I love this wedding for 2 big reasons. 1) Its friggin adorable! How can you not love this quirky circus theme with all the personal touches? 2) Chad’s office, Deborah Berke & Partners Architects LLP, designed this hotel! I wish we had one of these in NYC, it would be a big hit. Keep reading below for the bride’s writeup of the day! Lots more pics coming up at 1pm, you don’t want to miss them…
As Kentucky natives who’ve lived in New York for six years (holy cow!), Adam and I really wanted our wedding to have touches of the big city even though we headed back down south to hold the whole soiree. So naturally our search started and ended at 21C Museum Hotel, Louisville’s amazing new-ish hotel/modern art museum. We wanted the wedding to be more of a party–vintage, handmade, whimsical, and budget-friendly–and we were surprised when it actually came together.
I got my vintage, faille, tea-length dress early on for $60 on eBay. It was the only one I ever tried on and fit like a glove. That really set the tone for me. Adam’s custom-made suit came from a hole-in-the-wall Puerto Rican tailor shop on the Lower East Side and cost a lot more than my dress. I like to tease him about that. His yellow gingham tie was made by Fieldguided on Etsy.
We held the ceremony on the penthouse’s roof deck which cozily held our 90ish guests and our 3-ft. yellow balloons. My friend Sarah and I made the pennant hanging at the back of the deck and we put little paper bags of crafty pom poms on the aisle seats for guests to toss in lieu of rice. The ceremony was quick and sweet with handwritten vows, tears from both me and Adam (shhh, he will deny it), and amazing music‑-the bridal party walked out to the Benny Hill theme and I made my way down the aisle to the Cosby Show theme. Afterward, people mingled while my dad passed around bags of popcorn and peanuts and Izze fruit sodas. For the reception, we all headed down to the amazing three-story atrium gallery, and were very proud of our home state when our NY guests noticed that the art on display rivals what they’re used to seeing at the MoMA.
We spent much of the day with our fantastic photographer, Josh Merideth of Bella Grace Studios. We were insanely lucky to get him just three months before the wedding because he’d had a cancellation. Like us, Josh is a Kentucky boy who spent time in New York. He had a bunch of ideas that I really loved and he and his assistant Bill were completely tireless, running around all day shooting every little detail. He’s really an unparalleled choice for Kentucky brides, but he’ll travel anywhere ladies!
Our catering, which was super simple–bison sliders, French fries, grits, salad, fruit salad–was provided by Proof, the James Beard-award winning restaurant attached to 21C. The cakes were the most important culinary event of the evening. There were nine, provided by The Bakery and Cake Flour, two local bakeries that did a killer job of fattening up our guests. Each table had a different flavor cake as a centerpiece, and along with everyone else, I had fun table-hopping to try a few. Nothing gets people up and moving like seeing a chocolate truffle cake across the room. Our cake toppers came from GooseGrease on Etsy. She hand painted these little wooden cuties to look just like us. Now that Martha Stewart has caught on to her, her waiting list is huge.
Our guests went nuts for the photobooth from the Magnolia Photo Booth Co. (which just opened a branch in San Francisco). Before the wedding, I worried that our touches were too trendy, and Adam did a great job of reminding me that, save for a few engaged friends, none of our guests troll wedding blogs all day. The morning of the wedding, Adam, his dad and brothers made an inspired choice; they picked up a cardboard cutout of Barack Obama. It was great to see all the ladies smooching him in the booth, the men giving the thumbs up and, strangely, a few children attempting a decapitation with a plastic sword
The flowers came from David Williams of Magnolia’s, who didn’t even blink when I asked for kumquats in my bouquet and berries in my girls’ corsages.
We made all the stationery ourselves with four vintage clip art books I found on eBay and a pirated copy of Photoshop. Family friends did my makeup, DJ’ed, and made my veil.
[images from Josh Merideth of Bella Grace Studios]