Wedding Wednesday- Vendor Love- Jeremy Ganss

 

Ok, now it is time to sing the praises of another one of the vendors that helped for our wedding. This one matters a lot, I think, because it's not like we will have the chance to hire Jeremy too many times in our life (I mean, I am not sure if he dj's 2 person dance parties), so the best way we can show him support is to highly recommend him, which we definitely do. He is based out of Clarion, and works a lot of Pittsburgh weddings, but if you are planning a wedding in Western PA, you can't do better. He was our big splurge for the wedding, and it was totally worth it. 

 

Jeremy keeps up a blog of his own that you can find here-  http://jeremyganss.blogspot.com/ To be honest, this blog was what won me over in the first place. I never saw a dj who was that serious and enthusiastic about his weddings that he kept track of song choices and took pictures himself. He clearly cares. Then, when I called him to chat (actually the first time we talked I was just getting his opinion on Wanango, but we talked for practically an hour), he was generous, funny, and a well of information. He knew about all the sites, all my regular wedding complaints, and how to best strategize his weddings. He was genuinely a pleasure to deal with every step of the way.

 

These are all pictures from his blog- for real, check it out! Jeremy knows his stuff, but he has a very humble, open, and generous Western PA personality. He is not hungry for the spotlight. I have been to those weddings too.  The whole night the dance floor was full, and everyone told us that they had a good time. We didn't have to worry about the schedule, because Jeremy was on top of all of it.

 

I could go on about Jeremy a long time, but The Boy wrote Jeremy a note that I think sums up his awesomeness pretty well:

 Jeremy,

Where to begin? You were absolutely phenomenal in every way, from the moment Barbara contacted you out of the blue to ask, not about DJ’ing, but for your opinions on Wenango (having seen your online review for it, not knowing you were a local DJ), it was immediately clear that you were passionate about your job and fully committed to delivering well executed, extraordinarily fun weddings. You always went above and beyond reasonable expectations to offer exceptional service, and it really showed.


You were always proactive, patient, and flexible to our schedule, not an easy thing to do when Barbara and I both were thousands of miles away for all but a handful of whirlwind visits back to Pennsylvania through the year+ of planning. You actively sought our opinions and took the time to meet us to get to know us, our tastes, and our goals for the wedding. You did more than pick a bunch of songs (though you did do that too, and your website made that easy to do in our own time!); you helped us to create the overall schedule of the night.


Once the reception began, you kept us on task and on schedule without ever being pushy or controlling or trying to take center stage; you gently guided us and our guests from dinner, to toasts, to cake, etc. without any jarring transitions. Once the dancing began, the floor was never empty—not even close—for more than four hours!  You transformed our eclectic requests (modern pop, Motown, obscure big band music, etc.) into the non-stop dance party we asked for.


You kept everyone, from the youngest cousins to our grandparents, excited, pumped, and moving the whole time. Unlike most of the DJ’s I’ve seen at weddings, you take your craft very seriously: your equipment is modern and your library and tastes are trend-leading rather than trend-following (Norah Jones: out; acoustic covers of the Bieb: yes, please). Most importantly, you actually know how to DJ: you did more than put together a giant playlist, press the ‘play’ button, and then walk away to eat cookies, take MySpace pictures of themselves, or fiddle on their phones for the majority of the night (yes, we’ve seen these before).

The level of service Jeremy provided was unparalleled, and he was key in making our night the most fun I’ve ever had at a wedding. Thank you for making our wedding kick ass!

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This is my day, by Vintage Bride Carlye

Dear Reader,
Welcome to Part Two of Carlye's takeover. Today, our gorgeous bride is going to whizz us through her fabulous vintage–inspired day.…

Well, readers, this is my day, my experience – and my advice for you! 
Jase and I met almost eleven years ago at Uni in Swansea, aged just 19. Eight years later, we were living together in London when he took me on a surprise holiday to Venice – and proposed. 


In the next three years, while we established our careers, we went to so many friends' weddings that by the time we tied the knot this summer we had a really good idea of what we wanted our own big day to look like. 

