paul to my hometown which is known for its spectacular fireworks show. After the show I was freezing and wanting to go inside but he asked me to just sit with him and watch the lights. Then he got down on one knee and asked me. I replied by screaming, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?” twice…before I believed he was actually proposing. After I was thoroughly convinced I said, “yes” and sealed it with a smooch =)
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:
We wanted it to be comfortable, not stuffy and a whole lot of fun. I wanted cute kids in the wedding party and we only had one person standing for each of us. We had a schedule and it was loosely minded, it wasn’t stressful and there was a lot of dancing, great toasts and love. It was very important to me to have kids be a part of the day. I didn’t want to be bossing people around or be angry…and I wasn’t! It was beautiful.
Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:
Our choice for a ring bearer couldn’t say ‘bearer’ so when he came running to me announcing that he was going to be my ‘ring bear’ and his mom told me he had bear paws I knew it had to be. My mom raised me until I was 6, when she met my step-dad. I wanted to honor her commitment and sacrifice for me so we had a mother-daughter dance that she LOVED. I think that was the best part of the reception for both of us. Paul and I are big fans of Brandi Carlile and a lot of her music really speaks to us and is part of our relationship. We incorporated some lyrics into our vows as well as used ‘The Story’ as our first dance, complete with the rock out in the second verse.
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?
Classy, simple and beautiful. That’s all we really strove for in our celebration and the Glovite designs really helped us achieve that.
Now show us your Glövites and Glösite
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
I would have left earlier than I did to get ready, I only had 1 hour to do: my hair, make-up AND get my dress on. I really missed out on a lot of lady bonding time with all my friends and family.
What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?
Oh the stories I could tell… We received a gift 4 mo. before the wedding, and I sent her a thank you note. She emailed me asking why we weren’t waiting until after the wedding to open them. I gently tried to explain to her that 4 months is a long time to wait for acknowledgement let alone a thank you, and assured her that we wouldn’t use them until the ‘deal was sealed.’ I think she then got the idea of how absurd she was being.
October 2011 Liz’s parents’ home
Northport, Leelanau County, Michigan USA
Tell us how you got engaged:
Hate to burst your bubble and sound lame, but we don’t have a big story. (Editors note: Pretty much NOTHING about this sounds lame to me. It all sounds rather fabulous!) It was just “time”. One day we found a ring we liked on Etsy. Two weeks later we placed an order for it and a custom wedding band. Four weeks after that we told our families because we thought the rings would show up about soon. Turns out US Customs had another idea (goldsmith is in Ireland) and the rings finally arrived 3 weeks later. We then celebrated by having a half-baked flash-frozen deep dish pizza flown in from our fave Chicago pizza place, Lou Malnati’s, and cracking open a bottle of 1999 Dom Perignon we’d been saving. Oh, and some french macaroons.
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:
We’re laid back & (mostly) casual people, so we hope our celebration reflects us. We love the outdoors and plan to have the ceremony on a little deck overlooking Lake Michigan followed by a reception in a tent in the front yard. We’re looking at the woods as our inspiration – they’re full of birch trees, cedar, and many, many woodland critters.
About our venue… My parents’ started bringing me up to Leelanau County when I was 5 months old to camp. When I was three, they bought property. When I was 9 they built a house on it. And when I was 25 they retired to it full time. Needless to say this is a place ingrained in my soul, and it was the only place Tom and I wanted to have our wedding at. Otherwise, we would have eloped! True story.
Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:
We’re looking forward to a laid-back day that includes our beloved dog as our ring bearer (sporting a bow tie to match his “dad’s”, of course), both of us wearing monogrammed Chuck Taylor All-Star shoes, and after-dinner merriment in the form of a bonfire on the beach and star gazing once it gets dark enough. We even included a “Can you bring a telescope” question on our RSVP!
We’ll also be having pies instead of cake. My mom makes THE BEST cherry pie in the world (Northern Michigan is considered the “Cherry Capital”), and an apple. There may be cupcakes too since I’m a sucker for those. Also, the guests will be standing on our beach below us during the ceremony. The deck we’ll be married on will only fit the two of us plus the officiant. Our attendants (two total) will be on the 5 steps leading down to the beach, and the guests below them looking up at us.
