How to Include Elvis at your Wedding

This past Sunday (May 31st), Jeremy and I officially celebrated one year of marital bliss. I cannot believe a year has gone by so quickly! The moments in our wedding pictures feel like they happened yesterday.

Looking back at our wedding, there was pretty much nothing that I would change about the day. One of my favorite aspects of our wedding day was that we were able to include lots of little touches that made the day very us. One thing in particular was that we included Elvis.

Here's how we included Elvis at our wedding:

1) Blue Suede Shoes
One of the most iconic Elvis fashion statements were his blue suede shoes. We found the most perfect pair for Jeremy to wear that weren't too flashy and were just the right amount of awesome.

2) Walk Down the Aisle
Rather than walking down the aisle to the classic Wedding March, I opted for Love Me Tender, a classic Elvis love song, played by a string quartet. [Here's a beautiful example - goosebumps]

3) First Dance
When choosing a song for our first dance, I wanted it to be special to us, but also to be a song we would hear all the time to bring us right back to our first moments as husband and wife. Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis was the perfect selection. You'd be surprised how many times you'll hear it on the radio, or playing in a store, or covered by a live band.

4) Tribute Artist
This is by far the most obvious way to include Elvis at your wedding. It's also the most fun! We hired a local Elvis Tribute Artist to sing a few songs at the wedding. He ended up staying and dancing with everyone through most of the night.


Seriously, I loved our wedding. I'm so thankful for the wonderful memories and beautiful photographs we have.



Photography by Jon Sharman Photography.

#AVeryLongWedding: Videography

I'll be honest, during the wedding planning process I was pretty sure I didn't want videography. I knew I had an amazing photographer, I just didn't foresee us sitting down and watching a wedding video. Well, after reading lots of wedding blogs and Pinterest and all the other wedding planning stuff you tend to do, bride after bride said that having a video was always a great decision.

Around this time, fellow blogger, Nicole, was starting up a videography business with her husband and their work was amazing. I also knew that they had worked with my photographer before and had a good relationship with him so that was a win!

Now, almost five months later, I can honestly say that hiring 314 Productions was one of the best wedding decisions I made.

So, if you're a bride-to-be possibly considering NOT having a video... don't do it. You'll want to relive your wedding day over and over and over and there's something special about seeing it all in video. Hire a videographer, bonus points if you hire 314 Productions because, well, they're the best :)


The video above is our sneak peek... here's the full video!



#AVeryLongWedding Recap:
Engagement
Bridal Shower
The Rehearsal
Getting Ready
First Looks
Bridal Party

Ceremony

First Dances 

Guest Book & Seating Chart 

Special Guest

#AVeryLongWedding: Elvis is In the Building

Jeremy and I love Memphis. (Duh.) Besides getting married in this wonderful city, we wanted to incorporate Memphis in other ways. Jeremy wore blue suede shoes, our first dance was to an Elvis song, and the best part.... Elvis actually came to our wedding.

Yes, an Elvis Tribute Artist (don't even THINK about calling them impersonators) performed at our reception.

It was amazing. Everyone, northerners and southerners alike, thought Elvis was just a hoot. He really was. He was only supposed to perform for an hour and he ended up hanging out with wedding guests after the reception ended!

A fun little tid bit... Ben (my little cousin & ring bearer) didn't really know who Elvis was before his trip to Memphis. Before the wedding, he went to Graceland and to the Rock n Soul museum and learned all about Elvis. Well, that day, an Elvis fan was born. When Elvis started singing at the wedding, Ben couldn't take his eyes off him! It was the funniest, cutest, sweetest thing ever. Elvis even gave him an autograph which Ben was so happy to show me. Apparently, since he's been home, he still can't shake the Elvis obsession. It's pretty awesome.

Photographer: Jon Sharman Photography
Videography: 314 Productions

Band: Soul Shockers


#AVeryLongWedding Recap:
Engagement
Bridal Shower
The Rehearsal
Getting Ready
First Looks
Bridal Party

Ceremony

First Dances 

Guest Book & Seating Chart

#AVeryLongWedding: Guest Book & Seating Chart

I haven't really gone into too much detail in regards to the wedding recap. So, today, I'm going to keep it short and sweet and share two details that turned out even better than I could have imagined!

You might recall that when Jeremy and I got engaged we started an "L" collection. Instead of going with a typical Guest Book, I found a giant wooden "L" on Etsy and decided to use that! I even had it painted a pretty mint color. We had all our guests sign our love letter (hah.. get it?) and now we have it hanging on a wall in our home. I love seeing everyone's little message every single day.

Another special detail was our Seating Chart. During the wedding planning process, my Mom and I would sometimes sit on the phone while we were both scanning Pinterest for ideas. We even had a secret pinboard and everything. One day, while we were doing this, we stumbled across a seating chart that used picture frames. We took the idea one step further. We surrounded the seating chart frame with pictures of family members on their wedding days.

Photographer: Jon Sharman Photography
Videography: 314 Productions
Coordinator: Amy Miller

Wooden Letter: Grace Graffiti
Seating Chart: DIY


#AVeryLongWedding Recap:
Engagement
Bridal Shower
The Rehearsal
Getting Ready
First Looks
Bridal Party

Ceremony

First Dances

#AVeryLongWedding: First Dances

Jeremy and I decided very early on that we would dance to Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley for our first dance as husband and wife. The lyrics are perfect, it's Elvis (whom we love), and it has always been one of my favorite Elvis songs. It was perfect for us. These moments, dancing with my brand new husband, living in this moment, are some of my favorite memories from the wedding day. Even though we were in a room surrounded by our family in friends, I felt like it was just the two of us. So wonderful. We will never hear that song the same way again.

