Mrs Gloves, Signing Off

Well, hive- it’s about that time. I’ve relied on you all for input in my planning, showed you my favorite organizational tools, and shared all of the awesome details of the Gloves’ wedding day. And now, it’s time to say goodbye as a wedding blogger.

Before I go, though, I just wanted to share one thought. I’ve helped to organize about six weddings in the thirteen months that McGlovin and I have been married, and one thing has proved true in each wedding: your day will be exactly what it needs to be, if you let it.

Sometimes we get caught up in the tiny details of our wedding days, and that’s fine! It’s good to acknowledge the huge amount of work that needs to be done, and all of the seemingly unimportant things that need to come together to make our weddings what they need to be. What I’m suggesting, though, is that you plan everything to the best of your abilities, and then choose a specific day and time where you delegate what you can, and let life handle the rest. Fill your wedding day with as much joy as possible, and let that bliss carry you through the entire day. It’ll be the exact version of perfect that it needs to be!

If you’d like to keep up with the Gloves, you can find me at www.intentionallyerin.com, where I blog about life and love. Otherwise, I bid you all farewell! I wish you so much happiness in your planning, and on your wedding days. Most importantly, I wish you each have the marriage of your dreams!

Love,

Mrs Gloves

Gloves in Love: Columbus, Ohio Vendor Reviews

Just in case anyone in the central Ohio region is planning their wedding, here are my honest reviews of our vendors. Please let me know if you have any questions about any of them- I’m happy to share our experiences!

Wendy’s Bridal, recommended with an asterisk

Wendy’s bridal had a great dress selection, and the consultant that I worked with seemed lovely- she brought me awesome dresses based on my requests. My problem was, as I mentioned in my planning posts, that I gave a specific price range and she brought me dresses well outside of that range. When I fell in love with one of them, and realized how much it cost, she kind of just shrugged. Then her manager came over and tried to upsell me with really condescending remarks like, “Well, how much is your happiness on your special day really worth?” Gross. So, once I took things into my own hands, I was happy to find a dress in my parameters. But I want to warn people- I had kind of a sleazy experience, and I don’t want any of you ladies to fall for that!

Zip Alterations, highly recommended

I could not recommend Zip Alterations more highly- she was amazing at altering my dress, and bolstering my confidence. Unfortunately, she’s left the Columbus area and moved to Nashville, so this recommendation seems a bit useless.

Mens Wearhouse, recommended

I don’t have a lot to say about Men’s Wearhouse- they helped McGlovin find a tux, and made it easy for everyone in our wedding party to get theirs, also. Nothing spectacular, but they did what we needed them to do!

Barefeet Studio, cannot possibly recommend more highly

I don’t think I could get the point across any more clearly- the experience with our photographers was amazing. In fact, I’ve recommended them to everyone I know, and they’ve shot at least three weddings of my friends! You all have seen their amazing photos, which speak for themselves. Lauren and Andy are a very talented photography couple, and delightful to be around. They made it really easy to be ourselves around them, and stay comfortable in front of the camera. I also felt like Lauren had a really good understanding of what I wanted, both in photos and in the day, and she played a big part in making sure that people were where they needed to be, when they needed to be there. So, again- I cannot possibly recommend Barefeet Studio any more strongly.

Makeup Artistry by Meg, highly recommended

Before my trial, I sent Meg a few photos of my makeup inspirations. I couldn’t explain exactly what I wanted- eyes, but not a smoky eye, because I can’t handle that much eye shadow, but focus on my eyes? She handled my mania well and said that I wanted a defined eye with heavy lashes, and she was exactly right. My makeup for my trial felt really heavy, but I’m so glad I did one because the photos were amazing, and it relieved any nervousness I might have had about too heavy wedding day makeup. Overall, she was incredibly efficient on my wedding morning, the makeup was gorgeous and it lasted all day long- everything I asked for.

Wedding Hair of Ohio, highly recommended

You might remember that I was warned against having hair at my house, rather than in a salon. Well, I have no idea why I was even worried. Nancy and her assistant arrived at my house bright and early, and handled everyone’s specific hair requests and accompanying pinterest boards incredibly professionally, and even made adjustments for some of the pickier ladies. I was a little nervous, because my trial hair wasn’t exactly they way I was hoping, but it turned out positively gorgeous, and stayed all night. Bonus: even with me, my mom, and six bridesmaids with lots of hair, WHO was finished with us in three and a half hours, right on schedule.

