by Katy of
muchacha K handmadeI was very diligent about using local and handmade products in my wedding...it's important to remember that often, going local and handmade can SAVE you money in your wedding planning. Going local and handmade is also a great way to support your local economy and in these times, that's such an important thing to do. A far larger portion of your dollars spent locally will STAY local. Also, when you buy items direct from the artist, you cut out the middle men, which saves you money and puts more money in the pockets of the artist.
All preaching aside, here's my scrapbook! I'm a Boston Handmade outlier in that I'm the only NH member (I was a founding member, before the geographic rules were in place) so my choices are from near my home in NH, but you can make similar local choices near you!
First of all, I need to give credit to my amazing wedding photographer, Tanya Lacourse of
Violet Marsh Photography. Tanya is, indeed, a photographer local to where I live. She's got just the right eye for wedding photography because when you think about it, wedding photography is really a combination of portrait, candid/photojournalist shots, and stills. Tanya has a great eye for all of those. And I found her right here at home...she's also a regular contributor to
Apartment Therapy Boston.
Now then, let me point out the juicy handmade details, and this pic is all about "what the bride wore". For the wedding, my dress was purchased from a local dress shop right here on my Main St. I wore a floral and "birdy" hairpiece made by my sister. In order to make it stay put in my short spiky hair, I created and attached it to a white tulle headband.
My earrings are scrumptious floral hoops made by
Heather Wang of Lowell, MA. Heather also made our
wedding rings and my
engagement ring.
The necklace was purchased from Nurit of
NuArt Jewelry. Nurit is a regular vendor at
Concord Arts Market, the market that I run here in NH. The market features artists and artisans from NH and MA, and a few from ME and VT too so it's a vortex of regionally created handmade goodness.
Becky Oh! made me a special bag for the day, because I needed something to carry my "little stuff" in.
(photo by Becky Oh!)
In this pic I'm also holding the really cool wedding goblets made for us by Paul Haigh of Wiley Hill Mudworks in Londonderry, NH. We actually use these everyday now because they're really sturdy and just super cool!
Another thing to point out about this pic: we prioritized having live music over having a DJ...really it was one of our biggest priorities for the day. My husband is a working musician so that was very important to us. We had four local music groups that played, in addition to friends who performed special songs for us. In this pic I'm talking to Juanito Pascual. He's a flamenco guitarist based in Boston. He played the first part of our reception, with a fantastic dancer and percussionist. We also had the Blue Ribbon All-Star Band and the Crunchy Western Boys, two NH bands that made sure everybody was having a good time. The African-style drumming of local percussion troupe Araba-lon was our processional and recessional and set a fun tone for the whole day!
We got mouth watering food from three Main St. businesses: our local food Co-op, my parents shop (not everyone has a father who is a pastry chef, lol) and a European family-fun bistro.
Artist and friend Susan Schwake created this backdrop for the ceremony (and that's our friend Steve Cooney of the Blue Ribbon All Star Band singing to us):
(photo by Becky Oh!)
Her artwork was also the basis for the GREAT invitations that our very own Jessica Burko of Boston Handmade made for us!
And the whole day simply would not have been complete without the talents of the Flashback Hoops girls and the fantastic hoop that they MADE for me:
(photo by Becky Oh!)
And to us, that was the perfect day. Surrounded by friends and family and handmade goodness and local food and music...and hula-hooping to bluegrass...! As you plan events in your life, always remember that you might find just the right ingredients for your perfect day, right in your own backyard, or on your own Main St., or direct from an artist who has put tremendous skill and care into their work.
