Lookin' Good, Feelin' Fine
In this last wedding update until our big day, we’re talking about two of the most exciting parts: the music (DJ Playplay!) & the pictures (Joanna Sue Photography)!
Y’all. Our wedding day is in just 4 days! Can you believe?? To say we’re totally pumped is an understatement – we don’t even have the words to describe how ready we are (both for marriage and the best day with our favorite people)!
There’s a ton of excited energy in the air – it’s hard to think about anything beyond the weekend ahead. So I’m leaning in! I’m writing all about the two things we’ve been most excited about in this process: the dancing and the pictures. Let’s give it up to some real superstars: Joanna Sue Photography and DJ Playplay!
Let’s be real: our vendor list is an all star line up and Joanna Sue Photography and DJ Playplay are the crème de la crème.
Like I mentioned in our last blog post, we selected our vendors based on previous events at The Cookery (which you can see on The Cookery’s Real Weddings blog). Ivy and I perused various photo galleries, noting how different photographers captured The Cookery’s space. The best part was looking further into each event's vendor list – revealing all the juicy details about who took that incredible ballroom shot during toasts or who was on the turn table when the bride started crowd surfing (yes, this has really happened).
Photo credit: Victoria Boustani
While crowd surfing isn’t on our wedding to-do list, one hell of a dance party absolutely is. (To give you a visual, here’s a snapshot of Ivy and I breaking it down at one of her best friends’ wedding).
Pump up the Jams
When it came to music, Ivy and I knew we wanted to both have our favorite songs played during the cocktail hour and dinner (Fleetwood Mac, looking at you) and turn it up a notch when we hit the dance floor. We’re talking throwback ‘60s, ‘90s hits (including Ivy’s karaoke choice “All the Small Things” by Blink 182), Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend,” wedding bangers like Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” maybe some Olivia Rodrigo, absolutely “Islands in the Stream” by dynamic duo Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, deffff some Lizzo, and much more.
When you’ve got one bride with Southern roots and the other Brooklyn roots, there’s a really big range of music taste. After talking with DJ Playplay many times throughout this planning process and giving them a list of our to-play and do-not-play (their favorite and most useful list) songs, we’re more than confident they’ve got us covered from ABBA to Ziggy Stardust!
Picture Perfect
It’s honesty hour and the honest truth is that we (read: I, Charlotte) knew who our wedding photographer was the minute we started dreaming of a wedding together. It was undoubtably Joanna Sue Photography – we basically just needed to let Joanna know!
Some of the best parts of The Cookery are the front room windows, the warm evening glow that illuminates the ballroom, the lush garden greens, and the deep amber of the copper courtyard wall. We wanted someone who could capture this incredible lighting plus the vibrant details of The Cookery. Plus, someone who would help us feel comfortable in front of a camera!
If you’ve seen any images from Joanna Sue Photography, you already just know. Nighttime and dancing photography is difficult, but she captures these candid moments in the right light. She knows The Cookery’s grounds so well and for couples portraits, she somehow always finds new angles so that no two wedding albums are the same. She’s the sweetest and spiciest photographer – she’s someone who asks the right questions to get that cute couple shot, someone who eagerly asks all the questions about a couple’s love story, and someone who knows how to keep calm and manage the total chaos that is family group photo chaos!
Really, what I’m saying is that we’re just really thankful (and so excited) to have Joanna Sue Photography capture our wedding day! She’s just the best. And that’s that.
