This Editor Married In Total Style

Stephanie Weers
May 10, 2016
Categories: The Blog
Tags: real weddings

If you’re one of those girls who likes to Internet stalk your favorite fashion bloggers’ weddings (I’m guilty!), this feature is your new happy place. Janelle Grodsky of The Style Eater and Associate Editor at InStyle is sharing her big day that’ll completely inspire you to throw a relaxed, fuss-free wedding with greenery involved from start to finish. Paige Jones photographed, Ellay Films captured the film, and we’re racing to The Vault for every last detail.

[iframe http://player.vimeo.com/video/149968771 600 338]

From the bride and InStyle Editor, Janelle Grodsky… Kyle and I got married after 10 years of being together. Before that, we had known each other since middle school, so it’s safe to say that we have so many shared memories. We wanted our wedding to be extremely personal and reflective of our relationship, so we infused it with details specific to us. For one, the venue was in our hometown. We also wrote the entire ceremony together from start to finish. After looking through traditional ceremonies, none of them felt like they truly represented us so we created one ourselves. My uncle officiated the ceremony too and the whole thing felt really personal and special.

As for the music, every song represented our relationship in some way. I walked down the aisle to Falling Slowly from the film Once, performed on the cello by my cousin Ian Gottlieb (who is an incredible cellist). We’ve watched the movie a million times and it just felt right to use a piece of music that was special to both of us. Before the processional, my cousin played the Game of Thrones theme song—no explanation needed for that one! For our first dance, we picked John Legend’s Stay With You because Kyle has been singing that song to me since we started dating in 2005.

I decided to plan the wedding myself because I had a clear idea from the beginning of what I wanted. Simple, simple, simple! Lots of greenery, natural design elements, and a no-fuss vibe. It helped that my best friend Jaymee Harney is in the wedding industry and steered me in the right direction—she’s a graphic designer and wedding videographer who did all of our paper design and video, too. I’m also an editor at InStyle Magazine so I’m familiar with dress designers and the event planning world in general. I took lots of advice from my vendors too, from my calligrapher Nicole Miyuki Santo who helped me figure out the signage to my florist Kristen Caissie from Moon Canyon who helped with the reception table layout (on top of her killer florals!). In the end, my mom and I planned everything together and I’m so thankful for all of her help, guidance, and support. My dad even chipped in and built our ceremony altar with Kyle!

Overall, we were extremely happy with how everything turned out. We loved our coordinator, Leslie Kaplan from Encore Events, who made sure everything ran smoothly (and it did!). When you plan your own wedding, having a great coordinator is KEY! We also loved our DJ, Matthew Rubino. From cocktails to dinner to the dance party, everything he played was gold.

My favorite moment of the wedding happened when Kyle and I exchanged wedding cards before the ceremony. We gave each other the exact same card! They read “It was always you.” It was such a surreal and beautiful moment for both of us. I literally burst into tears (like Kim Kardashian-level ugly crying) and it was the only time I cried during the wedding — for the rest of it, I couldn’t stop smiling!