IDoYouDoWeDo

Hiiiiiii! I’m back! Sorry for the slight delay in programming! I’m a busy girl, I have lots of wedding stuff to share with you! Our invitations have been cut out and are awaiting printing (I’ll show you them soon), the fabric for my birdcage veil came in yesterday, my dress fabric is ordered (although my dress design has changed… more about that soon! I promise!), and a whole plethora of other things have been accomplished!

But, I wanted to show you the latest and greatest of Loor Photography! Julio has been a busy man, it is Wedding Season afterall!
He just shot a beautiful wedding at Knowlton Mansion, which is a gorgeous venue right here in Philadelphia, and apparently had a great time doing it! (That’s him, dancing with the groom and groomsmen!)
 

He took some really cute engagement photos of this couple…

And even attended/photographed his own mothers wedding at the Fleischer Art Memorial (such an amazing building, not to mention beautiful bride)!

Check out his website for more of his gorgeous work and you can even join his  group on Facebook where you’ll often get a sneak peek of what he’s got going on! Can’t wait for him to photograph our wedding! 4 months Julio! I hope you’re ready!

Oh ho! Look what I found!

This wedding was featured on Style me Pretty a few weeks ago (apparently, I’ve been spending a lot of time there recently ). Navy blue Bridesmaids and navy blue Groomsmen! Like I originally wanted, before the Fiance talked me out of it  (and then tried to talk me back in)! I have to admit I do like the looks of this wedding party… but I think we’ll stick with our plan. Did I tell you? We’ve come up amicable conclusion… the Groomsmen will wear Brown sportscoats and khakis, and the Fiance will wear a Brown suit. I didn’t need my little white flag after all!

Happy Friday!
I had to share this with you! Today, on Style me Pretty, Abby is featuring a Philadelphia wedding! Check out these photos that Marie Labbancz captured! WOW! The couples plans for an outdoor photo session were cancelled when it began to rain so, as a Plan B they were able to arrange for a photoshoot at the Eastern State Penitentiary! Just incredible! I just told the Fiance, I want this as a Plan A location for our day after wedding shoot!!

Check out Style me Pretty for the rest of the photos of this gorgeous wedding!

Thanks for your enthusiasm about having Julio Loor photograph our wedding! I took your advice and… we booked him! One more thing we can check off our list!

This past Saturday the Fiance and I attended the wedding of good friends of ours, Allison and Dan. Their venue was gorgeous, it was completely decorated for Christmas. There were scattered cranberries, tree ornament favors/place cards and a red and green candy bar! It was also snowing, a light fluffy snowfall, which made the party that much more festive!  

For weeks before hand, Allison talked about how excited she was to work with her photographer, Sarah Schulte, and judging from this sneak preview, it’s easy to see why.

Sarah was so stealthy! I didn’t even know she was around! But, obviously she was there, snapping gorgeous shots of this beautiful day! You can see even more on Sarah’s blog.

Congratulations you guys! Hope Vegas is great!

This morning I have another guest post from Janine!

#5 A Penny Saved, A Penny Earned Goes Toward Something Else
Most likely while planning your wedding you are trying to cut costs in some places so you can put those savings toward other areas. The wedding cake is a great place to do that. I had 3 desires for our wedding cake – inexpensive, pretty, and tasty. If you desire the same, then know that you can have your cake, and eat it too! (I had to write that, sorry!) It’s important to research the designs and flavors of cakes out there by either web surfing or visiting bakeries in your area. Simply gather ideas from everywhere possible and use these inspirations to create your own delicious dessert – while sticking to a sensible budget!

After doing some research on the web I found April Reed! She makes absolutely beautiful cakes but they were definitely out of my budget! I visited a great bakery in the area of our reception venue, which we ultimately ended up working with, and showed them the picture of the cake that I fell in love with online. For about 60% less in cost, our cake was everything we wanted it to be! Going with a local, less-expensive hometown bakery, instead of a high-priced bake shop, afforded us the ability to order our favorite gelato tartufos to serve along with the wedding cake. We also took advantage of the oldest trick in the book to cut even more costs – our wedding cake smaller in size and we ordered extra sheet cakes made of the same flavors. Unless guests actually go the kitchen to see the cakes being sliced and plated, they have no idea what cake their piece actually came from!

