With it’s shades-of-blue-and-silver palette, Nicolet and Gregory’s big day was the perfect winter wedding. The couple wanted to create a traditional event that focused on family, friends, and fun. From involving family in the decision making process to paying homage to them at the reception, Nicolet and Gregory wanted their wedding day to reflect not only themselves, but also all of the special people who mean so much to them. Beyond that, the bride and groom just wanted a “classic and elegant” theme. With that simple direction, Nicolet let Nathan of Hens and Chicks take the design reigns. He flawlessly created an understated, chic, quiet beauty of a reception in the Wyndham Grand’s ballroom. The entire day seemed perfect and here is what I loved best:
- From banners to signs to framed photos, Nicolet decorated her bridal suite in such a cute way. She wanted it to feel comfortable and familiar so she brought all sorts of fun items and pieces from her home. What a cute idea to feel relaxed and at ease the morning of your wedding!
- Compromising nicely between a first look and keeping tradition, Nicolet and Gregory opted for a first touch. While they remained on opposite sides of a corner wall, the couple was still able to share a few special, private moments together before the ceremony.
- A “first look” with the reception space! While guests were in another room enjoying cocktails, Nicolet and Gregory were able to see the room all dressed up! I love this because you don’t often get to see all of your hard work and creativity come to life. Kudos to the Wyndham for making this happen!
- I counted at least three different styles of centerpieces and linens (including trendy sequin and patterned ones!), all equally beautiful but all adding their own bit of visual interest and spontaneity to the room.
- The favors were bottles of homemade wine created with love by Gregory’s grandparents. His grandmother also made over 100 dozen cookies for the cookie table! The way to someone’s heart is definitely through their stomach.
- Nothing is more fun than a s’mores bar at a winter wedding. Or any wedding for that matter.
The insanely talented Elizabeth Craig was there to snap these stunning images. The night shots are out of this world and Nicolet is a classic beauty. I’m obsessed.
From the bride…
When and how did you two meet?
My best friend from high school, Brittany, went to Virginia Tech for college, and I was at Clemson. One fall weekend in September 2010, I decided to go visit her for a football game. I came to her apartment only to find that she had her new boyfriend over, as well as his best friend, Greg. We met that night and all went out together in Blacksburg, VA. That night, he told my best friend that he thought we were soul mates (which she, of course, spilled to me the next day); and a few short months later we became official!
Juicy details on the proposal, please! Where, when, how?
Let me start with the fact that he REALLY had to try to surprise me, being that we already lived together! We had talked about how we wanted to get engaged so I knew it would happen sometime soon-ish! We spent Christmas 2013 here in Pittsburgh. On Christmas Eve, his family always goes to church at 4 p.m. and then comes home to do a big dinner. Our plans were to join them, so we headed to his home in Peters Township. We got to his house and he pulled out a present from the backseat. He told me that his parents had a surprise for us and we were supposed to hurry in before we left for church. We walked in and I was still asking questions…”Can I take my jacket off? Aren’t we leaving? Wait, can I open this now?” I probably asked more but this is all I can remember. He had already walked off down the long, beautiful, arched hallway… and I turned around to see a few roses on the floor. At that point I knew something big was going to happen! As I stood in the other living room of his house, I opened the present and it was a photo album of pictures from our relationship, with a card on the last page. He had written a really thoughtful note in the card… you only get to know one of my favorite parts and the last line– “I can’t wait to call you Nicolet June Weimer one day!” He wrote to come find him…I walked down the hallway and thru to the family room to find him waiting for me. I was already tearing up and shaking a bit! I walked in to meet him, he got down on one knee, and we were engaged!
Describe the wedding. The look, style, theme, colors, etc.
I’m not a girly girl, and I’m not very good at making decisions! That makes wedding planning hard. Whenever asked, I told my vendors I wanted our wedding to be “classic and elegant.” Simplicity goes a long way when it comes to something so valuable, especially this. I chose my favorite color, blue, and looked to my florist and event designer to round out the rest of my color scheme. We did have a late fall wedding in November, so I wanted darker colors. We did dark blue, silver, and accents of Tiffany blue. We are a young couple and I didn’t want things to be too formal – but I also wanted the elegant feel. Our wedding was planned by myself and our family – we created aspects that we felt were important and I felt that it made it a very comfortable day once it finally came to fruition.
What inspired your vision?
My vision was inspired by our personality as a couple. We are young, but we are very mature and driven at this point in our lives. We live simply; we live close to family and we wanted full support in all of our decisions. I feel like our vision was based on what we feel every day – a simple grace that is shown through small elements that make a grand statement. We wanted it to “wow” but we wanted it to be comfortable.
What made your wedding unique?
