When Brian and I were planning our wedding day, we tried to think of all the weddings we had been to, and the best wedding receptions were the ones that had the best food. I know it sounds ridiculous, but good food can go a long way to your guests enjoyment of the reception. Once we knew the food would be fabulous, we tried to focus on lots of sentimental and personal touches.
The Date: After the proposal, it was kind of a whirlwind of telling people and picking a date for our big day. We knew we wanted an autumn wedding. We love cool weather, the colors, and we met in the fall, so we thought it was appropriate. We finally came around to picking September 16th. It was the only date that both the church and our banquet hall had at the same time, but it was totally meant to be. You see, this is also my parents’ anniversary. My parents were married for almost 34 years before my Dad passed away so we figured it was a nice tribute to my Dad, and almost like a lucky day since my parents had such a happy a loving marriage.
The Church: Old St. Pat’s is an important place to us. We spent a lot of time there when we were dating. We attended mass there, volunteered there, and met life long friends there. Brian popped the question there. It remains a very special place to us as it is still our parish and the parish where our children were baptized.
The Band: Brian and I LOVE music (mentioned here). We spent a lot of time at concerts (Guster is still one of our favorites), listening to music, downloading our favorite songs, and researching new bands together. One of our first trips together was to Graceland and then to Nashville where we saw Josh Turner before anyone knew who he was. A monthly tradition of ours was to see a band called Tributosaurus. They are a band that each month has one concert and picks a different artist or band to cover. We saw them become Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, Paul McCartny just to name a few. It was/is still one of our favorite things to do. Anyway, we explained to the band how we are die hard fans, and would you please play for our reception. They agreed and played a mix of all of our favorites. Everyone enjoyed because it was good oldie type music perfect for dancing, but they also played some newer music for the young ones.
The Sweet Table: Brian and I didn’t have a traditional dessert of wedding cake at our wedding. In Brian’s family, it is tradition to offer an entire table of sweets and treats after dinner. Ours was piled high with tiny creme puffs, eclairs, small pieces of cake, chocolate covered strawberries, and other sweet treats. To keep with tradition, we had a very small two tiered cake to cut. Our baker actually made us a replica of the cake for our first anniversary for FREE.
The Bouquet: My bouquet was a place that I found it easy to add personal touches. It contained lots of sentimental flowers. My Dad’s family is Dutch so even though it was fall I included ivory tulips. My Mom loves hydrangeas so I made sure I had a few of those. My grandmother had gardenia in her wedding bouquet so I included those, and my sister had roses in her bouquet so I included those as well. I also added a few of my favorites like ranunculus and stephanotis with pearl centers.
The Shoes: Another very personal touch was to honor my Dad. My Dad passed away when I was only 19. Him and I were extremely close, and one of our favorite things to do together was run (I still run today). Our favorite brand of running shoes was New Balance, so I found a pair of all white New Balance shoes and my friend and bridesmaid, Sara, bedazzled them for me with crystals and pearls. My brothers and my “Dad’s shoes” walked me down the aisle on my wedding day.
The Photos: We wanted to make sure we got some pictures with the Chicago skyline behind us. Brian and I feel like it is “our” city so that was important to us.
I’m not an expert wedding planner, but I will say this. It is very similar to hosting any party. The food should be great but there should be a few personal and sentimental touches that help to make it personal and special to you and your guests.