St Joseph Cathedral, incredibly disappointed

This review is a little rough for me. I’ve been going to St Joes for a few years, and around the time that we got engaged I also started acting as a Eucharistic and Liturgical Minister. Not only is it a gorgeous church, but it was my parish, so of course I knew that McGlovin and I would be getting married there. So, it’s hard to know where to start.

First, the wedding coordinator was brisk to the point of being rude. When we visited to make music choices, she swore in the Sacristy {she actually called someone a b*tch}. She argued with me about having two maids of honor, and said I had to pick one. Her husband was the organist, and he wouldn’t play a (completely common and church sanctioned) hymn in a specific version, just because he didn’t like it. She refused to allow us to have McGlovin’s pipe and drum band play our exit, because she thought it was noisy. I had to constantly email and ask questions, because no information was forthcoming- not basic info, not into about our priest, not about our rehearsal, not about pre-cana…it was like pulling teeth.

When we finally were assigned a priest, we couldn’t get a time to meet. Then we did meet, and he seemed to have very little interest in us, or in marrying us. We were told that a single two hour meeting would be perfectly sufficient. He didn’t really ask about us, our lives, our families, or our relationship. He asked perfunctory information in order to fill out paperwork, then had us take the focus test. He said he would call us if there were any red flags. Two weeks before our wedding, we were told that he was actually unavailable, and we didn’t have a priest.

In the end, we had an amazing priest from another parish marry us. He was interested in us and did take time (the week before our wedding!) to meet with us, and really delve into why we were marrying and what we wanted from our marriage, and life, and delivered an incredibly homily- we’re really grateful to him for his attention. It was really hard, though, to think about undertaking such an important sacrament, in my OWN CHURCH no less, and not have the church actually care, at all. It was clear that they were not interested in preparing us for marriage, just in getting the money, and it was really hurtful. I stopped going to the Cathedral after our wedding, and have really struggled. So I guess my moral is- if you want a pretty and expensive church, St Joes’s is great. If you want anything beyond that…this is not the church for you.

Sams Club flowers, highly recommend

Fresh flowers, already arranged, delivered directly to your home a day or two before your event. They were inexpensive, convenient and gorgeous- you can’t beat that combination!

Dock 580, recommend with astrisks

I’d like to start by saying that our reception was amazing, and it’s largely due to the exceptional service that Dock 580 provided on the day of our event. With that in mind, it’s necessary to mention that getting to that point was sometimes frustrating. My planning posts detail the struggle that we had meeting with the manager and actually giving him our deposit. I’ve also mentioned the stressful day before the wedding, when our coordinator suggested that I was really disorganized (I wasn’t). So, yes, planning for the reception was sometimes a hassle with this venue, but everything turned out perfectly in the end…so bear that in mind.

Encore Entertainment, recommend

I’ll admit, I didn’t love Rob when we were planning- he rejected some of the music on our request list, which was surprising, and we insisted that he add it back. He also tried to help with the day-of timeline, and didn’t necessarily agree on the way we had scheduled everything. On the day of, though, Rob was awesome. He made sure I had everything I wanted or needed, which was well beyond the call of duty. He adjusted the schedule as needed, and made sure the party kept going. I would happily recommend him to other Columbus brides.

Scrumptious Crumbs, can’t really recommend

Scrumptious Crumbs was recommended to us by another bride and, since we didn’t have a lot to go on with bakeries, we happily took the recommendation. At our tasting, Ron showed us a number of delicious cakes, fillings and frostings, and we saw that he does amazing technical work in decorating. Maybe it’s because we wanted a simple cake, with basic flavors and smooth buttercream frosting, but we didn’t really love our wedding cake. It was…bland, both the cake and the frosting. I really feel bad giving a poor review, because his work is beautiful and I think that if we had gone with the premium flavors, or had wanted something more intricate, we would have loved it. Unfortunately…that wasn’t the case, for us.

The Lofts at Crowne Plaza, highly recommend

McGlovin was in charge of finding a hotel for our guests, and he probably spoke to managers at half a dozen places before choosing the Lofts and Crown Plaza (they’re adjoining properties). The location is great, in the middle of downtown, and guests really, really loved the shuttle to the reception. The converted warehouse had tons of character- our room had a huge Jacuzzi tub and the manager left champagne and rose petals. It was such a perfect wedding night! McGlovin got a reservation at the Lofts for our first anniversary, and they accommodated us by giving the same suite, and there was another bottle of champagne! The customer service was above and beyond what we expected, and I will happily recommend them to anyone looking for a block.