The most important thing for us was that the day had to reflect us as individuals and as a couple. Everything we chose was personal and meaningful to us. And although there were lots of themes going on, everyone understood those details were a reflection of us.

We also wanted to be respectful of the traditions of marriage but not necessarily follow everything if we didn't feel it was right for us. We wanted things to be a bit more friendly, easygoing and informal, just like us! 

As soon as we were engaged, we chose Devon for our wedding as that's where Jase is from. We spent many summers there as students, and decided on our favourite village, Cockington: the most charming place with its thatched cottages and the best tea room.

I really wanted the wedding to reflect my love of all things vintage! I love the 1950s for its elegance and glamour, and the 1960s for its colours and simple style. So I chose a 1960s look for me and 1950s for my bridesmaids. Then we asked everyone to come in their own interpretation of 50s or 60s style. And I must say – though I'm a bit biased – everyone looked stunning! 

To get everyone in the vintage mood, we played a range of vintage music – everything from a 20s charleston to swinging 60s pop. We had a vintage London bus, an old fashioned Post Box for all our cards... even a vintage taxi cab for a photo–booth! 

My bouquet was also made to be similar to my nan's who got married in the late 50s. She loved that I wanted the same! 

My bridesmaids love a bit of vintage too, but are more contemporary in style than me. So we chose a modern dress with a vintage feel: with a halter neck, laced bodice and flared skirt. Then we added a pinny and peep toe shoes for that cute 50s housewife look (we even used the pinny fabric to create extra–special shoe laces!)

My engagement ring is a gold Panther sitting proudly on a branch – inspired by the famous Wallis Simpson Panther Brooch. I definitely wanted something different, so Jase had 'Charlie' (as my panther is now known!) made specially for me. I wanted a branch style ring for my wedding band, and found the perfect one at Alex Monroe. Jase even found a branch style on etsy so we match! 

Jase is a typical big kid, and works in computer–generated special effects. He loves computer games, specially a Japanese series called Final Fantasy. He chose a character that represented us, (for those in the know this was Squall and Aeris!) so we had models of them by the cake. The game also has a classical musical score so I walked down the aisle to 'Aeris' Theme' played by the organist!

We wanted an informal, summery theme and chose Italian to represent our engagement. We kept it simple and rustic – with an Italian menu, prosecco, and a dining room decorated with olive trees and herbs for fragrance. We even put up some of my sister's photographs of Venice. 

We wanted our family involved as much as possible, so we had lots of help with our cake, flowers, stationery, favours and decorations. It made things that extra special. (We had lots of people to thank!)  And both of our families are big cat lovers so our tables were named after all our family cats, past and present.

Our final theme was The Owl & and The Pussycat as Jase had given me a canvas of one of my favourite children's book illustrations from the 60s by Dale Maxey. We used it as part of our invitations (Jase's brother is an illustrator andd designed all our stationery) and decorated the bar area with this theme.

We then tied it all together with the vintage theme in our beautiful tea room: lots of bunting, vintage fabrics and proper cups & saucers – and all beautifully decorated by my mum & sister. 

Our venue was so perfect: Colehayes Park, a stunning Georgian Manor House with dormitory style rooms and beautiful gardens. It's basically a giant holiday home so we rented this for a week and we were allowed to do what we wanted. We weren't restricted to use particular people and that really helped as we were able to add our personal taste to the place, within our budget! 

We wanted the house to speak for itself so we mainly used flowers as its so beautiful & Jase' mum lovely filled the house! We loved that we could invite most people to stay with us & we loved that we had the place to ourselves so it was more informal. We only had a handful of people to help with serving food and drinks. 

We had a great time all helping to set up the venue at the beginning of the week, so we had just close friends and family with us. Most guests arrived the night before, and we all went out for a meal to break the ice. 

On the big day, I was so excited as unfortunately I had been very very poorly in the week up to the wedding (I honestly thought I was going to have to go to hospital) but I woke up feeling great! I ran round the house shouting 'I'm getting married today.' It was great to have friends and family staying with us, all getting ready together! 

