The official Todi Mooers wedding thread
 

OK. I give. I stayed away from posting about the wedding here too much for a long time. Like, nine months. But now that we're three months away from the big day, and the event looms larger and larger, I just can't not post. Inspired by WB's encouragement after my Sooo... rant (and in light of the news that the only LoTter who was scheduled to come is now unable) I've created a thread where I can talk about it with you guys.

So. There's a lot of planning and stress and joy to share with you guys. But I'm only going to do it in little frequent blips, as opposed to a great big data dump all at once. So.

We've chosen a Vintage Movie Theme. We are hosting the "cocktail hour" part of the reception within an old movie theater so we can screen a fun movie we're making for the occasion.

And by "cocktail hour" we mean "movie snacks hour." Popcorn, junior mints, licorice, and the like will be gathered together in this popcorn box (which is, incidentally, part of the inspiration for the color scheme of white and yellow with red accents.)



We're also using the boxes for "welcome" packages for guests who have traveled from out of town and are staying overnight. (Included in the box? Cherry muffins, made by me the week of the wedding. Blueberry jam, made by my jam-tastic brother. Bottles of water. Local information. That kind of thing.)

Here is the theater, Studio M:



And here is the next-door ballroom where we'll have dinner and cocktails (actual ones this time) and dancing:


It isn't quite what I'd pick, but considering the constrictions (needed super-accessible bathroom for Mom, needed flexible vegetarian-food-offering caterer, we can't go outside of Podunk, MI) it suffices pretty well.

Now, this is a thread!:snap:


How fun!!! This is a wedding I would have loved to be in! I eloped mostly because I didn't want a traditional wedding, and my family being psycho played a small part in my decision as well..... How totally fun. Where is this taking place at, and how many are you planning on?

I can understsand the desire to elope. Crazy families often do topple big events. (My own sister said that our mom--she's never gotten on as well with her as I do--made her want to elope and that I was lucky she wasn't involved. I don't actually believe this for a second, but we have different perspectives. Anyway.)

But I'm glad to have this party. Though I do know it's just that-- a party-- and the important thing is the marriage. There were a few days in the last while where I just wanted, "poof," to be married and to be finished with the handmade favors. Once they're all finished though, I know I'll be happy I made them.

This will be in my hometown (Midland, MI) because Mom can't travel. We've invited 280 (huge midwestern Catholic family. On my side, anyway. Poor Tom. 90% of his guests are attendants!) We expect no more than 240, though. Still, a lot of people.

This was our save-the-date card:



That blurred-out bit was for the other (lame-o) online wedding communities. Blurred out is the name of the town (Midland) and our wedding website (http://heidiandtom.weddings.com)

That's a good sized gathering, LS. Eric's dad was from Flint- is that anywhere near there? (MI does stand for Michigan, right?) Well, this will be fun, especially if there are any hardcore Catholics attending!:D (I'm Catholic, so I can pick on my own). Heh heh.......You're gonna show the Last Temptation, aren't you? Da Vinci Code? Godfather?????;)

I think you and Tom are going to have a blast. Like I said, this is one wedding I would have loved to been involved with.

Awesome, awesome. Love the theming ideas, and the place looks pretty swank to me!

You will post the movie after the wedding, won't you? I'd love to see it.

Hmm, Significant Chicken.....since we used the name "Bok Bok Productions" and the image of a stuffed chicken for our production name when we made home movies a few years back, we are now required to sue Tom. After you marry him, you're part of the suit too. ;)

Heh. No. We will decidedly not be posting the movie after we get back. We will be showing the movie (updated with stuff from the Michigan wedding) at the Los Angeles reception!

And as for Bok Bok Productions... I actually think that you guys might owe Tom the royalties! He's been using that one since college (and I think you guys might've been in junior high at that time...) The name has an amusing origin. You should ask him when next you see him.

BTW, Wendy, Flint is about an hour away from Midland. And there will, without a doubt, be heavy-lifter Catholics there. We have all kinds of fun ideas about what to screen for them.

I love your theme! Wow, the peoples on this board are soooo creative!!! Love love love it!!!

And, how cute how you {CP} had a production company, too!

Okay. This thread and the subject of eloping and why people do it and how you {LSPE}, did not feel the way your sister did {your sister felt different about your mom} makes me compelled to post....

Back some time ago I posted that my daughter was planning on getting married. Then they postponed it and they did have a few significant dates flying about, all more towards the end of the year.

