Choosing wedding vendors can be overwhelming and difficult. Sometimes there are too many choices, sometimes there's not enough. Other times you just don't vibe with the vendors and you're not comfortable with them. Below I will go over my entire 'day of wedding' timeline and the vendors I used to help me along. The recommendations will be in pink font.
We couldn't ask for a better wedding day. Albeit, the day was a bit chilly (63) we were just happy that it didn't rain. Plus the cool air was nice to have since my wedding dress had 5 layers and a petticoat!
I knew that I wanted a nice backdrop for my 'getting ready' photos, so I did some research about bridal salons and places to get ready. Most bridal spots were in fact salons and they required you to pay upwards of $1000 to close down for the day and cater to the bride and the wedding party. Even though we had the option I thought it would be a waste of money. The church we got married at, had a room, but it was more for storage/an old classroom. We even considered a near by hotel, but it's super cliche and unless you get a suite, there really isn't any room.
It went off like a light bulb and I realized that the perfect place to get ready would be an AirBnB. I researched a few and stumbled upon "the House that Two Chicks Built." The is a house specifically built to be an AirBnB, so I knew it would be nice. It wasn't someone's home or rental property. It was built by the famous ladies of the HGTV show Two Chicks and a Hammer. Oh, it was so perfect! They actually welcomed bridal parties. It was so modern and girly and cute! It came fully stocked with breakfast items, a Keurig, champagne, and pretty much everything you need for a the day of your wedding.
The goal was to stay within 10 minutes of the church, in case we went off schedule and started to fall behind. We even considered paying for a hotel room for the groomsmen, but we thought it would be more meaningful for the groom to get ready at his mom's house. The house he grew up in his entire life. Years ago they built an addition on to the back of the house, and it was sort of his dad's room. There is a fireplace, and a huge solid bar with a marble top and lots of seating and big picture windows that let in a lot of natural light. It was so beautiful that he decided to get ready in that room. Even more so because his dad had passed away almost 2 years prior and would never get to see us married.
The night before, we had our rehearsal dinner at Napoli Villa Italian Restaurant. An amazing Italian restaurant in Beech Grove. Since we had such a large group, we opted to reserve the back room for private dining. We were served a 5 course meal, family style. First came the drinks and the appetizers. Then the Italian salad. After that was the pasta dish, then 2 chicken entrees after that! The entire wedding party, and our family sat around a huge table and passed around platters, drank merrily and laughed all night!
I want to take this time to say how amazing my mother-in-law is. She paid for the entire meal and all the drinks served that night! The beer and cocktails and wine flowed and the spirits were high. I didn't get back to my AirBnB until 11pm that night! Side note, I do recommend finding a restaurant that has an event room or back room for larger groups. It's nice to be in your own space and separate from the public.
My maid of honor and I stayed at the AirBnB the night before. We arrived and got settled in, turned on some music, cracked open a beer and put our things away. We actually stayed up until 2:30am that morning, talking, bonding, laughing and mentally preparing for the day.
We woke up at 8:30am that morning. I don't know, but it had to be the adrenaline, but neither of us were tired. My MOH made a run to Starbucks for us, while I took a shower. The manager of the AirBnB also stopped by before everyone showed up and dropped off 3 bottles of champagne for us as a congratulatory gift. The morning really started with a bang. Slowly but surely everyone showed up and the drinks started flowing. Bagels and fruit with mimosas, coffee with baileys and a cocktail here and there. The makeup artist and hairstylist showed up right on time and they were a blast to be around. I researched both stylist on Instagram. This is actually an ideal place because it's just pictures on Instagram and you get to see all the showcased work. My MUA was Keondra and she works at Elysian Glam Salon. The hairstylist for the day was Jazmin and she was the owner of Elysian Glam salon. We cranked up the music, my MOH served mimosas to the hairstylist and the makeup artist and I relaxed that whole morning and afternoon.
