Thursday Club Wedding Coordinator

Michelle and Andy were married at the beautiful Thursday Club in Point Loma.
Their wedding was about close friends and family.
Michelle was even escorted down the aisle by both her father and grandfather!
The most fun for guests, was probably the grand entrance where the couple did a surprise Hustle, and the Bridal Party joined in!  Non professional video here-  ( I apologize for my lack of video skills!)

Please enjoy these beautiful photos from the talented Aaron and Samantha Photography, and read the answers to our questions in Michelle's own words below.

How long did you take to plan your wedding? 

We got engaged in November 2011 and began planning right away for our July 2012 wedding. It was a quick eight months of planning but felt like is was a good amount of time to create the type of wedding we envisioned. We kept it simple and very true to us as a couple.

Did you go over budget? 

We stayed pretty close to what we wanted to spend. There are always surprises, but have found that good vendors are usually willing to work with you and the budget you have in mind.

What made you choose your venue? 

Andy and I fell in love with our venue after researching many different places. The Thursday Club was perfect because it had the gorgeous out door gardens for our ceremony and huge clubhouse inside for the party afterward. It was great for our guests to take pictures with the nice view of the ocean behind them as well. This place was the perfect back drop to our big day!

What unique touches did you add to personalize your event? 

We did a lot of DIY, my mom created custom save the dates, programs, menu cards, she put together the awesome video that we showed during the reception and the photo stream for cocktail hour, and created an oil painting portrait of Andy and I to display in the clubhouse. My mom, grandma, aunt and I put together mint tins with custom stickers for our guests favors and we made paper mache blue birds that we perched on birdcages and the centerpieces throughout the room. We also purchased hydrangeas and ceramic pots to make the centerpieces exactly how I wanted them. It was so much cheaper than having a florist arrange them, but certainly just as beautiful. It was a lot of work to get everything done in time, but the personal touches really are what people remember, or at least what we remember about the decor :) Plus it was fun bonding time for all of us before the wedding to put get our creative craftiness on, definitely good stress relief!

What was your theme? 

We went for a retro garden party theme. It was hard for me to want to pick just one or two colors, I love a lot of different colors. I decided on live, potted hydrangeas for the centerpieces, and it opened up the palette to pretty pinks, whites, blues and purples. I wanted to play off the pretty garden our ceremony took place in and bring that outdoorsy feel inside. We had ceramic pots for the potted hydrangeas and we painted little birdhouses white, suck them on dowels and each one had the table number on them. Each table had pretty living flowers, it turned out looking so fresh.

Did you do a first look, yes or no, and why? 

Yes, it was a great moment and turned out to be some of the most relaxed photos of the two of us.

What was the best part of your day? 

The ceremony was great and seeing all of our guests dancing at our reception was so fun! All the work for that day paid off seeing all of our guests enjoying themselves.

How many guests were invited? How many attended? 

We invited 115 and we had 100 guests.

All about the food/music- describe why you selected what you did: 

We went with Personal Touch Catering and thought they did a great job. They were very reasonably priced and helped me with room set up, customizing the menu and were very easy to work with. We wanted a buffet dinner to keep it somewhat casual, and they gave us good options for a seated salad before toasts and didn't charge extra for corkage fee. The food was tasty, we got good feedback from our guests and the service was excellent. I couldn't believe how beautiful everything looked for the reception. At the end of the night, they broke down everything very efficiently so we could go to the after party, they were excellent! We had Chad from Injoy Entertainment DJ our wedding and he was amazing. He got all of our guests onto the dance floor and knew exactly what to play to keep them enjoying the night, he didn't miss a beat! 

Did you have an absolute favorite vendor? 

Amy, thanks to you I was able to enjoy my wedding day and know that everything was going to be taken care of. You did such an excellent job and helped wrangle all of my family and wedding party seamlessly, everyone knew what to do, where to go thanks to you. You kept Andy and I updated throughout the day, but honestly never felt stressed that something would fall between the cracks. Being recommended to you was a blessing!

Any advice for engaged couples- 

I know everyone says it, but enjoy each other and being engaged. Wedding planning can be stressful but this is such a unique time in your lives and it flies by so quickly! Relish this time and get inspired! 

Vendors:

Venue- The Thursday Club

Photographers-Aaron and Samantha Photography

Caterer-Personal Touch 

Flowers- Flowers by Coley

Cake-Sweet Cheeks

Ceremony Musician- Greg Douglass

DJ- Chad with Injoy Entertainment

Officiate-Patricia Coleman

Rentals- Classic Party Rentals

Coordination- Affairs by Amy