Gloves in Love: A Winter Wedding Budget

Ugl, wedding budgets. We pulled our wedding budget out of thin air- mostly, our parents each offered an amount of support they were comfortable with, and we did some figuring and figured out how much we were comfortable adding to that, and settled at about $15,000. We aimed to stay near that number, but weren’t glued to it, so we knew we had some wiggle room. We also knew that we could get more wedding for that price than usual, since we were getting married in January in the Midwest- not exactly high season. We set a mission statement: a formal, Catholic wedding, jam packed with loves ones, sharing a ridiculous amount of joy. Thanks to some serious negotiating on McGlovin’s part, some deal watching on my part, and more than a few times of talking ourselves down (no, seriously, we did not need a $200 cake topper) we not only came in on budget, but we even had a little left over!

• Number of Guests: ~ 110
• Location: Columbus, Ohio
• Date: January 5, 2013
• Type: Cathedral wedding, semi-formal urban evening reception with family style dinner

Attire $1185

• Dress, Wendy’s Bridal $885
• Alterations, Zip Alterations $150
• I believe this included bringing the dress in and adding some darts, and steaming the entire thing and my veil…as well as some much needed moral support and kind advice in a stressful time 🙂
• Shoes, DSW $30
• Veil, megsveils on Etsy $50 (this was actually two veils, a blusher and cathedral length)
• Jewelry, $50
• Tux, Mens Wearhouse: free since everyone else got theirs there
• Tie clip and cuff links, $20

Wedding Party Gifts $265

• Tie Clips and Cuff links, $100
• Ladies Gifts, $90 (Anthro mugs and sparkly Target earrings)
• Parents, $75 (double frame with invitation and promise of a wedding print)

Makeup, Makeup Artistry by Meg $160

This included my makeup application, with airbrushed makeup and false eyelashes. It seems like a lot of money, yes, but my makeup was amazing and it lasted all day and looks great in the photos, and I would gladly shell it out again.

Hair, Wedding Hair of Ohio $460

This included a trial run, and day of hair for me, my five bridesmaids and my mom. They came to my house and did a mix of updos and loose curls on a group of ladies with A LOT of hair.

Photographer, Barefeet Studios $1950

This included two shooters for 10 hours, plus our engagement session and the rights to all of our photos. I’ll definitely discuss them more in my reviews, but Lauren and Andy went so incredibly above and beyond what was called for- we had so many conversations, and met with them at least a half a dozen times before the wedding, and I’m certain they were at our wedding for at least 12 hours. The rate we paid was incredibly conservative compared to the service we received, and maybe because they’d only officially shot one wedding when we booked them. I’m sure their rates have gone up, but only in the most deserving capacity.

Paper Products, $200

We did our invitations through Vista Print, using Groupons, so the groupon prices are included here and accounted for the save the dates, invitations, rsvp cards and enclosures. We also bought cardstock to mount the invites, different envelopes, and so. much. postage.

Church, St Joseph Cathedral $650

This is the parishioners’ rate, and included the use of the church for the rehearsal and the wedding, the cantor, the priest, and the organist. The going rate is above $1000, I believe. I have a lot to say about our wedding at this church, so please check the reviews, if you’re interested!

Flowers, Sams Club $550

This included two bridal bouquets, six bridesmaid’s bouquets, 8 boutonnieres, 6 corsages, 2 boxes of rose petals, 1 toss bouquet and 2 sets of clippers. I combined the two bridal bouquets into one glorious one, and I’m not sure what anyone did with the rose petals or extra corsages. We didn’t use flowers for any decoration, so this was a great deal for us.

Rings, Andrews Jeweler $890

This included my white gold band with tiny diamonds going about halfway around ($500) and McGlovin’s rather wide tungsten band.

Photo Permit, Ohio Statehouse $40

Winter in Columbus results in not many choices regarding where to take formal photos. The Statehouse is gorgeous and proved to be a great location, but the official policy required that we pay for a permit to take photos there. Um, no…no one ever asked for our permit. I guess better safe than sorry?

