Real Weddings: Louise & Gabe

I could not be more pleased to bring you the wonderfully unique wedding of Louise and Gabe. Louise is the beautiful big sissy of my bff Mayzr, and I absolutely idolized her growing up (and still do). I remember going to see her in Little Mary Sunshine (I must have been in Kindergarten), and afterwards campaigning with my mother to change my name to Little Mary Sunshine. It's a mouth full, but I think it has a nice ring to it.

I had the pleasure of attending Louise and Gabe's wedding a few years back, and it still stands out as one of the most joyful, love-filled, personal weddings I have ever been to- not to mention one of the best parties! I could go on and on but Louise really said it all, listen up Brides-to-Be, this is some quality meaningful advice...

{Get us to the church on time!}

What was the theme you chose for the wedding?

The theme of our wedding evolved over time. It ended up being inspired by the song ‘Oh, Happy Day’. Starting with our invitation which invitation included a DVD that my husband and I had a lot of fun making. You can check it out at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5324856432730941768# . Our choir of friends sang ‘Oh, Happy Day’ at the end of our ceremony and had all of the guests singing and dancing in the aisles.

{Our friends sing “Oh, Happy Day” and got everyone dancing in the aisles all the way to the reception}

**Editor's Note** Louise studied acting at NYU so her friends are ENORMOUSLY talented, we are talking classically trained Opera singers, not Karaoke.

What were your wedding colors?

I could never quite narrow down the color choices for the wedding. I knew I wanted it to have a joyous and vibrant feeling. So, ‘bright colors’ became the color theme! For the guest’s attire, I requested ‘bright colors and black tie’. It looked fantastic. We lucked out in that the places we held our ceremony and reception were so gorgeous that they did not need much added decoration. So, our guests in their glorious bright colors became the added décor.

{I requested that guests wear “bright colors and black tie.” Check out the colors. Gorgeous!}

How did you decide on the location and feel of the Ceremony?

The Ceremony: The ceremony was the part of the wedding my husband and I were not willing to compromise with our parents on. We took a huge risk and did not tell them what we were planning. They were very nervous and they tried their best to squeeze it out of us, but we didn’t give in. We held our ceremony as a sacred experience and wanted to make sure it was genuine to us and our union. I did not get married in the church I grew up in. In fact, I had quite an eclectic combination. We got married in a Quaker Church with a Methodist minister. And neither of us is Quaker or Methodist! We just loved the space and were very inspired by this particular minister. It just shows to go ya: there are no rules. Do what moves you and makes your heart sing.

{This was Juanita Rasmus, the incredible minister for our service. I went to a service at her church in Houston and knew she was the one. We had a very untraditional service, but she got it right away. In fact, after the service, my grandmother said, “Well that was beautiful, but I’m not sure if they’re actually married.}

I don't think I have ever danced so much at a wedding, how did y'all create such an lively atmosphere for the reception?

The Party: Our intention for the reception was to have a blow out party. We wanted everyone to have a rip roarin’ time. We didn’t like how so many weddings pause the flow of the party to go through the typical motions. At the same time, we wanted to include a lot of the traditions. So our solution was to sandwich them into the beginning and the end. At the start of the party, we did speeches/toasts, the first dance and cut the cake. Then just before our exit, we threw the bouquet and garter. We did not do a seated dinner. We had the food out and lovely tables so guests could eat whenever they wanted. The band was fantastic and kept the dance floor filled all night long. Love train……oh yeah!

{As far as I’m concerned, no wedding is complete without a Love Train!}

Any advice for future brides?

Planning my wedding was no easy task. Between my husband and I, we have 8 opinionated parents who all wanted a say. There was a lot of back and forth and around and about, but it all paid off big time. Learning to work with your fiancé and both of your parents to come up with the right decisions for your wedding is part of what a wedding is about. It is a time to get to know one another and it sets up how you will interact from here on out. It is practice for learning how to create your own life with your fiancé, while not forgetting who you are and where you came from.

So far, planning a wedding is one of the most challenging things I’ve done. If you think about it, there is so much at play. You are trying to plan the best party you’ve ever thrown while coming to terms with and preparing for the REST of your life. All the while, trying to keep your daily life moving along. It can be heavy. Seemingly meaningless decisions turn in to heated debate. Why do you think there are countless magazines, books, and reality shows solely devoted to this affair? My advice when trying to find your voice in it all, is to get a scrap book- cut out pictures, take notes, don’t rush and soon your look and feel will come together. Between parents, planning from across the country, and graduate school, it took me almost 2 years to get down that aisle.

Planning our wedding with all of our 8 parents was tough, but each person clung to the part of the wedding he/she cared most about. In the end, it turned out perfectly.

Oh, Happy Day!

{My dress was Alvina Valenta. It’s not a cut I thought would look good on me, but when I tried it on both my mother and I knew it was the right one. It was the easiest decision of the whole affair.}

{I drove to the church in a limo with my father. Just the two of us.}

{This picture captured the beauty and spirit of our wedding ceremony. It was a truly magical experience.}

{It rained a bit...}

{...So we got these bright umbrellas...}

{...Hey! Rain on your wedding day is good luck, right?}

{Our photographers were fantastic. They climbed up into crazy spots to get the shots they wanted. I love this bird’s eye view of our first dance.}

{My husband Gabe and his friends choreographed a dance that they did in the middle of the party to “Get Down Tonight”. It ended with them lifting him on high.}

{We had a photo booth with a blank notebook placed outside of it instead of the traditional guestbook. Our guests had a great time with it, and we have a hilarious notebook of the photos. I totally recommend it!}

{This is my “choir of friends”. Instead of hiring musicians for the service, I decided to use my talented friends. It made the ceremony more personal- they sang at the reception too!}

{Tradition, Tradition}

{Our grand exit leaving the party (we had no idea we were about to get pummeled by confetti)}

{Sticking with our “bright colors” theme, my mother surprised us with a confetti fountain for our grand exit. It got a little out of control. We still had confetti stuck to us when we woke up the next morning!}

{Our getaway car was my brother’s truck. We rode in the back of the truck, in the rain, covered in confetti. It was a blast. When we got to our hotel, a town car pulled up behind us. A pristine bride and groom got out. They had just gotten married at the country club. We looked like two bats out of hell compared to them. I loved it!}

Thank you so much Louise for the great advice and sharing your amazing photos!

Check back in later today for more ideas inspired by Louise & Gabe's Wedding