Family is important. Bottom line – they are why we are here, why we are who we are, and why we were able to have such an amazing wedding. I wanted family to have a role in as much of the wedding as possible. From having each of our family members come see us in our bride and groom suites before the ceremony, to having family in the ceremony as bridal party members or readers, to having moments laid out to honor our family members – that is what made our wedding unique.
I am so detail oriented. I wanted the whole day to be perfect! I had made boxes of things to take to the hotel for getting ready on the day of…signs and banners, personalized champagne glasses, pictures, quotes…all things that remind me of home and the love I have with Greg. I wanted my hotel suite to feel like home. This was perfect. My girls and I had robes made by Love Ophelia and we just hung out from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. No stressing (until putting on the big dress, of course). I realized how important the whole day is. Every little minute has meaning, and I urge brides to think of “before, with your girls” in addition to the wedding! It’s so worth it!
Surprisingly, my husband gave a short speech to our guests after the other toasts. He thanked all of our guests, and went into detail to thank my parents, his parents, and me. This was so special. It made me realize that the unplanned moments are the best moments. He was open and honest in front of 275 guests about this love for me, and that was incredible. It was impromptu and heartfelt – that’s the best!
Our favors and our cookies on our dessert table were done by Greg’s dad’s parents. They make their own wine and bottled one for each couple as our favors. Nana baked 100 dozen cookies for our cookie table, including at least 15 different kinds that our family has enjoyed for as long as we can remember. Their influence showed in many aspects of our wedding and having them as a huge part of our wedding meant the world to us.
What was your favorite moment of the day?
My favorite moment was when our wedding coordinator escorted us into our reception venue to have five minutes of alone time prior to our reception actually starting. We were privately taken to the room, without guests knowing, so that we could see and enjoy all of the hard work we put into the event. Our band was prepped and they played an instrumental song as we had an intimate dance and a few simple moments prior to the reception fun. To cap it off, our coordinator had hidden our photographer and videographer in the room so they captured these moments for us as well. So incredibly special!
Bride to Bride
What advice would you give to other Burgh Brides planning their big day?
Take your time with decisions. Sometimes, you may feel that the pressure is on to put down a deposit and secure the best vendor for your event. However, this is your special day and you need time to think through every decision of this process! Do your research through reviews and recommendations of other brides. Find someone with a similar vision and ask away! Also, if you find a vendor that you connect with, go with it. Your gut is usually right, and sometimes a 5/5 and a million reviews on The Knot don’t mean that they are the only option. I would assume that anyone who has been through this process would be more than happy to share any help!
Day of Advice – You don’t need a wedding planner on the day of. I struggled with this because I didn’t want to be worrying about little details on my wedding day. If you choose the right vendors and contact them early with your wishes, they will perform to their best efforts and you won’t have to do any extra work on the big day!
Any must have, must dos, or can’t live withouts? Anything you would do differently?
Welcome bags! They were so fun and guests really enjoyed having an itinerary with events and special items from both of our lives. Our bags included: Maryland items for the bride, Pittsburgh items for the groom, two bottles of water with personalized labels, Advil, Tums, and an itinerary with times of events and places to go in Pittsburgh.
The photo booth was GREAT! We got photos of many guests who weren’t in the professional shots. And we got to see a fun side of some guests!
Get a photographer for your rehearsal dinner. We had 150 guests at our dinner and it was wonderful to have another set of pictures that represented our close family and out of town guests.
You have to have a videographer! We didn’t book one until later because we didn’t think it was necessary. But I’m so excited to get it later this year…it’s the only way to relive many special moments!
Vendors
Band: Bachelor Boys Band | Bride’s Dress: Lazaro at Bridal Beginning | Bride’s Accessories: Earrings & Bracelet: L.J. Marks Jewelers; Hair Piece: Borrowed from Matron of Honor | Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Dessy at Bridal Beginning | Bridesmaids’ Necklaces: Banana Republic | Cake: Bethel Bakery | Ceremony Location: Heinz Chapel | Dessert Table, S’more Bar, & Groom’s Cake: Bella Christie | Favors: Homemade wine from the groom’s grandparents | Flowers, Decor, & Event Design: Hens and Chicks | Hair & Makeup: Lee Ann Boersma at Athome Beauty| Linens: Mosaic Linens via Hens and Chicks | Menswear: BLACK by Vera Wang at Men’s Warehouse | Photo Booth: ShutterBooth | Photographer: Elizabeth Craig Photography | Reception Venue & Caterer: Wyndham Grand Downtown Pittsburgh | Rentals: Event Source via Hens and Chicks | Robes: Love Ophelia | Stationery: Hello Beautiful Designs | Transportation: Elite Transportation | Videography: Maryn Graves Productions
Beautiful wedding!
It really was!!