Reception Venue, Dock 580 $6120

This included 5 hours of time in the two story venue, 2 bartenders, appetizer stations stations (antipasti and bruschetta), delicious Italian meal served family style, and all of the cleanup post-reception. It also included a tasting and several meetings with our coordinator. At the reception, I think this included everything we could need: linens, chiavari chairs, glassware for wine and beer, cake cutting and plating, the cake stand. The only things we brought in were decorations, dessert and booze.

Reception Décor, $200

We had about 400 candles at the reception and maybe fifteen strands of tulle twinkle lights. The taller pillar candles were a gift, with the vases, and the smaller candles and glass votives were purchased from candles.com, or similar. We bought the lights after Christmas, on a discount, and tulle from JoAnns. We used lace table runners, which my mom made and gifted us, and wine bottles for table numbers (I counted those in the alcohol section, since we also used them as table wine). The only other décor we really used was signage and photos, which were in spray painted dollar store frames.

DJ, Encore Entertainment $550

This included 5 hours of DJ services, timeline creation, a few pre-wedding meetings and playlist compilation…maybe some simple lighting?

Booze, $975

Oh, booze. We collected from a variety of sources. Our wine came from a distributor (30 bottles of red, 30 bottles of white, and 12 magnums of champagne), our beer came from another distributor (10 cases) and our booze came from duty free, since my sister lives in Niagara Falls (6 bottles of Crown and 6 bottles of Tanqueray). We had 5 hours of drinking with about 110 people, and we had plenty left over. We’re still working on the wine, champagne and liquor, over a year later.

Cake, Scrumptious Crumbs $375

This included two tastings, a three tiered cake with basic flavors, and an anniversary cake so we wouldn’t have to save the top layer- I thought that was a nice touch!

Topper, CherryonToppers on Etsy $40

This cake topper was the perfect simple and modern topper. We had considered an elaborate topper made to look like us (with McGlovin as a firefighter, etc for over $200) and then we went the opposite direction and were thinking about scrapping a topper altogether, and then we found this one.

Hotel, The Lofts at Crown Plaza $120

This hotel was the site of our wedding block, and our rate paid for a ridiculously luxurious corner suite with Jacuzzi tub, along with a thoughtful placement of rose petals and champagne. More in the reviews, but we got much more than what we paid for!

Things we didn’t pay for:

• Favors: my sister and sister-in-law and I made pizzelles, and used bags and labels I already owned
• Transportation: My sister and brother-in-law kindly drove us, and it was so fun!
• Church Decoration: We got married in the 12 days of Christmas, so all the decorations were still up
• Day of Coordinator: We have a friend who is breaking into the wedding industry, and offered to coordinate our wedding for the experience. They did amazing, and I’m not just saying that- wait til you read our review!
• Pie Bar: I still have mixed feelings on asking people to bring dessert to my wedding, but the people that volunteered seemed happy to do it, and the par bar was such a success! I kind of wish we would have scrapped the cake, entirely!

Total $14,730

So, we came in $270 below our budget. Let’s be honest- I’m sure that is accounted for somewhere, in all of the ‘other’ things that you buy as you go along. I’m still pretty pleased that we stayed in, or around, our budget. I think that getting married in the winter enabled us to get a much better bang for our buck- I bet if we had the same wedding in June, it would easily have run us $5000 more, and we wouldn’t necessarily have had access to all of the amazing vendors that we were able to work with. I also know, though, that we also saved a lot of money and headache by being thoughtful about where we were spending money, and rational about where spending was just ‘because it’s a wedding’ and not because it really added anything to the party (for us, one example would be decorating with flowers, which we didn’t think were necessary, and using candles instead, which added to the ambiance). Everyone warned me that, as the wedding got closer, I would start to get looser with the budget and just spend money to answer questions. They were right, but since we were a little more thoughtful up front, that didn’t really mess with our budget too much.

So that’s that. I’ll post reviews of our vendors next. If you have any questions, though, ask away! I’m an open book at this point 🙂

Gloves in Love: Why, Yes…The After Party

My last post finished with the end of our reception and, you know- that’s when I really thought our wedding would end. McGlovin and I are usually a staying in, snuggling-on-the-couch couple. I figured that on our wedding day, jam packed with activities and all kinds of emotional drainage, I would laugh and wave our guests on to an after party, and quietly shut things down with my newly minted husband.

Well, hive…it was not to be.

