Real Wedding: Lauren and Gil (Part 2 of 2)

Ready for more Lauren and Gil?!  Check out some of there cute, personalized details! Lauren's handmade dress featured lace from her mother's wedding gown, their friend (and groomsman), Carl, performed for the guests during cocktail hour, they had a photo board featuring photos of them and all of the guests at the wedding, and the basket of flip flops was a serious life saver.  Also, the ice cream wedding cake and sweet little cupcakes were fantastic!  And, we particularly loved their guest book!  It was a beautiful and creative idea that now, instead of sitting on a shelf or in a box, can be displayed as a sentimental piece of art. Plus, it went right along with their fingerprint motif (which we helped to inspire!). And, speaking of fingers, did you see the rings?  Lauren and Gil try their best to live an eco-friendly lifestyle so, naturally, their rings are from Brilliant Earth.  Here are some of our favorites:

And, some words from the bride:

What was your wedding "theme" / inspiration? Gil and I are simple, sentimental, and we love the beach. We wanted an understated beachy theme, keeping things as simple as possible, and making sure to add in special, personal touches along the way. For example, my dress was handmade using lace from my mom's dress, I had tile pictures of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents attached to my bouquet, we made two large photo collages on fishnets with a picture of every single guest at our wedding, etc.

 What was the most important thing for you when planning your wedding? The most important thing for us was to try to incorporate as many personal touches to the day as possible, to try to make it meaningful to us and our guests and try to avoid the "factory" type wedding as much as we could. Due to certain restrictions, we couldn't have the reception under a tent like we wanted, but we were able to have it at a semi-casual venue on the water!

What made you decide on your gorgeous (and handmade) dress? I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a dress, and the one I had my eye on was too much. Visiting a few dress shops for ideas just turned me off to the idea even more. Plus, I had the idea to use the lace from my mom's dress on mine, so handmade was the way to go! I had met a great tailor who used to own a bridal shop, and the rest was history...I ended up with a great fitting, very meaningful dress that was custom yet similar to the one I had in mind all along, and was able to pay tribute to my mom and my parent's marriage in the process!

What was your first dance to? We chose Jack Johnson's "Better Together" Hawaiian version. Jack has had a hand in our relationship from the beginning...it was only fitting.

What was the most memorable moment for you? I remember what Gil's face looked like when I was walking down the aisle, my dad humming to keep from crying during our father/daughter dance, the bus ride with our wedding party to the reception, my mom dancing like crazy to the Black Eyed Peas. I tried to soak in as much as possible, but the day goes by so fast!

Anything else? I think one of the best things we did was host a brunch the morning after the wedding. It was really great to see most of our guests again and discuss the day! I had a chance to sit down with people I didn't really get to spend enough time with at the wedding, and I really appreciate having that opportunity! I recommend it to any future brides :)

Photographers: Matt Catalano and Erik Fawcett

Wedding Dress: Shirley Gilinsky (handmade and amazing)

Bridesmaid Dresses: Bill Levkoff

Suits: Calvin Klein

Venue/Food: Martell's Waters Edge, Bayville NJ (great people to work with, beautiful venue and views, and the chef was super accommodating to dietary restrictions)

DJ: The Pros

Flowers: O'Briens, Point Pleasant NJ

Hotel/Brunch: Holiday Inn, Toms River

Rings: Brilliant Earth

Hair/Makeup: Salon Du Monde

 

Special thanks to Lauren and Gil for allow us to share their special day with you.  Best wishes to them for a very happy marriage!

XOXO

Jen & Saira