Awhile back I posted a call for help to participate in a study for engaged couples to participate in regarding their attitudes towards marriage and parenthood. Well, they are still in the process of recruiting participants! The study is being conducted by doctoral student Cristina Reitz-Krueger, working in conjunction with with Dr. Charlotte J. Patterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. If you have the time and fit into the demographic they are looking for (which includes couples of all sexual orientations) they would really appreciate the help. Here are the details:
____________________________________________________________
Engaged volunteers needed!
I am looking for volunteers for a study of attitudes towards marriage and parenthood among engaged couples. The study consists of a 25 – 30 minute online survey. To qualify for the study, you must be 20 – 35 years old, live in the U.S., and plan to marry or have a commitment ceremony within the next 365 days. You and your romantic partner must not have children, and this must be the first marriage for both of you.
You can:
–Help a doctoral candidate;
–Increase the pool of scientific knowledge;
–Support research on marriage and families; and
–Spend some time thinking about your relationship!
I am working with Dr. Charlotte J. Patterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. This study has been approved by the University of Virginia Institutional Review Board #2009025800.
If you and/or your romantic partner are interested in participating or want further information, please email me at survey.couples@gmail.com. I will send you a link that you can use to access the study.
This invitation isn’t technically a wedding invitation, but with a quick change of the wording and it would work perfectly. Designer Megan Sullivan was tasked to create a promotional piece for her previous employer, and she chose to develop an invitation suite based on the theme of “Away We Go”. The piece includes lots of fun details including custom-designed postage stamps, luggage tags and production details like embossing — read more about it right here.
Because the reception ended at 4pm, we knew we wouldn’t be ready to call it a day. So we chose to have an after party at a local bar within walking distance. (The bar itself was really cool, but the waitstaff was not exactly happy with us, unfortunately.) And honestly, after having been through it, I am a huge fan of day weddings. I never would have thought I’d feel this way before, but it was really great. Everyone hung out for far longer than they would have if our wedding started at 6pm, so we got to spend a lot more time with each and every guest.
Smiles all around…
Can you see the theme here? I somehow got talked into far too many shots that day (especially since I am not a big drinker at all.)
All photos taken by friends and family
And that does it for the recaps! Wow, I had no idea how difficult it would be to put together all of these posts or how long it would actually take. So it’s definitely a load off to have it all out there and complete. The next step is to design our wedding album, which we’ll be doing through Blurb in the next month or so, so I’ll be sure to share that with you as soon as we’re finished. And now we can get back to all of the other content that’s been piling up around here!
The photo booth was one aspect of the reception we were most excited for because we knew at least some of our guests would have a lot of fun with it. And it really turned out to be a huge hit.
photo taken by friends and family
For the backdrop we used the navy and white fabric that was originally intended for table runners (Brian’s Mom was kind enough to make it for us). I picked up the yardage at Zimman’s on a trip home, but you can also buy it online right here.
We kept the props pretty simple: these chalkboards plus chalk, these sunglasses (people LOVED these, we should have gotten more), and bubbles.
Even our photographers were surprised by our crowd’s rowdiness!
Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Unusually Fine
Edit: Amanda asked a great question in the comments: “Did your photographer take the photos or did you have a camera set up?” In reality our booth wasn’t actually a booth. We set up a little corner of the room with the backdrop, and our photographer and her assistant, JB, took turns snapping the photos. There wasn’t really a station with a camera set up, so they were able to move around freely.
One of our biggest worries about having a day wedding was that people wouldn’t dance and get into the celebration. And boy we were wrong.
photo taken by friends and family
Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Unusually Fine
My Kate Spade obsession may have hit an all time high yesterday. Between the candy-colored images from their new Spring 2011 lookbook…
and this interview with Deborah Lloyd featuring Things we Love, a book that collects bits of their inspirations (similar to the things we love feature on their site) in printed form, I would say I am in trouble, or my wallet is anyway.
The cupcake stand and flags were another fun project we worked on. For the flags we simply designed a few different sayings, used a zig zag punch to cut them out, and attached them to toothpicks with clear stickers on the back.
The stand came from Save-on Crafts, and all we did was cover the rings with blue paper and trim the edges with more navy and white striped ribbon.
two photos above by Unusually Fine
Inspired by the couple in this post, we also made a cupcake identification sign. I created little illustrations of each flavor so that the guests could tell which they were choosing. Oh, and by the way, the cupcakes themselves, which were delicious, came from Cupcake Stop.
Here’s a larger view:
Unless otherwise noted, all above photos taken by me
I am swooning over these videos by For You Love Me. (Man I really wish we had done a video!) Follow their blog for updates.
We really wanted to create a fun point of interaction for the guests as soon as they arrived at the reception. So rather than traditional escort cards, we decided to make individual buttons (We bought out button maker at Dr. Don’s on the advice of Erin Jang) for each guest, which Brian labored over for hours.
We then, and by we I mean Brian, made a stand-up display for them. Maybe at some point I can put together a DIY for this, but for now I’ll have to give you a quick overview. The base of the stand is 3 12″ x 12″ canvases. Each canvas was covered with a cork panel, then wrapped in fabric and ribbon strips, and then attached together with hinges.
photo taken by friends and family
We set up two signs on each side of the display that listed everyone alphabetically so they could quickly find their button by table number.
And for an extra dose of fun, we designed a whole slew of buttons that sat in a dish on each table. We came up with a few standard designs that were on all of the tables, but then each set of guests got their own set of buttons that featured inside jokes, nicknames and the like. It was a nice little surprise for the guests to find once they sat down, and it certainly got them excited.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Unusually Fine
Sadly I have yet to visit Momofuku Milk Bar, but its unique and whimsical desserts have put it at the top of my to-visit list. And now, everyone across the country can have a taste, as they’ve opened up an online shop selling several of their popular items. Their pies, which include flavors like Cinnabon Bun and Candy Bar, would certainly make for a delicious dessert bar and a conversation piece. (They also offer wedding cakes if you’re more of a traditionalist.)
