It's been five years since Michael and I were married, and people still ask about our wedding. So we wanted to post an article written by Eileen O. Daday for the Daily Herald Correspondent back in 2003 about all of the things we did to make our big day something everyone would remember. It might even give you ideas for your own celebration. Enjoy!
A Wedding Fit For A Screen
Film buffs mark start of a beautiful marriage with theater ceremony
By Eileen O. Daday
Daily Herald Correspondent - November 10th, 2003
When a graphic designer and a photographer decide to take the plunge, you can bet that it will be anything but traditional. Sure enough, when Jaime McDonough and Michael Foster, both of New Lenox, became engage, friends and family members knew to expect something creative from the artsy pair. That’s just what they got at their August 2002 wedding. “We’re both old film buffs, so we came up with the idea of a vintage Hollywood wedding,” said Jaime, who specialized in black-and-white photography. “We wanted it to be classy and different and represent our personalities.”
Their imaginations took off when they found the restored 1926 movie house known as the Arcada Theatre in downtown St. Charles. The theater’s rich history combined with its ornate design drew the couple’s interest immediately, they said. That and the fact that the theater operator was open to the idea. “Since we opened the place, we agreed it was going to be available for rent for different things,” said Todd Smith, theater operator. “This sounded like a neat idea.”
Michael and Jaime began by designing custom invitations and programs that resembled vintage magazines covers and Hollywood tabloids. They worked from two black-and-white photos, including one replicating the famous returning World War II soldier kissing his girl. The couple also created mock movie posters with photographs from the shoot to decorate the inside of the auditorium.
Once guests arrived, they saw the couple’s names on the marquee. As they entered the auditorium, ushers escorted them to their seats with flashlights, while famous movie scores played in the background. For their big day, Jaime chose to wear a 1940s-style ivory wedding gown, while Michael wore Humphrey Bogart’s classic white tuxedo jacket and black pants from the film “Casablanca.”
“Mine wasn’t an authentic vintage gown, but it made me feel like Audrey Hepburn,” Jaime said.
Before the ceremony itself the couple put together a 15-minute series of vintage movie trailers, featuring clips from such classic movies as “Casablanca,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “My Fair Lady.”
A minister married Michael and Jaime on stage in front of the movie screen. The ceremony began with the 20th Century Fox theme song, followed by the song, “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Both were played on the theater organ, which made its grand entrance from the side of the stage.
Afterward, they walked down the theater aisle as the organist played, “When You Wish Upon A Star.” Upon leaving the auditorium, guests received old-fashioned popcorn bags. instead of throwing the traditional rice or even rose petals, they threw popcorn - non-buttered of course.
Outside the Arcada, guests boarded a series of trolleys that toured downtown St. Charles and Geneva while playing old Hollywood musical numbers including “The Trolley Song,” from the Judy Garland film “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Then it was off to the reception in a vintage 1955 Cadillac limousine, which took the couple to their banquet at Gray’s Mill in Montgomery. Their Hollywood wedding theme continued with guests being assigned to different casts for their movie themed table assignments. Each table then featured a bottle of Marilyn Merlot, and favors of chocolate rolls of film from Universal Studios. The couple also put together a 10-minute short film that placed them in classic wedding movies.
“It’s been a year since our wedding and to this day people still talk about how much fun they had,” Jaime said.
“We had so much fun planning it,” Michael added. “It was a lot of work, but it was all worth it. We had a blast.”
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1 comment:
Greetings! I found your site by a round about way, but I wanted to leave a comment and even a request. Since shortly after getting engaged, I started "hanging out" on the OffBeat Bride forum (which you should totally check out http://offbeatbride.ning.com/) which is an offshoot of Ariel Meadow Stallings's (http://offbeatbride.com/ariel) blog tie-in to her book of the same name. It has been a great place where I have met a bunch of fun people who are really having a lot of fun planning on-traditional weddings and the like.
What brings me to your site is that a fellow bride who is doing a similar theme to mine found the description to your wedding, and shared it with me knowing I would be just as thrilled as she was to find someone who had done a wedding with a vintage movie theme. Although each of us is taking a unique approach to this theme, we have been enjoying watching each other's progress, so are always interested to see how other people have interpreted a similar theme also.
Now, after poking around in hopes of finding photos of your awesome wedding, I found instead that you are in fact (wedding, etc.) photographers yourself. So cool! However, I still cannot seem to find any photos of your actual wedding. So, my proposal to you is: I would love to take a peek at any photos you are willing to share, and if I can share them with the other hip members of the Offbeat Bride tribe, I will happily include a shout out to you as photographers. I imagine there are plenty of brides in your area that would love to have an offbeat couple like yourselves photograph their own wedding.
Thanks!
Ragani
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