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?
We received a framed silkscreen from family for Christmas this past year that is the tree with our initials featured on the site. It was silkscreened onto burlap (something else that will be prominent in our decor) with the heart stitched and the names hand lettered. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted it on our website. Interestingly, this family member wasn’t aware of our plan to feature trees and initials in hearts in our decor… she apparently knows us well! We’re doing paper invitations of a somewhat similar design.
Photoshop and I spent many hours together, scanning, clone stamping, and stitching. Taryn also was a huge help in helping figure out how to anchor the tree in place so it won’t drift off the page depending on the viewer’s browser.
Now show us your Glövites and Glösite
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
Keep calm. My mother has a saying, “Be cool. Trust the Universe. It’ll all work out in the end.” I tell myself this frequently. Go with your gut too. It usually knows you very well. And read A Practical Wedding. I’ve been a fan of this site since October 2008 (that’s 2 years prior to actually being engaged.) The amount of resources and information on tricky planning/sticky situations is truly awe-inspiring, as are the folks who write it, and those who read it.
What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?
I had had my eye on a particular JCrew gown for months, ever since I’d seen it in a featured wedding on 100LayerCake. When it came time to go dress hunting I was STOKED to be able to finally try it on! Then I went to the website and couldn’t find it. Then a misinformed JCrew customer service rep said it was discontinued.
*Commence surprised sadness/insane search for a used gown at 11pm on a Friday while my fiance was asleep on the couch next to me, watching some inane movie like Anchorman or whatever.*
Two weeks later I was flying to LA to try on a used gown I’d found on OnceWed that appeared to be my size. The night before I flew down I found out from JCrew that no, they weren’t discontinuing it and they were actually fully stocked. And, it was 30% off with free shipping. SAY WHAT?! I went to LA anyway. Tried on the used dress and even though I ended up not taking that particular one (hadn’t been dry cleaned and didn’t want to budge on price), I knew it was THE one. My MOH and I went straight to the local JCrew and ordered a new gown.
We had been dating for a little under four years when Evan proposed. He proposed on Valentine’s Day, which provided a good cover for the elaborate plans. Here is how it went down:
Evan had a whole day planned for “Valentine’s Day” full of various activities. I untied a ribbon on the schedule to reveal a special thing that we enjoyed about our relationship, and then we did that thing. For example, I untied “running together” before we ran a Valentine’s day race. While we were eating dinner (another thing we like doing together), I unwrapped the saying, “We can do anything together.” He gave me a photo-frame with two pictures: on the left was a picture of us taken while I was undergoing chemotherapy for a rare type of ovarian cancer, and on the right was a picture of us running in a race a couple months after the treatment. I started bawling. Then, he told me to turn around to see my family walking down to where we were sitting, and when I turned back around he proposed. More bawling from me. And an emphatic, “YES!” of course.
Photo by Katie Vaughan
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:
Photo courtesy of Bybee BlueBerry Farm
We’re going for a very relaxed feeling (it’s on a farm!), and we’re trying to make decisions that make the wedding very personal for us (the farm is at the base of the first mountain we hiked together). We’re definitely using the skills and talents of our family and friends to pull it off. From pie-baking, to flower arranging, to singing and playing instruments during the ceremony, to simply moving tables and chairs around, our guests will be very much a part of the wedding.
Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:
We plan to serve and toast with smoothies from our most favorite smoothie place instead of serving alcohol (we figure, it’s at lunch, and we’re not big drinkers anyway). We’re also going to play some fun lawn games that are loved by our (rather competitive) families, bake pies instead of serving a traditional wedding cake, and use my dad’s collection of antique jars as part of the centerpieces.
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?
We designed the invitation before the save-the-date or site. We wanted to incorporate the blueberries that reflect the blueberry farm location. We also incorporated our aforementioned love of running (which also hints at the walk/run we’re planning to have the day before the wedding). Finally, we wanted to learn Photoshop, so we used the invites as our first practice project.
How did you make ‘em?