Here’s the thing- our wedding was a blast! I was having a great time, and my friends were having a great time, and it’s really the only time you’ll get to be surrounded by all of your favorite people in the best mood ever! How could you shut that down? So, we didn’t. We finished our last dance, and announced to that we were headed to our favorite local bar. {Then my dad stepped out to announce that all the grown folks could congregate on the concierge floor of the hotel…what can I say, we’re a partying family!}

You can ignore my crazy face, but yes! I’m totally playing ski ball! And, oddly, collecting roses like an awkward Bachelor/bride…merp.

Very few photos of the afterparty…which is really a blessing!

McGlovin hailed a cab and we set off. People seemed a little skeptical seeing me in my gown in the slushy streets of Columbus, but I wasn’t too concerned- when would I wear it again? Plus, it feels so weird to be in such a normal, everyday place in something as special and out-of-the-ordinary as a wedding dress. It was only an added bonus that everyone wants to send drinks to a bride 🙂 A few hours passed in a very hazy heartbeat, and McGlovin and I made our way back to the hotel.

Here’s where things get real. When I was still in my planning stages, I could not possibly fathom how people manage…everything…on their wedding night. According to the very scientific surveying I did in my last post on this topic, lots of couples choose to wait til the next day in engage in after partying, and that’s definitely an option! But I am here to tell you- it can be done! Lol. I’m not providing details because, who needs details? But several ladies made suggestions and recommendations in my previous post, and some of them really worked out! So I’ll pass those on:

1. Really do have a shower or bath or rinse or something. It’s relaxing, and everyone feels better when they’re clean. It’s your wedding night- take those few minutes, if you want them!
2. Yep, your new spouse will probs have to help you out of your dress. So you wore spanx? No worries, you’re married now! Nothing to hide 🙂 After everything that’s gone on that day, he’ll forgot he ever saw them.
3. Wedding lingerie? Ain’t nobody got time for that! My favorite, favorite piece of wedding advice (yes, out of all the wedding advice, this is what I always pass on) is that the best wedding night lingerie is your veil. Unzip/button, shower, spritz o’ perfume if you’re feeling bold, and come on back out in your veil…that’s really all you need!

Not required, but always recommended is ordering pizza immediately upon checking into your room. I was ravenous by the end of the evening! Yep, McGlovin and I were the definition of romantic at the end of the day, all snuggled into our kingsized bed, inhaling pizza as we read through our wedding cards 🙂

So, much like everything else I was concerned about, our after party and then our after party both managed to work themselves out nicely. How did everyone else handle the after portions of their wedding? I was kind of surprised we had any after portion at all- like I mentioned, I was sure we would be in bed, asleep by midnight!

Gloves in Love: A Crazy in Love Dance Party

WARNING: this post is full of photos of people you don’t know, having a great time. My feelings won’t be hurt if you skip this one 🙂

After the bouquet toss, our wedding guests flooded the dance floor for the rest of the evening. I know that some brides struggle to make a dance party happen, and I think that we were just fortunate to have worked up a situation that was begging for a party. First, we had a playlist that was slowly compiled over a few months by many people- we put a google doc together and gave anyone access that wanted to add things, which we finally pared down in our final meeting with our DJ. McGlovin added some polka music, which is a tradition in his family, and our DJ thought we were joking. When it was played, though, so many of the “adults” hopped onto the dance floor. McGlovin and I split up and used the polka to bring other friends onto the floor, and by the time it was over, nearly every person was dancing. Odd, yes, but also hilariously winning.

Second, our wedding was set on a Saturday, in the evening. Like many weddings, we had a somewhat formal vibe going, so everyone was already dressed up and feeling fun. And, I mean…we’d been serving alcohol for a few hours, at that point.

I also think that the physical setting was conducive to everyone dancing- everyone who was on the first floor, which is where you needed to be if you wanted to access the bar, was pretty well in the middle of the party. The first floor was pretty cozy, so even if you weren’t necessarily dancing, you were still mere feet from the dancers…who were likely to pull you in at any time. And, it was dark. I don’t know if I’d ever really noticed it before I went to a few summer weddings, but it’s so much easier to dance in the dark! There were a few spot lights at the bar, but other than that we used candles and twinkle lights on the first floor, to keep everything feeling romantic and cozy.