Well, they 'eloped' last Thursday. To Vegas. The Hubster and I were quite bummed. Sure, we had offered a lot of things but we never said 'Oh, and we are going to do this and that and blah blah blah...'. More so trying to give them ideas that a small wedding could be nice and inexpensive. I know they were concerned about money. Hello, so were we!!

Inywho. We aren't sad we couldn't give them a wedding. We were sad we couldn't be there with them. They are agreeable to a reception here, now, but how does one go about doing that????

Sorry, didn't mean to hijiack your thread but I am hoping it goes along with it?? :blush:

I really felt compelled to post because of how you said you didn't see it that way about your mom. I thought it was sweet and an example of how people can see the same thing differently.

That's not a hijack at all-- it's related!

We're doing a reception out here for the people (read: LoT, among others) who cannot come but with whom we dearly want to celebrate. It's totally OK to send an announcement of the wedding with an invitation to a reception; I've been to one before and it was very nice. And plus, much less expensive.

Congratulations on your daughter's marriage. But I'm so sorry you didn't get to experience it with her! I am sure she'll enjoy celebrating with you at a reception.

LOVE - the save the date card, it's so perfect for you two and the use of a theater is simply brilliant

You live in a town called "Blurred"? How quaint! ;)

I love your theme! I'm aquanted with it, check out my website Star Town Gifts You may get an idea ot two! And let me know if I can help in any way!

My wife and I had the big wedding planned, but her mom made all the desitions, and wouldn't let my wife make any at all. This pissed her off, so we eloped to Vegas.

I love the theme as well. What a great idea!
How romantic.
:)

Love it. So incredibly fun. I love weddings that are about the couple not about how much money has been spent on the party to impress their parents friends.

You're right about Mom's and daughters (Dad's too) my sister and I have very different views. My Mom was actually fine about wedding stuff, apparently my grandmother took over her wedding so she didn't want to do the same.

MW it's totally appropriate to have a small reception after. My best friend didn't want a whole big wedding and her hubby had been married before. So they took a couple close friends to Vegas and got married. Then had a huge casual bbq for friends and family when they got home. Worked out perfectly for them. Also didn't break the bank.

I love the theming and am so happy to see pictures of the locales. I looooove that little theater you'll be screening in, and the idea is brilliant! What a happy surprise for the people going - It'll be something they won't soon forget.

I too absolutely love the "save the date" card!!!

I think I love it all!! The movie screening, the popcorn buckets and the beautiful hall! The save the date cards are a wonderful idea, I'd have never thought of that. Must be why Gary and I ran off to Vegas!

I love the themed weddings. They seem like so much more fun than the regular formal church wedding. Working at a party rental store we are really getting a lot of wedding orders (May 19th seems to be the date of choice).

The ones that are fun for me are the themed weddings. One couple did a circus type theme, complete with churro warmer, pretzel warmer, popcorn machine and cotton candy machine. the colors were all bright and fun. I have a wedding comeing up that is a roaring 20's theme. The guys are wearing zoot siuts and hats.

Reading the first post, I was like 'oh-no! Spoilorz!!!'


Then I realized this was the wedding in Michigan that I'm not going to. Which reading the first post made me, and perhaps anyone with a pulse, ya know, want to.



Sigh.

No worries! I can't wait to see what this swanky couple cooks up for the LoT Reception! :D

Early 1998 for us. One day I'll hook up the VCR to the internets and get us some YouTube fame.
Well, if you call putting a stuffed chicken on a chair and filming it while saying "BUKAWK" having a production company...

That's the great thing about YouTube! Any one can be a movie producer! :snap:

I'm mot sure I'd use the word "great".

Actually, we were "movie producers" before YouTube, though no one saw said movies unless we brought the tape to your house. There have been home-brew filmmakers since film was invented. The fact that said home-brew film can now be viewed by anyone in the world instantaneously - yes, I would use the word "great" for that.

Thanks LSPE and katiesue :) ~ I do hope to be able to make something {acceptable to her, they are Vegan} and let the family come together and celebrate. I hadn't told anyone because I wanted to make something {like your save the date card} to announce the wedding and invite them to celebrate.

CP~LOL, ah, yeah, that sounds like a production company to me!!! Remember the end of some show {was it Cheers?} "Sit Bufoo, sit. Good doggy."

I can't wait to see the pictures and hear the stories from your wedding and reception. I love the movie theme totally. :snap: I have those popcorn buckets and we use them often when we pop in a movie {or even for a night of t.v.}.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

I SO love the wedding ideas!!! It's absolutely creative and amazing, and I can't wait to see photos of the whole thing!

Heidi, you two rule!!! :D

REALLY???? I had no idea!;)

You Tube is not really so much film producing and film distribution. And, filled with a bunch of crap for the most part.

