Green Wedding Shoes Wedding Blog | Wedding Trends for Stylish + Creative Brides

Stephanie + Jarred are both high school teachers and met while working at the same school so of course they wanted to incorporate some school details into their day! After discovering the composition book invites from Letter Box Ink, the ideas just started to flow – right down to the last-minute discovery of the awesome green school desk they found on craigslist the day before the wedding. Stephanie + Jarred spent countless hours crafting together before the wedding – Stephanie made the hairpieces, boutonnières + bouquets, and scouted out lots of glass jars. Since Jarred is an art teacher, he made their cake topper, designed + folded the paper plane programs, and built the teal arch and planter boxes for the centerpieces. Such a personal + creative wedding! Congrats to Stephanie + Jarred and big thanks to This Modern Romance for the super gorgeous photos!

Tell us a bit about your music…
Processional: Vitamin String Quartet’s instrumental version of “In Your Eyes”
Recessional: “The Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + the Machine
First Dance: “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele’s (Bob Dylan cover)

The paper plane programs were designed by Jarred and printed at Staples on colored paper for around 20 cents/each. Only downside was that they had to fold them all but it did dave a lot of money – and they look super cute! :)

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?
Walking down the aisle. It felt completely surreal having my parents on each arm, being surrounded by my close family and friends in such an intimate setting, and of course, Jarred waiting for me at the end of the aisle. I kept wishing I could press “pause” and just soak it all in for a minute.

Reading our vows. We wrote them ourselves but did not share them with each other until we were reading them in the actual ceremony. We both cracked each other up (and our guests) by recounting our first date, thoughts about each other, why we loved each other, and also made some very important promises – both fun and serious. Now, Jarred likes to remind me that I promised to try to accept his video games (he taught me how to play one on the plane ride to our honeymoon) and always clean the house up right before our guests come over. I like to remind him that he promised to stay awake past 9 and to always be patient with me, even when he is frustrated. He has yet to break his promise to make me laugh everyday.

I also have a very vivid memory of the very end of the ceremony, right as my grandpa said, “By the power vested in me…”, Jarred looked at me and said, “Holy shit, we just got married.”

The phrase “Love you forever, like you for always, as long as I’m living” had a very special meaning to me from one of my favorite childhood books, Love You Forever. We used it in our vows, on our invites, had it printed on red pencils for favors, and my Maid of Honor strung painted wooden letters around Marvimon with the words.

Any advice for those planning now?
There are a lot of details, pieces, and emotions coming together on your wedding day. Make sure you have a really competent coordinator who takes the time to understand exactly what you want because they can really make or break your experience. Also, never underestimate the amount of work that goes into DIY projects. It was really fun to have everything so personalized and meaningful but I was also up at 11 the night before my wedding, wiring together my bouquet. 

Things will likely go wrong and you just have to roll with it. There were a lot of things that didn’t go as planned but for the most part our guests didn’t know. One of my friends told me later that she felt so comfortable at our wedding because it was so catered to our guests. We grouped our same-age cousins and friends together at tables, had Polaroid cameras at the costume photo booth, served tacos buffet style, and hired Huntington’s barista bar to serve drinks on the patio. We just tried to make the vibe as relaxed as possible and our family and friends caught on to that. My dad’s shirt fell in the toilet at Marvimon as he was getting dressed but I didn’t even know until the story came out the day after the wedding. Luckily, he had an extra (although a different color) on backup and he handled it without stressing anyone out.

vendors:
photography: This Modern Romance // venue: Marvimon // day of coordinating + partial design: Jesi Haack Design // wedding dress: ceremony dress (long) from Maggie Sottero (purchased off-the-rack from Bridal Elegance in Torrance); reception dress (short) from Priscilla of Boston (purchased second hand from recycled bride) // shoes: bridesmaids from Nina; bride’s ceremony shoe: custom-dyed Badgley Mischka (turquoise heel); reception shoe: Stuart Weitzman (grey glitter heel) with feather shoe clip from Feathers and Frills  // bridesmaid dresses: Donna Morgan and Adrianna Papell (both from Nordstrom) // hair + makeup: 10.11 makeup // groom suit: Bar III suit (from Macy’s), Sperry Top Sider loafers // invitations+ paper goods: invitations from Letter Box Ink // catering: Huntington // cake and desserts: DIY by Deirdra Clark (my awesome sister-in-law whipped us up a Champagne cake the day before the wedding). All other desserts were homemade by my mom Michele, sister Amanda, Grandma Doris, Great Aunt LaVerne, plus two cakes from Cheesecake Factory // dj: Don Covel Entertainment // valet: jeffrey valet // rentals: Archive Vintage Rentals

This Modern Romance and Archive Vintage Rentals are featured vendors of Green Wedding Shoes. Check out their vendor profiles to see more of their work or discover other GWS recommended vendors for your wedding day in our Vendor Guide.

Michele + Luke wanted their wedding to be fun, quirky, modern and chic all at the same time – absolutely love that! By getting married on a ranch, they knew they could have the best of both worlds: a peaceful and simple ceremony, followed by a funky, vibrant reception. Involving pops of color was important to them from the beginning. One of the first ideas Michele decided on was to use white styrofoam wig heads as the centerpieces with bright bursts of flowers exploding from the top of the heads. Using black + white as a base allowed the reception to feel simple and classic while helping the pops of color to do just that, pop. So super fun! Thanks to Paige Newton Photography for the lovely photos and congrats to Michele + Luke!

Each of the hairpieces were handmade by the bridesmaids. Michele’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law did all the florals.

