jen & brian – part 3: reception & decor

Thursday, October 8, 2009 2:00 pm

as i hinted last friday in jen & brian’s vendor preview, we planned their reception decor around the look and feel of the 100th bomb group. the main inspiration was vintage travel.

one wall of windows had a view of these planes, and the other framed cleveland hopkins international airport.

tables and chair covers were ivory with wine colored chair sashes and black napkins, a way jen wanted to tie in the wedding colors.

the cake was by “what’s for dessert?” each tier had a layer of vanilla and a layer of chocolate cake. fresh tendrils did the cake topper and petals. the flower colors were autumn and vintage-inspired.

there were two kinds of centerpieces. several tables had tall ones with hanging votives and flowers tied onto antique bronze (the color, not the age of) branches.

detail in the tall centerpieces:

the other half of tables had lower floral-only centerpieces. one travel and antique touch was the table numbers which i handmade utilizing typewriter font numbers and vintage postcards that were found on ebay. each one had a cleveland scene. many were actually written on and postmarked! the oldest one we found was postmarked 1906. they were the neatest things to read – especially to see what downtown cleveland buildings looked like or were named generations ago.

the card box was a vintage suit case that was my husband’s grandfather’s. jen and i were on the hunt for vintage luggage when i found four great pieces that i didn’t know were in my basement!

the other three suit cases were utilized to display the escort cards.

the lids were lined with the vintage post cards before the…

… luggage tag style escort cards were placed in. (i was honored to be seated with jen and brian’s parents. i felt more like a guest all evening than the planner!) as you’ll note – everything was in typewriter font because…

in lieu of a traditional guest book, jen was able to hunt down a classic smith corona typewriter. trimmed typewriter paper was placed near by and guests had a BLAST typing in special notes to the bride and groom. it was perfectly placed in front of blown up world war ii newspaper stories that were on the 100th bomb group’s walls, and also tied in the fact that jen and brian actually met while working for a newspaper!

the bride and groom asked for good advice, words of wisdom, etc. i think this typewriter was the highlight of the reception and i saw many guests go back to write more messages. i had to chuckle because anytime the keys got stuck, or someone didn’t know how to use the typewriter, they asked the oldest person near them for assistance. it was definitely a role reversal in this world of high technology!

bridesmaid teri leaves a note:

another nod to the past was a family photo table, set up with the two pieces of vintage luggage found at a antique store in lakewood.

wedding photos of jen and brian’s parents were on display, as was a photo collage of jen and brian growing up and some recent photos of them together.

it wouldn’t be a heidzilla reception without some dancing shoes. the flip flop size tags were in the same shape as the luggage tag escort cards.

i didn’t mention this last week as it was a surprise to everyone – parents, bridal party and guests – but jen and brian hired red eye photobooths. you can see all of the fun had in the booth on the online gallery. the signage on the easel noted that instead of doing traditional favors, they had the photobooth and they also made a donation to the cleveland food bank in honor of guests.

i think this is my favorite photo of mine of the night – the bridesmaids displayed the photos they took in the booth.. all six of them squeezed in there!

red eye photobooths was also able to use our typewriter font as well as a flourish that matched jen & brian’s invitations and programs.

the flash washed out the typing but i was holding little signs that read “congratulations!” “best wishes!” and “love heidzilla!!!!!”

the event was dj-ed by mike and andrew of the dj crew. it was the first time i had seen guests call for an encore because they wanted “ONE MORE SONG! ONE MORE SONG!” rather funny at 11:55 pm that night!

these two were so damn sweet together – no pun intended… and here are the cake cutting photos

CONGRATULATIONS JEN & BRIAN!!!!!!! i’ve really enjoyed working with you this year and will sincerely miss talking to you at least once a week. i hope you’re having a relaxing enjoyable honeymoon in punta cana!!!!!!!!!!!!! hey… send some postcards! maybe we can sell them on ebay in 100 years!