spotlight on paige + kim: real wedding

all i can say about paige & kim's wedding is, wow. to start, they both look ridiculously gorgeous in their short white wedding dresses and brightly colored heels. add the fact that new york city was their playground & backdrop from

the amazing rooftop at the gramercy park hotel & need i say more? i

always admire when a couple truly focuses on the details in order to make their wedding an experience the guests will never forget. this wedding nails it. from the homemade photo booth, to the customized take home reusable bags, these ladies covered it all.

you'll fall in love when you check out these amazing photos from the talented erinn j. hale. enjoy!

the brides & their pup

their ridiculously adorable buddy, norm

from paige (on why they chose new york):
kim is from new york & we consider it to be the place where we fell in love. it was convenient & less costly for a majority of the guests to travel to & from. we also chose it because of it's close proximity to connecticut, where we could pop on up for a day & get legally married. hence, we didn't have to make a separate trip out east to get married before we held a ceremony in california. it was important for us to be legally married.

love the pop of blue in the background

backdrop = radical

cool cats

from paige (on why they chose the gramercy park hotel):

it was available on our date! it was also within our budget, absolutely gorgeous and we didn't have to do much in terms of decorating or bringing in outside vendors. trying to plan a wedding from across the country is very difficult & we wanted the venue to have everything "built-in" to cut down on time, money & energy (and so i would only have to take one xanax per night instead of 2).

isn't this room incredible?! obsessed...

lightbulbs galore!

rooftop at the gramercy park hotel

stems were gathered at the flower market that morning & arranged by a friend of the brides

take home bag for the guests ~ same graphic on the wedding invitation

from paige (on favorite parts of the day):
the photo shoot we did alone with the photographer in the meatpacking district prior to the event...hanging with everyone at the wine bar the night before...the ceremony...the light bulb room at the gramercy was magical & being surrounded by my favorite people was so special. it's a moment i will never forget...the photobooth! the after partay! it was clutch that we booked the loft room at the ace hotel. it was like having our own apartment in the city big enough for everyone to hang out. we stocked the room with our own alcohol & mixers, so no one had to pay for drinks & we didn't hav eto share the after party space with strangers.

the beautiful kim

the beautiful paige

the brides & their bros

love the shoes & bowties

paige & her little bro, wyatt

pretty pretty flowers ~ bouquets made by friend of the brides

i adore the red + yellow heels

we are far from traditional and i was nervous about being the center of attention, so we diffused the situation by having the ceremony during cocktail hour. it gave everyone the chance to grab a drink and mingle while waiting for everyone to arrive. we didn't have chairs or an aisle. instead, everyone just kind of circled around us for the ceremony. it felt very warm and natural and loving. i wasn't intimidated or scared. plus, i had already had a glass of champagne so i wasn't super nervous :)

pretty little things

backdrop for the homemade photobooth

photobooth equipped with amazing props

simple, yet fantastic

every couple should provide flip flops for their guests. really, it should be a law.

camera & instant film on standby to customize the guestbook

scrumptious cupcake tower provided by crumbs

congratulations lovebirds

from paige (on recommendations & advice):
have a get together prior to the wedding day. we invited anyone who was in town the night before to join us at a wine bar to say hello & catch up. it was great because all of the excitement & energy of seeing everyone, catching up & meeting people occurred the night before. by the wedding night, everyone was more relaxed, casual & comfortable.

planning the photo shoot with family PRIOR to the big event. there was no way that kim & i were going to miss out on cocktail hour, so we planned the family photos for the hour before, which was nice for us & our families & it allowed for us all to participate in the entire evening. it's too short of an event to miss out on an hour or two just to take pictures.

we went back and forth on the guest list and the number of guests. it started out quite large. once we sat down together and really thought about it we decided that we didn't want our distant cousins we hadn't seen since we were 10 or our parent's friends we'd never met at our wedding. it is such an intimate and special moment and cutting the guest list down to include our absolute closest friends and family was the best thing we could have done. it made the night extremely special and neither of us were overwhelmed with the feeling that we had to "make the rounds" to talk to everyone. by the end of the weekend, i honestly felt like i spent quality time with each person who attended the wedding.

a huge enormous thank you to erinn j. hale for sharing these photos and to paige & kim for giving us a peak of your amazingly beautiful day.

vendors:

food/alcohol: gph restaurant maialino
photographer: erinn j. hale
cupcakes/cookies: crumbs bake shop
dj: sirshorty
hair/make-up: arrojo
flowers: bought ourselves at nyc flower market ~ bouquets and table arrangements arranged by a friend
invites: worked with local santa barbara artist neal crosbie and had them printed at sb print house graphic traffic. paige's dad did the calligraphy on the envelopes.
favors: bought and printed the canvas bags at brooklyn based quist industries ~ used the image from invites.
paige's dress: bcbg
kim's dress: ever

please don't be shy about getting in on the real wedding fun!!

whether you're a photographer, wedding planner, bride or groom, send us photos from your big day (or your client's big day) to be featured in one of our weekly spotlights!