Hello there! Thank you for stopping by! I now have a new website and blog for you to visit. Everything that's here I'm still very proud of though, so continue to look around. Afterwards – definitely come over to view newer work: larakimmerer.com. See you over there!
|
|
We arrived home today from a long and lovely weekend spent on an island off the coast of Maine. There were some packages in the hall, but they didn't seem to be for us, so I passed them by. Then Peter came up the stairs with one of them – it seemed to be a book of some sort, only I couldn't remember ordering any books recently. As soon as I cut a corner off the package and caught a small glimpse of what was inside I screamed. I knew exactly what it was.
I've managed to keep this a secret from pretty much everybody...waiting for the printed version to arrive. I actually wanted to show everyone in person, but that might not happen for a while, so here you are...Our wedding is featured in Fall/Winter issue of The Knot New Jersey!
Thank you, thank you to all the friends and family who helped to make our day so absolutely wonderful. Thank you to Ashley for taking a leap with us – for helping us design and coordinate all of our ideas – and for making sure our day came together as we had invisioned. And a big thank you to our photographers Justin & Mary and Julia – for giving us photographs that we love more than we can express.
And to all of our vendors – thank you.
Flowers – Katie Radler of The Flower Girl | Catering – Elaine Rust of Rustic Catering | Cake – Cathy Cheo-Isaacs of Smitten Sweets | Officiant – Abe Karl-Gruswitz | Music – Turntable Events | Invitations – Evan Webster Ink | Hair & Makeup – My Makeup Artist Victoria | Venue - Sue & Donna at LHYC (the best!)
And one more thank you to Amanda and The Knot NJ!
|
|
Thank you all again for allowing me to indulge in a look back at our wedding. We've had a lot of great feadback. Keep the questions coming!
These are questions that I ask my couples after their wedding day has passed (after the dust has settled). I figured it would be fun to end our wedding story with Peter & me answering the same questions. I didn't look at Peter's answers before I wrote mine, but we think a bit similarly it seems.
Peter
1) What is the stand out moment from your day?
For me, it's a tie between two moments:
1. Taking the first few steps down the aisle holding Lara's hand. I remember thinking, 'This is really happening right now. This is our wedding ceremony.' It felt good to see all of our people there in front of us, and to be walking towards them together.
2. Towards the end of the night we took a walk down to the water. We looked back at our reception happening - the building lit up, music playing inside, with our friends and family all dancing, talking, or milling about - and had a chance to think about the fact that we just got married, and that all these people from our lives were here to celebrate that with us.
2) How was your wedding day different than you expected it to be?
I didn't try to imagine or visualize the day beforehand. So in that way it was nothing like I expected it to be, I guess. But it didn't differ from what I would have wanted.
3) Any words of advice for engaged couples embarking on the planning process?
Don't let the wedding planning become more important than the marriage planning. Remember that the point of having a wedding is to get married to each other, and try to remind yourselves of that that when you're stressing out about details that are truly besides the point. That being said, be as fancy, or crafty, or simple as you want - but be sure to make your wedding yours.
Lara
1) What is the stand out moment from your day?
There are quite a few moments from our day that I've thought about over the last many months. However, the moment that I've gone back to a few times when I want to feel the feeling of our wedding day happened towards the end of the night. Peter & I went outside to look back on the building filled with so many of our family & friends - to take everything in. (I specifically requested that we do this weeks before.) We went outside and decided to sit in the arbor our friend had made for us. Someone grabbed our photographer and asked him to take a photo of us, which I'm so grateful we have now. As he was photographing us a song came on that means a quite a lot to us. We decided to sit on the bench and sing. We belted out the song and I felt completely content in that moment. One of the most favorite moments of my life thus far.
2) How was your wedding day different than you expected it to be?
I've asked this question of a few couples now. Answering it myself, I realize I never really thought about my day before we were engaged. However, while planning I hoped our day would feel like us. I imagined what it would be like to have so many of our family and friends there to support us. I was looking forward to one entire day to focus on the relationship Peter & I have worked so hard on - and to celebrate the future together. I have to say…it was everything I hoped for and so much more.