The biggest explanation for our packed dance floor, though, is that we have a friend group that is really inclined to enjoy themselves. I think you can set the scene all you want, and ply people with as much booze as possible but, at the end of the day, if people want to dance, they will and if they don’t…well, then, asking people to do something they don’t want to do isn’t going to result in a good time, either yours or theirs. So, you know…keep your expectations realistic, and in line with the crowd of people who will be at your wedding 🙂

That said, our reception was overflowing with bliss- I could not have possibly hoped for anything else. Take a look:

When it came time for a final dance, McGlovin and I had left things up in the air with the DJ; I thought I would want a quiet slow dance and, if no one else was dancing but MCGlovin and me, I wouldn’t be upset. Our DJ thought we would want a great party song to really close out the evening strong. When the time came, though, and the DJ asked what I wanted to do…he had totally called it, and I asked him to keep the party going. At that point, I knew I definitely wanted to participate in the after party, so we nixed the slow song. I cannot recall for the life of me what he played (probably something clichéd, by Journey or similar) but a circle formed. I usually hate the dance circle- for some reason, it gives me incredible anxiety when they happen- so McGlovin pulled me into the center, where we swayed around while our friends and family surrounded us, presumably serenading us drunkenly and off key, with something like “Don’t Stop Believing”. Normally, completely odd, but perfect in that moment 🙂

And that, hive, was our reception. I’ll finish off my recapping with a post on the after party…and briefly touch on the afterparty. But for the record- it’s been suggested that your wedding will be exactly what it needs to be, and that many weddings have surprises that are perfect, even if unexpected. I know that I’ve shared a number of happy, if unanticipated, things that happened on our wedding day- what were your happy surprises?

Gloves in Love: Tossing Some Flowers

After the dance, hive, things start getting a little hazy. Why yes, it certainly could be the gin-and-cider I’d been sipping all evening, but I think it had a fair amount to do with the fact that, after dinner, the entire evening was just the most ridiculous party! Since all of the fun is jumbled together in my head, I have a hard time suggesting what order things happened in. I do know a few things for certain, though- I tossed my bouquet, and every single person I saw was having a great time. (Aside: I know that gin isn’t the most popular liquor for people of a certain age, but I really do encourage all of you lovely ladies to try it with cider- it’s delicious! Plus, my grandma has been known to consume some gin, and I always strive to be Edna-chic in my booze consumption 🙂 )

First up, my bouquet.  In the planning stages, I was vehemently opposed to a garter toss, and not really that into a bouquet toss, either. McGlovin could get behind nixing the garter toss, but he still tried to talk me into tossing my bouquet. His argument was, it’s a wedding, and you’d never chuck flowers at your friends otherwise so…why not? And then I went to a few weddings and actually participated in the toss and realized- it all depends on how its done. One wedding was terrifying, and all. single. girls. were called to the dance floor and it felt accusatory and mildly stressful, but another wedding was a hilarious and giggly time. So I started to think of how to achieve the second atmosphere.

What we settled on was this: after everyone had been drinking and dancing a bit, the DJ announced the toss. Rather than having all single ladies come to the floor, though, we asked all of the lovely women in my life to join me on the dance floor- sort of a ladies only dance. We played ‘What a Man’ to set the scene and after a tiny bit of dancing with my friends, moms, sisters, etc, I sashayed my way up to the front and tossed my flowers backwards. And…it was awesome. I mean, for me, anyway, and no one would ever really tell the bride that they didn’t like the wedding 🙂

Unbeknownst to me, there was a plot to get Heather to catch the bouquet- and she swatted it away. I only realized this when I saw my photos!

Ok, so how did you get people to participate in the garter or bouquet toss? I know they seem to be going out of fashion, and usually for good reason, so did anyone have a particularly good or bad experience? Share!

Gloves in Love: We Dance

After everyone had had their fill of wedding pie, our DJ kindly invited everyone downstairs to watch our first dance. Right, downstairs. The picture below explains a few things: first, you can see that Colin, our best man, had taken my seat next to McGlovin…because they’re adorable, and they wanted to catch up. Second, the pie line. Oh yes, Mister DJ, there is always a line for pie. And third, you can see the railing that outlined a floor cut out. Our venue is part of an old hardware factory, and the layout is completely unconventional, and the building that we were in had some space limitations. So, our dinner was on the second floor, and dancing and the bar were on the first floor. For people that weren’t really into dancing, it was nice that the cut-out was there. Every time I looked up from the dance floor, there were people crowded around watching, so it really felt like everyone was included in the fun, even if they weren’t necessarily dancing!