The hair and make up team were calm, friendly and fabulous. They got the look perfect and though I still looked quite poorly, they worked a miracle! I loved my Priscilla Presley inspired look! 

My bridesmaids looked so cute with their 50's curls & flower in their hair & I loved their pines! I chose the Liberty print as I love their fabrics & also worked there when I first lived in London after uni! 

The vintage bus was a great surprise for everyone. We all headed to Cockington at a thatched cottage pub a short walk from the church. It was a great opportunity for everyone to meet and greet, calm their nerves or toast the day! It was relaxed and friendly, exactly as we hoped and the best start to the day! I just wish I had been there but I was still getting ready...

It was great to travel together with my mum & sister! Mum had hired a VW campervan to take us to the church – a great surprise – I loved it so much! We did get stuck in traffic and arrive quite late. Poor Jase! 

My mum walked me down the aisle and it was great to have her by my side! 

Afterwards, guests made a beautiful arch outside the church for us to walk through & I had brought everyone a vintage wedding wand by Ginger Ray as an alternative to confetti & was another fun keepsake. 

I actually first brought them the year before, for a best friend's hen do (we were each other's bridesmaid). They were such a hit, she asked if I could bring them to her wedding too! 

Everyone then got back on the bus to the venue. The weather was perfect and so we all enjoyed drinks in the garden before our Italian summer feast by the excellent Dartmoor Kitchens.

We had the speeches before we ate so the very nervous speakers could get this out the way and then relax. They were the most unprepared speeches but also the most spontaneous, funny and heartfelt! Jase's brothers were great – each said a little bit about growing up together, looking up to each other and welcoming me into the family. My sister and grandfather made a speech on my family's side and talked about bring our families together. Everyone was laughing and crying! There wasn't a dry eye in the room! 

The food was perfect. My very clever Auntie and godmother made my cake. I just said I wanted a vintage feel so bless her, already a gifted cook, she went on a course and made lace icing! It looked stunning and tasted delicious! 

We then made things flexible for everyone. Those who wanted cake and a cup of tea could enjoy the vintage tearoom, others could enjoy the bar or the chillout in the Lounge, or take a stroll in the garden before the party got started. 

The tearoom was a great hit with lots of specialist teas including Wedding Breakfast tea from Fortnum & Mason (one of my favourite places) and lots of homemade cakes from a family friend as well as the wedding cake.

We wanted people to feel at home and come and go through the different rooms as they please. We were so lucky that our venue allowed us to do this. I really feel Colehayes is a very special place. The owners are great too – I would highly recommend!

We then opened the dance floor and photo booth. We also had the fabulous Pizza Buona to keep hunger at bay with their made to order stone bake pizzas! Our final salute to our love of Italy! 

Everyone enjoyed themselves until the wee small hours and it was great that most people stayed so no one had to worry about getting home or finishing at a particular time! At midnight, we had an open bar and kept the tearoom going. And we had the added bonus of a basement for our after–party, so the young at heart still had a place to keep dancing but those with tired party feet could also retire upstairs! 

We wanted something for everyone but also still true to us and I think we achieved this. I had the most amazing day and was so overwhelmed to have everyone we know and love in one place.

I also love how everyone's memories, stories and photos help you capture your big day in a way you couldn't imagine. You truly feel very lucky and happy. There are still new moments and stories coming out and I hope that continues for years to come! 

So here's to all Helena's vintage brides – past, present & future! Have a very Happy Wedding Day and may your Heavenly Vintage Wedding Dress bring you lots of love, luck & happiness now and always!

Thanks for letting me share my big day with you! 
Lots of Love 
Mrs. Carlye McCloy-Brown 

For a snapshot of more Real Vintage Brides,
check out my website page here...

