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Ellie & Chris were originally planning to elope, but decided instead on an intimate wedding in an art gallery in downtown Lawrenceville, the Lona Gallery. It was full of DIY touches, sentiment, and overflowing with emotion, just the way I like it.
We started out at their home, where they got ready separately, then had a “first look” on their back porch. We hid inside to capture everything through the windows, which added a voyeuristic effect and allowed Ellie & Chris that much more privacy. We then gathered our things and headed to the square, then onto the gallery.
Thank you, Ellie & Chris. You know you’re awesome, but I’m telling you anyway: you’re AWESOME.
Vendors listed at the bottom, badass advice and the story from Ellie throughout.
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Most memorable moment from your wedding day?
Including photos, ceremony and the reception, our entire wedding lasted two hours. It took place two blocks from our house on a bright and chilly Wednesday morning, so we took the pictures at our house, and the drive to the venue took five minutes. The brevity was absolutely perfect for us, and I loved the casual feel of it all. After the brief event, my husband and I climbed into a rental car and took off for an eight hour road-trip to Washington, D.C. for our honeymoon. That roadtrip, by far, was my favorite part of my wedding: driving along the highway, chatting with my new HUSBAND and listening to a George Carlin audiobook. We stopped for Carolina BBQ off the highway at one point, chowing down at this hole-in-the-wall place in my wedding dress at 3pm on a weekday. Total perfection.
Funniest moment from your wedding day?
One of the things I worked hardest on was compiling excellent music for the wedding-particularly, of course, the ceremony music. The music for the walk down the aisle and during the ceremony was perfect. However, after we kissed, everyone clapped, and the WRONG song came on as we walked back down as Mr. + Mrs. for the first time! I’d had planned the song “Step Out,” by Jose Gonzalez. I want you to listen to that song and think how perfect that would have been. Instead, some hokey drum beat came on, and I just looked at my husband and laughed, “What the hell song is this?!” The applause drowned out the “song,” and I was way too much in total bliss to even care. After all, I was married! That was the point! Fuck the tunes! We totally laughed it off.
What were you most anxious/nervous about regarding your wedding day and how did it turn out?
My mother and I have a rocky history, and she has a track record of creating drama. Because of this I was extremely concerned that there was a chance she’d cause a scene at my wedding.
My husband and I are both non-religious and opted for a completely secular ceremony. There would be no mention of god or spirituality, and no prayer. My mother is extremely religious, and because of this I knew there was a chance she might insert herself into the ceremony, offering a prayer over our new marriage, or getting angry over our very human-centric address. This may sound extreme, but to me that would have been devastating, as I associate religion with a great deal of emotional pain that I’ve endured over the years, and I did not want anything of it at my wedding.
This sparked hours of debate and concern between me and my brother with our significant others, coming to terms with the possibilities of drama and how we could respond. The only thing I could do was let go and hope for the best, and believe that even if a prayer was said, that wouldn’t affect anything, and we could simply move on. (That took a great deal of swallowing my pride…)
In the end, nothing actually came of it. My mother was respectful and polite during the ceremony, despite the differences in our beliefs. It was a huge relief.
Unfortunately, though, at the end of the morning when we were taking family pictures my mother did stir up a bit of drama by very publicly refusing to participate in pictures, which was awkward for my guests. But in the end I was thankful that the drama was delayed until the end of the event, rather than during the most important part. She later apologized.
What advice would you give to other couples planning their wedding?
I just want people to know that it’s okay to do things differently, to acknowledge what makes your situation unique, no matter what. It’s okay if your family isn’t coming, or if only you have bridesmaids and your husband has no groomsmen. It’s okay to have a morning wedding, or a midnight wedding, to elope or to not wear a wedding dress. Jeans are okay. Pizza is okay. EVERYTHING IS OKAY. Literally no one cares as much about your wedding as YOU DO—and if they do, their priorities are totally not in the right place, and that STILL is not your problem. You do you, babe. Unapologetically!
If you could do it all over, would you change anything?
More flowers, louder dress, and a shot of whiskey before the whole thing!
Any tips for future couples on how to prepare for the wedding photos?
Discuss your vision for the pictures with your spouse and your photographer in advance. Be candid about your bad angles, your good angles, and the parts of your body that make you self-conscious. I was straight up with Raven: “Woman, don’t you dare show me any pictures where I have weird arm fat!” And she didn’t!
We also explained to Raven that my husband doesn’t like being told to smile and be stiff and weird in pictures, and she was so cool about it, giving us really specific things to do to make the shot (“Whisper something dirty in his ear!” was my personal favorite. GREAT facial reactions from those shots!! Ha).
Oh, and be specific: if you LOVE a certain type of picture, your photographer can’t read your brain. Ask and they can deliver. That’s the awesome thing about the fact that you’re paying them: it’s a service, and you can make requests. Yay!
Vendors
- Florist - Wholesale {Note from Ellie: People, absolutely I recommend doing your own flowers. It is SO MUCH CHEAPER, and you can do things exactly how YOU want them.}
- Cakes/Desserts: Blue Rooster Bakery
- Venues - The Lona Gallery
- Dress/Clothing - David’s Bridal + Men’s Wearhouse
- Accessories/Jewelry - Necklace from David’s Bridal
- Rings - Amazon
- Officiant - The Tattoed Minister (Hannah Hill) {Note from Ellie: Despite the title of “minister,” she performed our ceremony 100% secularlarly. Hannah is awesome!}
