Stacy who was married this past summer chose four of our talented Something Blue Collective vendors to ensure her day was a great success. Stacy was generous and took time out of her busy schedule to do an interview with Blue Envy Weddings.
SBC: How did you meet your spouse Daniel?
Stacy: Daniel and I met our freshman year of college in the dorms at Arizona State University. He invited me to a party, I accepted, and he walked me home at the end of the night. He had caught my eye the day before we officially met, I thought he had really cool hair. Turns out he was even cooler than I had thought.
SBC: What were the colors and theme of your wedding?
Stacy: My mother and father used the color peach in their wedding. To pay homage to their wedding day, Daniel and I chose to use peach and blue as our wedding colors. After we selected the venue we knew we wanted something consistent with the surroundings; vintage Victorian. Our wedding planner built on these ideas framing the theme within the garden setting. The end result was a beautiful Victorian garden theme.
SBC: What Something Blue Collective Vendors did you chose?
Stacy: Amy Shepherd Photography, ICVideo, Ana Crane Simpson with Applied Cosmetic Services and Whitehall House and Gardens
SBC: Why did you decide to hire Amy Shepherd Photography and what set them apart from all the competition?
Stacy: Selecting a photographer for the day was the decision that took the longest to come to. I spent hours looking at what seemed like hundreds of photographers’ websites. There is SO much talent in Louisville. Photography was very important to us and it was difficult to find someone who met our expectations, was available, and fit within our budget. I found two photographers whose work I fell in love with and met with both. I met with one before I met with Amy but Amy was different. Amy seemed so vested in my day from our first consultation. It didn’t feel like business when I met with her. She was warm, enthusiastic, and passionate about her craft and about our day. I didn’t even need to think about it. We signed on at that very meeting.
SBC: What impressed you the most about Amy Shepherd on your wedding day and the final products and services you received?
Stacy: Amy was just as I knew her from our first meeting. She was genuine and committed to capturing our day. The heat index was 105 and she took great care to ensure I was comfortable and to ensure that I looked great for that first moment when Daniel saw me. The final product is incredible. Amy’s photos are classic, timeless, and romantic. They truly show the emotion of the day and are precious keepsakes we will treasure forever.
TO VIEW MORE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES FROM STACY'S WEDDING BY AMY SHEPHERD PHOTOGRAPHY (click here)
SBC: Do you have any advice for brides and grooms looking to hire their photographer?
Stacy: Start early! Photographers book up fast, especially for June weddings. Meet with several photographers. Your photographer will be working closely with you all day and you should be sure that your photographer is someone you will enjoy being around. I suggest meeting with several so that you get a feel for the different personalities and work styles out there. It also gives you the opportunity to see the products that are offered by each photographer.
SBC: Some couples do not budget for a videographer for their wedding why did you choose to hire one?
Stacy: I had done some reading on a wedding forum on which brides responded to the question, “What is your biggest regret about your wedding.” Brides had a variety of answers but unanimously, their response was “not having a videographer.” Our videographer was one of the last vendors we booked and we were not in a very good place as far as budget was concerned but I did not want to have any regrets from our wedding so I knew I had to invest.
SBC: Why did you decide to hire ICVideo and was set them apart from all the competition?
Stacy: ICVideo came highly recommended by our photographer and our wedding planner made contact with Chuck to work out a package that worked for us. It was so important to us that our photographer and our videographer could work well together. Moreover, we had researched other videographers and were just very impressed with the quality of ICvideo’s work. It tells a story and gives so much more than a tripod in the back of a ceremony. Their editing work is magical and they gave me great confidence that they would be able to capture the audio well for our outdoor wedding. At our first meeting, Chuck showed us a highlight from a previous wedding at our venue and we were in love!
SBC: What impressed you the most about your videographer on your wedding day and the final products and services you received?
Stacy: Wow, where to start. I never saw the second videographer until just before they left, he asked to shoot a sequence with Daniel and me (which I am curious if it will be used because I tripped on my dress during it! J ) and only rarely noticed Megan. They were so discrete and unobtrusive and yet they got such intimate shots of the two of us. It’s truly amazing. We were stuck in wedding hangover mode (with the “I wish we had done this”) until we saw our highlight video. We watched it and I looked at my husband and mom and said, “Our wedding was perfect.” The product is movie quality. The shots and angles are stunning. We will have this for the rest of our lives and we can relive that perfect day over and over again.
SBC: Do you have any advice for brides and grooms looking to hire their videographer?
