Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Cutting the Cake

In continuation of my wedding recap I'm going to move on to the cake cutting. We did things a little differently then most brides.

A full sized wedding cake was included in the food package we chose and our reception site has an excellent pastry chef, but unfortunately she was going to be on maternity leave during our wedding. So our site opened up the possibility for us to use an outside baker.

Instead of getting a full sized cake, we suspected (and were correct) that our guests would rather have a real dessert. So we got a house dessert for the guests and used an outside baker to make a small cake just for cutting. 

Upon many recommendations we went with Teri Edwards of Cakes Unlimited. Like most things with the wedding I wanted something very simple and here are the adorable results-

All photos the the work of Linda Wallace

^The cake stand was from TJMaxx and we got the ribbon from a craft store

The other thing we did a little differently was the timing of the cake cutting. It seems like most brides nowadays put the cake on the dance floor and have the cake cutting sometime in the middle of the dancing. I specifically did not want this. I find that most people don't really pay attention to the cake cutting when its done this way.  I wanted to have the cake cutting right after dinner...before dancing and when everyone's dessert would be served.

I can't tell you how DIFFICULT this ended up being. Not for us but for the staff.  I had to say a million times I didn't want the cake on the dance floor and didn't want to cut it during dancing. And yet every time I got a diagram of the proposed layout for the wedding that darn cake table was somewhere on the dance floor. It was like no one could think outside of the box. I didn't think I was asking too much.  I was really worried that when I walked in the cake would be on the dance floor, but thankfully in the end it all came together. 

^I used the same knife my parents used to cut their wedding cake

^We put it on one plate

^And fed each other at the same time instead of one-by-one

^Mmm cake

So how did it taste?  Welllll that's a funny story.  I honestly don't remember the first taste. After that taste we had our reception site put the cake in the freezer and we were going to box it up and take it home with us.  Well the reception site never got the boxes to us before we left and we were so hurried when we left that we forgot to ask.

I was super bummed about this. I had visions of eating wedding cake all week long. It was something I kind of irrationally locked onto and I became a little annoyed at our site for not remembering to give it to us.  So after a week of sulking we ended up having them FEDEX it to us overnight in D.C.  Hehe

When we got it the cake was really bad looking. It definitely had a rough ride from C-ville. And I know the idea of eating a defrosted week old fed-exed cake might disgust most of you but you know what....it was REALLY good.

It was still incredibly moist and the icing was just the right level of sweet. The cake stayed moist in the fridge for another week as we ate off of it. 

So I figure if a cake that's been through all that can still taste awesome then imagine how good it would be under normal circumstances.  All the credit to that goes to Cakes Unlimited!

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Savvy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design

Purse - Belk

Hair Flower - Ella's Alley

Flowers - Blue Ridge Floral

Suits- Men's Wearhouse

Ties - Wild Ties

Socks - The Gap

Bridesmaid Dresses - Maggy London from Nordstrom

Flower Girl Dress- Rare Editions from Dillards

Sportscar - Sports Car Rental

Reception/Accommodations - The Clifton Inn

Getaway Streamerthrows - Aerotechnic

Paper - Andbear

Cake - Cakes Unlimited 

Style Me Pretty Picks Monachetti as Vendor Fave

I've made no secret of how much I loved our wedding video from Monachetti and I'm happy to say that their talents are really starting to be recognized. Monachetti was recently picked to be in Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book of the best wedding vendors.  Only 3 vendors are chosen for each category so it's quite an honor to be chosen. They are featured as a top pick for videography in the D.C. area. 

Monachetti has also launched a new website and their new featured video is beautiful! Check it out below. Don't you just love the bridesmaid dresses???

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Some Details

I promise I'm going to finish recapping my wedding even if it kills me. My only excuse is that life really does go on after you get married and you slowly emerge from the wedding fog.  So to make up for my absence I'll post some shots of the one thing most of you care about...Details!

As always, all photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^This is what our large main table on the verandah of the Clifton Inn looked like before the flowers. I like this pic cause you can see the beautiful chairs that come included with the rental price of the Inn. 

^ Escort Card Table

^As I mentioned earlier, all the paper was done by Etsy seller andbear 

^Each guest had a name card and menu (both courtesy of andbear) as well as a little favor waiting for them at their seat. 

^These are our adorable and affordable favor boxes that I blogged about so long ago. Inside each we had a chocolate wrapped in foil that matched our kelly green theme.  The great part is the leftover boxes can be used to decorate our first Christmas tree together. 