#6 DIY or Bust
It’s easy to see by all of the details described and pictured on this blog that Manders and the Fiance are Queen and King of this 6th “take-away”. By the time their wedding arrives they will have truly mastered the art of do-it-yourself projects that look anything but homemade. If you have the time and creative ability, then you will have no problem doing an entire project yourself, but, even adding just one DIY aspect to a project can go a long way. You ultimately get what YOU want, and you pay a lot less!

Our thank you gift for our wedding guests were Bucks County Coffee 12 ounce ground coffee bags (Dulce de Sol to be exact), nestled next to a “Rainbow Wood Spoon” which is truly a wooden work of art (and the perfect measurement tool to make a pot of coffee)! I designed the coffee bag label using just Microsoft Word, and I printed the label on weatherproof label sheets ordered from OnlineLabels. I have to thank my mom for packaging each of these favors. She put them in clear, flat bottom cello bags and surrounded by chocolate brown crinkle cut paper shred (also purchased online) — my parents still have an entire box of this shred left which is very slowly dwindling down. Each gift was finished off with a lavender bow!

Along with the coffee, our guests were greeted at the end of the night by a “Breakfast to Go” table which consisted of a display of fresh, individually wrapped bagels and shmears, which were delivered on the wedding day with our cake and gelato tartufo desserts. Also there for the taking were copies of the local weekend newspaper that the guests could enjoy the following morning with their coffee favor and bagel treats. The groom played a very important role the day before the wedding which was waiting for the delivery of newspapers at his home - and then bagging each one so no one would get inky! These are just a few of the many projects, where we got our hands a little dirty, that made our wedding day everything we hoped it would be!

Thank you so much Janine for sharing your gorgeous wedding day and all of your tips and projects! (I think I may have to steal your Breakfast-To-Go idea for my own wedding! YUM!) And Congratulations again on your First Anniversary!

Janine is back with two more experiences to share!

#3 Go Green (or Purple?)
Now more than ever everyone is talking about “Going Green”, and there’s no reason why a wedding can’t incorporate this ideal. For centerpieces, bouquets, reception decorations, etc., try to use items that will stay around forever (or at least won’t be tossed in the dumpster after Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” plays at the end of the night).

Lavender has always held some special meaning to my family. Which meant dried lavender and dried cranberry-colored roses made perfect sense for us instead of fresh flowers — and for so many reasons. First, they cost less than fresh flowers. Second, they were “season appropriate”. And third, they had longevity! The folks at Peace Valley Lavender Farm in Doylestown, PA (peacevalleylavender.com) created beautiful bouquets, boutonnières, purse corsages for the moms, Church decorations, a special flower girl bell decked out in lavender, and most importantly, arrangements for the dinner tables and for throughout the reception area. Because everything was dried, we were able to transfer all the girls’ bouquets to vases after the wedding, and we gave the dried lavender and rose arrangements to our bridal party and family members as holiday gifts. The arrangements made great keepsakes as well as great additions to home décor! The best part is there was no waste because unlike fresh flowers, nothing got thrown out at the end of the night!
#4 Christian Louboutin Who? You be the Designer!
As a previous Buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue, I, like most women, have a love for beautiful shoes, clothes, handbags… that being said, wedding day fashion was a must!

Every bride has her own “fashion focus”, and mine was on The Shoes and The Veil. Oh, The Shoes! Originally, I bought 3 ½ inch Swarovski crystal-detailed peep-toe heels. They were magnificent, but, they also hurt – a lot. So, about 2 months before the wedding, I returned them and started over. Far from Saks or Neimans, I found my dream shoes at Target for about $30. They were Isaac Mizrahi if it makes any difference (don’t think so though). I took a spin to the great Albert Zoll, Inc. (albertzoll.com) in Philadelphia’s Fabric Row and found a gorgeous 2-piece Swarovski crystal brooch. Long story very short, I asked my local jeweler to remove the under-clasps on each side of the brooch — my mom attached the crystal brooches to the shoes using fabric glue and clear fishing wire. The shoes were/are so great! I was comfty all night long and they are being dyed black right now, a year later, so I can wear them with jeans.

And, The Veil! On a trip up to NYC one weekend, my aunt and I hit 2 birds with one stone… We had our picture taken with the Naked Cowboy at Times Square, and we located Sposabella Lace (sposabellalace.com) in NYC’s garment district where I selected the fabric and trim. (Britney Spears and Celine Dion are apparently frequent shoppers at this store!) My aunt designed and made my cathedral-length veil, using Chantilly Lace and Italian Silk Organza, which later that evening turned into my beautiful wrap for the reception! I had purchased another brooch at Albert Zoll which was used to hide where the fabric of the wrap came together in the back. Thanks to the genius idea of a Pennsbury School District Art Teacher, a clear plastic cable tie was looped through the back of the brooch which successfully held the veil fabric tight and in place all night, without being seen!

