MOLLY & JEREMY

I consider myself lucky. I had the wedding of my dreams. I heard a lot of people tell me that the day would go by so fast, and that I wouldn’t be able to believe all the work went into that one day. Maybe it was because of that advice, but I savored every moment, and everything was worth it!!
A week or 2 before the wedding I met with Cheryl about photography. The plan in my mind was to do pictures with my girls, and Jeremy’s pictures with the boys before the ceremony then do the rest of our pictures after the ceremony during the cocktail hour. Meeting with Cheryl was a MUST. She helped us see this would not give us the pictures we wanted. Since Jer and I were not very superstitious, we agreed to see each other before the wedding and do the pictures before the ceremony. One of the best decision we made, we have soo many gorgeous pictures (I believe 1300!!!). Not a decision for all couples, but something to keep in mind. If you won’t do it this way, definitely pencil in several hours between ceremony and reception for pics.
I got my hair done at Studio Taylor, then went to the gorgeous Shaker Country Club, where we had all the events.

The club event coordinator, Alison, met me as I walked in, and told me I HAD to see how gorgeous the reception room was. This did not surprise me. Our florist, Arne from Bloom’s Plantscaping, is a genius. I cried when he showed me the centerpieces in his showroom, thinking “he’s making something that beautiful for me??”. He also did our chuppah for the ceremony (Jeremy is Jewish). Arne proposed a “natural” chuppah that looked like trees with hanging balls of flowers. He talked us into it but we were still a bit apprehensive. There was no need to worry, it BLEW us away. He also did our linens and napkins in bright but elegant colors.

Trust your vendors, but don’t hesitate to assert your style. That way, you get the vendors creative expertise with your personal touch. For example, our cake by White Flower Cake Shoppe. Lauren and Marianne are so nice and personable for being so talented! We had our consultation, they drew us up some concepts, we gave feedback, and they came back with our dream cake. It was out of this world beautiful and tasted amazing. I would recommend both White Flower and Blooms to anyone. They are worth every penny.

I got ready with makeup by Dresden Buras, slipped into my Romona Keveza gown I got at Brides by the Falls, and started pictures. I would highly recommend practicing faces in the mirror. I had no idea how to do serious, so those pictures didn’t turn out too great (not because of our photographers, they tried to work with me!!). Cheryl was with the girls, while Jer had Ed. It was really nice having two photographers. Not just for that reason, but they can get different angles when both shooting the same thing. Then Jeremy and I had our meeting. I was so happy to see him!! Cheryl and Ed were so great to work with. One of my bridesmaids is getting married soon, and asked for their info just from how great they were to work with without even seeing the pictures.

I came down the aisle to music by Celestial Strings. We chose the combination of harp, cello, and violin. It was beautiful. I was really nervous before walking down the aisle, but seeing Jer before helped a lot. He still got teary eyed when I walked down, so did my dad. I was surprisingly calm when it came to the moment, just wanted to be married! The ceremony flew by, it was non-traditional in a parlor room with a reverend from my church, and his cousin ordained on the internet. Can’t get more personal than that!

The reception was a blast. Special Request was our amazing band. Can’t say enough about how much fun and accommodating they are. They learned in a month Jeremy and my first song, were able to play CD’s when needed (our wedding entrance to ACDC’s Thunderstuck), and even let my musician brother join them for a few songs. We also had a photobooth by Cleveland Photobooth there. They brought props, and the picture strips had a signature with our wedding date and names. It was a hit!
The food was amazing. I do have a word of advice when doing your tastings though. Remember they will be cooking the food they just made for one person for hundreds. I say that because the filet at our tasting was the best steak I ever had. The one at my wedding was the second or third best. Still fantastic, but just something to think about.

Overall, my day was a dream. The best piece of advice I have is to remember the marriage is what is important; the wedding just gets you there. There will always be someone who doesn’t agree with the way you want your ceremony, someone getting you angry on the wedding day or saying something you don’t like. But if you go into the day thinking “nothing will ruin this for me”, then nothing will. How can it, as long as you are married at the end, that’s all that matters. Ed and Cheryl know this. Cheryl actually had to bring Jer and I back to that mind frame after we began to stray, caring too much about other things going on. They are fantastic photographers. Not only did I end up with pictures some have called “the most beautiful they have ever seen”, but they know what is really important about your wedding day.