real weddings 2008 :: dana + brian

Couple :: Dana + Brian, 8-16-08
Pearls Events services :: Basic planning
Ceremony :: St. Thomas the Apostle
Reception :: English Hills Gardens
Photographer :: Judy Foster
Florist :: Shelly's Designs Florist
DJ :: TnT
Cake :: Sweet Cakes Design
Favors :: Biscotti
Paper products :: DIY

Dana + her mom, Phyllis, hired me earlier this year to help pull all of the details together. Phyllis lives in Indianapolis and could not accompany Dana to appointments, so I was happy to help. Once Dana told me her reception was to be at English Hills, I could not have been more excited :: that is where I started my wedding career 9.5 years ago!

Our first big task was finding the bridesmaid's gowns. I met up with the girls at the bridal salon this Spring to try on a few styles, and they all agreed on one quite quickly. Of course we grabbed lunch afterwards and I got to know some of the girls.

Once we had the dress selected, we could proceed with flower design. Since we chose a blueish/ gray color, we decided on complimentary colors--purple, orange, yellow, red, pink, green. We didn't shy away from anything, and Shelly was happy to carry out our design ideas. The flowers were fabulous and everyone was raving about them all day long. I was excited because we used dahlias, my new favorite wedding flower.

I love when we a couple decides to use fun linens. Since the chairs were not part of our color scheme, we wanted to use chair covers for sure, and possibly colored napkins. We picked out a black napkin to frame the white menu on the silver chargers. We also went with a silver satin sash for the chair covers to pull it all together.

The last big planning piece was the cake. Dana booked Sweet Cakes Design based on my recommendation, and she was not disappointed. When we went in for our final appointment, Barb took a swatch of the bridesmaid dress fabric and created the most elegant fondant bow to sit atop the square, three-tier cake. And if you read this blog regularly, you already know the cake tasted like heaven.

It worked out we could get into English Hills Gardens on Friday afternoon to begin set-up. This was perfect because we needed to fancy fold 165 napkins to hold the menus, and also place the chargers, favors, and table numbers.

On Saturday, Alison and I arrived at St. Thomas the Apostle, which is a quaint Catholic church in Wilcox Park, to get everyone dressed, flower'd and down the aisle. The ceremony was thought-provoking and the church provided some lovely music--organ, guitar, flute and piano. After the ceremony, the wedding party was off with their photographer, and friend of the couple, Judy, for some photos on the Aquinas College campus.

I headed to English Hills to check on flower + cake delivery and to get some final details in place. Guests began arriving to enjoy cocktail hour, and before I knew it, the wedding party was introduced. Dinner was served immediately after toasts + prayer, and I may be partial, but the food was fantastic. They have homemade bread + salad dressing that is out-of-this-world--and a banquet server secret is to dip the bread in the dressing. Yes, I was having flashbacks to 1999.

Dana + Brian cut the beautiful cake, and then started the dancing. From there on out, the night flew by--everyone was on the dance floor, and had a great time with the newlyweds all evening. At midnight, the DJ made last call for the hotel shuttle, and we began breaking down the party. It is bittersweet at the end of a wedding--from all of the planning, all the tears of joy throughout the day and the amazing party--it's done. The couple is married and off to a 2-week honeymoon.

Dana + Brian were off to Hawaii early this morning--I think they are somewhere over the Pacific right now, most likely trying to catch up on some much-needed rest. I had an amazing time planning this wedding with Dana + Phyllis, and what a generous and gracious family!