Mon 7th Mar, 2011
April and Michael's beautiful autumnal wedding
A beautiful autumnal wedding for you this Monday morning. April & Michael were married on 22 October last year, joined by 125 guests. And Kristina Hill captured their day perfectly, as well as being their Maid of Honor!
"We met on eHarmony. Michael piqued my interest when he mentioned in his profile that he built a working drawbridge. We had our first date at a restaurant that was halfway between our homes (where we later had our rehearsal dinner!). Michael baked me a pumpkin pie and gave it to me on our first date.
We got engaged in Bar Harbor, Maine while we were on vacation. We had just gotten up, we were in our PJs on the porch of our cottage overlooking the Frenchman’s Bay when Michael popped the question!
Our ceremony and reception were held at the Stroudsmoor Country Inn in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The ceremony was at the Woodland Chapel site (outside, in the woods, in the Fall) and the reception was at Woodsgate, an old mill at the Stroudsmoor Country Inn."
The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Photography copyright 2011 Kristina Hill
"My sister, Kristina Hill, is the best photographer I know, so I went straight to her for a suggestion on a photographer. She was our Maid of Honor and we wanted her to enjoy the day with us and not be behind her camera the whole time, but she did snap a bunch of photos, naturally! She recommended Johnny, who she had worked with before, and when we met him, we knew he’d be perfect. Together with Kristina, they captured every single detail and moment of our wedding! They didn’t miss a beat! And their creative style was just what we were looking for."
"As for florals, I had a clear picture of what I wanted, and when I took my ideas to Susan, she was just as excited about them as I was. We attended a Bridal Sampling at The Stroudsmoor and Susan did all of our flower arrangements, so we were able to see them months before our wedding! And she even let us take home the sample boutonniere and sample bridal bouquet. I treasured my bouquet – with a photo of my Dad and I on it, and my Junior Bridesmaids spray, which was worn on the back of her dress, because she held our rings down the aisle!"
"I fell in love with my dress when I saw it online. I tried it on and knew it was the one for me. Simple, yet a little quirky, with one spaghetti strap and one chunky strap. And you can’t go wrong with a floral detail."
"We had SO many thoughts and ideas for our wedding day. We knew we wanted it to look rustic, woodsy, handmade and warm, based on my two favourite colours - teal and orange. But most importantly, we wanted to share our love for one another with all of our guests and we wanted that love to be evident everywhere you looked."
"Our favors were journals that doubled as your place card. The guest’s name was on the spine, and their table number was stamped on the front cover."
"Most of our wedding was customized by us. We had a photobooth, where we created the backdrop (with streamers and vintage hankie bunting). We also created all the props (every style of mustache you can imagine, signs, talk bubble chalkboards…). Our table numbers were side by side school photos of us growing up, in mismatched frames, Our guest sign in was a bare tree, and guests stamped their finger print as a leaf, and signed their names. We had family photos strung on twine with mini clothespins at the entranceway…"
"There are so many memorable moments. Our favorite parts of our wedding were our first dance, Kristina’s speech, our best man’s speech and being on the dance floor with all of our favorite family and friends, dancing to some of our favorite songs! The photobooth also provided TONS of laughs during and after the wedding. Our venue, our deejays and all those involved helped to make our night perfect. We got to be a part of the entire wedding from the ceremony to the after party and never once had to worry about anything. I guess the entire wedding was special – it was nothing short of perfect!"
"Our choice of entertainment, DJNYC was easy. However, our music selection was one of our hardest choices. We both have eclectic tastes in music, and we both made separate ‘play’ and ‘do not play’ lists. Then we would go through our lists, listening to the songs together and marking the definites and getting rid of the not so definites… what resulted was the most amazing playlist for a wedding ever. And DJNYC were perfect at playing the songs at the right time, and mixing in their own selections by feeling the crowd. We did know all along that we would have an All-Beatles cocktail hour and that in itself was amazing. Our choice of music was talked about all night and inspired our Thank Yous, a mix of our favorite songs from our wedding day, made to look like a vinyl record!"
Do you have any advice for couples planning their wedding?
"We would have wedding meetings every weekend, where we discussed our ideas, looked at images of things we liked, etc. Then we would make a ‘to do’ list and split up the tasks. It was a very efficient way to work, and it ensure that both of our ideas were discussed and put to use! We also think that if you have a vision, you should do all that you can to make it happen. Our details are what made out wedding come together and we are still getting compliments on what an amazing wedding it was. Lastly, don’t fret over your guest list. When preparing for the wedding I read an article that suggested only inviting people to your wedding that you had seen in the last year, and that you really wanted to be there, to be witness to your day. I followed that simple rule, and it worked perfectly for us!"
Supplier info (US):
Dress: J Crew
Flowers: Susan Bernadette, The Village Common at the Stroudsmoor Country Inn
Photographer: Kristina Hill and Johnny Wolf
Caterers: Stroudsmoor Country Inn
Bridesmaids dresses: Two Birds Bridesmaids
Groom’s suit: J.Crew
Cake: The Stroudsmoor Country Inn
Hair and Make-up: Lisa, The Spa at the Stroudsmoor Country Inn
Music: DJ NYC
Stationery: All stationery was designed by the bride
Bride's shoes: Luichiny and the style is called 'Getting Hitched.'
Bird/Monkey Cake Toppers: Nicole Licht of Astulabee
Groom's Shoes: Converse
Ring Dish: Paloma's Nest
Custom Ties: Ciuccio
Embroidering on Ties: Nicole Licht of Astulabee
Mini Journals: Anthropologie (customized covers by April)
'&' sign: Anthropologie
Most other details designed by April - Save the Dates/Invites/Response Cards (though Michael and I helped in packaging and Michael's Brother-In-Law did the screen printing on vintage handkerchiefs from Ebay)
RELATED BUSINESSES:
Two Birds Bridesmaids
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