Every bride has a different style and idea of what their perfect wedding dress will look like. The most simple detail can change the whole look of a dress. Take a look at these gorgeous gowns with different types of pretty tied bows.
Our Coffee Talk this week is with Alison Roach. Alison & Eric had a very unique steampunk wedding on March 24, 2012 at Carnegie Institute in DC this year. Anne loved working on this special wedding with them.
Tell us a little about your wedding style?
We didn’t really have a concept in mind when we first started planning. We knew a few things: 1) We wanted it to be fun; 2) We wanted my friend, Matt, who is the mastermind behind https://www.aheartisaspade.com/ to DJ; 3) We didn’t want it to be the typical DC column dress/A-line wedding; 4) We wanted to get married in the District proper since, at the time, it was the only place nearby where ALL of our friends also had the legal right to get married. From there, we mainly went on gut. I think the steam punk concept just sort of evolved. Neither Eric nor I are hardcore steampunks, but we are both science/history geeks at heart and there was something really appealing about the notion of building a wedding around that concept. We just chose things that we liked as we went (starting with the awesome invitations we got from Royal Steamline) and at some point, it became clear that we were choosing a lot of things that were “steampunk.”
We held off for a long time choosing “colors” per se and instead focused on the elements we wanted. We wanted it to be colorful, but it was more of an overall mood we were trying to build and we didn’t want to get to this place where EVERYthing was “blue and gold” or “teal and mauve” or whatever. It’s funny, but there is this weird pressure to choose COLORS (as if you are joining a gang or something) but I’m glad we held off doing that (on Anne’s advice) because it allowed us to be a lot more flexible with last minute choices. Anyway, I wish we could take credit for all of the amazing details at our wedding, but really it was all the unbelievably wonderful vendors that we worked with that made it happen. In particular, Kelly at Capital Decor did a phenomenal job, as did Fluffy Thoughts, Occasions Catering, and John Farr Lighting.
Ultimately, what we wanted was for our wedding to be a celebration of our past, our present, and our future. Eric and I have been through a lot of hard times together - including Hurricane Katrina and the sudden loss of my father a few years ago. I can’t speak for the rest of my family, but I had this sense that our wedding felt like this placeholder in time, a sort of a celebration for us all that we had been through all this crap and we were still here, still loved each other, still laughing, and still ready to dance.
Favorite detail of your wedding?
There were so many - it’s really hard to choose. Our cake was unbelievable as were the light up letters that we had, so cool. I think what really blew us away on the day was to see all these little pieces of things we picked out and talked about come together so well. We’d never done any kind of event like this before, so it was so amazing that everything just kind of arrived. To us, it felt like magic. We know, it wasn’t, of course, and that it took a lot of people working very hard but, for us, it felt like we just showed up and there was all of this wonderfulness waiting for us. Oh yeah, and the donut truck was also awesome.
Most memorable part of your wedding day?
We know everyone says this, but seeing each other at the ceremony for the first time is definitely up there, as is our first dance, and exchanging our vows. More broadly, it was just so great to have all the people we love in one room having a good time. You can’t beat that feeling.
Why did you choose Atrendy for your wedding?
We really got the sense from Anne that we could be as involved or uninvolved in the planning process as we wanted or needed to be. And even though their portfolio didn’t include exactly what we were looking for, all of their weddings had this quirkiness and uniqueness that I was looking for. Anne herself is a joy to work with. She was incredibly patient and understanding and she worked really hard to make sure that we got what *we* wanted and not what was easy, convenient, or conventional.
If you could give one word of advice to a couple what would it be?
Hire a planner (specifically Anne) if you can. That “magic” that we talked about a few questions ago was due largely to her efforts and hard work. We never would have found all of the incredible vendors that we worked with without her. And Anne helped us translate our vague ideas into things that we could actually do and/or have at the wedding.
