Browsing Tag

save-the-dates

Liz and Tom’s woodland wedding celebration with family, friends, and bonfire (s’mores too!)

The Glö-Couple:

Liz, media coordinator for San Francisco Symphony &
Tom, photographer & freelance sound engineer

Want to meet them?? Liz can be seen vicariously through the San Francisco Symphony’s website and interactive educational site Keeping Score. Tom is alive and well on www.tombalazs.com.

Celebration Date & Location:

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.

13 Jun 2011

Alyssa and Evan’s Lunch and Lawn Games at the Blueberry Farm

Photo by Katie Vaughn

The Glö-Couple:

Alyssa, a Software Engineer &
Evan, a Technical Support Specialist

Celebration Date & Location:

Courtesy of Bybee Farms

August 2011
Bybee-Nims Blueberry Farm
North Bend, Washington, USA

Tell us how you got engaged:

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.

3 Jun 2011

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

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

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

Shanelle and Mike’s Camptastic Wedding with Rad Friends, Family and Pie!

I am pretty excited to introduce Shanelle and Mike to you all. Not only are they getting married on my birthday next year (yay!) but they are actually putting pie front and center in their celebration. PIE! How cool is that?!?

The Glö-Couple:
Shanelle, an Operations Assistant &
Mike, a Marketing Manager

Celebration Date & Location:
August 2011
Camano Island, WA;
Camano Island State Park

Tell us how you got engaged:
I actually proposed to Mike! (You go girl!) We went to his folks vacation home (which he loves) near the Canal to escape a busy period in our lives. I was a nervous wreck, so I basically blurted out a speech about loving him and wanting to marry him and then asked him if he would be engaged to me. I even gave him a watch. He said “of course” right away and then got on his knees and said sweet things. We cried and kissed and laughed and then did a shot of tequila! It was perfect.

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:
Mike and I are pretty laid back, but love to throw rad parties, so our wedding will reflect our interests while still showing everyone a good time. The main idea is to incorporate things we love (camping, hanging out, mason jars) but still make sure others are comfortable and happy. Figuring that out right away has really helped us stay on track. We haven’t stressed about much because everything we are planning is such a reflection of us and sounds like so much fun; it is making us so excited for the big day. My favorite example is the food; Mike and I like to grill, so our caterer is a local street food vendor that makes gourmet burgers and fries. So stoked!

Here’s some of the inspiration Shanelle has collected so far

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:
I mentioned some above (burgers and fries), but we are also omitting the traditional cake and doing pie instead. We both LOVE pie, so it just made sense. One of our best friends wil be our officiant and I have a guy on my side of the wedding party. We have to leave the main wedding site before dusk, so we will all go back to our group camping site and make s’mores and laugh. Our rehearsal dinner will be a super chill bbq on the beach. Oh! We are also walking down the isle to a Prince song (I Would Die 4 You) since we both love him. Haha!

What was the inspiration for your Glövite Save-the-Dates and Glösite design?
A friend designed our Save the Dates based on a design we had seen online; she is amazing! We just wanted everything to be clear, simple, and reflect who we are and what type of wedding we are having.

Now show us your Glövites and Glösite!

What’s the craziest/funniest/biggest ‘SAY WHAT?” moment you’ve had while planning?
I tried on a silly, frilly dress for my future mother in law and I got stuck in it! It was too funny and surreal to be embarrassing. Haha!

Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
Have an an honest conversation with your future spouse about expectations, ideas, traditions (wanted and unwanted) and budget ASAP. Once that is all hashed out, have fun and remember to breathe! Mike and I did a lot of the big planning within a couple of months after getting engaged and that was nice, but it has also taken some of the excitement away for the moment because we now have a while until the wedding and the little stuff can wait. I use a great blog called Offbeatbride that helps keep me calm because you can discuss wedding plans with other lucky ladies. I also suggest using a notebook to keep ideas, swatches, contracts, etc. in. Most importantly, don’t take it too seriously! It’s only one day and you already know how it will end.

9 Oct 2010

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

Lindsay and Graham’s Big Celebration!

The Glö-Bride: Lindsay – Teacher, Head of Dept

Her Glö-partner: Graham – Whizzkid @O2

Celebration Date & Location: 29 October in Staffordshire, UK

Tell us how you got engaged: We had just been travelling around the world for 3 months after being together for about 3 and a half years. We got back to the UK and found another place to live. Graham SAID he was going to work the Monday after we moved in, but he really went to Hatton Garden in London to buy a ring! He came home, told me to put on a nice frock coz we were going out to dinner – and then popped the question!

What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration: We really want to have a fun, relaxed, happy atmosphere, and we certainly do NOT want a circus, with mega money and gluttony. Graham is part Scottish so is going to wear his family kilt – so there’s a bit of highland fling going on!

Are you adding any fun twists on tradition: It’s a bit of a secret – but we are having personalised favours which are things that come from places we come from. We are also going to put a ‘one-liner’ or ‘interesting fact’ about each person sitting at each table to get some funny stories/conversations going during the meal.

Now show us your vites and site!

Save the Date Glövite

How does your Glövite and Glösite design fit with your celebration: We wanted the site to be very user friendly as we have a very mixed demographic using it, from young professionals with iPhones to Aunty Flo and Grandma Freda! It needed to show our character (simple tastes but fun at heart) and also be informative for guests. The design fits with the celebration with the colour blue.

Any good planning tips and tricks: The Glövites are quite simply an absolute GOD SEND!!! We are both young professionals with very little spare time – and the last thing I wanted to be doing with my very little spare time was cutting and sticking things to invites to send out in the snail-mail! Our guests have been really positive about the experience of our Glövites and Glösite and think the idea is really cool – but best of all, we love the fact that you can track and see who has opened the invite from their emails, and also see who has RSVPed. Plus you can ask tailored questions to suit your own needs.

Aw shucks guys…we’re so honored! One more thing we had to share was this super cool little widget from Jajah that Lindsay and Graham added to their ‘Contact Us’ page. It lets guests call you for free.Very clever.

6 Aug 2010

Real Glö-bies, Real Glö-Vites & Sites

Kerri and Michael’s curly-whirly Big Barn Shindig save-the-dates

I couldn’t help but share this incredible, design that Kerri created for their email save-the-dates and wedding website on Glö. Kerri is a graphic designer by trade, so there’s no surprise that she’s made my head whirl in delight.

I think my favorite part of their celebration may be the description of the wedding and reception! I have no doubt that their guests are in for one rockin’ boot stompin’ of a good time:

The Hitchening

An epic event eight years in the making!
We know what we mean to each other: now we’re making it
public for all of you to witness, and at the end of the
ceremony, we’ll be married. Yay!

The Big Barn Shindig

An afternoon of fun for everyone!
There will be dancing, lawn games, food-on-a-stick, beer, and cider.
And also cake. You know you want some cake. The cake is delicious.

4 Jun 2010