The videographer and photographer showed up that afternoon and we took some shots of the bridal party getting ready among other details. The day slowly progressed and we got done at least 30 minutes before we had to leave. The party bus showed up at 4pm and took us over to Sacred Heart cathedral to take some bridal party portraits. We had to wait in the bus for a while, because the photographer had to finish up with the groom and groomsmen. My heart was pounding knowing he was out there, just out of reach. The bridesmaids squealed as that gawked at the groomsmen. They told me how handsome my groom looked and made sure they pulled down the shades on the bus so I couldn't see him. After the groomsmen got in their SUV and headed to the church, we got off the bus and proceeded to take our photos. We took some in the Garden of Mary and then a few in front of the church doors.
Sacred Heart was perfectly located, only 6 minutes from St Roch Catholic Church. Initially we were going to take portraits at Garfield Park Conservatory, but they required a $75 fee to take photography and we would have to deal with the public as well. I felt like this wasn't worth it, so I looked around and decided to stick to the religious aspect of our wedding, and to take pre wedding photos at a cathedral. Also, referring back to the AirBnB, it was only 7 minutes from St Roch church. Everything was within 10 minutes of each other, which helped contribute to the smooth timeline of the day.
After Sacred Heart, we got back on the party bus and headed over to St Roch. The men were there taking more pre wedding photos inside and outside the church, so the ladies waited on the bus with me. I decided to take this time to get more photos, since we were early, so I made the bridesmaids get off the bus and take some more pics with the groomsmen. My nerves were really starting to get the best of me at this point. Sitting on that bus alone felt like an eternity. My mother-in-law decided to come check on me and we sat on the bus for a few minutes and chatted about the day.
After the wedding party was done taking photos, around 5:30, my mother-in-law left and everyone got back on the bus. we waited until about 5 minutes till the wedding started (6pm) and then began to line up in front of the church. Honestly at this point, I was just ready to walk down that aisle and hold the hand of the man of my dreams. I wasn't even nervous. I would have ran down that aisle if I could, but I paced myself. As I appeared, he started to cry. I wasn't expecting this, but of course my heart melted. Every bride wants her groom to shed a few tears as she walks down the aisle. We put so much time, and effort into choosing our hairstyle, makeup, nails, jewelry, every little thing, so some visual appreciation is always nice. I felt like a queen coming down that aisle. The live organist played a beautiful sonata during my procession. He was actually the organ player for the Indianapolis Archdioceses, Andy Motyka. We also had a singer (cantor) for the wedding hymns and she sang along to an additional piano player. Everything harmonized beautifully.
The ceremony was so lovely. We had a traditional Catholic wedding with mass. It felt like we were at home. Having our friends and family participate in singing the hymns, standing and kneeling and saying the responses was so heart warming. I enjoyed it when the piano player and the organist and cantor (singer) would all play at once with the entire assembly. The day was even more special having a priest that we had grown to know over the past 7 months. His name is Fr. Doug Hunter and he is the priest for the Indianapolis Colts. Having him personalize our ceremony and talk to us and give us advice during his homily made it feel like family. The biggest highlight of the wedding, was during communion and when me and my husband took Holy Communion together for the first time as husband and wife. It was so intimate and sacramental.
After our first kiss, and the roar of applause, my husband pulled me in tight for a hug. We were so happy to be here. We then turned towards the assembly and he held my hand and raised it in the air as if he was victorious lol. As we recessed out, together we dipped our fingers in the baptismal font and blessed ourselves with the sign of the cross. We then exited the church and walked on the side to take some time for ourselves. We walked around and went through the side entrance of Father's house and waited for the guest to leave and get ready for the bubble exit. After the church emptied out we went back up to the altar and signed the marriage certificate. After that we took a moment, held each other's hands, and then my MOH and the best man introduced us as the new Mr and Mrs. At this time I had forgotten about the bubble exit and I was in awe of the all the bubbles as we walked through the crowd and got on to the party bus. It was just nice to sit there together, all the formalities over with, and just bask in our wedding day.