Stacy: Decide on the style of video you want for your day. There are many out there who take a more traditional approach and they will capture your day. Then there are those who take a more artistic approach and they will also capture your day. It is all about your priorities, your style, and the feeling you want your video to have.
SBC: Some couples do not budget for a make up and hair artist for their wedding why did you choose to hire one?
Stacy: I wanted to hire a make-up artist for two reasons. First, I had invested a great deal into photography and videography. I wanted to be sure that I looked flawless in each. Second, I wanted our wedding day to be one of complete relaxation and pampering. I wanted to feel like a princess. Also, I didn’t really trust myself to have a “good make-up day.” I could not take the risk!
SBC: Why did you decide to hire Ana Crane-Simpson and was set her apart from all the competition?
Stacy: I had done some research online for make-up artists in the Louisville area and just didn’t find anyone whose style fit mine. My wedding planner recommended Ana and I just loved her work. Her make-up was glamorous but not overdone. At the run-through she had a great personality and my make-up looked fantastic!
SBC: What impressed you the most about Ana on your wedding day and the services you received?
Stacy: Ana was wonderful. She was positive, up-beat, and made time for all the last minute unplanned make-up sessions for those who wanted to have their make-up done. She was self-directive. She came into the house, found a room, and set up her tools. My sister had hers done first and she took my breath away. I was just as happy with mine. I felt so beautiful and flawless and still like myself.
SBC: Do you have any advice for brides looking to hire their make-up and hair artist?
Stacy: Make sure to get references, see their portfolio, and do a run-through. The run-through is a great opportunity to ensure the artist can meet your expectations and that you will have a good time on your wedding day with this person.
SBC: Why did you decide Whitehall House & Gardens to be your wedding venue?
Stacy: Daniel and I wanted to get married outside so we set out looking at, what seemed like, every outdoor venue in Louisville. Pulling into the driveway at Whitehall, my breath was taken. The house was beautiful and the gardens were even more beautiful. I could envision myself walking through those arches towards my groom. It worked so well logistically, also. Whitehall has the bricked area for tenting, a great kitchen, accessible and clean outdoor bathrooms, and I knew I wanted to spend the day at the house getting ready. It was a bit out of our budget but I knew after seeing it, that this was where I wanted to marry Daniel, I knew he would love it, and I knew that I wouldn’t be satisfied with any other location. I can’t even think of what our wedding would have been like at any other venue.
SBC: What impressed you the most about your venue on your wedding day?
Stacy: Everyone was blown away. It was just beautiful. The house and the grounds were clean and ready for us at 8am, even considering there had been a huge wedding there the night before. We help cocktail hour in the gardens and in the house which worked wonderfully. The piano was tuned and ready for use in the foyer of the house. It was a beautiful setting.
SBC: Do you have any advice for brides and grooms looking for their venue?
Stacy: Be budget conscious but also go with your feelings. It is such an emotional day why ignore those feelings in the planning process. If you feel emotional in a venue and you just know that is where you want to marry your partner, then that’s probably where you should do it.
SBC: What is the one must have for brides on their wedding day?
Stacy: A photographer is the obvious answer to this question, but given that we almost didn’t hire a videographer I have to say that investing in a videographer was some of the best money we spent!
SBC: Do you have any regrets?
Stacy: I don’t have real regrets about our wedding. If I had had more time, I would have taken it to research blogs and websites (other than the mainstream ones) to get more ideas about personalizing our day. Given more time I would have put more little touches here and there that represented Daniel and me.
AND we didn’t get to eat any of our wedding cake. Make sure you track down your caterer to get a piece of cake!!
SBC: Looking back, what was the best decision you made when planning your wedding?
Stacy: Investing in quality vendors. Through my research and experience, I have learned that you get what you pay for. This is not to say you need to break the bank to have a good wedding, but good quality vendors make your day. They make all the magic happen for you and your guests. Where we cut corners is where we had problems. In retrospect, we made the right choices by prioritizing our services. We invested where it was important to us and sacrificed some quality where it was less important. This equation allowed us to have fantastic photographers, videographers, make-up artist, and wedding planner.
SBC: Would this website have been helpful to you when planning your wedding?
Stacy: Most definitely! I wish I had known about this collective when selecting my vendors. There is so much great advice for brides and grooms for selecting vendors and what you should expect from vendors. Further, based on my experience with vendors who belong to the collective, I would have felt very confident in choosing a vendor who has been invited to be a member.
Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 7:36PM 
