Isthier and Catherine knew from the beginning that their wedding would be non-traditional as they planned to combine some Chinese and Bengali wedding customs during their ceremony. As Catherine explained they wouldn’t have it any other way as she had a bride’s man and Isthier had a best lady, as well as the fact that neither of them are religious yet their ceremony was performed by a rabbi who along with his wife are close friends of theirs.
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On the day that Isthier proposed, they had planned on taking a trip to St. Louis Arboretum. It’s a funny story now, but at the time Catherine was a little irritated that morning as they had to get up early and he asked her to change what she had on to something a little more fancy! He found a quiet spot in the Japanese Garden as he knew she didn’t like attention focused on her. She was so surprised and overwhelmed she doesn’t remember what exactly he said!!
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Catherine settled on a soft pink palette for her wedding flowers. She felt that white was too stark and bright colored flowers would be distracting in photos so she wanted to keep her floral vision soft. We used a combination of pastel garden roses along with stock and mixed greens for her bridal bouquet and wedding arbor backdrop.
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The biggest challenge of wedding planning for them was simply getting started and finding a venue. Originally they wanted to get married in Chicago. After realizing how much more expensive that would be as well as inconvenient (as they are located in Champaign) they found the Walton Center on a wedding website and liked the character of the charming old building with the arches and large ballroom. Once they had their venue booked, everything started falling in place.
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For their wedding decor, they tried to focus on having unique aspects. Because she enjoys bargain hunting and re-purposing things, they had fun finding small animal figurines which they spray painted gold to enhance the floral decor. She offers this tip for brides, “Spray paint makes anything look amazing!!” This turned out to be her favorite part of wedding planning.
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Among their favorite memories from their wedding day were dancing and seeing friends. They both swing dance and their first dance was “Come Fly With Me” by Frank Sinatra. Two of her best friends finally met each other at the wedding. They had been blogging pen pals in college but had never met. When Catherine posted on Facebook about her new job, her childhood friend Stephanie realized that her college pen pal Sue worked there also and that helped break the ice between Sue and Catherine. They became such good friends that Sue was one of her bridesmaids. It was a pretty awesome moment for Stephanie and Sue to finally meet!!
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Are you ready to plan your own unique decor for your wedding? We are here to help you – call, text or email to schedule your free consultation – 309-212-6570 or fancyfloralsbynancy@hotmail.com