Kelly + Jeff were married this past June at the beautiful Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, NY. Since Kelly is a crafty/DIY gal at heart, she did most of the beautiful event design herself making sure each element had meaning for her and Jeff. Music was also super important to them and I love their choices for their ceremony and the fact that they had a karaoke machine at the reception – super fun! Thanks so much to the amazing Jenny Jimenez for the gorgeous photos and big congrats to Kelly + Jeff!
What song did you walk down the aisle to?
Jeff and I initially met through the indie music blog scene in NYC, so as lovers of music, there was a self-imagined feeling of pressure for choosing the important songs of the day. It was a toughie for us, particularly because we knew that people would be curious about our music selections, but we don’t have “a song” or particular band that is the most “us.” I found myself looking at countless lists, through my own music collection and asking Jeff about it over and over, to no avail. As the day was getting closer, we happened upon Vitamin String Quartet and their orchestral arrangements of indie and pop music. To us, it was one part hilarious and one part awesome, so we chose to play several of their pieces prior to the ceremony.
In the end, we chose 2 of their arrangements for the processional. The bridal party walked down to VSQ’s version of ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’ by The Smiths (and a favorite of Jeff’s) and I processed to VSQ’s version of ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance. One of the first times Jeff and I really clicked was at a karaoke outing where we sang (yelled?) this song together, so it ended up being quite meaningful for us. The song itself is a weird choice, and in no way romantic, but the first 1:45 of the song do sound quite lovely with strings.
We paraded back down the aisle to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, ‘Home’ because it’s such a fun, sweet song and a great way to kick off cocktail hour and the reception.
Most memorable moment of your wedding day?
Jeff says: The moment right after the ceremony when we went upstairs to sign the marriage license and take photos with our families and wedding parties. It was the one part of the day that wasn’t planned to the minute and there was a feeling of relief and a nice moment of downtime with our closest friends and family to reflect on what was actually happening.
Kelly says: For dinner, Jeff and I chose to sit at a table by ourselves (which I learned, is called a “sweetheart table”). I’m really glad we did that. It was the first time we were really able to just relax and have a nice moment of quiet to take in everything that had happened so far. I remember looking around at all the tables and seeing and thinking about how all of our friends and families were all there for us and how lucky we are to have such a strong support system behind us.
From the moment we got engaged until the wedding day, I was always working on a project of some sort – from building the website, to designing, printing and packaging our invitations, to designing and printing our programs, menus, decorations, table numbers, designing our favors… it sounds crazy, but I loved every minute of it. Thankfully, I had Jeff to help with projects he felt comfortable helping with or to simply keep me in line when I’d obsess over a ridiculous detail. But out of all the work, what resulted were elements that really felt uniquely us. My favorite part of the whole process was talking to the wedding guests and realizing that they each had a different favorite element. I put in all the effort because I wanted to, but it was really heartwarming to realize that people noticed the little details and choices.
One of the first times we truly clicked as a couple was out at karaoke with some friends. It’s a fun hobby that we share and ended up being a nice thread throughout our wedding. During our ceremony, our officiant told the story of our meeting (through the local NYC music scene) and love of karaoke. Fittingly, we capped off the night by rolling out a karaoke machine to sing and celebrate with our friends and families. It was a perfect ending to an awesome day, and a nice endcap to our story as a couple.
Any advice for those planning now? If you want to plan everything yourself, it can be done and it can be fun! However, there are so many moving parts and details that it’s important to stay organized from the beginning. There are lots of handy planning worksheets out there, but for us, the best tools were those we could easily share online with those who weren’t close by (my mom, my bridesmaids, our awesome florist, etc). I shared early inspirations through a wedding blog, through Evernote when we were further along, and kept all contact information, budgets, guest lists, time lines and details in a massive shared Google Doc. (They have handy templates as well.) Never underestimate the power of collecting addresses, RSVPs, or whatever you need to solicit through a Google Doc Form that automatically imports into a spreadsheet. Genius!
Also, follow your heart when selecting your vendors – choosing ones that you trust with your vision is hugely important in letting you sit back and enjoy your day.
