To Have and to Hold...

So where was I? That's right - we had finished the ceremony. I managed to shut the waterworks down for the rest of the day and return to my normal sarcastic yet loveable self.

Oh, and I totally left out a part. (Wow, Im a terrible storyteller.) How could I forget that we stopped in Times Square? Talk about a surreal experience - all these tourists were photographing us like we were celebrities. We never found the naked cowboy but we got some good shots none the less.

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And much to our shock, we appeared in fairly unflattering photo in the New York Times the next morning. We were not named yet our friends seemed to find us anyway.
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Ok, back to the timeline. Cocktails!. We held our reception at the Yale Club which is right across the street from Grand Central Station.
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We had a swank old Caddy drive us around that day. Love that car.

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Our cocktail hour was held in the club's library.
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A surprise but fleeting guest appearance was made by Ben Stein who stopped in to grab a book. (Yes, it’s a real library) Unfortunetely, he didn't bother to stop for a photograph. Come on, Ben! Anyway, it was the talk of the guests who happened to catch a glimpse of him.

I put out a big jar of personalized fortune tellers to keep guests occupied between drinks and swallows.
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Guests signed a ceramic platter which got fired after the wedding.
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Then it was onto the lounge for the dinner and dancing. I used vellum wrapped votives as escort/placecards. Now, I know this has been done a million times since but you'll have to take my word on the fact that it was novel at the time.


To be perfectly honest, I wasn't crazy about how my flowers or caked turned out but a little rain must fall. We gave out little brass ornaments of the Chrylser Building and CDs as favors.
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Frugal in my own weird little ways, I hand painted these little faces on 99 cent champagne glasses.
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Not that I don't find more expensive ones pretty, we just don't drink champagne at home so I saw no need to spend more than $3 on these.

Not being a fan of the cling and sway, I coerced my husband to take much needed dance lessons. So our first dance was (hopefully) entertaining to the guests.
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We were toasted
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We danced a lot
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And all too soon it was over. Thanks for sharing my walk down memory lane.

PS: If you haven't had enough wedding talk, you can take a much shorter pass through the whole day via this slideshow. (Now she tells me?) It shows the layouts in my wedding album.

41 comments:

  1. Beautiful. Just beautiful. I have been married 18 wonderful years and it is fun to see more current weddings. The styles change so much and seem so much more classic now. Well done.

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  2. Your wedding day looks like a dream! The pictures from Time Square are stunning! And I especially love your photo in the library! So romantic.

    Love it!

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  3. More beautiful photos...but I must add that the Yale Club is also the UVa Club (though the Yale folks try to undo that agreement now and then). You were on wahoo turf and you didn't know it. :)

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  4. Haha Jeannine. Having not attended Yale nor UVA, the receptions association was not important to me. (YC participates in a few different recipropal agreements that let other alums as well as various professional organizations be members. That said, if you've been there you'll know that they cling pretty hard to putting yale all over everything as well as potraits of famous yale graduates, etc. In other words, anyone but the yale alum are likely not quite as comfy there. haha Not that it matters one bit to me, I made myself right at home.)

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  5. So fun you were in the NYT!

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  6. Aw, I don't think that picture in the paper was unflattering! It was candid and adorable! Your photographer was GREAT! Much happiness to you both. You're off to a great start together!

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  7. Oh my gosh, what a beautiful...everything! I LOVE your dress; am so tired of strapless everything that your little straps were beautiful. And the pics in Times Square? I'd totally do that (and photograph you as well). I've been married for 19 years and wish I could do it all over again, only like yours this time! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Why is your dress strapless in the last two photos?

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  9. Suzanne12:46 PM

    Your wedding was so beautiful & timeless! If you had told me this was yesterday, I would have believed you.

    What kind of fortunes did you put in the fortune tellers? Did you fold them all yourself or did you find a company to do that? I think they are so sweet!

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  10. WOW! How cool to have the Times Square photos and be featured in the paper (even if it wasn't your favorite picture). ;)

    Beautiful reception...loved the champagne glasses.

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  11. Where did you get the plate? I LOVE IT!!! I am already married, but would love to do it for friends on their wedding day.

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  12. To be clear, that photo in the NYT was not from my photographer. It was from someone I don't know who snapped our photo while we were there.

    Jen - One of my straps popped off toward the end of the night so I just pulled off the other one and kept dancing. (The straps got sewn back on when I had the dress cleaned)

    Suzanne - I did the fortune tellers myself. My "fortunes" were really more like commands but here they are a)hit the dance floor b) pose for a photo c) smell the flowers d)make a toast e)have a cocktail f)introduce yourself to someone new g)feed someone cake

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  13. Bevin - the plate came from a paint your own pottery place in Brooklyn (but i assume they have them everywhere)

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  14. what a sweet wedding, looked like lots of fun!

