Wedding Date on May 28, 2016

From The Bride: Jake and I met at the University of Michigan towards the end of his senior year. Jake was off to start his career in New York City, but I still had one more year left of school. As his move date approached, there was never a doubt in anyones' minds that we wouldn't stay together even though we would be in different states. Our long distance relationship was hard for being still new, but we made it work by seeing each other at least once a month! Once I graduated, we knew we wanted to live in the same city, so I moved to NYC and the next day was offered a job - another sign that it was meant to be! To give you a better idea of our love, here are some excerpts from our wedding vows that we read during the ceremony to each other: Jake to Laura: "And it's this beautiful dance of caring for each other and the feeling of being cared for, accepting when we need it, giving when we don't, the struggles and challenges of everyday life flowing past us as we hold strong together. But what I am most amazing by is how authentic you are, always staying committed to what is truly important in life." Laura to Jake: "At work a couple of years ago, I won the superlative, “Most likely to live in a Rom-Com”, however, in order to star in a rom-com, you need to have a co-star and you are not only my co-star, but the writer, producer, and director. I’m sure fellow commuters have rolled their eyes when we wave and blew kisses to each other across the subway platform as you go uptown and I go down or co-workers when they ask what restaurant I went to last night when I heat up delicious leftovers for lunch and I simply reply “oh this, Jake cooked it for us!” But I really wouldn’t have it any other way." I knew that I wanted to plan my own wedding, and having a partner like Jake, made what one might think a daunting task more than feasible! We made a cognizant effort to have fun every step of the way. From making a date night out of registering for gifts, to creating and coding our own wedding website, to practicing our first dance together every Friday night after our Equinoix workout class, we really wanted to enjoy the process since we recognized that the process itself is longer than the actual wedding. As for the actual wedding aesthetic, I wanted our guests to enter and feel like they were in a whimsical garden. I loved partnering closely with our florist to bring this idea to life with lots of greenery, peonies, succulents, and roses. We had a mix of farm tables and classic rounds with mahogany chivari chairs, a heritage table with photos from our ancestors' weddings, and the top of our chuppah was made from the fabric of both of our mothers' wedding dresses. There was a lounge section in the back of the dance floor with custom pillows made from the photos of our engagement shoot although most of the guests were up dancing on the dance floor! Having professional experience in experiential marketing, I also wanted to make sure I thought through the wedding night from the perspective of the guest. With an open digital photo booth plus props, bucket of essentials in the washrooms, late night sliders, fries, and hummers passed around the dance floor, and surprise afterglow outside with fire pits and a s'more bar, a moment was not missed. All of our out-of-towner guests were shuttled, joined us for a Welcome Party and Farewell Brunch, and given Michigan-themed welcome bags as they checked into the hotels.