Our good friends Phil and Maureen got married this past Sunday in their home town in Michigan. Phil is the keyboard player in my husband’s band Just Off Turner and Maureen is the band’s Yoga teacher. She’s the Yoga teacher for our entire group of friends, actually, yet we never manage to coordinate all of our schedules to have one big class. But somehow we can manage coordinating champagne brunch?
Anyway, as Phil and Mo were paying for the wedding themselves, they chose to have it back home in MI. Needless to say, it was much much cheaper than anything they could have had here in LA!
Before they took off for their honeymoon in Brazil, Phil generously answered some questions for us all. The pictures were taken by wedding guests–we haven’t seen the professional ones yet!
Q: What was the best part of your wedding day?
There’s so many amazing, special moments to choose from. I think it was, simply, when my bride-to-be came down the staircase escorted by her father.
Q: What do you feel was totally unnecessary?
I think that we successfully weeded out unnecessary portions of the ceremony, photographs and reception beforehand. There was nothing that I rolled my eyes at, which for me, is quite a statement…
Q: What would you change, if anything?
Everything that we had control over was perfect. However, with so many different components of the day needing to fall exactly into place, there’s bound to be a couple of snags. Cellists being thirty minutes late, forgetting the boutonnieres until the last second and losing an important envelope (if only for a little while) could fall into this category.
Q: What was unexpected that you loved?
I didn’t expect driving golf carts around the golf course with the wedding party to take photographs would be such a blast.
Q: What are your fondest memories of your wedding day?
Having all of my best and oldest friends & family all in one place, the amazing food, my four-year-old niece tearing up the dancefloor and breaking little boy hearts all over the place. Dancing with my new bride and her dance with her father to the song that he wrote the words to, I wrote the music to and one of my dearest friends & bandmate, Bryan, sang on.
Q: Is there anything you wish you had spent more time or money on?
A little more time to secure the boutonnieres probably would’ve been wise… Otherwise, we did alright.
Q: Is there anything you wish you had spent less time or money on?
You always want to spend less money, of course, but for as DIY as our wedding was, I think we got our money’s worth on everything we invested it in.
Q: Were there any unexpected surprises or issues?
See: Cellists arriving late, guests grabbing pie a little too early and the dilemma of whether or not to get the bee out of Maureen’s veil in the middle of the ceremony or not.
Q: What’s your number #1 tip for future engaged couples?
There’s an amazing amount of details for your wedding day that you can accomplish yourself with research and tenacity. Flowers, centerpieces, favors and decorations can all be done at a fraction of the price with some imagination and elbow grease.
Q: How did you feel after the wedding?
Happily exhausted.