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  15. Still love this post! I know you are going away but maybe you can address this when you return!!

    I was given the Blog Award, Kreativ Blogger, and had to choose 7 other blogs worthy of the award. You're one of my choices!

    Here are the Rules for this award:

    1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
    2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
    3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
    4. Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
    5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
    6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
    7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated

    That's it! Have a great day!

    Paula Grace

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  16. Anonymous2:54 PM

    Were all your photos done in B&W ??

    I think you are a great story teller :)

    Love this post....you and hubby make a nice couple !!!

    All the best,
    Kathy :)

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  17. wow what beautiful photos! i would love to see the fortune teller thing all laid out. what a cute idea. FYI i was not able to see the video. not sure what to do to make it work i am in Firefox? any ideas. lovely wedding!

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  18. I love your champagne flutes! So adorable and original! Did you guys end up keeping them?

    By the way, I'm having a bit of a DIY dilemma, and since your the DIY queen, I was wondering if you would pop over to my blog and let me know what you think.

    Here's the link:
    http://journeysofmangonett.blogspot.com/2009/10/question.html

    Thank you!

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  19. Thanks Paula.

    Anon - My photographers used real film (rather than digital) so I had a lot of both color and black and white. I just preferred the style of my black and white photos for the most part.

    Molly - The fortune tellers aren't supposed to be laid out. They are also known as cootie catchers - those little folded game things you made when you were a girl in gradeschool. You open and close the "flower" in count with the number of letters, etc. Im not describing it very well but I hope you understand what Im describing.

    I added a link to the slides in case you wanted to see it above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanier/sets/72157622403860767/show/

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  20. First shot is absolutely amazing! Amazing!

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  21. It's all so beautiful! I absolutely love seeing weddings. Especially one's where creative people (such as yourself) make it all so personal and their own.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  22. Gorgeous pics! Congrats on your special day :)

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  23. So who took your photos? Who was "your" photographer?

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  24. Gorgeous! Completely unforgettable. I love how you are in the middle of the street and there are people walking by like nothing is happening. I love New York!!!

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  25. Happy Anniversary!!! Just celebrated nine wonderful years of wedded bliss in August...Thanks for sharing your pics!!!

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  26. Happy Belated Anniversary! And thanks for sharing these photos with us! You two are such an awesome couple! Hugs from Conroe, TX!

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  27. I loved these pics because it had a bit of edge to it. Not the normal. Hands off to ya..great job..well done.

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  28. Lindsay7:29 AM

    Oh I love the picture of you two in the library! The look on your face, the composition of the shot, everything! What a beautiful wedding.

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  29. These pictures brought tears to my eyes. They are THAT beautiful!

    Thank you so much for sharing.

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  30. BTW totally love the dancing "dip" picture. You both make a strikingly beautiful couple.

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  31. The photos are beautiful - it looks like it was a magical day!

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  32. James - I was not implying I enslaved them by calling them "my photographers". The women who took my photos, Lynn (B&W) and Laura (color) are no longer with the studio I hired them from so I can't properly credit them (as I can't find them online). But the studio was Angelica which is owned by Mark Kauffman. www.markkauffman.com

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  33. Stunning bride, debonair groom, beautiful venue. I don't know--I think your wedding would be en vogue even today b/c every detail was so classic & timeless.

    HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

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  34. Anonymous1:24 PM

    Your wedding looked beautiful and you two look just as happy as can be! I may be stealing some idea (champagne glasses perhaps) for my own future nuptials!!

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  35. Congratulations. Times Square - brilliant.

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  36. Sarah9:39 AM

    Happy anniversary! Didn't Anne Barge put you on her website, too?

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  37. just found your blog - a new fave! & loved your walk down memory lane.
    you are a genius party planner, too it seems.

    my hubbie & i just celebrated our tenth in october as well - great to take the time to really celebrate! so congrats :)

    & happy new year... kee

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  38. I love your pictures! How neat to have pictures taken in time square, very romantic, you make a gorgeous bride :)
    XO

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  39. Tiffany9:55 AM

    What a beautiful wedding! My husband and I got married at the Yale Club as well (the ballroom and rooftop for cocktails instead though). Gorgeous venue :)
    P.S. Love your blog!

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  40. looks like it was a really fun day! Lots of great places for photo ops!

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