^Menus by andbear 

^I LOOOVED our reception flowers from Blue Ridge Floral. Crisp, clean, elegant...exactly what I wanted. 

^These calla's were repurposed from our ceremony 

^This was the flower girl's pomander that she quickly discarded

^A nice shot of our guests enjoying themselves at dinner

^A quiet moment while the rest of us were on the dance floor outside 

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Savvy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design

Purse - Belk

Hair Flower - Ella's Alley

Flowers - Blue Ridge Floral

Suits- Men's Wearhouse

Ties - Wild Ties

Socks - The Gap

Bridesmaid Dresses - Maggy London from Nordstrom

Flower Girl Dress- Rare Editions from Dillards

Sportscar - Sports Car Rental

Reception/Accommodations - The Clifton Inn

Getaway Streamerthrows - Aerotechnic

Paper - Andbear

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Why You Should Have a Receiving Line

In continuation of my wedding recap - Husband and I left the church and drove down the road to our reception site at The Clifton Inn.   For my reception I was sure of a couple of the things from the start and one of those golden rules was : There would be absolutely no MC/DJ type introductions of the wedding party or of Husband and I at dinner.   I hate these at weddings...I hate being part of them and I hate watching them...it always makes it seem like a circus or a production to me instead of a nice gathering of friends and family. I was going for intimate and warm not Price is Right "come on down!" 

What I wanted instead was something that is kind of going out of fashion...a receiving line. I really wanted to greet people at the door of our cute Inn and welcome them to our reception...as though I was welcoming them into my own home. I wanted them to feel a personal connection immediately and not stand around waiting for the bride and groom to make an appearance.   All over the wedding world I see comments about how horrible receiving lines are, but I think that's probably b/c most people don't do them right.   

I think in order for receiving line to be successful you should adhere to a two key rules

1) You need to have a small wedding.  Sorry, but receiving lines take too long and get jammed up if you want to say hello to each of your 400 guests. Part of the reason people hate receiving lines is because they have to wait around. And really if you have a large wedding then intimacy isn't probably one of your main goals to begin with and the receiving line would just seem mechanical cause you couldn't actually spend time talking to each guest. 

2) It needs to be just you and husband.  This might be controversial especially if your parents are hosting but when you start adding parents, grandparents, wedding party, etc. then that's what slows the line down and people are standing around and waiting again.  Plus many guests may not know your parents or your maid of honor so they will probably feel awkward having to shake their hand and say some niceties.  But everyone there knows either you or your husband and they are all their too see you, so no one feels awkward saying hello. 

The bonus of the receiving line is that you don't have to go around table to table later, since you've already talked to everyone at least once....this means that you and Husband actually get to eat! 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^Waiting at the door of the Clifton Inn as our guests arrived

^Hugging and laughing with Husband's extended family

^We were lucky that there was only one way into our reception site so all of our arrivals were staggered since they had to drive in one-by-one. We never had a line of people waiting. 

^You might recognize this couple from Ben's awesome travel blog The Flashpacker and from their wedding last November. 

^Still more hugs!

^Our photographer was able to catch pictures with us and many of our friends and family during the receiving line. The artsy shots are great, of course, but honestly these types of pictures are what your guests will probably put in a frame or print out for themselves. And if you live in Chicago and are looking to buy or sell a house then make sure you contact that smiling face above! 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - The Getaway

Because we were staying at the same Inn where we were having our reception, we weren't going to have an end-of-evening getaway, but I love the idea of getaways so we had one from the church to the reception.  

I have to say that I LOVED LOVED LOVED our streamer throws that we used for our grand exit.  They were so much fun for us and for our guests. All the testing I did trying to decide between paper vs. mylar, colored vs. monochome, and Favors You Keep vs. Aerotechnic paid off. 

The multicolored, mylar streamerthrows from Aerotechnic were awesome and made for some really great pictures ...just as I had hoped!  And the best part: b/c they stay attached to each person's hand it makes clean-up super easy...just gather the plastic pods and throw away. 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace

^Everyone lined up as we got ready to head for the car

^Streamers Away!!!

^It actually started to get difficult to move through all the streamers!

^And we only had streamer throws for about half the guests...imagine if we had one per person!

^It even looks great in black and white!

^Finally we make it to the car

^But the streamers are still attached!

^O.k. now we are streamer free and ready to take off

^This picture is awesome...it's Husband and I in one of the side mirrors 

^And we're off!

