The Big Fake Wedding – Willowdale Estate
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words: “Bridal Show”?
We immediately picture a town hall lined with 6 foot banquet tables, vendor after endless vendor, fighting for the clients’ attention and 1,000+ business cards jammed into a small plastic bag which will most likely be tossed into the trash or if you’re Ellen.. then recycled.. because she loves the earth, wears Birkenstocks and drives a Prius.
Let’s be honest. They aren’t fun for the bride-to-be (and certainly not for groom-to-be), but even more so, they aren’t fun for the vendors.
Now, the funny thing about life is that a lot of the time we just seem to go along with how things have always been done. Kind of like when you cough into a closed fist. Like, what? Who started that? Let me just cough into this closed fist here.. this will surely protect others from my nasty germs. Or how you have to choose a major before you begin college. Like, again, what? I am barely 18, have (proudly) mastered the art of making a solid mac and cheese, can usually pump my own gas, and yes let me just make the biggest decision of my life, declaring a college major, which will have an impact on the rest of my days on earth. Makes total sense. NOT.
Well, I can’t speak to the two issues mentioned above, but The Big Fake Wedding (in our opinion) is the best thing to happen since sliced bread. The regular old bridal show is about to become extinct.
What is The Big Fake Wedding you may ask? According to their website, “The Big Fake Wedding is a bridal show alternative complete with an emotional ceremony, a tasty dinner and a dance-party reception. Wedding guests are brides-and-grooms-to-be who get to truly experience the wedding vendors in action.”
Did you just zone out? Why does that always happen when you read something in quotations? Gets us EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Okay, so basically it’s a REAL but FAKE wedding (stick with us here) in which bride and grooms-to-be attend the wedding and see the vendors in their element!
Local businesses bring their talents to the table to put on a phenomenal real (but yes, fake) wedding. The florists work their magic and create bouquets for the bride, boutonnieres for the groom, and center pieces for dinner tables. The photographers capture the event as they would at a real wedding. The event coordinators manage all vendors and make the event flawless. Graphic designers create the wedding invitations for the event (hey that’s us, more on that later) and the bakers supply the cake etc, etc! Not only do the bride & groom-to be’s (which are having SO MUCH FUN attending the event) see the vendors in action, but they are able to personally connect with each vendor during a special time called: “The Tunnel of Love”.
Each wedding vendor has a small table displaying what their company has to offer and during the The Tunnel of Love the brides and grooms to be, casually mingle with each vendor. So, not only does the client get to see your work in action throughout the (big fake) wedding, but now there is a chance for them to talk with you about it. Basically, a client and vendor’s dream come true. It doesn’t get much better than this people!
In addition to the main event, we met so many fun and unique couples at The Big Fake Wedding and worked together with some of the most talented vendors from New England. Instead of trying to stand out in a crowded town hall bridal show, we put our creative minds together to create a spectacular event that showcased each individual business. There is nothing better than being in a room full of creatives who have a passion for making things beautiful. [pullquote width=”300″ float=”left”]At The Big Fake Wedding, there is a sense of community and collaboration vs. competition.[/pullquote] The relationships we made with the fellow vendors were just as beautiful as those we made with future brides and grooms.
At E&H Creates we have a wide range of creative services that we offer but at TBFW we zeroed in on wedding invitation design. We took inspiration from the South of France and the event venue: Willowdale Estate, a beautiful stone mansion with exposed beams, detailed woodwork, an oversized skylight, french windows, mosaic tiling, stained glass, a butterfly garden to exchange marriage vows and a custom sail-cloth Sperry tent for receptions. We named our invitation suite Herbal Flourish and featured a color palette of whites, herbal greens and pops of pinks and yellow in a floral envelope liner. Elegant script was paired with a bold secondary typeface to bring strength to the layout and bring attention to special details.
When you work with us on invitations, we do not have a book of samples that you flip through to choose your favorite that 500 other couples have chosen before. We learn about you, your relationship and help you define your style. We then create custom invitations for your special day. We wanted to be able to showcase this unique quality of work during The Tunnel of Love with the guests. This may or may not of included one or more of the following: borrowing (or stealing) our mother’s herbs from her garden, hot glue gunning in the hotel room the night before, room service because we couldn’t break our creative streak, a trunk full of vintage props, showing up at 10am on the dot to pick out the best spot and contemplate for a solid hour on what spot that actually was. Needless to say, we had a blast!
As vendors, we were give the challenge to celebrate the art of making something handmade and one-of-a-kind using the “Herbs de Provence” inspiration board provided by The Big Fake Wedding team as our guide. The result is below and we have never been more proud. Can’t you just smell the rosemary and oregano?
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Catering + Venue: Willowdale Estate // Day-Of Coordination + Event Design: Heather Dawn Events // Floral + Event Design: Bloom Floral + Event Designs , Style This Shindig , Good Look’n & Moonstone & Moss // Hair + Makeup: Beautini by B.Lo // Invitations: E+H Creates // Photography: kivalo photography // Photography: Leise Jones Photography // Photography: Somerby Jones Photography // Signage: Posh and Prep // Wedding Cake: Brown Butter Bakery // Wedding Dress: Your Dream Bridal // Menswear: Blank Label Group // Media Partners: MyWedding, WellWed Magazine, Boston Weddings Magazine, Black Sheep Bride
