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REAL WEDDING: LISA & JIM

Meet Lisa & Jim…..our ‘style couple’……their wedding story is simply beautiful….the details are so charming and their wedding has such a ‘vintage look and feel’ to it…their wedding story was captured by Ben and Laura of Weddings By Two….I love their work and their style of shooting…THEY ROCK!!  Lisa & Jim’s wedding will be featured in two parts today…let’s begin with Part I……..Enjoy!

Lisa shares all the ‘411’ with us….’Jim and I were married on April 25, 2009 at the Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, New York.  Choosing the Metropolitan Building as our venue was completely instinctual for us.  We loved all the quirks about the place and the amazing pieces of antique furniture that we could use on our wedding day.  We both work in film and are attracted to places that feel like they have a story behind them.  The Metropolitan Building made us feel like we were transported back to Paris, a city that we love. 

Our photographer, Ben, really did an amazing job capturing our wedding day.  We met with seven other photographers before Ben and were underwhelmed by their images. But with Weddings by Two’s portfolio we were blown away.  We also loved the fact that they still shoot on film.  Ben set up a photo booth for us at the last minute, and included it in our package.  Our guests loved it and many of them have framed the pictures that they took on our wedding day.  It’s Ben and Laura’s kindness and generosity as well as their talent that really made us feel lucky to have them as our wedding photographers.

Our time together in Paris became something that we wanted to revive on our wedding day.  We served a cheese plate after the main entrée and my voice instructor from college so generously sang Edith Piaf songs.  Our wedding cake came from the French bakery Ceci-Cela.  We chose the Pear William cake and rather than have it covered in fondant that most guests would peel off, we served the cake as it is meant to be eaten.  This choice also saved us a lot of money. 

Jim and I quickly learned in the wedding planning process that hiring vendors who work solely in the wedding industry means a much higher cost and usually with cookie cutter results.  So we had our close friends design our wedding invitations and another friend was our DJ.  I hired a makeup artist who does photo shoots and my hairdresser at the Beehive Salon in Brooklyn did my hair. 

We supplied our own bar, hand pairing the wine with the menu.  Astor Wine did an incredible job finding us French wines that were under ten dollars.  Our dear friend Sandra filmed our wedding on her Super 8 camera. All these decisions made our wedding feel truly representative of us and it also involved people who are near and dear to our hearts.


While we spent a lot of time working on all the little details, making our wedding day very personal and reflective of us, I am really happy that we spent so much time working on our ceremony.  It really became a labor of love.  We found our officiant through friends and from the moment we met Dr. Katherine Kurs we knew we were in the right hands.  We worked extensively with Katherine, communicating who we were and how we fell in love and she shaped it into a beautiful ceremony.  Our ceremony was essentially the story of us and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.  Our readings were seven passages that we chose that represented blessings for our marriage.  We wrote our own vows.


Kate O’Donnell, of Green Apple Weddings and Events, our dedicated wedding coordinator, brought all of these details together. She dissolved any stress and worry from our minds so that we could fully enjoy our day. We don’t know what we would have done without her!  

 We finished off the night with a grand exit. At the last minute I hired a vintage yellow cab that had been in many New York City themed films.  I purchased my “getaway” dress from Anthropologie off of the sales rack.  My wedding dress was Saison Blanche, a sample dress that my mother and I found in Seattle at Luly Yang.  My love for all things old and timeless led me to this dress.  I felt completely elegant in it..’

 

The beautiful veil and silk flower were designed by the talented ladies of Bride’s Head Revisited!….the beautiful and charming Emily and Alexandra…I adore them!! 

‘Our remarkable florist, Emily Thompson, really helped us bring our vision to life.  She gave so much time and energy to our wedding.  We loved going to the flower market with her.  She even chose the fabric backdrop for our photo booth and created a white muslin curtain for our ceremony.  She was so much more than a florist.  Creating a rich color palette, our tables had taper candles with vintage napkins and a blue overlay that gave it such a personal touch. We wanted the reception to feel like an intimate dinner party and we accomplished just that.’

Lisa & Jim’s wedding is so beautiful and I love their style…and Ben & Laura totally captured their day so beautifully…make sure you check out Weddings By Two blog site to see more of their beautiful work.

Check back later for Part II….the ceremony and reception details….you don’t want to miss it.