Photographs with thanks to Alice of The Vintage Wedding Photographer 

Bride's dress: Original 1960s lace wedding dress – Heavenly Vintage Brides of course!
Bride's Shoes: 1960s Vintage Lace from Candy Says
Bride's Underwear: M&S
Bridesmaids' dresses: Chi Chi London
Bridesmaids' shoes: Mojo Moxy 
Bride's Hair & Make Up: Claire & Rebecca of The Popup Salon
Photo Booth: Alfie the Black Taxi Cab Booth
Groom's Suit: Ben Sherman Tailoring
Shoes: Kurt Geiger 
Best Men Suits: Topshop
Bridesmaid's Pinnies, Ushers / Best Men / Groom Cravats & Pocket: Liberty Art Fabric
Stationery: Groom's brother Danny Deeptown 
Meet & Greet: The Drum Inn, Cockington 
Wedding Ceremony: St George & St David's Church, Cockington, Devon
Wedding Reception: Colehayes Park, Bovey Tracey
Caterers: Dartmoor Kitchens 

And best of all…
Cake by Bride's aunt
Flowers by Groom's mum
Decoration by the mums, close family & friends

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Wedding Wednesday- Vendor Love- First Blush Photos

 

Alright, so I am mostly going to try to wrap up wedding stuff now- I want to give a list of things I wish I had known/ would have done differently, and I just want to talk about how incredibly great our vendors were. If I could only give future brides one piece of advice, it would be hold out for vendors who you are really excited about and who are genuinely excited themselves about what they do. People are better at their jobs when they love it. 

We loved First Blush Photos before they ever took our picture-  They are made up of 2 photographers (this is a HUGE help in keeping the day moving), Chris Padgett and Rachel Reinders, who are both fantastic on their own and really complement each other perfectly (they have been friends for a long time, and share a business with Rachel in PA and Chris in Illinois, so everyone in these states should hire them). Rachel took my cousin Paige's graduation pictures about 4 years ago, and at the time I was struck with how incredibly cool she was while still being enthusiastic and fun. I was also impressed with how quickly she pulled Paige out of her shell, and I think Paige's senior pictures are still my favorite ever. Rachel did a great job of really capturing the many things that are specifically beautiful about Paige. This may not seem like much, especially because Paige is gorgeous, but throughout the day I could see that Rachel really saw Paige, and that is an invaluable skill in a photographer.

After that, I liked checking in every so often on First Blush's blog (http://www.firstblushphotos.com/blog). I loved their approach and their photographs- they take really cozy looking group shots and embrace color! So when we started trying to pin down wedding dates, we actually wrote them beforehand to take their schedule into account. Our wedding date won because it was the only August date we could get the Bishop, Anchor Village, and First Blush all together. 

It was so worth it! They were quick to communicate with us, and a year before the wedding, they came to visit us in California to take our engagement pictures. Even though we love taking pictures, we are exceptionally awkward in front of the camera together. We are also tragic when we are forced to be affectionate in front of other human beings. So the engagement pictures, more than anything else,would give us a chance to get used to it. It was so much easier than we expected, and we really had a nice day. Chris and Rachel are fun, young, and generally seem to be having a good time just hanging out with each other (even after a miserable red-eye, so well done to them!). They even tolerated eating at the least Italian Italian restaurant ever. We loved the, so we were so excited to see how the wedding would go.

 

First Blush came to our rehearsal the night before the wedding to talk to the priest about limits and to watch how the whole thing would go down. They showed up bright and early the next morning, a little after nine (everything being said, Chris and Rachel worked a 14 hour day for our wedding, if that doesn't tell you what kind of photographers they are, I'm not sure what will!). They were cheery from the very beginning and made a point to learn names as the day went on. I had tried to give them as much info as I could before the day, and they brought a print out of the list with them, so they were sure not to miss anything. They kept things moving, so we never felt behind or overly rushed. They happily bummed rides off of us, and were in no way high maintenance at all. They worked quickly (and intelligently), without things feeling rushed or unpleasant.  The Boy said the 3 words to describe them are helpful, enthusiastic, and creative. In short, they kicked ass.