We made everything in Photoshop. We used the “photocopy” filter to create the effect on the blueberries and shoes. We put a texture over the whole thing to make it look kind of like paper.
Now show us your Glövites and Glösite
These two even added a timeline of their relationship…from the FIRST proposal (in high school) to the one that stuck. Below is a snippet…
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
For us, with our 1.5 year engagement, we really appreciated being able to plan in spurts and avoid becoming overwhelmed. We worked on a bunch of stuff for a week or two, then we would take a break for a while (up to 3 months) before working on stuff again. It allowed us to have some perspective about what really mattered to us, and what was just a silly detail that wasn’t worth stressing about.
Photo by Katie Vaughan
So our advice is this: think about what matters to you and have fun planning those parts; take some time off of planning when things get stressful and remember how much the details don’t matter. As far as organization, we have been using Google Docs since we can easily share them between us and our families. It’s nice that everyone can collaborate on a spreadsheet or document at the same time, and it’s much easier than emailing attachments all the time.
You might recognize this couple from the Glö homepage and examples page. I just love their story. These two were best friends for 15 years before they fell in love, decided to get married, and then had a beautiful little girl named Ottoline.
One day, Stuart decided that there was no one else he’d rather spend his life with than Fenella. But it was quite a wooing process, complete with a Shakespearean-esque sonnet, candlelit home-cooked meals, and many late night talks about love, commitment, friendship and marriage. Finally a formal proposal came about in the most unexpected of places.
How do I know so much? Because Fenella is one of my closest friends and Stuart is right up with her in my book. To top it all off Fenella and Stuart were among the very first Glö beta-testers, so for me they’ll always hold a special place in our Glö-history and hearts.
The Glö-Couple:
Fenella, a management consultant &
Stuart, a company director
Celebration Date & Location:
August 2010, Pekes Manor, Chiddingly (near Lewes), East Sussex, UK
Courtesy of Pekes Manor
Tell us how you got engaged:
We had just been to a wedding in Texas. We had only been dating for a few months, but we had been friends for 15 years before that. After the wedding (a great weekend affair on a ranch outside Austin) we went to a shooting gallery (as you do). While holding his Magnum .44, Stuart asked me to make his day!
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you were aiming for with your celebration:
We wanted it to be relaxed with lots of good food and wine and plenty of opportunties for us to catch up with old friends and for them to catch up with each other. We definitely decided that one day would be too short and so tried to find a place where most people could stay on site and we could have events over several days. Instead of getting a wedding catering company, we found some great cooks who lived in the village and gave them our favourite recipes.
Did you add any fun twists on tradition:
We wrote our own ceremony and each had a best man and a best woman – which made for a lot of speeches! The twists were more with what we took out. The focus was on the people, the food, the wine, and the band. We spent little or no time (or money) on table decorations, favours, my dress or the wedding cake. The table decorations were a a candle with some scattered silver stars a friend had in her garage, the dress was a white 1920’s knee length dress from a ‘vintage’ shop (bought 3 weeks before the wedding), the cake was made by a friend (with plain white icing), and we dispensed with favours altogether.
Also, our daughter Ottoline was turning two the weekend after the wedding, so the morning after we held a “Welcome to the World” party for her – we had a child’s entertainer (which the adults absolutely loved…) and a naming ceremony conducted by her fairy god-mother and father (the closest she’ll get to having god-parents.)
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design?
We wanted a simple, clean modern design, that was not too over-wrought or ‘wedding-y’. We were hosting the wedding in the countryside so liked the leaf motif.
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
1. Ask friends for help from the planning stage and on the day itself – they are delighted to be involved!
2. Nominate someone to be the key person for all the suppliers on the wedding day itself – you don’t need the stress and you won’t have time.
3. The day can go very fast. Plan some time to just be together with your partner to take it all in.
What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that happened while you were planning?
Work got very hectic a few weeks before the wedding. A friend suggested I get a wedding organiser to help with the last pieces of planning. The first one I called asked me, ‘What’s the one thing that has to be right… the dress, the car, the cake…’ – totally not the sort of wedding I wanted!
Celebration Date & Location:
