Anita and Paul had one of the most fun, unique Weddings it has ever been my pleasure to photograph. Being fellow cat lovers, we instantly hit it off when we met to discuss their plans. And when Anita told me that she was considering having her Bridesmaids hold stuffed cats instead of bouquets, I instantly had a crush on them and their Wedding. To my delight, Anita was true to her word, and she even threw her cat for the “bouquet toss”! The cats were specially made to look like Anita and Paul’s own 4 cats. (By the way, you have to check out the hilarious “Brides Throwing Cats” meme! http://bridesthrowingcats.com/
Anita and Paul’s Wedding also showed their mutual love of music, as self-professed “music nerds”. Their decor, and the music that Caitlin from Toast and Jam DJs played was clear evidence of that. It was such a fun contrast to the landmark Cafe Brauer building, with its prairie style architecture from 1908. I even danced a little at the end of the night to some Duran Duran! Other great music I remember hearing includes Pulp, Blur, the Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, ABC, Devo, and Talking Heads.
I had a quick little Q&A with the Bride for more back story on their day:
Looking back, what was one of your favorite parts or moments of the Wedding day?
Probably the first look. Paul & I held each others hands as we stood there & I could feel him trembling! I thought it was sweet that he was nervous. 🙂
Tell us about having your Bridesmaids dance down the aisle with cats instead of bouquets, and how that all came to reality.
I feel flowers are so temporary that it conflicted with the purpose of marriage. And since I’ve had cats, I’ve never been able to have plants, so they aren’t very important to me. I wanted a way to include my pets in the ceremony since they couldn’t actually be there. I also thought it’d be fun for the bridesmaids…or really embarrassing for them! They were all skeptical when I first told them (after they arrived in town for the wedding- hahaha!). But they all agreed to have a few drinks & get pumped up for it since it was me they were doing it for. 🙂 And truth be told, they watched over those cats like they were made of diamonds! They carried them around with them long after they could have set them down. 🙂
Where did you get the idea for your reception decor?
Paul & I are music nerds. We have a large record collection in addition to digital music. I did a search for record & cassette centerpieces & found the record bowls & tape lights. I made all the record bowls & Event Creative put together the tape lights & printed out the record covers (to use instead of table numbers). Since we weren’t using flowers for bouquets, it seemed weird to me to use them for decor (plus I didn’t want to use flowers, period). I did some searching online for “music themed” boy accessories & quickly found 7″ record adapters: cufflinks, tie clips & pins. The boys wore the pin instead of a boutonniere (Paul was the only one with the cufflinks, though). I purchased these for the boys & Paul found 2 t-shirts on threadless.com that were record/tape/music related to make up their gifts for being part of the wedding party.
Where did you get your dress?
I hate to shop in general & the thought of trying on wedding dresses almost sent me into a panic attack! I, again, looked online (Amazon.com) & found a cute dress. Ordered it, realized I ordered gold instead of ivory, so I then had to order it again in the right color. Both were delivered & the ivory one was almost a perfect fit (an absolute miracle).
Mention a funny moment here:
There were lots but if I had to pick one it’d be: announcing the wedding party. They danced into the hall to the song Don’t ya Just Know it, which makes me smile.
Any advice for future Brides and Grooms?
Try to have a schedule for everyone to follow at least a day before the wedding. It should include when your wedding party needs to be at what location, what time photos start, who’s responsible for bringing what items to the venue, etc. It’s so much easier to have a list that everyone can reference & they don’t have to rely on their memory. Plus it helps you keep track of information, if it’s not on that list, you’re to blame!
Vendor Credits:
2nd Photographer: Brianne Bradbury
Wedding Cinema: Hendzel Productions
Prep Hotel: Hotel Lincoln
Ceremony and Reception: Cafe Brauer
Décor: Event Creative
Officiant: David Banasiak
Caterer: Tiger Lilly
DJ: Toast & Jam, Caitlin
Hair/Makeup: Salon V
So without further ado, it’s time to look at some super fun photos of Anita and Paul’s big day!