To be 100% honest as much fun as our getaway was it didn't go 100% according to plan. I wanted the streamer throws thrown in the church as we walked down the aisle. And despite communicating that over and over again with our coordinator, that message did not get to our guests.  Just another example of one of those things that the bride realizes is wrong and no one else does.  Although Husband and I did have slightly confused looks on our faces when we walked down the aisle and no one threw anything, in the end...it worked out. 

Next up: The Reception!

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Savvy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design

Purse - Belk

Hair Flower - Ella's Alley

Flowers - Blue Ridge Floral

Suits- Men's Wearhouse

Ties - Wild Ties

Socks - The Gap

Bridesmaid Dresses - Maggy London from Nordstrom

Flower Girl Dress- Rare Editions from Dillards

Sportscar - Sports Car Rental

Reception/Accommodations - The Clifton Inn

Getaway Streamerthrows - Aerotechnic

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - The Ceremony

Now it's time for the ceremony - 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^We began with the reading of i carry your heart with me 

^In case you are wondering this is the look a bride gives when someone walks in late during the first reading 

^But the groom is paying attention!

^Ok, I'm paying attention now too. Both fiance and I got a little teary during this reading 

^Pastor Garth says a few words about why we are there 

^Time for more readings - I loved that our readers stood up where they were sitting to read. The church was small enough that everyone could hear, so they didn't need to be at the front with a microphone. 

^I like this shot of my dress and veil 

^Once the readings were done we moved up onto the alter to do our vows and the ring exchange. Fiance was crying when he said his vows which I think got everyone choked up. 

^Fiance putting my ring on my hand

^This is me putting his ring on.  He has huge knuckles so I really had to force it on...it was pretty funny as you can tell from the looks on our faces. 

^Our guests were snapping away 

^The Kiss

^Fiance wiping his nose after the kiss... no one ever thinks that the groom might get emotional and need handkerchiefs so we weren't prepared with any tissues! 

^It's official!

^Coming down the aisle 

^Outside the chapel

^Now we turned to greet our guests and get all the well wishes 

^Needless to say people were happy! 

^There were lots of hugs and kisses all around

Next up...the getaway! 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Walking Down the Aisle

After we were done with a few pics of just us, it was time to start the ceremony. 

^Here are the beautiful wreaths from our florist Blue Ridge Floral Design 

^I told our florist that I wanted green and white wreaths, but that I wanted them to look "modern" which for me meant not having traditional wreath florals like roses and hydrangea. I think she did an awesome job. 

^And here is the inside of our tiny little chapel 

^This is the view from the front looking out the door 

^Our pew florals, which I also loved.  Also from Blue Ridge Floral Design 

^Here come the guys!

^Waiting outside the church 

^I love this pic of my nephew! He escorted my Mom

^Waiting to head into the church 

^Here I come! The families, groomsmen, bridesmaids, and flower girl came before but for the sake of brevity I'm skipping to the key moment 

 

^Fiance watching me walk down the aisle 

^Coming down the aisle. One of my friend's husbands had just whispered something like "you look awesome"...which is why I'm looking at him and not at my groom! Haha 

^Now my eyes are where they are supposed to be! For such a short aisle it still seemed like a long walk when you have everyone watching you

^Finally, we're ready to start the ceremony! My flower hair clip is from Etsy seller Ella's Alley. When I bought it in Feb it was only $9! Her prices have gone up a bit but they are  a steal compared to some of the other hair clips people are selling for upwards of $100 or more. I just didn't see the point in spending that much money and I was thrilled with how my little $9 flower came out. 

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Savvy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design

Purse - Belk

Hair Flower - Ella's Alley 

Flowers - Blue Ridge Floral 

Suits- Men's Wearhouse

Ties - Wild Ties

Socks - The Gap

Bridesmaid Dresses - Maggy London from Nordstrom

Flower Girl Dress- Rare Editions from Dillards

Sportscar - Sports Car Rental

Reception/Accomodations - The Clifton Inn

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Just Us

Once we got to the chapel, and before the ceremony started, Linda took some photos of just us. 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^This is probably one of my favorite pics of just us form the entire wedding 

^Totally unintentional but is anyone else thinking the Wizard of Oz? 

^Definitely has a Dorothy marries a munchkin vibe. 

^My awesome bracelet

^There it is again!

^I really like the way Fiance looks in this one...very happy 

^Could I look more arrogant?  Anyone who knows me is thinking "why yes, you often do." 

