Rehearsal Dinner Photoshop-ing, as promised

As I mentioned in Monday's rehearsal dinner post (Dîner de Répétition), my sister-in-law Jessica had slaved for months over an impressive collection of movie posters, swapping our heads and facial expressions with those of John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, Kevin Costner & Susan Sarandon, Brad Pitt & Cate Blanchett, and Jeff Bridges & Julianne Moore among others. Walking into The Smith's downstairs private room, we discovered that we, in fact, had co-starred in When Harry Met Sally, 50 First Dates, The American President, and Basic Instinct. 

That last poster is especially creepy. My Michael Douglas is not attractive.

Below, as promised, is a collection of our (and our guests') favorites. Looking through these, you have to imagine them as 4x6 prints inside freestanding frames (double-sided), with five or six frames scattered on each table, and yet another display with larger prints in a far corner of the room. And you have to imagine everyone getting really creeped out by the Basic Instinct poster until finally, when the food began to arrive, someone took initiative and placed it face down on the table.

Enjoy.

 Can you tell who's who?

Joanna totally forgot to put this on her resume

Bad-ass

 

 Not so bad-ass 

 I'm just glad Jessica snuck the Yankees cap in there

Notice Kickass Maid of Honor Teresa as the Scarecrow and Ballsy Best Man Justin as the Cowardly Lion ... and yes, our cat Scooter as Toto

 

 

and our personal favorite...

The vendors who saved our asses: Coolhaus

About 2-1/2 hours into our reception, a ripple of sorts went through the crowd. There was this buzz, almost like schoolgirl chatter, spreading from table to table, person to person. Were we the unsuspecting victims of some soon-to-be unleashed wedding prank? Or, even more plausible, were my dance moves so visually painful that our guests had resorted to small talk, collectively refusing to join us on the dance floor?

Thankfully, no.

The ripple, the buzz, the chatter, and the small talk were all a result of the happenings at the other end of our venue. Nestled in the far corner of the room was a single 6' table adorned with a simple linen, some catering equipment and a small, colorful chalkboard. Two newcomers stood behind the table with gloves and aprons, and both of them had that "California glow" about them. Yes, this was Coolhaus.

2E's and I never wanted a traditional wedding cake. We couldn't afford one; didn't care much for the taste of cake; and were rather bored of them to tell you the truth. (Granted, there are some amazing cake makers out there, but with our modest budget, that was never a realistic option.) Coolhaus' solution to the "cake-cutting" dilemma was a generous helping of their delicious red velvet ice cream sandwiched between two large black and white cookies (a true New York classic).

Overbite

Our guests could not have been more thrilled with this new take on dessert (kickass caterer Kim Pistone also supplied mini red velvet cupcakes for the ice cream "haters"). We received compliments throughout the evening (from Never seen anything like it! to I'm on my third now), and we managed to turn all of the skeptics onto the idea. Our floral and decor designer, David Beahm, a true trendsetter in the wedding field (one of Modern Bride's Top 25 Trendsetters in 2008), thought it was an absolute hit. New York, or at least the microcosm of New York that had gathered in a loft beneath the Manhattan Bridge that evening, could not get enough of Coolhaus.

Ari made all the ladies happy that night

Natasha Case, one of the co-creators of Coolhaus, asked us to choose 5 cookie varieties and 7 ice cream varieties (we chose brown butter candied bacon, dirty mint chip and baked apple among others), and on the Friday before our wedding, Natasha traveled cross-country with the ice cream. Let me just say that another way: she literally brought the ice cream from Los Angeles. It just makes it all that much more worthwhile, doesn't it?

Natasha and her staff were an absolute delight to work with--before, during and after the event. It was the little snippet of Los Angeles (by far our favorite snippet) that we had wanted to incorporate into our tiny Brooklyn wedding from the very first day, and everything about it worked beautifully. Really, anything to take the attention off my dancing.

- - -

All photos courtesy of Noah Devereaux

Please contact Natasha about your own NYC or LA wedding at natasha@eatcoolhaus.com

And check out my previous posts featuring Coolhaus

Dîner de Répétition

When 2E's and I walked into The Smith restaurant on 3rd Avenue (just a short walk from Astor Place in Manhattan) one evening last April, we knew without hesitation that this was our rehearsal dinner venue. The restaurant was packed--an immediate indication that the food is good. The downstairs event space, which can accommodate 50-75, was simultaneously classy and casual. By the time we got to the corridor with the photobooth and unisex bathroom stalls, we were putting down a deposit.

(Strike that. Our gracious hosts, the illustrious MOG and FOG, were putting down a deposit.)

After several conversations with my mother, we finally came to the consensus that we should have tables assigned to each guest or group of guests to avoid awkward pairings and a musical chairs of sorts. So we needed an escort card display. We brainstormed a variety of designs (I still love my idea of an old Outlook Hotel-style key cabinet and plan to use it elsewhere) until we stumbled upon our favorite -- and the most feasible. Affordable and fitting for the location, I ordered a true English pub dartboard on Amazon.com and 20-something darts. Guests' names were written on small slips of paper that were then fastened to the neck of the darts. And six random numbers along the perimeter of the dartboard served as our table numbers. It was my very minor contribution to the decor for the evening.

"find your dart to find your table" - sign courtesy of the MOH

Getting to the dinner was the biggest chore of the evening. The rehearsal was an hour longer than we'd anticipated, and the rain wasn't making transportation around the city any easier. I was sitting on the couch in our hotel suite, counting out the cash that we'd be distributing to our vendors and photographers and waiters the following evening, and 2E's chirps, Um, aren't you going with me to this thing?  