Right, so…anyone that was interested in seeing the first dances came downstairs, or found a place around the open space upstairs. McGlovin had chosen ‘Stand By Me’ as our first dance. This is our favorite version:

But that one is not particularly dance/wedding appropriate, so we used this one instead:

Here’s the thing, hive- our first dance was not at all a romantic moment with just the two of us staring into each other’s eyes. Instead, it was totally awkward! I mean, how could it not be? Everyone that we knew and loved was intently watching the two of us dance. We took a few lessons, since our song had a particular tempo that doesn’t really lend itself to swaying, but it still wasn’t like we were giving a dazzling performance.

Either way, it happened, and it was lovely, and there were some spins.

As our dance ended (mercifully, after about a minute and a half, as requested) my dad came to take McGlovin’s place. My dad and I danced to Tiny Dancer, by Elton John. That was the song that was playing in the delivery room when I was born, and my dad always used to serenade me when it came on 🙂

Notice anything different in the photo below?

Yep, my veil is back. When I had my last fitting, my seamstress asked about my hair plans. I told her that I was wearing a veil for the ceremony (actually, two veils- my cathedral length, and then a blusher) and switching to a hairpiece at the reception. She suggested that I put my shorter piece back on for my dance with my dad- she said it was her favorite photo of her daughter and her husband, and so classic, and who knows what else. I didn’t really think much of it, but my mom latched onto the idea. So, one of my best friends hastily tucked it back into my hair before my dad dance. Hive, I have no idea what it was about the veil, but when I turned back to my dad, he started tearing up! Then the song started, and it was waterworks everywhere. So, no idea what that was all about (maybe I would understand if I were a parent?) but now it’s one of my dad’s favorite wedding photos. There you go.

So those were our dances. Then McGlovin danced with his mom…

And, with that, we invited everyone to join us on the dance floor and got the party started!

Okay, hive- I shared the completely unexpected reaction to what I call ‘the veil factor’. Did anything like that go down at your wedding? Was there something that you were not at all invested in, that someone else really reacted to?

Gloves in Love: Wedding Pie, For The Win!

So, after hearing from our gracious speakers, the Gloves settled into dinner. I know many brides say they didn’t have time to eat, but I really could not jump on that bandwagon. We’d packed the head table with our favorite people, had already greeted everyone in our receiving line, and had arranged for huge platters of food to be served family style. Suffice it to say, the Gloves enjoyed their wedding dinner 🙂

As people were finishing, our amazing coordinator let us know it was time to cut that cake. As you may recall, I don’t love cake. McGlovin, on the other hand, loves it and said it wouldn’t be a wedding without cake. We compromised by getting a cake for him, and also having a pie bar, to satisfy me. We cut into our cake, and playfully exchanged bites…and then I high tailed it to the pie.

 

Here’s what I thought was awesome, hive. In my experience, people really want to feel like a part of the celebration. So, we put out a call for pies- I talked about it with friends, my mom mentioned it in passing, and people spread the word. At first I was so nervous asking other people to bring something to my wedding (here’s your invitation, but the price of admission is a baked good!) but we had so many people call and ask if they could bring one! It really feels lovely when your friends and family come together for you. I had some extra time the day before, so I made a pie, too! It was my dad’s request, a classic apple 🙂

 

Anyway, after I got my peanut butter pie (lovingly prepared by my sister and one of my bridesmaids) McGlovin and I settled back into our spot. In our pre-wedding meeting, our DJ told us that no one would want to sit and eat dessert, that no one ever does, and he planned for us to just exchange our cake bite and move directly into the first dance. I suggested that with pie, people might, but he was determined to start the dancing immediately. It was deliciously satisfying to prove him wrong, and get to relax for fifteen minutes as people devoured the pie buffet. It was such a hit!

So, who else did something mildly out of the ordinary? Were you nervous that people wouldn’t take to it? How did it end up working out for you?

Gloves in Love: Happy New Year!

Well, hive- yesterday was McGlovin and my one year anniversary! It was amazing- he reserved the hotel suite we’d had the night of our wedding, we had dinner and massages, had some anniversary cake…nothing too crazy, but it was such a lovely time to reflect on the past year of our lives 🙂

Celebrating our anniversary also reminded me that I need to finish my recaps! So, get ready- I have a few more recaps about our reception, then some actually interesting posts about budget, vendor reviews, etc….then I’m all set with our wedding, and can move on to focus my blog on our married lives (spoiler alert: not dramatically different from our unmarried lives). Thanks for tuning in, my lovely bees, and I hope your new year has started off just as lovely as the Gloves’!

