It’s not every day that one of your best friends gets married.
And it’s not every day that you get to be in the wedding.
But when one of your best friends gets married, asks you to be in the wedding, and asks for your help designing and coordinating it? Epic.
McAwesome.
As Neva says, “McAwesome isn’t a last name, it’s an unconventional conventional way of living.” And Neva and Rob are anything but conventional!
Their wedding day was one year to the day after their first date. Their wedding decor was inspired by the 1960s Peter Sellers classic The Party. Their colors were “the colors of the sunset.” The groom wore orange pajamas, a Chinese-patterned smoking jacket, and a fez. Their wedding feast was cooked entirely by their family and friends.
Oh yes, and they got married by a robot.
Friends, meet Father Emiglio, robot officiant extraordinaire. He started life as an Italian child’s toy. Neva found him in a thrift store and brought him home. Rob made him…
Well, McAwesome of course.
With a fresh coat of paint and an incredibly complex and hilariously funny program, Father Emilgio moved, spoke, lit up, and played “The Final Countdown.” He interacted with the bride and groom. There were incredible extras like R2D2’s beeps. This robot was amazing.
Of course it’s not legal in California to get married by a robot, so he had a little help from a minister friend of the couple’s, minister Eric Sherman. But really? They were married by a robot.
If YOU want to get married by a robot (or emceed, or bar-mizvahed), or just to get better acquainted with Father Emiglio, check out this video made by the bride and groom!
That’s not the only thing I loved about this incredibly personal wedding, by any means. For one thing every single vendor was a friend of the bride and groom, except for the girls at Classy Covers (who are friends with me!). That meant cupcakes, decor, officiating, and photography by friends. Who all happen to be professionals. Love it!
Now, I have one special request. Please look at the content of these photos, and not the fact that most of them were taken in Auto mode by myself or my husband (and de facto assistant for the day). I will eventually learn how to properly use my camera – but in the mean time, unless there’s a professional photographer capturing every moment (and our professional was IN the wedding party!), you might have to make do. But this wedding was so unique, so fun, and so pretty… I think it’s totally worth showing off my poor photography skills in this incredibly photo-heavy post!
I adored the string of yellow and blue elephant Chinese lanterns, and the matching damask patterned ones we hung in the trees.
I loved all the fun ceramic, ivory, and wooden elephants that Neva and I found at thrift stores, swap meets, and discount stores!
I think the elephant in a birdcage (a special request by the bride) was my favorite, though.
I drooled over the delectable vegan cupcakes by Courtesan Cupcakes. No really, vegan cupcakes can be AMAZING. At least, these were. YUM.
And the cupcake table looked so pretty with my vintage serving pieces!
I was so proud of the florals, primarily white mums and daisies with green billy balls and peacock feathers, wrapped in leather cords, that Neva and I created, seen here in a photo by Erin of Paw Prints Pet Portraiture (also one of the bridesmaids!). Erin usually specializes in pet portraits, but was happy to photograph the “wild things” at this wedding!
I thought that my vintage suitcases and books, and my Moroccan lamps, helped make the buffet table beautiful!
That food, by the way? Seriously delectable. I have been the guest at other weddings, weddings where a caterer or venue was paid thousands of dollars, where the food did not taste this good. Or look this pretty!
The secret? I think it’s lots of love for the couple on the part of the cooks (the groom’s dad and grandfather, both moms and grandmas, and several of the couple’s friends!).
And of course, I am thrilled that I could bring in the beautiful handmade elements that I did, including this pair of elephants. I wish I’d been able to make these more perfect, but the idea came to me less than a week before the big day. I still think that they’re super adorable and they were a fun surprise for the bride and groom!
And the hand-drawn welcome sign, on the cabinet door chalkboard I created for E+D’s wedding!
And of course these two fifteen-foot paper table runners (one for each of two feasting tables), and the pieces we used on the two smaller tables.
Neva and Rob hand made all of their wedding invitations using a beautiful sunflower-patterned rice paper and the elephant motif that was carried on as cupcake toppers.
So when Neva and I went shopping together for elephants to decorate the tables, we brainstormed other ideas for the table decor, and I came up with the idea for these runners, using primarily the rice paper from their invitations, with pops of solid color.
I know I made them, so I should probably be a little bit more humble. But I can’t help it. I think they’re amazing. I wish I’d gotten more photos of them, since they really were sculptural hand-made works of art. Every inch of the runner was different from every other inch, and together they included over 300 individually hand-cut rice paper circles in various sizes, from 1/2″ to 6″ in diameter.
Using white cloths from Classy Covers as a backdrop, we were able to decorate the tables with these… McAwesome (heh!) runners, and pillar candles and flowers and elephants. The runners brought it all together. I love this photo by Erin of Paw Prints Pet Portraiture (although I wish the wax wasn’t so drippy!).
Back to the McAwesomes. Don’t they look happy and in love? This was their first look.
And their first kiss as husband and wife.
And a formal, shot by Erin of Paw Prints Pet Portraiture.
SO. adorable!
And of course Neva looked STUNNING.
That first photo is by me (so you can see her pretty dress too), but the ones Erin took are so much nicer!
It was fun and creative and fit the couple perfectly. Neva + Rob are anything but traditional. And I was so happy to be a part of their McAwesome day. This wedding is a great reminder that you can have a beautiful wedding with any budget – it’s all about making the right choices for the couple and the budget. And these were the perfect choices for this couple. Actually, for all of these people. Aren’t we a colorful, fun bridal party?
Neva+Rob 07*24*2011 Wedding Details:
If there were ever a wedding that was a testament to the statement that you can have a wedding on any budget, this was it. Spending under $4000 for a fabulous day full of love and personality and celebrating with your 60 closest friends? Yes please.
Also? A fun theme rocks it every time. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a wedding inspired by the movie The Party, but that didn’t stop them. In fact, they took the basic inspiration and ran with it. So this is also a great example of not letting the inspiration for a wedding or party limit you.
It’s also a great reminder to let your personalities shine. After all, not many people would get married by a robot. But these two? This was the perfect officiant for them.
Of course if Father Emiglio is the perfect officiant for you, don’t hesitate to contact the couple. They’d love to program him to marry you too. No, really. They made a video about it.
Events by Elisa 