But, this thread is about the most exciting wedding on the horizion and I can't wait to read about more plans. And, H, maybe we should talk LA gig when I return. :)

Surely!

And, more you will have. Food. And flowers.

So... food. We're foodies. We like the food. I've already mentioned the food to be delivered to guests staying at the hotel. And the food being distributed at the theater.

Now, for the real food: the meal.

Our reception location does the catering, and their plated-dinner offerings are super limited for vegetarian needs, so we've selected a buffet menu. The (sort of?) unfortunate flip side of the buffet is that you have to select, like, five billion options. So ours will include the following:

-Salmon with dill sauce
-Chicken marsala
-Two types of tamales (green corn and goat cheese) from our favorite gourmet tamale company, Corn Maiden.
-Garlic and chive redskin potatoes
-Steamed broccoli flowerets
-Corn
-Mixed greens salad
-Fresh fruit
-Beefsteak tomatoes with mozzarella and pesto
-Button mushrooms with olive oil
-Relish tray
-Fresh rolls

How these people are going to be able to dance after that meal, I just don't know. Not to mention dessert.



Zingermann's in Ann Arbor (the best deli outside of NYC) will be doing our cake. We ordered a three-layer cake with extra sheet cake in order to stick within our budget. They offer different flavored layers for no extra charge, so we've selected four:

-Vanilla bean pound cake with lemon curd and blackberry preserves
-Chocolate sour cream cake with white chocolate buttercream
-Almond pound cake with mocha buttercream (my favorite!)
-Banana cake with buttercream-cheese

They will decorate with our wedding flowers.

Yellow roses:


Stephanotis:


Red gerbera daisies:


Hypericum berries:



This will be my bouquet, with the addition of pearl centers in the stephanotis:

It all looks beautiful.

The menu sounds delicious, with plenty for the vegitarians to eat too. The cake flavors sound wonderful. My mouth is watering for the vanilla bean pound cake!

This is a wonderful thread.

I wonder if we could organize a road trip just to eat some of the leftovers?

She should post everything on YouFood. Then we would just plug the computer into the data port at the base of our skulls and feel as if we had eaten this wonderful meal.

Sigh. You want to eat our food. We want you to eat our food.

We so enjoyed Teresa and Ken's wedding, but truthfully, it was part bittersweet for us. Here were all of these people we truly hold dear, and watching them joy in such a lovely celebration made it all the clearer how sad we were that the wedding was going to be so far away from our home. (But hey, if you wanna road trip, we'll save you seats!)

I'm hungry now.

It all sounds so good. And the cake flavors - yummy!

All I can say is WOW. Spectacular!

The creativity is amazing, I love the Save the Date card, the flowers are beautiful, the menu looks fabulous, the cake looks scrumptious and a handsome bride and groom, who could ask for more. Who knew you could have such a swanky affair in Michigan? ;)

Seriously. Hmm. I sooooooooooo. OK, I'll just have to lament my lack of going there to you in person. The food has me drooling.

AGH.

It just sounds so fabulous.


/sigh

We're all with you in spirit (or maybe just peering through the curtains). Set up a webcam and stream it! ;) Celebration here when you get back. Besides, you won't have to explain all your crazy liberal internet friends to your family now :D

I am loving this thread. So beautiful! :snap: You know we'll be thinking about the two of you and your fabulous reception! :)

Driving in shifts!!!
:cheers:

Damn, where is that loT bus I ordered!?????


BTD's idea about streaming vidoe is fantastic. Please do it. I don't want to miss such a beautiful event!

I've got an iSight I'm not using. Just hook it up to any Macbook. :D

Seriously! I'll lend it, if you can use it! :)

What a g-r-e-a-t idea! Do it! :snap:

Suh-wanky!:snap:

I've never before had the urge to drive to Michigan - but goodness! - look at that menu.

OK, I think it's time for another update to wedding-plan-o-rama.

We'll go all girly today with attire and accessories.

So we have lots of immediate family. LOTS of nieces and nephews. And many dear friends spread across the country. We gave up on the idea of eliminating people, so we have just outright decided that the big wedding party is justified. (Plus, sigh. We're inviting 280 to this bash. Blame it on my ever-spawning midwestern Catholic family, because most of Tom's guests are actually standing up with us! Heh.)

On my side, we have my sister Michelle (the matron-of-honor), my brother Brian, and three dear friends, Aimee, Matt, and Ashley.

On Tom's side, there is his brother Josh (the best man), his dear friend Anna, his brother Matt, his sister Betsy, and his nephew Sam.