^In front of our cute little chapel 

^Liking the way fiance looks in this one too

^Just hanging out 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - The Ride

One of the most fun parts of the wedding was getting to drive around the entire weekend in the 1959 MGA we rented from Sports Car Rentals.  I wrote before about how much we were looking forward to it...but the reality was even better.  Fiance was in heaven all weekend.  And the best part...the entire weekend was only $180.  No...not the hour, not the day...THE WEEKEND.  Best deal of the wedding.  Limo-schmimo.

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^Here it is parked outside our reception site/accomodations, The Clifton Inn. 

^Of course since it was an older car it had older features...like a tiny rearview mirror, barrel breaks, stick shift, and a knob you had to pull to help make it start! 

^Fiance drove with his brother to the chapel.  I took our wind-free RAV4 for the trip to the chapel

^There they go! 

^And here we are at our adorable chapel, getting ready to take some more pics

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Savvy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design

Purse - Belk

Flowers - Blue Ridge Floral

Suits - Men's Wearhouse

Ties - Wild Ties

Socks - The Gap

Bridesmaid Dresses - Maggy London from Nordstrom

Flower Girl Dress- Rare Editions from Dillards

Sportscar - Sports Car Rental

Reception/Accomodations - The Clifton Inn 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Out For A Stroll

The following series of pics I call "out for a stroll."  Our photographer just took shots as we walked around outside our reception site.  So simple, yet the pics turned out so well. 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Posed Photos

Once we had the big reveal it was time to take the posed family photos.  Don't worry, though, I'm not going to post most of those...I always found it kind of boring when people posted family photos cause nobody besides myself knows those people so it's not very helpful for other brides. But I will post some with the bridesmaids/groomsmen. 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^Before we went for photos we had to get the flowers!  This is my calla lily bouquet from Blue Ridge Floral Design and my purse!  I looooved my purse.  I don't know why I even wanted one, but I did, and I searched high and low and never really found anything that I liked that wasn't insanely expensive. I ended up buying something that was "o.k."  Then the day before the wedding I had a last minute errand to run and ended up at the Charlottesville shopping mall (which is tiny) and the only real department store they had was a Belk. Which is a pretty inadequate department store...but there on a sales rack marked down half off was my no name brand purse.  It matched my dress perfectly and was only $25!

^Here is one of the groomsmen's bouts, also from Blue Ridge Floral Design 

^Here we are with all the groomsmen.  Navy Blue, three button suits from Men's Wearhouse, navy blue ties with green shamrocks and groom's kelly green tie with navy blue shamrocks from Wild Ties.

^Socks from The Gap 

^Bridesmaid dresses from Maggy London at Nordstrom. Flowers from Blue Ridge Floral. Bridesmaid hair from Daphne Latham. 

^My cutie flower girl in her Rare Editions dress from Dillards. 

^Once photos were over we all began to leave for the church. Linda captured this great photo of my Dad looking on as fiance and I shared a moment. 

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Saavy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design 

Purse - Belk 

Flowers - Blue Ridge Floral

Suits - Men's Wearhouse

Ties - Wild Ties

Socks - The Gap

Bridesmaid Dresses - Maggy London from Nordstrom

Flower Girl Dress- Rare Editions from Dillards 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - The Big Reveal

Like many couples, fiance and I chose to see each other before the wedding so we could have more time for pictures and not take time away from being with our guests.  For us this was a good decision and I really like the moment we had to ourselves before we started out. 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^Fiance came and I got me in my room

^He looks impressed enough I think ;)

^Time for the twril

^Gotta check out the back

^This is my "i have on lipstick so don't mess it up" kiss

^Wow, we're actually getting married

^Time to go meet our families for pictures

^Here we come down the stairs to see our families 

^Look how happy everyone is!  This was as good as walking into the church for the first time

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Saavy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Getting Ready

Now that you guys have already seen my awesome wedding video, I'll start the recap of the day in photos.  All the photos below are the work of our wonderful photographer, Linda Wallace. I've spoken before about how I chose my photographer and we were really happy with Linda's work. We got over 1,000 photos!  And for the price...I feel like we got the steal of a century. 

Much like my preferences with video, I really wanted a more photojournalistic style.  Not that I don't love all those photos of brides jumping in the air (actually I hate those) or everyone standing in a wheat field (yes I do like these), but I wanted more of a journal of the day as it actually happened.   I just feel that these photos will stand the test of time better.  

That's not to say we don't have posed photos...just not a ton.   

Of course it all begins with the getting ready....