3) Any words of advice for engaged couples embarking on the planning process?
Your wedding should be a day that reflects who you are as a couple - whatever that means to you. You get one shot at it, so make it everything you want it to be. That may mean creating a day that's incredibly low-key and intimate, or maybe it means something far from an average day filled with details. Whichever you choose - make sure it feels like you. As long as the day is genuine to you - everything will fall into place to make your wedding day everything you want it to be.
|
|
So, you've seen everything that went into creating our reception and how it all came together. Now you'll see all the moments that made our wedding the day that it was - starting with our first dance.
We knew we wanted our first dance to be a bit more than us swaying on the dance floor. When we saw Tara & Josh's dance we knew we had to take lessons from their instructor. Their dance was nothing crazy, but it was fun to watch. They had a few spins here and there that kept you (as the person watching) interested. So, we contacted Roseann Eliseo of Wedding Dance Boston. I highly recommend her. In three lessons she gave us everything we needed to have a fun, but not very scripted first dance. Peter & I learned a few spins - a few moves to make it fun for us and our guests!
Our song was "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies.
When planning out how we wanted to the day to flow, one thing I absolutely knew was that I wanted our first dance to immediately follow the cocktail hour. I requested that the guests to be escorted into the ballroom and that they be asked to stand semi-circle around the dance floor. The reason being is that I've photographed many weddings where the guests are already seated at their tables during the dances. This means all of the lovely photographs of the couple's first dance shows them very much in the moment, but many of their guests are eating their salads and are engaged in conversation - completely ignoring the couple. The images feel sad to me in a way. In my opinion, photographs of a first dance should have guests looking on and supporting the couple in this special moment. So, I did orchestrate my photographs a bit. We now get to see the reactions of our friends and family as we do a little surprise spin, which makes the photos come to life.
We saved the parent dances for later, the reason for which I explain in just a bit. Following our first dance our guests were seated and we moved right into toasts/speeches. (Which is it really? They're toasts, but they're speeches too. Can't they be both?) We had four toasts. I had two maids of honor, both of which I wanted to give the opportunity to speak. Peter's brother Bryan was the best man, so of course we wanted him to give a toast, but my brother Graham has spent 14 years with us and I wanted to give him the opportunity to say something as well. I must say, they all did a fantastic job of being sentimental (which I love), funny, and brief. I'm pretty positive there wasn't one guest who thought the toast section of our reception was too long. I'm so grateful to have heard what each of them said. Peter & I both had tears streaming down our faces, and we laughed a good amount too.
Dinner was served next. And, as a vendor I'm going to put this out there - we made sure our vendors were served when we were served. A lot of venues serve vendors once the last guest has received their meal. I'm sure this is proper etiquette, however this means we get to eat just as the couple is finished with their meal. We're gulping down our food so that we can be there for the cake cutting and the rest of the reception. Most often as vendors (especially photographers), we eat before we begin shooting for the day and our first chance to nourish ourselves is dinner. I wanted to give our vendors the chance to eat, digest and relax before continuing on with the evening. The funny part is...we were served our delicious meal and then proceeded to talk to a few tables, so we really didn't enjoy our meals as much as our vendors did. Ha!
As the sun was just setting we went back outside for a few more photographs with our photographers Justin & Mary. This also gave us a chance to take it all in before the rest of the evening began.
When dinner was cleared Peter & I cut our cake and then I took the mic for one last speech, of sorts. I had brought with me a letter my mom had sent me, actually it was the last email I recieved from her, while I was in college. I wanted her voice to be present at our wedding, so I read her letter. These are the final lines,
Life and time move on - we have no control over that. You will have a
wonderful summer and you will have many wonderful and happy times to come -
don't dwell on what you did and did not do - phases of our life ending -
like Kindergarten, Middle School and High School and now College - are
markers like on a highway - there is always another surprise and adventure
around the bend. I Love You. Mom
And I added to the 'phases of our life ending' part..."having a fiance and now having a husband".