As we headed towards the bus, my groom lifted my 11 foot cathedral veil and my dress trying to assist me on to the bus. The driver greeted us at the bus door and congratulated us while he extended his hand to help me on board. We decided to go with Royal Limousine Inc. I browsed and considered at least 4 other Indianapolis driving services. Royal limousine was very helpful and willing to flex their prices based on my needs. We knew we would need the bus for the bridal party (and for my dress lol) and that there would be at least an hour of idle time before we used the bus again. Also since we were taking our post wedding photos at the church we really wouldn’t be using the bus to drive to another destination other than the reception venue. All in all, there was a lot of time where the party bus wasn’t being used and they worked with us on the pricing for idle time. This way we were able to stay in budget and get the party bus for the full 4 hours that we needed it for. They even give you a grace period of 15 to 20 minutes to make it to your final destination on time without further charges.
The bus was amazing! Originally I thought about renting a limousine or a stretch Hummer or something like that, but my maid of honor suggested something we could all stand up in. She said that sitting down with everyone right next to each other would start to feel claustrophobic and it wouldn’t be as fun. At that point I was thinking about a trolley or a party bus and the party bus won mainly because trolleys are so expensive to rent. We really didn’t have the money for the party bus, but my mother-in-law who is the real MVP, knew that we really wanted it and gave us the money to rent the bus.
I highly suggest a party bus or some form of transportation that you can stand in. It makes it feel like a pre-wedding reception with just your closest friends and family. We were able to bring our own alcohol on board and sync up our phones to play our own music. Most party buses also come with a stripper pole and I really didn’t think anyone would use it, but you'd be surprised how much laughter and fun comes from twirling around on a stripper pole. I mean come on, how often do you get the chance!
When we arrived to the reception venue everyone was inside enjoying cocktail hour. We stood outside and chatted a bit more and took a few more shots of rum and vodka as a group. During that time my maid of honor and my sister proceeded to bustle my wedding dress. Like I stated earlier, my wedding dress was five layers on top of a petticoat. I absolutely needed to have a bustle. My dress required me to have at least 7 point bustle put in to properly lift up the train of my dress.
Most women use the silk hope attached to the bottom underneath the dress and put it around their wrist to help keep their train off the ground. This actually isn’t made to hold up your dress train. It’s made to hold up the dress on the hanger so when it’s hanging up it doesn’t touch the ground. You can use it if your dress is light and simple but my dress required more than that. My seamstress, both of them, worked with me and gave me discounts on all the work I needed. Luckily my dress fit like a glove so nothing needed to be taken in or altered. Just hem and bustle. They gave me a lot of it for free and discounted a lot of the pricing. They work at the Davids Bridal in Greenwood and there is one Brazilian woman named Suzete and another Chinese lady named Angie and I highly recommend them.
When the wedding party entered the reception hall, we all lined up outside the doors of the ballroom. Our DJ got everyone in order and paired everyone up with their partners and made sure he knew how to pronounce everyone's name correctly. His name is Jason and he works for Grafton Peek. Grafton Peek owns a cakery and ballroom/catering service in Greenwood, Indiana. They are the contracted vendor for our reception venue. The venue manager also came out and made sure the lighting in the room was what we wanted. They were very good about changing the mood lighting throughout the night. During cocktail hour the room had a nice warm glow, then during the entrance of the wedding party, they turned on a beautiful coral up-lighting to shift the mood. After the bridesmaids and groomsmen entered, they closed the doors as me and my husband lined up. The DJ was great about timing our music perfectly so it all flowed great as we walked out.
After we were all seated, the event manager came up to me and my husband and led us to the buffet table, after we plated our food, the wait staff took our plates, so we wouldn't spill anything on ourselves and followed us back to our table. Afterwards each table was released to eat. As soon as we sat down the wait staff greeted us again and asked if we wanted a drink from the bar and brought that out to us as well. We didn't have a plated or "seated" meal, but it sure felt like it. After everyone got their food from the buffet, sat down and ate, the wait staff came by and bused the tables and asked people if they needed anything else, like water or tea, or soda. Everyone felt very catered to. There was so much food, an open bar, a great variety of music and lots of fun to be had!
