Its no secret I am a huge fan of the non-traditional, esp when it comes to wedding venues.  When Victoria Laughead & Eric Lukavsky got engaged, they soon found out that their local indie movie theater allowed weddings!  For these 2 movie buffs, it was like the perfect movie moment of enlightenment, complete with Dolly Zoom {camera zooms in while actually moving backwards} & twinkly music.  They knew it was the one!  Before leafing through the wedding however, you simply must check out their Save The Date Video!  Well done guys, totally love!

What Storyboard Likes…

Cinematic Perfection- Its hard not to totally crush on this place as a wedding venue.  If you’re someone that can appreciate out of the box, you’ll love the idea of this as much as I do.  From seating the guests in the theater chairs {no crabbing about uncomfortable seats here!} to the use of the actual movie screen itself, I love the potential here!  Like wise the concession stand definitely allows for some great photo ops!

Poster Art- One thing that really stands out to me is how Vicki & Eric, along with BG Productions, really took the opportunity to capitalize on the standard pre-wedding goodies, such as engagement photos & Save The Date.  Not only was the Save The Date brilliant, but using the engagement session to create iconic movie posters, genius!

Its Black & White-At the end of the day, while our couple was celebrating their cinematic love, they brought it back full circle keeping it classy if you will.  Sampling the 20′s with slight art deco influences, our couple was smartly dressed in gorgeous black & white wedding attire.  I love the nod to a time long ago & the elegant bump that it gives their whole affair!

Novella of the Bride…

Eric is a web designer and part-time photographer, and Vicki is an online marketer.  Eric and Vicki met online (on Match.com) in 2006.  He initially piqued Vicki’s interest by referencing one of her favorite South Park episodes.  They got engaged in August of 2010  and were married two years later in August 2012.  Eric and Vicki are both pretty easy going and have good senses of humor.  Humor definitely plays a large part in their relationship, and they are usually joking around with each other.

We go to the Colonial Theatre regularly to see films.  When we heard it was available for weddings, we knew it was our ceremony venue.  Besides, how many people can say they got married where the movie “The Blob” was filmed?  We wanted a movie themed wedding with art deco accents.  Our ceremony {held in the Colonial Theatre} opened 1903 in Phoenixville, PA.  Before the ceremony, we showed our epic Save The Date trailer that BG Productions created.  We also incorporated our dog (Sophie) into the ceremony by replacing the image of the MGM lion with her.  Vicki walked down to a piano, instrumental version of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica. During the ceremony, we played a time lapse video, that Eric created, of the stars coming out at night in French Creek State Park.  Essentially, we got married in a historic theatre and “under the stars”.  We both read  unique wedding vows.  Vicki’s vows were based on the movie “Ten Things I Hate About You”, which she called “Ten Things I Love About You”.  Eric’s vows were more traditional though he did “Rick Roll”

Our reception was held at the Radisson Hotel in Valley Forge in the Waterford Ballroom which just happened to be an old dinner theatre.   At the reception, all the tables had mini movie posters of our favorite films and the place cards had quotes from each of the movie.  We had also made our own “movie posters”, which we had setup on easels when guests walked in.  We made a full-size poster for “There’s Something About Vicki”, “Eric Lukavsky Vs The World”, “Mr and Ms Lukavsky” and “The Proposal” (which was based off the poster for The Artist).  Our envelope box kept the movie theme and had an old movie projector on top.  The wedding party and parents each walked in to a song from a movie of there choice.  The songs came from a variety of movies, from Pirates of the Caribbean to Westside Story to 2001 A Space Odyssey to Austin Powers.  Our first dance was a swing dance to “A Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen.  Vicki and her dad danced to “Bye Bye Bye” by N’Sync for their father-daughter dance.  Since Vicki is allergic to most flowers, she made a bouquet entirely out of silver and black brooches.  It was heavy but very beautiful.  Due to the sheer weight of the bouquet, we did not actually have a bouquet toss.  Instead, we had a dance off with the winner receiving a smaller brooch bouquet Vicki had also made.  We were even able to work, Sophie, (our dog) into the reception by incorporating her into the cake topper and placing a picture of her face on a stick for a photobooth prop.

Couple’s Favorite Wedding Day Moments:

Eric: Seeing Vicki walk down the aisle for the first time.
Vicki: Swing dancing with Eric and performing the father-daughter dance with her dad.

*SBW Note: At the end of our feature wedding info sheets, I leave room for our sweet couple to add any additional info that they might want to add.  While I have received some good tib dits & notes, up unti now, I had not received lyrics  or vows!  What a treat to see Eric’s vows to Vicki in lyric form!  Love this about them! 