I got so many compliments on my photographers even on the wedding day, before anyone had seen one shot they took. My mother, no joke, has been trying to find sites on the internet where she can sing their praises. My dad, who is a very discerning judge of photographers, was struck that night that they were professional, unobtrusive, and, most importantly, he could tell that they genuinely were enjoying the whole thing. 

 Case and point, when we told them we were having a classy nerd picnic, and that we were having a running robot theme, they made us robot heads and arms.  And seriously, who does that? Who makes extra photo props for their clients just because they are pumped about their ideas? They were amazing! And trust me, somebody had put a BUNCH of work into them! Then we snuck off with them during dinner and cracked up through this whole part of the photo shoot- they were hard to keep on our heads! I was just so impressed that they were game at the level that they actually took the license to go be creative. We reminded ourselves going into the wedding that even if it was a big deal for us, it was another weekend of work for our vendors, but it didn't feel that way at all with Chris and Rachel. We felt like they were excited with us! That is having pride (and joy!) in your job.  Like I said, they stayed through all of the dancing, even dancing themselves a little bit! We couldn't have been more impressed on the day.

  

I tried to put up  some of the pictures from the day, so I don't need to tell you that the pictures are soo soo pretty! They made my grandmother cry because they were so beautiful! All we have seen so far are the ones they posted on their blog, but we are elated about how they turned out. 

If you are planning your wedding, I highly recommend checking First Blush out, but these are the criteria I would be sure to look for- 

2 photographers- it makes a world of difference

Enthusiasm, creativity, and aesthetic excellence in their work- It is worth the extra money! It is what you get to keep of the entire day. 

Professionalism and kindness- trust me, you probably see your photographers as much as anybody on your wedding day, if there is  anything about their personality that isn't clicking, do not hire them! I have seen too many creepers or slow pokes really put a dent in wedding festivities. Everyone loved Chris and Rachel before they saw any pictures, so the fact that the images are also amazing speaks so highly for their talent. 

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Wedding Wednesday- Final Thoughts on Gift- Giving

from www.amazon.co.uk/The-Monster-Factory

Alright, one of the other things I couldn't really talk about during the process of preparing for the wedding was gift giving! This, to me, is a very important part of any event, because I just genuinely love giving presents. I feel like it gives me an opportunity to show people how much we love/ appreciate them, so we spent a lot of time/ discussion on what would be a good gift to give. 

As a bridesmaid, you basically always get the same gift- the jewelry you wear for the wedding.

 

 

 I tried to get them jewelry that was really cool and special- I bought them from Jennifer Jones Jewelry on Etsy ( you can find her shop here- http://www.etsy.com/shop/JenniferJonesJewelry?ref=seller_info). The ones for our wedding were in all of our colors and had all sorts of neat vintage earrings on them. I felt kind of torn about them once I got them, because they were so my style and not the girls, necessarily, but I think they liked them. I had spent a long time deciding which bracelet for which girl, and at least my sister-in-law Elizabeth wanted to know why I picked hers for her, so that kind of curiosity was fun.

etsy.com

  

I would highly recommend Etsy to brides who are looking for cool original jewelry that perfectly matches the style of their wedding. We were going for a kind of light late 40's/ 50's feels for our bridal party, so I went with these big retro looking studs for their earrings. I found them at a wide variety of stores, almost all of whom were pleasant and easy to deal with. Every girl got different flowers for their ears, and I think they were a nice simple foil to the otherwise kind of busy get ups. Plus, I figured that the earrings might actually be wearable again, even if the bracelet wasn't.

My mom and I had decided that we would pay for the girls' hair, so that pretty much ate up the bridesmaid budgets, but the boys were getting such a fun gift that I wanted to get the girls something fun too! So I had the idea, thanks to think geek, to get them all weird cookie cutters (the original idea was to get them all ninjabread cookie cutters like the top picture!). I decided that since many of them are more functional adults than I am, I would try to mix in silly and sentimental cutters with ones that they may actually use. The only person who got all silly ones was Elizabeth, because she is 17 and therefore is at about the same maturity level as I am. The cookie cutters reminded me of many of the times that my MOH and I made cookies with our Nana.

