My Wedding

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – Wedding Season! It is hard to believe that my one year wedding anniversary is just a few weeks away, so it only seems right to share all of the details. First up, the dress! I went to three dress shops: Nicole Miller, Lovely Bride and BHLDN. Nicole Miller was exciting because it was my first stop, but I didn’t want to settle on my first shop. Plus, I didn’t find anything that stopped me in my tracks. Lovely Bride was just okay. I honestly didn’t have the best experience, but I am glad I tried on more dresses to figure out what I liked and what I didn’t like. My third and last stop on the dress hunt was BHLDN. If you don’t know BHLDN, it is Anthropologie’s wedding shop. My mom was the one who suggested we go there. It was brand new and beautiful! The experience was amazing from start to finish. I scheduled an appointment a few weeks in advance, and when we arrived, we were greeted by an associate who was dedicated to only helping us. We also had our own personal section (couches, mirror, dressing room, champagne!) I would definitely recommend adding BHLDN to your list. I fell in love with a few dresses, but the one that really stole my heart was a two piece dress. The top was form fitting and petite with a scallop neckline and a lace overlay. The bottom was ballgown style with a ton of layers. 

The really fun thing about a two piece dress is that I was able to change the skirt during our reception. I was inspired by Anna Camp’s feather skirt from her and Skylar Astin’s wedding. I found a similar one at David’s Bridal. Funny story – I called David’s Bridal to see if they carried it in store, but there weren’t any available in stores near me. The only one left in my size was in Hawaii, so I called the Hawaii store and they shipped it to me. It fit perfectly and even better, it was deeply discounted. It was meant to be. Unfortunately, I don’t have the best pictures to show off the skirt, but you get the idea. 

I can’t forget about my beautiful bridesmaids! I found their dresses at Show Me Your MuMu (yes, that is a real store!) I loved that they had so many different colors and styles to choose from. One thing to note is that they don’t have a store near Philadelphia, but Nordstrom does carry some styles and colors. My bridesmaids and I scheduled an appointment so they could figure out what style they liked and what size to order. They ordered from ShowMeYourMuMu.com and got 10% off their first order. I think I went a little overboard in terms of Bridesmaids gifts, but my girls were worth the splurge. I wanted to get them something they would definitely use again, so I bought them each a personalized GiGi New York clutch and filled them with essentials for the day. I have to give a shout out to Gilbert & Evans in Ardmore because they were so helpful with the clutches. I just happened to be walking by their store and saw the clutches in the window. They were so accommodating. I couldn’t decide on a color, so I had my maid of honor come in with her dress to try it on with each bag. They handled the ordering and shipped right to me. They also gave me the personalization at no cost!

Our reception was held at the Cira Centre and catered by Jose Garces. We wanted to have our love for Philadelphia included in our wedding, so being able to see the skyline from the lobby was absolutely beautiful. I am still so obsessed with the details of our wedding. We had a custom welcome sign to greet our guests as they entered. Andrew and I actually made this ourselves at Board and Brush. All of the other custom signs were done by my talented friend Steph including our table numbers, table runner, and the seating and memorial table signs. Our table runner actually had the lyrics from our first dance written on it (it was 30′ long)! My favorite detail was the seating chart. Andrew made the wood frame that had everyones seating card hanging from a tiny clothespin clipped to twin. We asked that our guests take their card and replace is with a mini polaroid. It was so much fun! For wedding favors, we gave each guest a mini bottle of Limoncello that was homemade by our cousin Denise. We also made a donation to Alex’s Lemonade Stand. I think one of the most difficult decisions we had to make was picking our invitations. There are just so many different options and color combinations. As you can tell, our color scheme was earthy tones – greens and whites. This kind of just happened; which I loved! I thought everything was so delicate and pretty, so we stuck with this for our invitations. Again, it was very overwhelming, so I would recommend doing this as early as possible! 

• 

• 

When I found out that Federal Donuts made donut towers, there was no way I couldn’t get one for my wedding. I mean look at that thing! It was such a fun addition for our dessert table. We got to go to a tasting a few weeks prior to figure out what flavors we wanted to include. I think we did a good job. My bridesmaids reaction says it all. It was their first time trying Federal Donuts so they had to try every flavor. We also added a cake topper that read “Donut You Want Me Baby”.

It is so true that the day goes by fast, so enjoy every second. We danced the night away, and I would do it all over every weekend if I could!