I am always left green with envy for couples who decide to tie the knot on New Years Eve. It just seems like the perfect mix of already festive energy and one of the biggest, best celebrations of your life. Seriously, why didn’t I think of that?!?! Taylor Lord Photography shot this beauty and the perfect snapshots of midnight smooches amongst balloons and champagne accompanied cheers run aplenty. It’s pure and unabashed awesomeness. See more of this love fest right here.
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From the Bride… Chris and I met and fell in love at work in New York City, where we live. He is from Chicago and I am from both Michigan and Texas (most recently Texas). We knew that we wanted to have an awesome party that was fun for everyone, not just us. We wanted it to be a true celebration. When it came to figuring out a date, I considered spring because it’s my favorite time of year, but my brother, who is in the Army, was potentially going to get shipped out in February, and I definitely wanted him to be there for the wedding. We decided that since we throw a New Years Eve party every year, we should continue that tradition and really have the best blow-out New Years party our friends and family have ever seen. I really think we succeeded.
Chris and I are both weekly church goers and we were fortunate enough to be able to fly our priest from our church in New York down to Austin to marry us. We had a traditional Catholic mass and then moved to the Driskill for the reception, where we rang in the new year, complete with a balloon drop at midnight. Being the crafter that I’ve always been, I wanted to put me touch on EVERYTHING, and since it was New Year’s Eve, I wanted it all to be very elegant, very classic and very sparkly! I chose very traditional New Year’s colors — black, white and gold — and tried to infuse them everywhere. My bridesmaids picked their own black dresses and shoes. I wanted them to wear something they were comfortable in and would wear again. My mom made beautiful necklaces for each of the girls (as well as mine), and we gave the guys all their own unique socks.
The reception space was filled with details, details, details. Our cake was one of my favorite pieces — we used my parents wedding knife to cut it, which was really special, and it was flanked by pictures of our parents and grandparents in homage to our families. Since we live in New York, we wanted to find a way to include that part of our life, which we did with the cake. It had a cityscape on it and was topped with a “crystal ball” to compliment our New Year’s theme. We had hats everywhere, and the escort cards were noise makers so everyone was prepared for midnight. We also included different neighborhoods of New York on the tables as the back drop of our table numbers. The table numbers where our New York friends sat had maps of the part of the city they were from. Our place card holders were champagne corks from bottles all of our friends and family drank during the course of our engagement. Our napkins were black bow ties that were all tied by my grandma and maid of honor. I made banners for the welcome table, the backs of our chairs (Mr. & Mrs.) and the balcony (Happy New Year) — I think I was most proud of these. Finally, our flowers were just perfect. We were able to incorporate a small pop of red with cranberries and the arrangement on the sweetheart table had antlers in it (from a deer my dad hunted) to add a rustic, wintery feel and a uniqueness to our table. We opted to use Jenga games as our guest book so when we have game nights at home we can see the messages of love our friends and family left us on our wedding day. What a great way to remember it all! If our wedding was any indication of the way our life together will progress, we will have a ton of laughs, always have a smile on our faces and always be supported and encouraged by our family and friends. I’ve never felt as much love as I did on New Year’s Eve 2011. We may just have to throw an anniversary party every year and do it over again and again!
Wedding Photography: Taylor Lord Photography / Ceremony: St. Louis King of France Catholic Church in Austin, Texas / Reception: The Driskill in Austin, Texas / Floral Design: Stems Floral Design / Event Design + Planning: The Bride / Wedding Invitations: Minted / Menus + Programs: Ashley Jo George, A Friend of the Bride / Balloon Drop: Brite Ideas / Banners: DIY by the Bride / Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston (Now Closed) / Shoes: Bloomingdale’s / Veil: The Groom’s Aunt / Bridal Party Necklaces: DIY by the Bride’s Mother