Channeling Annie Banks Mackenzie on this one. Kate Spade meets TOMS meets a whole bunch of pink glitter on one particular New Year’s Eve.My furry little companion kept me company throughout the evening. Also carried all the backup lipsticks, keys, and most importantly, checks. The dress was pink…
…and the suit was burgundy.We wrote pamphlets to be handed out at the beginning of the ceremony. It had notes on how the ceremony was going to go down, with a few jokes thrown in for good measure. Written by us, and designed by our friend, Cindy Gonzalez, who also provided the balloom animals during cocktail hour, for kids and adults alike!All signage was written by my cousin Karen, and all flower arrangements were made by my aunt Joji. Instead of vases, we collected over 200 empty alcohol bottles from our friends and family, whom we do not judge.My mom hand-made each wand and tied a bell to it so that the guests could wave them in the air as I walked down the aisle. The guests were also provided with bags of different flavored popcorn during the ceremony.Part of the fun of getting married in a warehouse is being able to fill the space. Witty Rentals did a fantastic job with that. My only regret was that I did not have a chance to sit my bum down on one of those poufs!This “LOVE” light was given to us from one of my closest cousins as a wedding shower gift. It hung in our living room all holiday season, and still hangs over a couch in our bedroom today. Around it, we posted photographs of each married guest on their own wedding days.The wall hanging was made by me and doubly served as a backdrop for when the appetizers were cleared and the photobooth arrived.Everyone had a party hat, even the kids! And beads and horns and noise makers galore.My wedding ring was purchased from a Consignment Center. I could not fathom the idea of spending tons and tons of money on a brand new ring which has been marked up significantly just to exploit future brides. I searched for months for the perfect ring. The day I almost gave up, I was ready to leave when this one caught my eye and on a whim, I asked to try it on. It was made in the 1950s and has never been owned. Two brothers were goldsmiths and made tons of jewelry. This one in particular has little lines etched into the gold which was hand-drawn by the maker. It reflects light in such a way that it looks rose gold, even though it is actually yellow gold. He kept a box of rings after he retired, and when he passed away his daughter inherited the box of jewelry, which she dropped off at the Consignment Center. And which I now wear on my finger. Total asking price: $150, 18k yellow gold, 3 mini diamonds. Story behind it: priceless.
My voice teacher and Mike’s guitar teacher are a married couple who provided live music prior to the ceremony. When Mike was walking down the aisle, I sang “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge while hidden behind a wall. It was a surprise and he had no idea until I started singing.Wedding was set in an empty warehouse. It didn’t feel right to have anyone up there with us except our siblings and Mike’s best man. So we had our brother ordained and he married us. Our sisters were my girls and his best man Ivan stood up there to share the moment with us. The entire ceremony was written by us and my little brother, who is quite the jokester and he made us laugh throughout the entire ceremony. Both readings were read by our sisters. We also wrote our own vows and shared them with each other for the first time in front of everyone.We did not want to kiss in front of the audience. So instead, we celebrated the joining of our marriage by taking a celebratory shot with our siblings up on stage.Confetti was chucked at us as we left the ceremony. It was everywhere. No use cleaning it up though, because the party just began.We had someone cutting out caricature profiles of our guests. One went into our guestbook for them to sign and another went to our guest to take home as a souvenir. We also had Cindy Gonzalez making balloon animals for all the party guests.The wine bottles and beer bottles that acted as vases were collected from dear friends and family. My aunt made all the flower arrangements. We created these handouts for our guests, and placed a horn at each place setting. The cutlery and plates were bio-degradable, recyclable, and compostable. Our cake was a partially naked cake with gold foil. The flowers were added on by my aunt. Our guests also had a donut bar to go with their meal.Lots and lots of donuts…We had a choreographed modern dance for our first dance. And he didn’t drop me once! It was choreographed by my sister’s best friend, and she spent so many weekends trying to teach us this. The 2017 marquee that you see behind us is a two foot marquee made by one of my best friends from high school who happens to be an architect. I requested this in lieu of a wedding present.This set up is one of the seating arrangements that Witty Rentals designed for us. Instead of going table to table, our guests were asked to go up on stage with us and take group pictures in this cute seating area. Then they could go on their merry way to the taco stations!What’s NYE without Sparklers?! We had Sparklers on our cake, as well as after midnight. Every guest was handed a sparkler that was 3 feet long and we lit them up along the street right outside the venue. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful evening.
