The Gabby’s 2011- Wedding Inspiration

Phil and I at the 2013 Gabby Awards

Phil and I at the 2013 Gabby Awards

When I thought about Phil and I’s wedding I wanted to be as personalized as possible. If I picked something out for our wedding I wanted to have some sort of meaning behind it. It’s kinda cheesy, but I like cheesy. I want our wedding to kind of tell the story of our relationship beginning to present. Back in 2011 we attended and volunteered at the Greek America Foundation’s Gabby awards at Ellis Island in New York. The Gabbys are an award show for elite Greek people and are given to Greek people who have done cool stuff in the arts, teaching, sports, and other categories. Since I am a sucker for celebrities and hanging out with Greek people I naturally wanted to be there. My cousin Leah and one of my bridesmaids was the producer of the event and I naturally volunteered my celebrity services.  Like most things I want to go to or do I like to drag Phil along with me. He was willing to go with me and he never had been to New York and wanted to see the city.

2011 at the Gabby awards pre-party with our Metaxa Mojitos

2011 at the Gabby awards pre-party with our Metaxa Mojitos

During our 2011 trip to New York we got 2 of our wedding ideas. The first one being our signature drink, the Metaxa Mojito. I’ve been to plenty of parties in my lifetime where Metaxa, a Greek brandy, was served but I never had a mojito version. Let me tell that any time that Metaxa is served it should be in mojito form. They are yummy and dangerous. Metaxa was a sponsor for the pre-party and it was open bar so of course Phil and I had our share of mojitos that night. In honor of VIP New York fun we are having Metaxa mojitos for our wedding.

Our second idea that we stole from our experience during the 2011 Gabby’s was the red carpet. I love Hollywood. Ever since I remember I have been obsessed with movies, TV, and celebrities. When I was little I wanted to be a child actress and I begged my parents to get me an agent. They didn’t listen to me and I still tease my mother for not letting me be a child star. Then she points out I would probably be Amanda Bynes or Lindsay Lohan by now if she would had let me become a child actress. An important part of the Hollywood lifestyle is frequently walking on the red carpet. The first time I actually took in front of a “real” red carpet was at the 2011 Gabby awards. I felt like a real genuine celebrity.  I wanted to create that same feeling for our guests at our wedding. So we are having a red carpet at our wedding. We are going to have a backdrop and everything. So you better practice your skinny red carpet poses.

2011 Gabby's Red Carpet

2011 Gabby’s Red Carpet

Suit & Tie

Back off ladies he is mine

Back off ladies he is mine

Phil sense of style is very diverse. Phil loves his graphic sports related tees but he also will surprise you and wear a trendy sweater/button up combo from H&M. If Phil could get married in anything it would be sweat pants, a Homage t-shirt, and flip flops…he is a simple man. I can’t get the guy to wear anything pink but he will wear a v-neck t-shirt. When it came to picking out a tux for him and his groomsmen I wanted something classic and something a current star would wear on a red carpet. So this meant I did not want the men to wear the typical colored tux vest to match the bridesmaids dresses. Brad Pitt would get schooled on E!’s Fashion Police if he was caught wearing a matching emerald vest to complement Angelina’s dress.

Suit & Tie inspiration Emily Blunt and John Krasinski in Prada Source 

I saw the above tux on John Krasinski from The Office while watching the 2010 Golden Globes. Back then I thought to myself damn that is a good looking tux and they are a good looking couple. When it came time to pick out a tux for our wedding I immediately thought of one of Hollywood’s cutest couple and “Jim’s” Golden Globes tux. When I told Phil I wanted him to wear a navy blue tux and bowtie, he approved and I was happy. But the oddest thing is that finding a navy blue tux is hard. Fun fact: most tuxedo rental shops only carry black tuxes and navy blue suits. When I went to the Today’s Bride Bridal Fair I found this out by asking most of the Northeastern Ohio tuxedo rental shops at the show. It still blows my mine that some shops don’t carry blue tuxes. We did find one store that carried the perfect 1-button navy tuxedo at American Commodore Tuxedo. I earned some extra bonus cash towards the tuxedo rentals playing a knock-off version of Plinko at the Bridal Fair so it made the tuxedos rentals pretty reasonable. Not to mention Phil looked super hot in the tuxedo when he tried it on…so he said yes to the tux.