Then there is the parade of sweeties, my eight nieces and nephews. (Yes, all in formalwear.) Joshua, Zachary, Tianna and Marissa are our junior bridesmaids/groomsmen. Julia is our flower girl, Brendan and Sam are our ring bearers, and the youngest, Colin, is a wee usher escorting my mother (who, self-conscious in her wheelchair, says she's glad most eyes will be on him.)

And, of course, the grown-up ushers, our own EH1812, plus Tom's sis-in-law Diane and my bro-in-law Mike.

So.

The boys, from my father down to tiny Colin, will all be wearing this getup:


As for our ladies, each is a different size/height/style, so we wanted to make sure they are as comfortable and confident as possible. So each maid/matron was asked to select her own buttery-yellow tea-length dress from a certain company. Funny thing, most of them selected similar styles! Better that they do that themselves than being assigned one, still, I think.

Michelle, selected this cute halter-dress:


Betsy and Aimee both selected the same skirt and top:



Ashley went strapless:


And Anna went v-neck:


Tianna and Marissa chose this:


And little Julia is wearing this:


Tom. If you're reading this, STOP NOW!

Swankilicious!
All looks great!

Incredilby fabulous H!
Everyone will look wonderful!

WOOHOO! Absolutely swanktastic!

:cheers:

Ooooh! That sheer fabric looks priceless!

Beautiful. And I love letting everyone pick their own style. Much better than having them all totally match but wearing something unflattering.

Prettiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful!!!!! Kudos on letting your attendants select their dresses, and extra kudos on giving them such a gorgeous selection!:snap:

My sister did that too, let us pick our dresses, only she sent us all paint samples and we had to match the dress to the paint sample. We got just regular dresses and it was so very easy and we all looked fine. Beautiful stuff!

wow wow wow-

It all looks so amazing.....

Which reminds me- you had asked about the picture I took of the two of you dancing- sadly once I got it onto the computer I realized it is horribly blurry. :( If I find more I will PM you.

You and Teresa are so my go to girls for wedding stuff. I love your style- it's so timeless. You'll be lovely!

Very nice! :snap:

Gorgeous all around. :snap: My Maid of Honor made her own dress and I let her do whatever she wanted in blue. It came out beautifully and represented her much better than anything I'd pick. Your suits look great - is that silver?

I sooooo just SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALED!

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Beautiful beautiful!!

Just simply amazing! :snap:

Thanks, guys! It's nice to share these things with friends (and especially friends who won't be there, so I'm not blowing the surprise for people who will be there.)

It's not silver, btw, it's a very light ivory (but the layers and types of fabric make it appear sort of shimmery.)

So my family shower was this weekend, and I had such a lovely time. My sister Michelle (my matron of honor) played hostess, and themed it all around Italy, as that is our honeymoon location. Grape-covered arches, tuscan-style colors and centerpieces, even Italian music in the background.

Here's a view into the room:


Here we are, just arriving.


The food was deeeeelicious, almost all made by hand by Michelle and mom (yes, mom-- how she mustered the energy for all this I don't know. Though she made it through all right, she was so exhausted afterward. None of us wanted her to do so much, but nobody can tell that woman what to do.)

I don't have a good shot of the finger foods, unfortunately, but they were elegant and tasty. Hallowed-out cucumber slices with salmon salad or veggie puree, endive leaves with lobster salad or curry chicken salad, cheese- or mushroom-stuffed shells, bruschetta, spinach-stuffed cherry tomatoes, artichoke tortellini, mini quishe, veggie-filled filo puffs... nobody went hungry. Such foodies we are!

Here we are, enjoying the spread...


My brother served cappuccino (from his real Italian machine) and biscotti. My niece/goddaughter/eldest junior bridesmaid served Italian Ices, with real feathered ice and all kinds of different Italian sodas....


But Michelle's crowning glory was the dessert table...

Petit fours, bites of fudge, lemon curd tarts, homemade chocolate cups filled with chocolate or white chocolate mousse, and a cupcake tree. Sugar coma was a phrase used frequently that day.

Games were played, but they were of the fun, more-unusual variety (i.e. no dressing the bride in toilet paper.) My favorite was the "newlyweds" game, in which I had to guess Tom's answers to twenty questions. I did pretty well-- 13 right-- but the ones I missed were things like "how many shoes does Tom own" (I said four, he has five) "how many shoes does Heidi own" (his answer: "sighhhhhh. More than five.") Michelle and I, below, are in the midst of this game.


It was nice to spend time with my bridesmaids (and another close friend) as well.

Great pics!











You're getting married!