This is the thing - I originally wanted to read this following our toasts. When it came time to do it I couldn't find my bag with the letter. So, with mic in hand I instead thanked everyone for being there and told them to enjoy their meals. I figured I should let it go - the moment had passed.
What everyone there didn't know was that I had a dream a few nights earlier where this exact moment happened. In the dream Peter asked me at the end of the night how I thought our wedding had gone. I said it was lovely, but that I didn't get to do one thing, and that made me feel sad...like our wedding was incomplete. As soon as I sat down to eat my dinner I felt this sadness in the pit of my stomach. I was nervous that my wedding day would forever have a feeling of being incomplete.
A bit later my friend's mom came up to me...kind of out of nowhere. She told me that whatever it was that I wanted to do, I should do it. She didn't want me to have any regrets. With her words in mind I decided to read the letter as I had planned...just later in the evening. As it turns out the moment hadn't passed, it was just postponed for an hour or two. I was worried that the point of my mom not being there was being pushed a bit too much, but I was told later that it was a lovely thing to have read. I'm so grateful that I did it. Remember that it's your wedding day...you only get one chance, so use the day as you wish. (Thank you Roseann.)
*****
Instead of cramming the parent dances into the beginning of the reception and just getting them out of the way, we had them come later in the evening. Once again we requested for our guests, who had finished dinner by now (the cake was being cut and wasn't served yet), to create a semi-circle around the dance floor. By doing this we also created the perfect scenario for getting our dance floor going. Immediately following the parent dances the DJ picked up the tempo of the music, and because everyone was standing on the dance floor already, the party began right away without any coaxing by the DJ.
My Dad and I danced to "When I'm Sixty-Four" by the Beatles. I chose this song because it reminds me of him mostly from when I was little. I distinctly remember sitting in the back seat of our car and my parents singing the song. The only part I knew (because I was so young) was the 'Vera, Chuck & Dave" part...that was my part. My Dad and I danced and sang along to the song. It was a special moment for us...and there didn't seem to be a dry eye in the place when we were finished. Peter and his Mom danced to "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan. Peter really likes Bob Dylan and this seemed like a perfect slow song for him and his Mom.
And then the dancing began - thanks to Turntable Events. I danced. I know I did. But I still feel like I didn't get to dance enough at my wedding. I plan to make up for this by dancing up a storm at my friends' weddings this year.
We even had a fire pit on the patio. I can't say I sat by it myself, but I'm so glad others enjoyed it!
And then the evening ended...like every evening...only this wasn't just any night...it was the ending to our wedding day. I expected to be sad, very sad actually. There's a picture I have of my mom leaving her wedding reception. Tears are streaming down her face, though she's smiling. She told me she was sad that the day had ended. I truly thought I would have a similar photograph of myself, only it didn't happen.
The thing is...it was perfect. There may have been a few things that didn't go as planned, but I can't say I remember them now, and none of that matters anyway. We planned a lot for our day, we worked hard on all the details, but in the end we were married...and we had a fantastic time...and we were happy. So happy. I left that evening feeling an ultimate inner peace...and maybe some exhaustion too.
Peter & I, along with our friends, got into a boat and took the slow ride back to the house we rented (remember the house? that feels so long ago). We sat in the back under a blanket, and stared at the Club as it got smaller and smaller in the distance. Our minds were racing with all of the memories of the day. We shared some stories and began to feel our bodies ease into the notion that it was all finished. Everything was ahead...but first vacation!
|
|
Our first dance song was chosen by Peter. He knew what song it would be for many, many years actually, and there isn't another song that could possibly be more perfect for the two of us. Tears come to my eyes everytime I hear it.
This is my favorite photograph from our first dance. (We just did a fancy little spin.) More on our dance a bit later. For now though, I give you our song - "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies.
This Will Be Our Year | The Zombies
photo by Justin & Mary
|
|
Recent Comments