As the night went on, we went through all the wedding formalities. First dance, mother son dance, cake cutting, and bouquet toss. The dance floor was packed all night! The DJ was amazing. He was more than a DJ. He was a host. He made sure we stayed on track with getting all formalities done on time, so our time was managed well. He also put on a light show and switched up the party lighting to an electric cobalt blue and we had a laser light show on the dance floor all night long.
During the speeches, the DJ turned up the lighting a bit, and a spotlight was turned on us and the maid of honor and best man as we went up to the dance floor. Everything was so well thought out and planned down to little details.
For wedding favors we opted for a photo booth. Most people do candy or CDs of their wedding playlist, or keepsakes like keys. I'm ok with these things, but I would rather give my guest something they can really put to use. Food and candy and drinks are ok, but they get used and they are gone with no tangible memories of the night. Others do seeds, which is cute, but most people are not going to plant those seeds. No one wants to be bothered with a task or chore for a wedding keepsake. Most of those probably get thrown away. That's why I opted for a photo booth. After the pictures were taken, people would get print outs of their photos. They could even opt to get them texted to their phone. They can keep those forever, look back on them, get the pictures framed too. We went with Circle City Selfies. Their photo booth consist of your choice of backdrop, studio lighting and the photos were taken using a huge "cellphone" like structure to make it look like you were taking a selfie. Then you could put your number in on the "cellphone" to text pics to you. It looked like a giant touch screen iPhone. So cute and modern and cool. We thought about using an actual photo booth, but we went with the open air concept so our photographer and videographer could capture moments of us in the photo booth. The booth came with two attendants that were the owners of the company. It also came with photo props and they helped pass those out to people and made sure the camera was always positioned properly for groups of different sizes. They were friendly and engaging and wonderful! Before the wedding they sent me templates for the frame on the photo print outs to make sure I liked what they created. They put our name on the border and our hashtag.They also used eucalyptus decals because I told them my wedding involved heavy greenery.
No one's wedding is perfect, but I'd like to think ours was pretty darn close. Below I want to quickly point out other options we used for our wedding:
Instead of suit rentals, we had the groomsmen buy their suits. The con is obviously the cost of buying and tailoring. The pros, however! Tailoring is a pro even though it's a con. I hate seeing all the women in weddings looking their best, but then you look at the guys and they're in obviously cheaply rented baggy unflattering suits. Another pro is that you get to KEEP the suits. Put them to other use. Get your money's worth. The men got their suits from Macy's, but we waited for sales to pop up. Macy's is always having a sale and we patiently waited for presidents day in February to buy the suits.
The suspenders came from Kohls. They were $13. The ties and pocket squares came from BHLDN. Ties were $21 and pocket squares were $10. Shoes ($37) came from Kohl's too, and so did the shirts ($25).
Bridesmaid dresses were from ASOS. The brand is Maya Delux. Prices varied based on style of dress. From ($50 to $150) on sale.
I got my veil "secondhand" from Poshmark. It was new never opened. I recommend checking out Poshmark for lots of wedding accessories like jewelry and veils and hair combs. You can save so much money. I also got my petticoat and silk bustier from Poshmark for a 3rd of the cost.
I would also recommend you check the upcoming tour dates for any wedding showcases in your city. Here in Indianapolis they have the PWG Wedding show and a lot of vendors like photographers, videogprahers, photo booths and reception venues offer discounts if you sign up for their services while at the bridal showcase.
Our videogpraher was Jared Ensminger of 6th Day Films. He is a youth minister on the South side of Indy. We found him early on before he took his career full time, so we got the great low price of $750 for the whole day. It even included drone footage and a trailer for our wedding video 3 weeks after the wedding. It was a teaser trailer to tide us over. Currently this special is running for $1200.
Our photographer was Cory Harbour Photography. We found her early on too. I'm not sure if her prices have increased but she recently took her photography on full time and quit her day job. We got two photographers (her and her fiance) for $1250. You cannot beat that for TWO photographers. We knew it was best for us since me and the groom were getting ready in two separate places and since we were not doing a first look.
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