From Michele, At the end of the day, we wanted our wedding to be a unique and personal expression of our love. One of the ways we were able to accomplish that, was to have a song that Luke orchestrated as our processional. That phenomenal piece of music represented the culmination of every emotion I was feeling that day, making it even that more special. Placed on either side of our handmade chuppah, were two banners that I made with lyrics from the Beatles song “I Will.” I knew that the design of ceremony shouldn’t try and compete with the beauty of the ranch, so adding the burlap banner with white letters made a soft, yet meaningful statement.

Tell us a bit about your music
Processional: Suisun by Luke Franks
Recessional: Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel
First Dance: If I should Lose You Nat King Cole

Such a fun + festive reception tent! Just love all the pops of color and the chevron table runners. :) Michele’s step-dad + brother made all the food for the wedding and their cake was by their friend Nia. Such a creative + talented family!

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?
I’m sure Luke would agree that there was a tie for most memorable moment of our wedding day. During the reception, Luke, his sister Paige (who was one of my fabulous bridesmaids), and our friend Jaimee each performed a song. They were all backed up by some of our favorite guys, who happen to not only be Luke’s old band-mates, but incredible musicians. This “mini-concert” was one of the happiest moments of my life and the one thing I didn’t want to have a wedding without. Music plays a huge part in our lives (being that Luke is a singer-songwriter) and I couldn’t have been happier with how it went. This memorable moment is tied with one that came soon after.

For the after-reception dancing, Luke and I had planned to do a traditional Jewish chair dance. Although we had casually talked about it with our groomsman (who would do the lifting) we never actually practiced or told them when it would happen. During our dance party, I randomly decided that it was time for the chair dance. As the music started I signaled to some bridesmaids and groomsman that it was “time”. The spontaneity and burst of adrenaline we felt as it all came together in a matter of seconds was thrilling and joyous.

Any advice for those planning now?
If you’re doing a DIY wedding like I did, allow the people you love to help. It not only is an incredible bonding experience, but it makes your wedding day even more special. I am beyond blessed to know so many talented people. Involving my closest friends and family in the process was the greatest decision I made and I am so grateful for all they sacrificed!

Also, one of the greatest pieces of advice that I received for doing a DIY wedding like mine was to stop looking! At some point you have to stop looking at all the wedding blogs and focus on the details that you know you love. The more you look, the more you begin to second-guess your ideas and that is a scary feeling. I had a huge list of projects in the beginning, but over time I had to choose the ones that were the most meaningful and complemented the overall vision.

vendors:
photography: Paige Newton Photography // venue: Rush Ranch, Suisun, CA // wedding dress: reddoll designs designed by Tatyana Merenyuk // hair + makeup: Amanda Rivera // signage: Kate VandenBerghe // groom suit: Zara // cinematography: brother Nick Zitlin // invitations+ paper goods: Lyndsie Smith Design + Photography // music: Luke Franks, Jaimee Harris

Talk about a stylish couple! And how rad is Laurence’s suit above?! Definitely one of the best dressed grooms I’ve seen. And Gi’s Ralph Lauren gown with her flower crown – so perfectly boho chic! You probably won’t be surprised to learn they are both designers: Gi is in fashion, while Laurence is an Art Director. I just love how Gi describes her wedding as an “informal bohemian style summer wedding – young, easy, relaxed with a little bit of attitude!“ The whole day was held at the beautiful Bratton Farmhouse in Somerset valley (UK) and the ceremony was held in front of a giant flower heart in the garden. There were only six guests plus the couple and their adorable dog, Little Mary. Thanks so much to Rosie Parsons for the lovely photos and congrats to Gi + Laurence!

From Gi, The theme of the wedding was an informal Bohemian style and I just knew exactly which designer I’d wear for my big day. A Ralph Lauren dress and cute little white Repetto ballet flats and I’m good to go! I have always loved Ralph Lauren – the romantic mood he creates, so effortlessly beautiful. I fell in love with my dress at the very first glance when I saw it on their spring/summer 2011 runway show. It is just a very easy chic piece, an iconic style dress from Ralph Lauren, so much detail behind all that simplicity. It fit perfectly with the spirit of the wedding. I phoned the Ralph Lauren store on Bond Street and they specially ordered it for me straight after the catwalk. I tried it on and it fit like magic, no need to alter anywhere and I knew it’s a sign.

All the boutonnieres and flower crowns are made in individual colours to match everyone’s outfits – they made the day look so magical. The flower crown really make me feel as pretty as a fairy and all the girls loved them! Charlie from The Real Cut Flower Garden did all the florals as well as the giant flower heart from the ceremony. The big heart flower piece was carefully prepared and specially finished on site by Charlie. It was wild and very amazing!

There had to be some specific element that showed an extension of my personality. To light up the mood and to make everyone just that little bit happier, I hand-drew witty, personally illustrated placecards for each guest rather than old fashioned table name tabs. Other humorous illustrations with Laurence and me were just dotted around for quests to spot. Vintage fashion Barbies and mini cheeky rubber ducks ready did an awesome job to boost the energy on the food and drinks table!

We never wanted an all singing and all dancing wedding. We always thought a wedding should be fun rather than traditional, intimate rather than distant and cliche. Doesn’t have to be picture-perfect. It should be all about just having a chilled and beautiful day with our beloved friends and remembering this lovely moment. We didn’t even have a speech. It’s really was just going with the flow.

What a perfectly perfect day! Totally obsessed with all the girls flower crowns and the giant flower heart. Congrats again to Gi + Laurence for having the wedding of their dreams!

vendors:
photographer: Rosie Parsons Photography // venue: Bratton Farmhouse, Somerset // floral design: The Real Cut Flower Garden // bride’s dress: Ralph Lauren // bride’s shoes: Repetto // groom’s suit + shirt: Paul & Joe // groom’s bow tie: Peckham Rye