How cute is that ring bearer with his spikey hair and Yankees jersey?! And I love The Shoes!

We have one more guest post from Janine, stick around!

I’m so excited to have Janine guest blogging on her First Anniversary (congrats, you guys!) to give us the low down on her wedding experience. I won’t keep you in suspense!

I am so excited to be a part of Manders and the Fiance’s nuptial creative process by writing a guest post on I Do, You Do, We Do. The site, like the happy couple, is simply fabulous!

Every bride and groom will go through a unique adventure leading up to the big day, but it is so important that every couple makes the journey their own. And, there are countless ways to accomplish this while staying on budget and keeping in style! Like any bride, I could go on for days explaining the most intricate details about my wedding day, and all the preparations made beforehand, but I won’t. Instead, now at my one year anniversary, I’ll share with you 6 “take-aways” from my incredible wedding experience that I would recommend to any blushing bride-and money conscious groom-to-be.

#1 Make it Personal from Gunshot to Finish Line

Give your friends and loved ones a peek into your relationship. I don’t mean that you should send an email out to long lost relatives and co-workers about the type of undergarments your fiancé wears – but incorporate special moments and passions that you enjoy together as a couple in various parts of your wedding day.

We thought it would be fun to get personal with our “Save-the-Dates”. Although we shared our engagement story with as many people that would listen to us, we thought it would be nice to share a visual of the day that was so special to us. We returned to the engagement site and snapped a picture of my (now) husband’s computer classroom where he popped the big question “Will You Marry Me?” A picture is truly worth a 1,000 (or 4) words! We printed this black & white snapshot on magnet paper (avery.com) and used glue dots (from any craft store) to adhere the magnets onto off-white deckled paper (which you can find at most paper stores). We hoped that these Save-the-Dates would give everyone a glimpse into the start of our lives together, while acting as a reminder for the big day!

#2 Every Wedding is a Destination Wedding… if You Want It To Be

Destination weddings are great! Leading up to the big day I was often asked if I was having a “destination wedding”. I always answered, “Yes, of course – in New Jersey!”. Take advantage of your wedding area’s local attractions! Don’t just have a rehearsal dinner, celebrate an entire wedding week! So much time, money and effort is put into the big day, it only makes sense to truly enjoy the few last days leading up to it!  I would recommend that the bride and groom take the week off before the wedding, or at least a few days, to unwind from “work mode” and get focused on the great day that is about to come! It’s not so outlandish… look at Hindu culture for example where weddings are such grand affairs that they usually last one full week!

Our immediate families celebrated “wedding week” with us. And though not everyone was available to join in all the festivities of the week, friends and close relatives were also there to celebrate. We took advantage of the short ferry ride from NJ to mid-town NYC and went into the Big Apple. We attempted to see a Broadway show (but everyone was on strike at the time!), had a free tour of the Food Network Studio (my family is a bunch of foodies), visited Rock Center, Fifth Avenue and of course Radio City. It was also great to keep up our tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving that week as well with both immediate families together. (It’s always nice to have a holiday close to the wedding day. Everyone is already in the festive spirit!). You get the picture – celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!

Stay tuned! So much more to come!

Happy Friday! I know I haven’t been around much this week (more on that later) but you’ll have to forgive me… I’m a busy bride to be!

In other news, how cute is this photo? On Monday, her one year anniversary, this beautiful bride, Janine will be stopping by to give us the inside scoop on her gorgeous day by sharing six things she’s taken away from the experience!

Stay tuned for our first ever Real Wedding here on I Do, You Do, We Do!

Alright, I’m sold on the brown suits for my Groom and his Groomsmen. Don’t these guys look handsome? I took this image from a Real Wedding that Emily is featuring over at Once Wed. The wedding took place last October in Michigan, at a barn! Sounds like my kind of wedding! The bride made alot of the details herself and it all turned out for the best…the wedding was simply gorgeous! Go check it out, here, here and here!

To see even more of this gorgeous wedding, check out Benjamin Dell’s website. He was the mastermind photographer behind this truly lovely event!