From day one, it was our priority to throw an awesome party for our guests, and we really couldn’t have done it (at the same level) without the help and support of our parents. Thanks, guys!
vendors:
photography: Jenny Jimenez // venue name: Metropolitan Building // hair stylist: Joshua Barbieri // makeup artist: Tiffany Bartok // officiant: Jesse Hendrich // second photographer: Elizabeth Lloyd // getting ready location: Helmsley Park Lane // ceremony: Metropolitan Building // catering: Leslie Nilsson with Sage Events and Sage General Store // dessert table: Leslie Nilsson with Sage Events and Sage General Store // flowers: Lauren Atkinson, Poppy Floral and Event Design // wedding dress: Lovely Bridal (in the west village) dress by Badgley Mischka // DJ: Tye Comer (DJ Myron) // thumbprint guestbook: bleu de toi
I love LOVE love that you did so many DIY and truly made your day reflect who you are as a couple! Fabulous! I would LOVE to know if you did the fingerprint tree or if you purchased it and if so, from whom? It is the prettiest one I’ve ever seen I think!
I love the escort cards in that frame!
I’d love to know where Kelly & Jeff got the stamps that were used on the programs (were they stamps? or were they printed?) They’re so cute!
I love the empty frames for pictures and projects. And the fingerprint tree! They are gorgeous!
Could you please share where the frames are from and who made the tree poster?
Kelly and Jeff used a lovely twisted oak tree from our original hand-drawn collection.
Such a great touch to a wedding full of personal details!
Thanks for using Bleu de Toi Handmade for your custom hand-drawn guestbook fingerprint tree:)
What a lovely wedding. The simplest and smallest choices were even beautiful, loved the fingerprint guest book!
Oh! the bridesmaids bouquets are SOOO pretty. My favorite!
Sorry for being so MIA lately Jen; I’m goin’ through a mini-something. I’ll be regular again soon!
This entire wedding is adorable. I love how inique it is, and that everything is tied together without being overly “themed” and cheesy. The first and second photos are GENIUS!!
Beautiful day for a beautiful bride!
Thanks for the kind words, guys! Yes, the thumbprint tree is from the awesome Blue de Toi (hi!): http://www.etsy.com/shop/bleudetoi and we just love it.
Diane, the stamp was made by lilimandrill on Etsy (though the site seems to be down at the moment): http://www.etsy.com/people/lilimandrill
http://lilimandrill.blogspot.com/
Christy, which frames are you talking about? The ones for the signs/chalkboards or the giant one for the seating cards?
It was a truly beautiful wedding. Wish you had planned mine!
gorgeous dress! absolutely gorgeous photography too!
The giant ones!
I spot pretty bridesmaids dresses from BHLDN ;)
beautiful!! kelly looks amazing! I love it, I love the stamps and the choice of colour scheme for the bridesmaids and their flowers. I also love the choice of music!
Is the blog that was used through the planning still up? Is there a link? I’d love to have a look!
x
Christy, we found the giant frame at an antique store in upstate NY or else I’d give you the details. we actually only had one for the seating cards and the photographers had the great idea of quickly taking off the wire & using it for the photobooth, too! so glad we did that.
Emily, yes! BHLDN dresses. My gals loved the dresses — especially because they had pockets :)
Thanks Roseanne! To be honest, the blog wasn’t active for very long as when I really started planning I wanted to keep things a surprise from those attending. But you can take a look here: http://kellywedding.tumblr.com/
I loveeeeeeeeeeeed this wedding! it looks like it was amazing!
This is so amazing and beautiful!! I love every picture and you guys look like a fun and caring couple!
Hi Kelly!
You’re wedding has inspired my entire planning. It’s almost as if I imagined most of the same things, and keep checking back to this blog and noticing the similarities.
First off, I am also getting married at the Metropolitan Building. Second, there is a good chance I am going with Sage. Third, I am crazy about your table settings. I am curious about each table. Did you do vintage plates for every table? Where and how did you do that? Was every table different in terms of flowers, accessories, doilies, etc? I wanted to do something similar and was wondering how to go about it.
I have a million more questions, but this is a good start. Please let me know about the tables and plates!
Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn,
The vintage plates were rented from Party Rental Ltd. allong with glassware, cutlery, linens and such, which we at Sage Events organized for Kelly and Jeff. They perfectly tied in with Kelly’s overall vision and the feel of the Metropolitan Building. They come in three different colors so you can mix and match. Leslie
Stunning, love the photographs here, very nice.
This is an amazing wedding! The photography is wonderful and the details are so fun.