Wedding of Week: Jess + Gordie’s Board Game Wedding at Cellar One Pops with Personality - Pt. 1
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Jessica and Gordie won the Her Nashville wedding contest last year and their wedding has been featured in many publications, but we were all too happy to feature it ourselves with all the incredible details! We have already spotlighted their board game cake as one of favorites from 2011, but the whole affair is worth seeing.
We hope you enjoy their lovely outdoor ceremony and indoor reception with a game board theme. The theme came from Gordie's proposal with a game of Pictionary!
All photos by Jonathon Campbell Photography.
Jessica + Gordie
Ceremony & Reception Venue ~ Cellar One
Guests ~ 85
Budget
$10,000-$20,000 out of pocket – plus winning the Her Nashville contest
Wedding Team
Venue | Cellar One
Planner | Sarah Willard, Music City Events
Board Game Design | Something Detailed
Photographer | Jonathon Campbell Photography
Photo Booth | Picture This Nashville
Videographer | Truepix Cinematic
Weddings Gown | White Room
Bride's Accessories | Borrowed from family and friends
Groom’s Attire | Groom wore a tux he owned
Groomsmen Attire and Groom’s vest | Street Tuxedo
Bridesmaids Attire | Chosen from various stores (whatever the girls wanted) in different shades of brown
Hair | Lauren Henry from Fierce Salon
Makeup | Katie Russo Makeup
Stationery | Designs in Paper
Ceremony Musicians | Friends
Reception Musicians & Lighting | JD’s Music
Caterer | Chef’s Market
Cake Artist | The Cupcake Collection
Floral Designer | Branching Out
Rentals | The Premiere Event
Guest Accommodations | Hotel Indigo, Hilton Downtown
Event Guidance | Wedding 101
My Wedding Details
How would you describe your style as a couple?
We are pretty laid back and wanted our wedding to be a casual fun celebration that everyone could enjoy. We wanted everything to focus on us celebrating our love and our family / friends that took time out of their busy lives to join in the weekend.
How did you incorporate that style into your wedding?
Since we’re laid back, our friends like to party, and they know we love board games we tried to set an appropriate tone in a number of ways. The groom was the only guy in a tux. We opted to keep the groomsmen in tux pants and matching vests but with differing ties. The bridesmaids were asked to choose a dress that they’d be comfortable in, as long as they kept within our color range.
Jessica’s dad is a huge fan of Maker’s Mark so our signature drink was just that, Maker’s Mark. We also had board games and brainteasers spread around the cocktail area to keep our guests interested while we took our pictures. The Cupcake Collection provided amazing cupcakes on an amazing cupcake stand that was built out of board game boxes like Monopoly, Cranium, with the edible cake topper made to look like the board game Apples-to-Apples.
Our lighting and music was super fun with lanterns hanging over all our tables, up-lighting around the room, and a playlist that included music we handpicked to insure we’d enjoy the music, and our friends got onto the dance floor.
What was the favorite aspect of your wedding?
We are thrilled that we made the conscious choice to have as many of our friends and family involved in the entire weekend as possible. From the rehearsal dinner to the brunch on the day after, it really allowed us to connect with everyone that made the journey to Nashville to see us. On the day of the wedding our favorite aspect was seeing all of the elements we’d planned on and worked hard to assemble come together to be so much fun for our guests. The interactive photo wall that featured pictures of our guests with us over the years, our DJ and the lighting he accomplished, the puzzles, games, and brainteasers spread around the space, and the photo wall were all such a thrill.
Where did you splurge?
Our two biggest splurges were with a photographer and our venue. We wanted to be sure we were comfortable with our photographer, and since we both love photography, we felt it should be a priority for our big day to be captured properly and in a way that suited our taste and style.
Where did you save/DIY?
Winning the Her Nashville contest gave us a bit more leeway in our budget, but we still tried to stay affordable where we could. We created an interactive photo wall in our ‘game lounge’. We also made a lot of the paper items ourselves including menus for the rehearsal dinner with fun puzzles for our guests, and goody bags, and placemats for our brunch.
To continue with our board game theme we looked for a lot of inexpensive board games and old school wooden brainteasers and used them as centerpieces where we couldn’t afford flower centerpieces. For our guest favors Gordie and I took mock-photo booth pictures of ourselves thanking our guests from joining us. We bought frames off eBay and put these photos in them.
Now that the wedding day is over, is there anything about your planning process you feel you could have done differently?
For the most part we were super happy with everything about our wedding! We’d advise that you always read all of the fine print on every single contract that you see so that you understand what all of the costs can be. Also, come up with a detailed photo list and make sure you have enough time scheduled on the day of the event to get all the pictures you want. Make sure that everyone knows where your priorities are.
In one sentence, what words of advice do you have for couples in the midst of their planning?
Keep your wedding theme, goal and budget in mind and as you plan and ask yourself if the things you are incorporating add to the desired end product.
About the Author:
Megan
I’m new to the wedding industry. Before getting engaged I literally avoided any websites for weddings only because I knew, once I delved in, I would become obsessed…. And it’s true. Once I got engaged, I did become obsessed and luckily, about that time, I started working in the wedding industry. So my interest increased on two levels. Now I am a newlywed and still enjoying the industry. I love writing, social media and connecting to people; happily, I get to do all of this with ABG.
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Posted on March 29, 2012 |
Filed under: Inspiration & Trends, Real Nashville Weddings, Reception Entertainment, Photo Booths, Wedding Venues and Locations,