Remember you can click to enlarge!

^Here I am with my great and incredibly affordable Charlottesville based hair & makeup artist, Daphne Latham.  She was so much fun to have around. 

^Daphne's kick-a$$ tattoo

^Talking with bridesmaids/family as I get ready

^I wanted a lot of curl since it's the opposite of how I normally wear my hair.  Daphne made the curls very tight so that they would loosen the closer we got to the ceremony. 

^I had a room all my own to get ready in that was next to my bridesmaid's room, my sister's room, and my sister-in-law's room.  I liked this cause people could come in and out and chat but everyone had their own space to go back to and get ready. 

^Here I am checking out the makeup in natural light. That's my dress behind me!

^There is my beautiful Vwidon dress from Promise for the Savvy Bride that I blogged about forever ago. To my knowledge this is now the only picture of this particular style anywhere online.  

^And here are my awesome Red Satin Vera Wang shoes (if you remember, I got these brand new on Ebay for a steal)

^ I got so many compliments on my shoes all night long.  If you are on the fence about colored shoes then all I can say is "DO IT!" It was so much fun.  And remember, your guests don't read wedding blogs all day, so they have no idea that this is a huge trend.  So many friends and family members thought I was so "original." Ha...if only they knew how un-original I really was!

^Now I've slipped into my dress.  And I got into my dress all by myself! I never really understood why it takes 8 bridesmaids to put on a wedding dress. Mine was easy to get in and out of.  

^Here I am putting on my wedding bracelet from Carolee that I loved. 

^Getting ready to put on my shoes.  

^ Look! I could put my shoes on all by myself too!  Though I did have proper bridesmaid supervision. 

^And now it's time to put the veil on

^Daphne getting things just right 

^I wouldn't say all that fretting I did over veil length was worth it, but I was pretty happy with the length of my Occansey Designs veil.  It was long, but not so long I felt like I had to keep up with it. 

^I must not look too shabby if I got looks like this from my bridesmaids. 

^Here I am...all done....ready for the big reveal.  

 Next up: the total look and seeing soon-to-be husband for the first time. 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - The Video

I know I've been major MIA lately, but I'm back to go through the details of my wedding day!

Unlike most brides who like to reveal the wedding to you piece by piece starting with the beginning of their day I'm going to do the exact opposite and show you the whole thing all at once and then go back to the details! I'm going to start with one of my favorite wedding vendors, our videographer - Michael Eller from Monachetti.

Check out our awesome video below (don't worry it's only about 6.5 minutes, so it'll be a good little break from the work you're supposed to be doing).

^Needless to say much of the video quality is lost when it's played through youtube, but the original is full sized, super crisp, and the lighting is better.

I've spoken before about my earlier disdain for wedding videography, so no one was more surprised then me that one of my favorite things from the wedding is something I once swore I didn't even want.

Here are just some of the reasons I'm thrilled with Monachetti -

1) Unobtrusive - Mike from Monachetti was barely noticeable throughout the day. I've seen videographers at other weddings with huge cameras, bright lights, and the cameraman literally in the face of the bride, groom, and guests. But with Mike there were no lights and no giant cameras, and he definitely wasn't in my face...just him and a handheld. I barely noticed he was there.

2) Open - For the most part, I'd like to think I'm not too demanding of a bride but I did have a couple requests. I wanted the video to be in black and white and I wanted the music to be completely un-wedding related (and no country). I didn't want any of the good ol' standards like "at last" or "the way you look tonight." This wasn't a problem. And even after all the editing was done and I wanted a couple extra things added they had a new version done up in less then 24 hrs.

3) Real - Husband and I aren't super models. Our wedding isn't going to be in the next issue of Martha Stewart. We're real people, with a real wedding, and I wanted an authentic video of the day. I LOVE the documentary style of our video. What I hate most about other forms of wedding videography is the overuse of what I call "tricks" - like putting everything in slow motion to make it seem more dramatic, or using soft focus to make things seem romantic. I didn't want our wedding to seem like a Hollywood production. I wanted it to be real. I wanted our video to show us how we truly are....real people---not movie stars. I wanted our video to reflect how our wedding really was. I think Monachetti really captured the spirit of the day.

4) Unique - I've said it before and I'll say it again. No one in our area is doing what Monachetti is doing. Their work is unique, and in my opinion exceptional. I truly believe that other videography companies in this area will have to adapt and follow Monachetti's lead. They represent the new generation of wedding videographers. Modern brides will never look back.