I think cookie cutters work because who doesn't like making cookies? Even better ones that have some silliness and joy? It is one of my favorite things to do, and I weirdly have silly baking memories with a lot of my bridal party. Something like that also offers you the opportunity to give everyone equal but personalized gifts.

etsy.com

The last thing I gave the girls was a pez dispenser with a disney princess theme. Over the years, the boy and I had joked about an elaborate wedding at Franklin High School track with Celine Dion on a crane that was Disney Princess/ sin themed. I had a couple of throwbacks to that wedding planned, but the biggest one was that each of the girls got their pez dispenser (my brother had bought me the set about 5 years ago) and a little cupcake charm (also from Etsy) to attach to their bouquet. The cupcake charms were cute, but they were kind of a fail, because they fell apart all day long- mine even fell apart at the altar!

 

The boy had a much easier time choosing the gifts for his groomsmen (I want to point out here that we used the tissue paper as wrapping material... which I will be doing for the rest of my life). He and his brother (and their friends) had played with legos together since they were kids, and the legos have been making more and more of a comeback over the last year. My brother is also into legos, so really the only person who wasn't crazy into it was The Boy's oldest brother Johnny. I am pretty sure they had pulled him over to the dark side by the end of the wedding.

  

The legos were a pretty big hit, except for Pete who wanted us to get him a different set. He had helped me wrap them all, but he did such a good job keeping them all a secret. He is awesome!

  

For guys, there are less accessories you need to provide, but leave it to us to make it more complicated. We bought them all robot socks, which I think looked a little bit more like monsters than robots. We also got them their bow ties and suspenders, since the odds are they won't be getting much repeat usage out of them. 

 

Despite Jim's face in the picture, they mostly seemed pretty pumped about wearing the bow ties. I thought they looked pretty sharp and adorable, so I am glad I took a stand for the bow tie. 

The last group we wanted to really give something great to was our parents. It turns out there aren't many traditions or guidelines of what you give to your parents (much less stepparents) for your wedding so we tried to have a good time with it. But all of our parents had been ridiculously helpful, supportive, and enthusiastic en route to our wedding, so it was very important to me that we put some thought into their gifts.

 

Because we had two big Harry Potter fans on our hands, we gave both our Mom's Harry Potter wands! Well, technically MIL got a Molly Weasley wand and my Mom got a McGonagal wand. I think they liked them a lot. If you want to buy someone a wand I would highly recommend this store- http://www.etsy.com/people/SticksAndKicks. We also got The Boy's parents a family tree from Etsy, which I thought turned out really beautifully.

etsy.com

My mom was the only parent we instantly knew what we wanted to get her- she has wanted this kind of Hawaiian bangle for a long time, so I saved up to get her one for the wedding. We debated between this number and another one with flowers on it, but my Aunt Ann felt like she would like this one better. I also got a set of coral print for my mom's husband, who is big on the scuba diving. 

I had the hardest time shopping for my dad- I got him an embroidered tissue, and we got his wife a necklace charm of her dog Big, but we needed to do something else. We talked about getting them a nook kitchen table, or a hammock, but eventually we got them a gift card for a verizon store, because they both have ancient phones, and my Dad's was truly terrible. It was a more practical gift than I usually get, but once I thought of it I was pretty proud of the idea.

Ok, so now that I do this, I realize that a lot of this would probably not be that helpful for brides making plans. So, my advice for the gift-giving is to take your time with it. I am not sure it even makes some of those wedding checklists, but it is worth your time to start putting thoughts and money aside as you go. I think it is also great if you can connect the gifts to the larger goals of the wedding, because you usually give them on the night before- they help set the tone, so if you are going traditional, do traditional gifts! If you want a serious party feel, do shot glasses or something silly like that! These people, in theory, are the closest to you of anybody, so think about them and want they might want or need. I feel like it is an important part of of the wedding to show people you appreciate them, and honestly one of my regrets is that I didn't do that more, so I am glad we had this chance. It really is worth the effort, I promise!

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