Our Travel Themed Wedding

I've been married for a little over a month, and yes I know how 8th-grade that sounds. But now that the dust has settled I decided to document my thoughts on the whole wedding planning process and the emotions that come along with it. Here are a few pictures from our big day, along with the story of how we got there. Be prepared, this is a long post. 

Homemade wine for the hotel rooms. The crane is a nod to my Japanese heritage

Bryan and I had been engaged before, and we broke it off. There were many contributing factors to this decision, and one of them was the stress of wedding planning. We were ambitious enough to think we could pull off two weddings, one in each of our home states. This way those who could not travel could still be a part of our big step without spending 8+ hours on an airplane. So much for that idea. 

Our ceremony site with origami crane altar pieces and wine box

The second time around I was very anti-wedding. The anxiety and bad memories of wedding planning the first time around were enough for me to swear off the project. Not to mention the financial obligation that comes along with weddings. Long story short, I wanted to do a destination wedding. But we bit the bullet and decided for something traditional with a few simple modifications. 

Our sweetheart table was framed by a window overlooking a grassy knoll of the Arboretum with our altar pieces on either side of the table

Drama: It is incredibly difficult to plan a wedding, stay on budget and get everything you want. It is even more difficult to not get swept up into all of the drama. Some couples have family drama, some couples have friend drama, but I can almost guarantee you that if you have a wedding you will get caught up in silly-insignificant-detail drama. Such as the shade of roses on the corsages or the size and shape of the centerpiece vases or the amount of tomato on the hors d'oeurves. 

It's all silly and just makes you stressed out for no reason. You don't even notice it on your wedding day, or at least, you shouldn't. But when you're planning, you get into this mentality of, "If I'm paying for it, it better be what I want." My husband introduced a saying to me that he adopted from his mother: "This is not a hill that I want to die on," meaning, it's not that important and it's time to move on.

In the end, all you can do is prioritize and downsize. Find a few things that you truly care about and simplify the rest. Like get a great photographer and nix the three foot tall centerpieces. Get the good suits and opt out of garters and cake knives. 

Card box

Theme: One thing I am very proud of was our theme. I wanted something that summed up our hobbies and lightly incorporated our personalities. Originally, I wanted to get married at a vineyard and have a wine theme. But when we visited the Morton Arboretum, I fell in love with it's beauty and decided on a different approach.

If you haven't guessed, we went with a travel theme. Thanks to my job, we have blessed to see the world and we take full advantage of it. Our love for travel preceded our relationship with trips to California, Nevada, Washington DC, Florida, Colorado, even Europe. We had seen so much of the world and there is still so much left to see. Now we get to do it together.

Centerpiece with table number and favors

We added little touches of flair to incorporate our theme. I didn't want our wedding to be a huge production. More like a classic yet causal gathering with hints of personality. We kept most things neutral and let the colors and vintage items speak for themselves. 

Champagne, rings, bouquet and "guestbook"

Our guestbook was my Mother-in-law's vintage childhood globe, and guests could sign on any state, country or body of water they wished. Our centerpieces consisted of purple and ivory flowers in square vases, including a Japanese style mum. Vintage postcards of places we traveled to together acted as table numbers. Guests received luggage tags as place cards and favors. Our card box was a vintage luggage set with luggage tags / favors that read, "Just Married." Finally, our cake was in the shape of a suitcase with a more traditional cake sitting on top of it. It was finished with a simple monogram and I felt is captured the feeling of our event perfectly. 

Cutting the suitcase cake

Maids and Men: For the bridal party, I wanted things to be intimate and practical. Two groomsmen, two bridesmaids. My girls were beautiful in their floor-length aubergine dresses with a lace shoulder and back. The boys wore classic charcoal grey suits, white shirts and purple ties to match the girls. Everything we bought for the bridal party was classy, elegant and completely reusable. No rentals, no "bridesmaid" looking dresses. My motto for attire was, "This is a wedding, not the prom."

My lovely bridesmaids and myself waiting to walk down the aisle

Gifts: I tried to keep many gifts sentimental and intimate. Nothing to bulky or fancy. After all, everyone was traveling several miles to get to the wedding, nothing could be perishable or fragile. To keep with the travel theme, maids received necklaces with pendants of their home states with a heart over their home town. For my groom, I gave him custom cuff links with a map of Chicago (where he grew up) and Central Illinois (where we currently live). 

Home state necklaces for the girls

Cuff links for the groom

Brunch: Our decision to have a daytime wedding was three-fold. Firstly, the venue was booked for that night, so only Saturday afternoon and anytime Sunday were available. Secondly, the wedding would have cost twice, if not three times as much if we had booked it for nighttime. Lastly, everyone likes brunch. When you are combining a large group of people from all different parts of the country, it can be hard to please them. But we figured most American people eat the same kinds of breakfast foods. 

We had people that were gluten-intolerant, vegetarians, carnivores, fish eaters, non-fish eaters... you name it, we had it. Our menu was a balance of different items that could accommodate even our pickiest of guests. Yet it all remained cohesive thanks to the brunch blanket.

We served fresh fruit, spinach salad, roasted potatoes, bacon, Eggs Benedict, smoked salmon and bagels, and the hit of the day crème brûlée french toast. Something for everyone.

Noms

Bringing two families together: I wanted to bring some ethnic traditions into our wedding. After all, it's tradition. We didn't want the traditions to be ignored or to be overwhelming, just a little dusting to make the day more personal. 

I folded 1,000 golden paper cranes and strung a few of them on thread to create a garland. Our florist then draped these cranes onto our altar pieces and they shimmered in the sunlight. Other touches included Japanese mums, and a Hawaiian Koa wood mirror my dad handmade. We also did a Japanese-Hawaiian traditional toast known as the Banzai. Everyone was great to participate and the enthusiasm was much appreciated. 

 

Toasting during the Banzai

Thanks to the love and support from our families we were able to pull off an amazing day full of love and laughter. That sounds kind of like a Hallmark card, but it's true. Despite crazy airport drama, hours of organization, and hectic planning from a distance we managed to pull it off. 

Me and my new husband and new siblings

Bryan handing the paper crane garlands to the little ones

Combo Father-Daughter, Mother-Son dance

Grandma and all of her grandchildren

Swing dancing with Grandma

I want to thank everyone who came to our wedding and a special thanks to everyone who helped make our day as smooth and as stress-free as possible. I've heard many horror stories of couples who could not enjoy their day because they had to micromanage, wardrobe malfunctions, had bad vendors, or who didn't get to eat. I was hesitant at first, but we were lucky to have a wedding that can only be remembered as the best day of our lives. 

Don't forget that first selfie as a married couple!

-Akemi-chan