Beautiful pix. It all looks amazing and like everyone is having fun.

That's why California sucks. No Italian ices at every pizza parlor.

Great pictures.

How fun! And now I'm hungry for lobster salad.


Thanks for sharing your pics!:snap:

aaaaaaand.... here it is. Heidi in her dress.

TOM GO AWAY! I mean that with all of the sufficient and appropriately expressed affection in my heart.

Lovely lovely lovely! :snap: :snap: :snap: :D

PRETTYFUL!!!!!!!!!!

You are beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!

Gorgeous, H!!! You look stunning, and I'm sure you'll look even more so on the big day!!

Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us... it means a lot to us that can't make it out there for the trip!

You are lovely in white, fair maiden (oops, hope I didn't give too much away!) ;)

Aww, thanks, ladies! I think I definitely picked the right one (though for quite awhile before it came in, I wondered if I should've gone for something a little more vintage-looking. Then I saw "Sabrina," and decided it was vintage-looking enough.) And it fits! And it's flattering! I'm relieved.

I'm a little sad about the lack of vintage hair know-how in Midland (her vintage turned out more bad 80s than sleek 40s)... but I can't expect my little home town to be Los Angeles. I'm almost tempted to do my own damn hair, but I think that'd be an extra stress on myself that I probably don't need. Still, having *her* do my hair might be cause just the same stress level. Ah, well, at least she's asked me to bring in my own foam rollers; I *know* my hair works in those.

In other news, I just found the COOLEST gifts for the chicks standing up with us. (But it's killing me-- I can't show them to you because somebody on here is a part of all that!)

Awww, you look beyoooTIful!

Absolutely STUNNING!

You looking simply amazing! :D

Awesome! You look great!!!:snap:

Have I missed the wedding pictures thread?

Hey! Somebody dredged this thread up and it's not me!

:)

Coincidentally, we're supposed to get our proofs online today! I went from honeymoon to horribly sick to completely swamped at work-- so I am hoping to take a few hours this weekend to put a report together (complete with pictures.) It's coming! It's coming!

Well, yay!

Yes, I know you're both swamped and have been sick, and glad you're better.

Speaking of work, BTW, don't you owe me something for retroland?

It's, um, late.

But.

You can see our pictures here:
www.katfoleyphoto.com
>details/proofs
>follow the "click here" link
>we're listed in July as "Heidi and Tom"
>user email is "powerswaterworks@gmail.com"
>user password is "moore"

If you click on the "favorites" you'll get a better shortlist. (It's still 17 pages worth, though.)

Happy! Yay!

LSPE,
you look beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your flowers are gorgeous, and the groom...he's very dashing.


One question, who owns the green socks?

My brother-in-law. He had loaned his black ones to the groom.

THAT is hysterical. And a great photo of said socks.
(Which by the way are a fabulous color in my book)

Oh, and I didnt say, the cake looks wonderful too! Everyone appears to be having a wonderful time.

How very cool. I like how the photographer caught a lot of your theming elements. And the bouquet was beautiful!!!

Also, I liked that there are a lot of pictures where people are laughing. It works really well (people usually look so staid and serious in wedding pix).

Yay - lovely!

Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you!

Heh, it worked really well for us too. (I don't think weddings where people are staid are... quite our style.)

I personally cannot believe no one has asked about the chicken yet.

As a recovering wedding DJ, I assumed y'all were doing the Chicken Dance.

This is indeed the case. But it was a long story - involving us initially banning the Chicken Dance from our wedding, and in negotiations with cute and cheesy parents, Tom, in his usually dry throw-away humorous manner, said "No chicken dance. Dancing chicken, that's another story." Or something like that. And thusly, my parents surprised us with a dancing chicken at our reception.

OMG! :eek: in such a GOOD way!

You both look MAH-VEL-OUS DAHLINKS. What a beeyooootiful bride and groom!

And SO many photos! I'm not through them yet, but had to post OMG you are simply gorgeous!

I gotta say that as much as I LOATH the Chicken Dance and as stupid as it sounds in the planning stages, if executed properly, and with the right crowd, it can actually be a blast.

But it tends to be huge with Mid-Westerners I've noticed.

I should be through the photos in another day or so. It's like reading the entire Soooooo thread. :p

Ken and I are loving them so far!! :)

Aw, thanks! It was a really joyful day. At some point I'll have a website with select photos and commentary on them. (I'd hoped to do it before Christmas, but it just did not happen.)

I've been questioned in mojo regarding the duct tape. It's a family gag - anything can be fixed with duct tape. So my dad brought emergency tape, including white (it's a wedding, you know?)