LAUREN & GEOF

I am often accused of being a little obsessive and weirdly organized. I figured planning our wedding was going to force me to become more of both. I decided to go the other way. Yes, I was still organized but if I was going to keep my sanity and my stress level low, I couldn’t obsess over anything. I focused on a few major points and the rest just fell into place. I didn’t worry about the little things. Not everything was going to be perfect, so I tried to stay calm when something went wrong.

When I started planning there were only two things I was sure of. I wanted to get married in a garden and have an amazing photographer. Shortly after becoming engaged to my wonderful husband Geof, I started my research…wedding web sites. Most of them were too cliché for me so, I simply found a checklist and a timeline and was on my way. Word of mouth guided us to our location, The Holden Arboretum. The Butterfly Garden is beautiful, engaging, and a lovely location to get married. Once we had our date I could really start planning. My next order of business was a photographer. I had stumbled across Michaelangelo’s Photography on one of the Cleveland wedding websites and fell in love. Geof and I went for our appointment to meet with Cheryl and Ed. While waiting for Cheryl we found ourselves looking at Geof’s brother’s wedding pictures in some of their books. Somehow we ended up at the same photographer. I saw their wedding pictures a few years earlier and loved them. In fact, his pictures were what inspired me to find a great photographer.

Apparently my search was over just as it began. Once I finished the two things that topped my list, the rest was easy. I found a good bakery- Gartman Model Bakery, florist-Gilson Gardens and caterer- Rideout’s IGA. I tried to keep my choices local, supporting family owned and run businesses. I found with doing that the people we worked with were more relatable. I suppose when you are with your family at work and at home you become flexible and easier to work with.

It was 73 degrees in August and on the morning of our wedding my step-son fell off his bike onto his face, poor kid. He ended up with a large bandage on his forehead and a nice shiner

Now, I said I was obsessive and organized but no one would ever accuse me of being graceful, so when I dropped my bouquet of roses into the pond there was no surprise.Our wedding day was perfect as judged by my husband and me. In hindsight I’m glad I didn’t worry about the little things because I wouldn’t have had as much fun. We surrounded ourselves with fun people from our bridal party; Heather, the wedding planner at The Holden and Cheryl and Ed from Michealangelo’s (Geof thinks Ed is hilarious, I favor Cheryl). Regardless of how you plan on your big day turning out, let your hair down and enjoy yourself!