We have a really special wedding today and the bride is here to tell us a little bit about it! But, first, a little background.

Nicole and Marty met each other working at a record store in Richmond. They played together in each other’s bands, so it’s only natural that music was a big part of their reception. They were married in Richmond on August 9, 2008 at The Bankuet Place.

Instead of rings, the couple got tattoos that read “true love cast out all evil,” a quotation from a song by Roky Erickson.
Buttons to match Marty and Nicole’s tattoos were passed out to guests.

A friend made the invitations based off the design of an obscure gospel LP. The key motif was carried throughout the reception, since Nicole’s husband’s last name is “Key” and because the party took place in an old bank building with a vintage bank vault.

Nicole found deposit keys that she spray painted and hung as garland.

The couple had a pom pom making party the morning of the wedding. Aren’t they beautiful?

Homemade cakes, tres leches cakes from Kuba Kuba, vegan cupcakes and cakes pops, all made by Nicole and Marty’s friends and guests! Nicole scanned fabrics and then added text in Photoshop to make flags identifying desserts.

A friend designed Proust Questionnaires that Nicole used in place of a guest book.

Guests were sent home with mix tape CDs and bags of Virginia peanuts tied with vintage skelton keys.
Nicole made a banner for the DJ table from fabric.

And, now more from Nicole.
Q. What was your budget and philosophy on wedding planning?
A. We focused on a budget between $6,000 and $8,000 and it came in under $8,000. A lot of this had to do with our resistance to spending a ton of money on things that society and family dictate we should spend on, such as expensive rings, a fancy dress and professional photography.

Q. Three most important things about your wedding day?
A. Food, Drinks, Music. There is nothing worse than being a hungry guest at a party with bad music. We wanted to set an environment where everyone was comfortable enough to have a great time. If you take care of these three things, good times will follow.

Q. Biggest savings?
A. We had many friends who helped us make our wedding affordable. If it was not for them, it would have been far more expensive. Also, the venue (The Bankuet Place) was a place no one I knew had heard of and was slightly newer to the venue circuit, so it was a great deal. It was in an area over the bridge from our hotels but in a very historic part of Richmond that is now experiencing a revitalization. It was important for us to invest in the community down there and I am so glad we did. The venue MADE the event. It is a wonderful relic of old Richmond…err Manchester… and a symbol of what is to come.

Q. One piece of advice you’d like to pass along to other brides?
A. If you are having wedding, you are throwing a party. Your guests are important, otherwise you would have eloped, right? So make the best party you can for you and your guests. If they are having a great time it’s easier for you to have one and that is the whole point. For us, that meant pooling all of our pals together and getting everyone involved in it. It made it more memorable for them and that much more meaningful for us.

Q. Biggest joys?
A. Our friends! So many of our friends commented to us that it was the most enjoyable wedding they’d ever attended! Can you imagine how wonderful that was to hear?

My other favorite part of the party was this: Instead of having a guest book, I decided to have guests fill out a “Proust Questionnaire,” (which a bandmate of ours designed for us). They are a joy to read to this day and a peek inside of all of our cherished friends and family. At one point the room looked like the SATs with tables of folks filing them out!

Thank you so much to Marty and Nicole! I hope you all enjoyed remembering and telling the story of your wedding day as much as we enjoyed hearing it!