Hours had escaped me. I had fifteen minutes to shower and get dressed and find a decent enough hiding place for thousands of dollars of cold hard cash in a hotel suite with a busted safe. So I half-showered while kickass bridesmaid Laura did 2E's make-up and hair for the event ... and while kickass Maid of Honor Teresa saved the evening with a sprint to Rite-Aid for a pair of nude panty-hose-in-a-hurry, I upgraded my dress shirt to better complement 2E's rockin' evening dress.

We received two instructions regarding the rehearsal dinner: (1) arrive slightly tardy and (2) butt out. So we did. And when we arrived and realized, piece by piece, detail by detail, all of the work that had been done in preparation for the evening, we were flabbergasted. We walked around the room in a haze, unable to take it all in. The OGs had ordered personalized buttons and hats and lookalike figurines. And the MOG (with the aid of the bride's mother, of course) had locked herself in a room for the past three months and cut and edited an hour-long slide-show with the most adorable slash disturbing photos and videos from our childhoods. Highlights included a teenage 2E's overacting in grade school choir and a toddler 2E's addressing her future self. I had no highlights--or at least none that I'm willing to reveal here. 

The other scene stealer of the evening, which inevitably became the recurring theme of the night, was an impressive collection of photoshop-ed movie posters, with our faces superimposed over those belonging to Sally & Harry and Zack & Miri, to Charlie & Maverick and Bella & Edward. A dozen or so posters adorned a table in the corner while dozens more in small white frames provided the centerpiece for each dinner table. And all of this had been done in secrecy by my sister-in-law, Jessica. I'll be sharing some of our favorite posters shortly (there are so many!), and Jessica will be giving a seminar on stealing images from Facebook and discreet photoshop-ing in Conference Room B. 

She's so Bella. I'm SO not Edward.

We had amazing food, an in-room bar just for us and the best 52 dinner companions a couple could ask for. We asked 2E's brother Patrick to host the evening -- a seemingly logical and ultimately spot-on decision. And we passed our camera off to 2E's cousin Michael, who did an amazing job snapping photos of our guests and our decor throughout the evening.

For more info on The Smith, check out their website. For special events, email Lisa and tell her The Groom Says said to.

Photos by Brian Leahy & Michael Wilson for Joanna Wilson Photography

In Case You Missed It: Amy Nichols Interview

Dear readers,

In case you missed it yesterday, I had the good fortune to make a cameo on Amy Nichols' Special Events blog. Amy, a celebrated event and wedding planner based in San Francisco, contacted me a few weeks ago about doing a quick interview for her 5 Quick Tips series -- wedding-related advice and suggestions from people in the industry. And I am honored to be both the 15th interviewee and the first to offer the male perspective. 

Find the groom edition of 5 Quick Tips @ Five Quick Tips from The Groom Says Blog

Also, please check out Amy's work on her website @ AmyNichols.com

The vendors who saved our asses: my big day

When 2E's and I stepped into our vintage taxi cab as our wedding was coming to a close, we found a small basket in the backseat, the contents of which included a handwritten note, two slender glasses and a chilled bottle of champagne. The basket was a congratulatory gift from Elif Aksoy, Lisa Friesel and Erica Greenblatt -- the ladies of My Big Day Planning.

I begin at the end to prove just how dedicated these ladies were to ensuring that our wedding was as enjoyable and carefree and perfect as it could be ... and to illustrate what it truly means to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Like our videographer, we never intended to hire a coordinator. What can they do that we can't do ourselves? What does coordinating even mean? How difficult could it possibly be to get through the wedding without the roof of the reception venue caving in on us?

Oh, silly us.

In the months prior, 2E's and I would Skype with Elif and walk through both the larger and smaller elements of the wedding. She asked us all the right questions and reminded us of all those picky little details that brides and grooms tend to forget in planning. She volunteered to research guest transportation options and costs, taught us about traditional wedding etiquette and gave us some amazing suggestions when we were at a total loss. At our rehearsal, Elif and company helped us push through our agenda and organize our wedding party. And when things got hairy with our ceremony venue contact, MBDP stepped in and handled all correspondence from then on. 

Elif and 2E's en route to the ceremony

What we found most comforting about MBDP was how willing Elif and Lisa and Erica were to take things off of our plate, work around our schedules, and set and coordinate all of our meetings. In the days leading up to our wedding, they were always on call, ready to tackle any unexpected obstacles that we might encounter. And on the day-of, they didn't let us do an ounce of work. Having all of the ladies present (with their combined expertise and enthusiasm) as opposed to just one coordinator was a true blessing, and all three of them were aware of the sequence of events and all things that needed to be done.

In planning, you'll continually ask yourself, Boy, who's going to do that tiny, thankless job at the wedding? Well, whether it was their responsibility or not, Elif and her team were pleased to do all of them. The ladies even gathered our gifts, belongings and leftovers at the end of the evening and delivered them to our hotel in the wee hours of the morning. It was no surprise to find an email from Elif in our inbox at 10am the next morning with a few updates and reminders and pending issues.

It's strange now to think that Elif and I met over Twitter; she and 2E's didn't meet in person until the week of our wedding. And I suppose those details make their contribution that much more heartening. I'd call them a triumvirate if it did them justice. Instead, I'll call them our respirators ... helping us breathe just a little bit easier.

photo by Noah Devereaux