Lyrics from Rick Ashley aka (Rick Rolling): We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy
I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Vendor Love

Ceremony Venue: The Colonial Theater
Reception & Caterer Venue: Radisson Hotel Valley Forge
Wedding Dress: Galina Signature
Hair & Makeup Stylist: Salon Fiber
Cake Designer: Ciao Bella Cakes
DJ: Silver Sound Disk Jockey
Transportation: Secrets limousine
Additional: Bloomingdale’s, Amazing times photo booths
Event Planner: Create The Moment
Cinema & Video: BG Prodcutions- videography
Photographer: BG Productions

Not everyone craves that cookie cutter wedding day that we see all too often.  When Christi Tucay & Noah Clark’s big day came, they knew they wanted nothing to do with what everyone else was doing.  Finding the ideal location in Lyon’s Farmette, our sweet couple set out to create a day that celebrated the guests as much as them as a couple.  Marrying along a long tree branch, our couple embraced the outdoor venue, treating guests to a long tabled reception light by bare bulbs & table cloths that doubled as chalkboard canvases.  The day was kept light & airy, allowing the 2 sweethearts to go with the flow & truly feel themselves on their day.

What Storyboard Likes…

The Vibe- The big goal for Christi & Noah’s wedding was a day that was low key, low fuss that essentially bucked all the cookie cutter traditional wedding day notions.  The sweet couple instead organized a day that, to me, resembles that of an elevated awesome backyard wedding.  I loved the casual vibe & joyous atmosphere where our couple let guests celebrate with them in their own way, not in a regimented fashion!

Chalk Talk- Chalkboards as wedding decor seem to have hit any all time high of late, but I LOVE Christi & Noah’s twist on chalk talk!  Whether the idea was always black table cloths that people could write on or someone went all Banksy on them setting the tone, I am not quite sure, but the end result is graffiti awesomeness.  Giving your guests something to do & play around with always sets the stage for some pretty fun memories!

The Lovebirds- ‘I’m sweet on you’ That should be Christi & Noah’s motto as a couple because its pretty clear to me that they are mega sweet on each other!  Its also evident to me how much they lean on the other for life, love & support.  There is a certain dimpled smile that neither can control, when looking at the other, that seems to melt the entire world around them away.  Its the sweet almost bashful love from each that resonates with me so much!

Novella Of The Couple…

Like many couples, we met at work. It was Christi’s second job out of college and Noah’s first. It was an advertising agency and we happened to sit directly across from each other in the office. While working together on a number of our clients, we developed a friendship outside of work and would have described ourselves as “best friends.” We did absolutely everything together and lived only a few blocks a way from each other in Culver City, CA. It wasn’t until Christi moved on to another job, however, that we started dating. And six years later, well, we got married.

It was important to us that the wedding stayed small and simple. There was no theme, no real agenda, no professional decorations and no real structure. Having been to dozens of weddings over the years that follow the same cliché format (ceremony, sit down dinner, speeches, father/daughter dance, first dance, money dance, cheesy DJ music, etc.) we made a point of going the opposite direction. It was low budget and low on frills on purpose.  We knew we wanted to be outside to take advantage of the beautiful Colorado summers. But we also knew that we wanted something intimate versus sprawling. The Lyons Farmette was the perfect size and had the perfect mix of grass area, farm area, and creek area.

The wedding was a true group effort. Our aunts, uncles, brothers, best friends, moms and dads did everything from setup the tables to arrange the flowers to pickup up the hay bails and buy the table cloths. Its hard to pin down one “favorite” moment, but sharing a hug and the magnitude of the moment with our parents directly after the ceremony was incredibly emotional, gratifying.

Vendor Love

Caterer:  Pizzeria Basta
Event Venue:  Lyon’s Farmette
Photographer:  Ashley Davis Photography

When it came time for Claire Inskeep & Joe Saphire to plan their perfect wedding day,  a lake side wedding in the gorgeous New England fall was the perfect setting.  Wanting something  more unique, and true to their style, our couple opted for a lake side wedding where our bride arrived on a canoe!  This Vermont gem featured burlap runners, pine needle aisle, & dried herb escort cards just to name a few of the key elements that came together to highlight this gorgeous organic delight of a wedding day!

What Storyboard Likes…

The Transportation- How can you not love a bride that foregoes conventional transportation for a self manned canoe that lands softly to shore!  We love how our couple truly embraced all aspects that is the stunning Vermont wilderness, injecting a sense of calm as our bride gliding along the water!

The Food- I know know, you dont see any food in the feature, so hum whaa?  Its OK, I am completely playing favorites here and I am good with that!  Catering by Dale was actually our carter for our wedding, so naturally, we’re prone to shout her praises when we can!!  Dale is a delight to work with, her staff amazing & the best part….?  THE FOOD!  Dale’s food is absolutely scrumptious & I am sure that Claire & Joe think so too!

The Flare- We love everything about our bride & groom’s style from the bride’s sleek fitting Nicole Miller wedding dress to our groom’s suit of choice, which by our eye, has a nice natural tweed to it which compliments the natural surroundings…beautifully!  As if the style of our bride & groom wasnt enough, we are madly in love with their floral choices, truly capturing that Vermont wild flower feel in each uniquely different bridesmaid bouquet!

Vendor Love

Caterer: Catering by Dale
Floral Designer: Artistic Gardens, Blooms By The Box
Wedding Dress: Nicole Miller
Bridesmaid Dresses: J. Crew
DJ: Peak Entertainment
Photographer: Ampersand Wedding Photography