Happy Friday to all! We’ve had a great week here on the LBB blog ~ starting out with a bang from Katie & Erik’s fab fotos of a terrific book-inspired wedding at The Mount in Lenox MA. If you didn’t see it, you don’t know what you missed! And so it only seems fitting that we should end the week with another knockout wedding from Carla Ten Eyck!
I have to admit that this summer, every time I’ve seen wedding colors centered around yellow, black and white ~ it was pretty much a no-brainer that I was going to love it! And with this wedding? I mean, with two gorg’ dresses and two pairs of killer shoes … my gosh! Who wouldn’t?
from the bride … Long before Stephen and I were even engaged, I had a vision of my perfect wedding color scheme. It all revolved around a pair of canary yellow patent Manolo Blahnik heels and a crisp black and white damask pattern. With so many brides using the damask theme these days, I wanted to make it my own by adding an unexpected pop of color throughout the day. We envisioned a day full of laughter and special moments that was both meaningful and memorable and our wedding day turned out to be all that and more.
Carla ….. how much better could it get?
more from Portia … The church we were married in has very special meaning to us since it was the church Steve attended as a boy. We created the entire ceremony ourselves in order to put our own special touches into it. Instead of entering with the groomsmen, Steve made his entrance by escorting his parents down the aisle. Our soloist sang an unbelievable rendition of “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts as each bridesmaid walked down the aisle. This was a bit of an unconventional choice as a processional but I knew that I had to have it! After the bridesmaids and flower girl, my parents entered and stood across from one another in the third pew from the door. Then it was just me behind the door waiting to make my grand entrance. I heeded everyone’s advice and took a minute to look around and really take in the feeling and emotion of that moment. Then the doors opened and I walked a few steps by myself before joining my parents for the rest of the walk down the aisle.
Steve and I wrote our own vows to each other and just as expected mine were mushy and his were funny! My favorite part of the ceremony came when we turned to acknowledge our parents. We thanked them for their love, support, hard work, and sacrifice in raising us and also for showing us what it means to love without reservation. We ended with a touching Rose Ceremony where we exchanged single red roses as our first gift to one another as husband and wife. We promised to exchange roses on every wedding anniversary as a re-commitment of the vows we had spoken and the love we will always have.
Steve and I only looked at ONE venue- The Gershon Fox Room in Hartford. The event coordinator, Jessica, was a doll to work with and helped us immensely in making our dream reception come to life. We danced our first dance to “Then” by Brad Paisley while a plasma tv displayed pictures of us while dating. I had an emotional dance with my father to “Then They Do” by Trace Adkins while the tv showed pictures of me growing up as well as pictures of our family including my little sister. The song we danced to has very special meaning because it is about a father with two daughters (just like my dad!) and how proud he feels to have them grow up and realize their dreams.
Most people were not surprised that, being the fashionista that I am, I chose to change into a shorter reception gown right before the cake cutting. I paired the ivory silk one shoulder dress with black heels and truly felt like a million bucks.
Steve and I are big time animal lovers, so in lieu of traditional favors we chose to donate to the ASPCA and had special cards at each place setting to let our guests know. I found myself fussing over the table setting more than anything else at the reception and I am so glad I did because it ended up perfect. Black linens covered each table and gorgeous hand sewn damask fabric squares sat in the center. Our wedding menu was slipped into folded canary yellow napkins which sat atop silver beaded charger plates. The finishing touch was a spectacular arrangement of football mums and spider mums in glass vases with sliced lemon pieces at the bottom.
Carla’s blog has all these ~ and SO many more beautiful images from the day! Thanks for sharing and Congrats to Portia and Steve!!
SO many more detail shots in their SMP gallery here.
Reception: The Gershon Fox Room
Church: First Church of Christ West Hartford
Day of Wedding Coordination: Always and Forever Weddings
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck with Mike and Rebecca
Videography: Inspiration in Motion
Cake: Modern Pastry Shop
Flowers: Azalea Floral Design
Invitations: Jessica’s Design Shop on Etsy
DJ: Allstar DJ
Limo: Carriage Limousine
Makeup and hair: Naomi’s Salon
Bridesmaid dresses: After Six
Tuxedo Rental: J.T. Ghamo
Wedding gown: Marisa
Reception dress: A.B.S. Alan Schwartz
Bride’s shoes: Manolo Blahnik
Bride’s jewelry: Tiffany & Co and Cartier