Jenny, 38 & Matthew, 42

Los Gatos, CA

Wedding Date: March 21, 2008

Number of Guests: 31

Wedding Cost:  $10,000

Wedding Ceremony Location: Nestldown – Los Gatos, CA

Wedding Reception Location: Nestldown – Los Gatos, CA

Why did you have an intimate wedding?

We initially thought of eloping to Hawaii and having a celebration with our families later. However, then we decided we wanted close family and friends there, also wanted to keep our costs down as we were working on a budget of $10,000.

I’m smitten with these DIY wedding favor donation cards that I recently discovered on flickr.

Jasmine created these fantastic little cards for her upcoming July wedding to let her wedding guests know that she  and her sweetie are making a donation to a favorite charity, instead of giving wedding favors.

“When I think about all the weddings I’ve gone to, I seem to remember thinking of favors as silly and frivolous. We were inspired by the last wedding we attended to make an “in lieu of” donation instead, as Nick and I both sponsor children through Compassion Canada,” she says.

Jasmine created mini cards of her engagment photos using www.moo.com.

“They come in boxes of 100 for about $20USD and you can customize the back,” she says.

Jasmine, simply punched holes through the cards and placed an eyelet in each hole. She then tied ribbon to each card.

Simple. Lovely.

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Whether you are looking for fabulous NY wedding venues for a destination wedding in the Big Apple, or you are a New Yorker who is hungry for some unique NY wedding venues to check out, read on – especially if you are considering a theme wedding.

Here are four unique NY wedding venues and four themes that are the perfect fit:

Library Hotel for a Library Themed Wedding

A few weeks ago I blogged about a couple who had a library themed wedding. (Check out the library slip invitations!) New York’s Library Hotel would be the perfect spot for a library themed wedding. The Library Hotel in New York City is the first hotel ever to offer its guest over 6,000 volumes of books organized throughout the hotel by the Dewey Decimal System.* Each of the 10 guestroom floors honor one of the 10 categories of the DDC and each of the 60 rooms are uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within the category it belongs to.

The Gallery Bar for an Art Themed Wedding

Are you and your sweetie artsy types? Consider an intimate wedding with an art theme at The Gallery Bar! This venue, which is both a bar and a contemporary exhibition space for artists, has two levels for private events.

Merchants House Wedding for a Romantic Tea Party Wedding

Why not have a romantic tea party wedding at the Merchants House Museum? The Merchant’s House Museum is New York City’s only family home preserved intact – inside and out – from the 19th century. Built in 1832 just steps from Washington Square, this elegant red-brick and white-marble row house on East Fourth Street was home to a prosperous merchant family for almost 100 years. You can have your elegant tea party in the house or in the garden.

The Old Stone House for an Historical Themed Wedding

Love history? Have an historical themed wedding at The Old Stone House. The lovely Great Room on the 2nd floor has pale yellow walls, an open timbered ceiling and excellent acoustics.  The first floor gallery commemorates the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Brooklyn and is included in rentals during non-public hours.

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Looking for green wedding favors? Check out these wild birdseed heart favors by Etsy seller Nature Favors. Just make sure your guests don’t think they’re some kind of healthy, post-wedding snack:)

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A dog ring bearer? A bride and groom on horseback?

More and more couples are involving animals in their weddings.

Well-behaved dogs can make wonderful ringbearers, and so can owls. (Don’t believe me? Read this.) Heck, one reader wrote to tell me she’s using her hamster as a ringbearer!

Even horses can play a role. A few years ago I interviewed a couple who surprised their guests by making their grand entrance on horseback.

“The guests were shocked. We kept it all a big secret,” says Sandra.

Visions of Camelot surely danced through their guests’ heads, as they watched David, in full dressage, enter the arena on the back of a gorgeous black gelding. When his beaming bride followed, riding sidesaddle on a gentle Arabian mare, a hush fell over the audience.

Without as much as a nay from the horses, the couple calmly said their vows, making official, their status as husband and wife.

Sandra and David decided to get married on horseback for obvious reasons: they both love horses and they both enjoy equestrian riding.

Deanne and Andy also involved a four-legged friend on their big day: their beloved Staffordshire bull terrier, Scotch, was ring bearer.

With a ring-filled satchel tied around her collar, the good natured canine was led by leash to the altar, where she patiently waited for her cue.

“She was really good. She just sat there, and watched what was going on,” says Deanne, a veterinary assistant.

When the time came to offer up the rings, the groom’s best man knelt to retrieve the rings from Scotch, who obliged without even a bark.

“It worked out great,” says Deanne. “She just looked at everybody and wagged her tail all excited.”

Gloria Steacy, an ordained minister and owner of Royal Wedding Gardens & Chapel in LaSalle, says she’s married several couples who have had their pets involved in the wedding. Steacy recalls a wedding ceremony where ten Labrador retrievers were in attendance.

Steacy explains that the dogs, which were all from the same litter and owned by various members of the bride and groom’s family, sat quietly together near the altar as the couple said their vows.

“There were all these dogs sitting there all prim and proper. They just sat there like they had been trained to do that forever,” she says.

Steacy says she has also conducted weddings that have included other cherished pets, including cats.

She recalls a medieval theme wedding where the bride and groom’s two cats sat in cages near the altar during the ceremony.

Do you plan on involving pets in your wedding?

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