Love Potion #7: Goin' to the Chapel...

For most couples, "ceremony decor" is an entire category in the budget.  Hundreds of dollars are spent on flowers, gorgeous decorations are painstakingly DIY'd, aisle runners are lovingly designed.

For us...not so much.  In fact, we basically had no ceremony decor at all.  This was partially due to the budget; when we decided how much to budget for each line item, we first ranked every category in order of importance (to us) and while flowers did make the list, they were towards the very bottom- and any other decor for the church didn't make the list at all.  But I think the reason that decor for the ceremony wasn't a priority for us was because the church is just so...pretty.  St. John's isn't a big, elaborate cathedral or anything- it's just a quaint country parish.  And I think it's pretty enough that we didn't need to mess with it.

Here's what our guests experienced as they arrived.

This is the door most people entered through:

The entrance hall has this beautiful stained glass window:

In the middle of the entrance hall is the baptismal font, in front of which we placed the basket of programs and the sign instructing guests to sit wherever they wanted in the sanctuary:

our programs were meant to feel like books, titled "Our Geeky Adventure" by Mr. and Miss Potion

After picking up a program, guests walked through the open doors to the sanctuary, where you find more stained glass!

 

The only thing we added to the sanctuary were flower arrangements- one on either side of the altar, and a bouquet of roses at the feet of the statue of Mary.

Of course, the church looked even better when it was full of people- which you'll see next time!

Did you invest a lot in ceremony decor, or did you let your ceremony space speak for itself?  Were flowers a big part of your budget, or were they included more to appease your mom?

*all photos by One Photo Gallery*

Miss a Potion Recap?

Love Potion #0.5: Uh...Who is This Chick?

Love Potion #1: Dress Rehearsal
Love Potion #2: Gettin' Our Hairs Did
Love Potion #3: Last Minute Details
Love Potion #4: Corsages for the Generations
Love Potion #5: The Boys Get Spiffy
Love Potion #6: "Formal" Portraits

Love Potion #6: "Formal" Portraits

As I showed you last time, Mr. Potion and his attendants managed to get dressed on time (and it was hilarious):

GM J, Best Woman, Mr Potion, GM L, and GM E

They even took their own shoe picture!

While our main photographer was hanging out with the ladies before the ceremony, the second shooter was responsible for capturing whatever the boys could throw at the camera.  I must say, I'm a bit disappointed in the location he chose for the "formal" portraits- the hotel pool.  I realize they didn't have many options in the vicinity of the hotel, nor did they have time to drive to any alternate locations, but their formal portraits are...well...not formal.  In the end, though, it doesn't matter, as Mr Potion got a picture with each of his friends, and they got some pretty awesome shots:

 

 

Now, Mr. Potion doesn't remember whose idea this was, but someone decided that they really needed to lift him up and hold him for a picture.  You'll notice that this wasn't an easy task...

 

 

Maybe Mr. Potion's dad could lend a hand?

GM J gives Mr. Potion a loving smooch before they all dropped him

This is what you might call a candid shot:

The guys really liked those suspenders :)

Finally, they got to the one-on-one shots

Mr Potion with his dad

Mr. Potion with GM L

Mr Potion with his Best Woman

Mr Potion with GM J

Mr. Potion with GM E

 

Did you do formal portraits with your bridal party?  Were you a stickler for the concept of "formal"?

*all photos by One Photo Gallery*

Miss a Potion Recap?

Love Potion #0.5: Uh...Who is This Chick?

Love Potion #1: Dress Rehearsal
Love Potion #2: Gettin' Our Hairs Did
Love Potion #3: Last Minute Details
Love Potion #4: Corsages for the Generations
Love Potion #5: The Boys Get Spiffy

Love Potion #5: The Boys Get Spiffy

The night before the wedding, when we were setting everything up for the reception, Mr Potion must have set his phone down somewhere and something must have been set on top of it because- you guessed it- it got smushed.  Interestingly enough, the screen didn't break- just the LCD panel behind it, meaning he couldn't see a thing.  He panicked- he'd saved all the information about the wedding night hotel on his phone, and he'd told his attendants to text him in the morning when they were on their way over to get ready.  I got a panicked phone call from his mom's phone number just before I got in bed- he was calling to explain what happened and that he was panicking about the hotel information...I reminded him that we still had my phone, and he could log into his email on that as we headed out of town to get all of the check-in information again.  Reassured, he told me he loved me and that he was so excited for the next day, then proceeded to call all of his friends to give them his mom's phone number so that they could text that instead.  Needless to say, Mr. Potion did not get to bed at a decent hour that night (especially since we hadn't even started our set-up until after midnight).

Luckily for Mr. Potion, he got to sleep in later than I did the morning of the wedding, because getting ready festivities for boys are much faster than they are for girls.

Also, getting ready is apparently hilarious for boys.  I know this because somebody is laughing in almost every single photo of these guys getting dressed.  If it weren't for Mr. Potion's Best Woman, I'm not sure these boys would've made it to the church on time- they would've just sat around laughing and goofing off!  I wonder what's so funny about getting dressed...

Remember the bow ties I made for the boys?

And remember the boutonnieres?

 

Seriously though, I owe a lot to Mr. Potion's best friend and Best Woman-

-without her, the boys may have spent all afternoon like this:

Do you know if your groom got a good night's sleep before The Big Day?  Did he spend the morning of the wedding goofing off while he got all spiffed up?  Are you super jealous of how quickly guys are able to get ready?


*all photos by One Photo Gallery*

Miss a Potion Recap?

Love Potion #0.5: Uh...Who is This Chick?

Love Potion #1: Dress Rehearsal
Love Potion #2: Gettin' Our Hairs Did
Love Potion #3: Last Minute Details
Love Potion #4: Corsages for the Generations