In case you’d like to catch up, here’s where we’ve been so far:

• First, a reintroduction to our wedding story
• Our frenzied post-holidays wedding week
• An alarmingly normal rehearsal day, complete with teeth whitening
• I completely blanked on our rehearsal dinner!
• Wedding morning—the ladies get ready
• Miss Gloves gets her wedding hair did
• The gentlemen have some bacon…and get dressed 
• Miss Gloves turns into a bride…with Howie’s help!
• A missing bustle…or was it?
• A quick look at the morning details
• The Gloves take a look—and it’s magnificent
• A lovely pre-wedding photo session
• Gifting the VIPs
• A sip of wedding whisky before we process
• Very traditional: Ave Maria to seat the moms
• The wedding commences
• Catholic wedding mass
• A tearful exchange of vows
• It’s so weird how long mass is…
• Surprise! Illegal bubble exit
• Some formal formals
• Wedding party photos
• Winter wedding details
• Receiving line suitable for 2014
• Some toasts, with more tears!

Gloves in Love: Toasting the Newlyweds

While everyone was upstairs getting settled at their tables, McGlovin and I took a minute to look around the first floor. Since we’d spent the cocktail hour mingling, we didn’t get to enjoy any of our apps, or see any of the decorations! (Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. At one point, my friend Rachael came over to me with a plate of apps and said, “you can probably eat about two of these in the next minute” and then hand fed me two bites of food. Her husband suggested just giving me the entire plate, but she pointed out that I had neither the time to eat, nor enough hands to eat, hand my bouquet and hug people all at once. She’s an angel, that Rachael!) Anyway, while all of this was happening, our wonderful photographers were going table to table, photographing couples and friend groups. I know this, like the receiving line, seems to have gone out of style, but we wanted to get a photo of everyone to send in their thank-you notes…and people loved them!

After everyone was seated, plated salads were brought out, and our friend Ben gave the blessing. We decided to do toasts as people were eating- it was less pressure on the speaker when people were listening, but not too closely 🙂 

My dad went first, and talked for a solid five minutes about two kinds of men- those who are blessed to have daughters, and those who are unfortunate not to. He closed by sharing his hope that McGlovin is blessed with a daughter, so he could see what a pleasure it was when she found partner that met with her dad’s approval.

I cried, Caitlyn cried…everyone cried.

Next was Colin, McGlovin’s best friend since middle school. He’s delightful.

He’s also a lawyer, and very comfortable speaking to large groups of people. He talked about how, in school, he and McGlovin would cheer each other up at the end of every relationship, promising that there were other fish in the sea. Then he talked about Evan’s change in attitude after meeting me, how thrilled he was so see his best friend so happy, and warned me to take care of McGlovin. It’s was incredibly touching to hear Colin express how important their relationship is…he’s a great guy.

Next were my sisters. Caitlyn is a CPA, and is usually very direct. She spoke for just a short time, but was very clear- she is thrilled to call McGlovin her brother, she could not be happier for us, and he better take care of me. Point taken 🙂 Shannon is not quite so direct, and her toast inspired the following series of photos.

Shannon lives with us now, though she didn’t at the time of our wedding, and is very familiar with McGlovin and his…specificities.

She talked about his ’12 point checklist’ which is his system for checking the house each night before going to bed. She reminded people that McGlovin is physically incapable of leaving the dryer on when he leaves the house, so he’ll alter his entire schedule to account for clothes drying. She let people know that he’ll turn the stove off, WHILE YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF COOKING, if he thinks that you might be finished (and no, you’re not finished…the sauce is simmering).

McGlovin can’t handle lotion, so the women who live with him need to go to another area of the house, ideally another floor, before moisturizing. He wanders around the house unplugging hair straighteners and curling irons, that have only recently been turned on to warm up, so no one forgets to turn them off.

Pretty much, although he is sometimes a struggle to co-exist with, McGlovin is the nicest, kindest guy who could not be a better match for her sister…who frequently leaves the stove, dryer, and straightener all on when she leaves the house 🙂

So those were our toasts. By the time Shannon was finished, everyone was out of breath for laughing so much, and salads had been cleared. We cracked open the bottles of wine on each table, and the waitstaff started to bring our huge platters of Italian food, to be passed family style!