My dance with my Father is another incredibly special moment. As you may already know, my Father passed away rather suddenly only a few weeks after my wedding. I had no idea at the time, but these moments dancing with my Father are some of the last moments I spent with him. I'm so happy I have these images of us together, just the two of us. At my Father's request, we danced to My Wish by Rascal Flatts. When he first mentioned that he had chosen a song to dance to at my wedding months before, he could barely get the words out! This song is pretty emotional and the lyrics are so perfect. This is why you'll notice me crying in some of these pictures! He was singing to me. I miss my Dad every single day and having these pictures is such a gift.

 

Photographer: Jon Sharman Photography
Videography: 314 Productions
Hair & Makeup: Capelli
Venue: Peabody Hotel - Reception in the Venetian Room
Coordinator: Amy Miller

Band: Soul Shockers



#AVeryLongWedding Recap:
Engagement
Bridal Shower
The Rehearsal
Getting Ready
First Looks
Bridal Party

Ceremony

#AVeryLongWedding: The Ceremony

The wedding ceremony. The part I was most looking forward to. I dreamed of looking into Jeremy's eyes and saying our marriage vows since the ring was first put on my finger (and even before that). This was it. The moment we had been waiting for. Becoming husband and wife.

From the moment my Dad walked me down the aisle until Jeremy and I said "I do" (and every moment before and after) was truly perfect. I wouldn't have changed one thing.

Throughout the wedding planning process, I enjoyed planning all the little details and making them special and meaningful. For instance, my flowers were wrapped in a piece of my Mom's wedding dress (the sleeve actually) and the ring bearer pillow had a piece of my grandmother's wedding dress attached. Not only that, but the ring bearer pillow was actually an embroidery hoop! A few little details that took everything up a notch and made our day absolutely our day.

I opted out of the traditional "Here Comes the Bride" while walking down the aisle and decided to go with "Love Me Tender" by Elvis played by a string quartet. It was a little detail that put a personal spin our our ceremony and made it more "us".

Photographer: Jon Sharman Photography
Videography: 314 Productions
Flowers: Holliday Flowers
Hair & Makeup: Capelli
String Quartet: Beth Luscombe Strings
Venue: Peabody Hotel
Coordinator: Amy Miller



#AVeryLongWedding Recap:
Engagement
Bridal Shower
The Rehearsal
Getting Ready
First Looks
Bridal Party

#AVeryLongWedding: The Bridal Party

I might be a little bit biased, but we had the best bridal party ever. I mean, my bridesmaids are the most beautiful people I have ever seen and the groomsmen are all so handsome. In addition to taking some killer pictures, each and every member of our bridal party made our day so much more special by standing with Jeremy and me while we said our vows.

These are our closest friends and our family members and I couldn't have imagined our wedding day without any of them. It was perfect. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Since I have no sisters of my own, I asked my brother to be my maid-of-honor. Even though the men in our bridal party outnumbered the ladies, I'm so glad I was able to give my brother this honor. He did so much to help me get ready for my big day and having him right there next to me meant so much to me. A particularly funny moment was when we had to explain exactly how he had to fix my train for me and that he had to hold my flowers through the ceremony. He was  trooper and the best maid-of-honor anyone could ever hope for.

My whole life I have been close with my cousin, Kim (on left in first picture). We've been there for each other during each major milestone in our lives. Even though she's a few years older than me, I have always felt close to her and I have always looked up to her. This year, she was able to stand with me for my wedding, and in October, I'll be the matron of honor in hers.

I remember when I met Catherine (second from left in first picture)when I started high school. We clicked right away. Somehow, we figured out that our parents had all gone to Villanova and that they had graduated in the same year! Clearly, we were meant to be best of friends, and to go to Villanova together ourselves to make our own memories there.

While at Villanova, Catherine and I met Mary (on right in first picture). I honestly cannot imagine life without these two. Even though we are scattered across the country now, I know these girls are there for me no matter what. I'm so happy that they were there for me on my wedding day especially. Between sewing my dress, fixing my hair and makeup, secretly decorating the bridal sweet, and just overall having a good time, my entire bridal party overall wins the award for best in the world. Seriously.

Photographer: Jon Sharman Photography
Videography: 314 Productions
Flowers: Holliday Flowers
Hair & Makeup: Capelli
Venue: Peabody Hotel
Bridesmaid Dresses: Donna Morgan 


#AVeryLongWedding Recap:
Engagement
Bridal Shower
The Rehearsal
Getting Ready
First Looks 

  

#AVeryLongWedding: First Looks

Yes, you read that right. I titled this post "First Looks"... plural. That's because I had two first looks on my wedding day!

Jeremy and I decided that we wanted to see each other before the ceremony so we could get pictures taken to have more time with our guests celebrating. I'll be honest, during the planning process I had all these elaborate ideas for a first look in my head from constant Pinterest browsing (balloons were part of the equation), but in the end, it was simple and it was so incredibly perfect. Our photographer, Jon Sharman (aka best there is), and our videographers, 314 Productions (who are also the best), scoped our this amazing hallway and the pictures turned out perfectly.

I also decided that I wanted to do a special First Look with my Dad and my brother. This was one of the best decisions I've ever made, especially considering these are some of the sweetest moments with my Father and also some of the last I'll ever have.

I realize this is a pretty photo heavy post, I couldn't narrow it down to any fewer!! I love each of these moments so very very much.



Photographer: Jon Sharman Photography
Videography: 314 Productions
Flowers: Holliday Flowers
Hair & Makeup: Capelli
 



Next week I'll be talking about these gorgeous ladies (and my brother who was my maid of honor!!) 

Linking with: Wedding Wednesday / Wedding Wednesday