Real Wedding Follow-Up: Jen & Ray

Posted by Shira Savada, Real Weddings Editor

In addition to the great story about Jen and Ray’s wedding in our current issue, I thought it’d be nice to follow up with the happy couple after their big day and share some post-wedding reflections, tips, and behind-the-scenes. The wedding photos below are from the couple's wedding photographer, Eva Ng.

So first, the favorite memories. Both bride and groom couldn't pick just one, so here are their top two:

The dancing is Jen’s favorite part of weddings, so it’s not surprising that some of her most memorable moments took place on the dance floor. “Ray loves Elvis so we decided to dance to ‘Love Me’ the one that starts 'Treat me like a fool...' It wasn't your typical dance song but when we first started dating and it was playing, I said 'If we ever get married, this should be our song' (then I shook my head to myself, not believing I had said something like that so soon in our relationship!)"

Jen also loved the father-daughter dance and the mother-son dance. "Dancing with my dad is always a challenge for me because I'm not so good at letting my partner lead. Dad and I had practiced so I was able to let him lead and it was fun! Watching Ray and his mom dance was also very special to me. His mom lives in Oregon, so they don't get to see each other very often. They danced to an Elvis song also, ‘Memories’; Ray's dad passed away about 10 years ago, so the dance seemed like a nice memory of him between Maria and Ray."

And for Ray, it was during the ceremony. "We were holding hands when David (our friend who married us) was reading and Jen couldn't stop giggling—nothing was funny but, Jen just laughs when she’s nervous, and she was nervous with so many people looking at her! She actually had to close her eyes and put her head down so she could stop herself which made me start giggling a bit."

And right afterwards: "Just after the ceremony we walked back down the aisle and went behind the trellis fence that was separating the ceremony from the hotel guests in the pool, and everyone at the pool began clapping when we hugged. It was really sweet!"

I also asked for fun behind-the-scenes info from her planning process that we couldn’t squeeze in to the magazine. She said that making all the wedding party gifts was really fun. She started about 8 months before the wedding and continued until just before the big day! Each bridesmaid got a pair of socks, the groomsmen received hats in their favorite sports team colors, her mom got placemats, her step mom a silk scarf, her mother-in-law got embroidered pillowcases, her dad a wool blanket, their "reverend" (a friend of Jen's from junior high) a yoga mat bag, and the most rewarding gift she made was an old guitar strap that she recovered with fabric for her step dad, who played the ceremony music. Not only were the gifts fun to make, but they were all warmly received!

And one of my favorite details of the wedding was the magnets Jen made because they were multi-purpose. Each magnet had the initial of the first name of the guest and was color-coded to signify their meal. Jen says, “Last Christmas, before we had picked a date, chosen a venue or done anything besides get engaged, I thought that magnets would be a good idea for favors. The original idea was to make the magnet match the napkin fabric but, after we did the meal tasting and figured out we had to have a method to alert the servers, the color-coded magnet idea was born. We used green and orange, of course and the colors were as follows:

green with white upper case letter - filet
orange with white upper caseletter - chicken
white with green upper case letter - mahi mahi
white with orange upper case letter - vegetable wellington
white with orange lower case letter - children's meal

In planning her wedding, Jen’s tip for all you brides-to-be out there is to hire a wedding coordinator! “Our wedding coordinator, Brooke from Details Details along with my friend Brooke Reynolds, who designed our invitations and all other paper goods for the wedding, were the reason that our wedding went as smoothly as it did. As far as I know, there were no issues at all throughout the day and I certainly didn't notice anything that was out of place." Another piece of advice: “Don't sweat the small stuff! You can plan and plan and plan with all your vendors and sometimes things may not be just as you thought. Your guests are probably not going to notice if the centerpieces are a bit shorter than you wanted or if the vase that holds the flowers is square instead of round. They are there to see you."

Another brilliant idea came after the wedding. Jen and her sister, Joelle, used all of the napkins from the wedding to make a beautiful color wheel quilt from Joelle’s new book, Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts. Check it out at the Purl blog.

Comments

[dshadle]

Being asked to officiate Jen and Ray's wedding was an honor I will never forget. Having Jen giggling throughout the service only helped define the light-hearted mood of a day which brought two people who, so obviously, adore one another together. I only wish that the photo had caught me at a moment where I was not looking so serious. What a great event! Congratulations again to you both. "Rev"

[Tricia Warren]

This was a beautiful wedding to remember. I have known Jen all my life (since 5th grade), and she has always been very creative. I love the quilt from the napkins. Jen and Ray had a memorable wedding and I am so incredibly happy for them and grateful I could be a part of that special day. I love you guys!

[jack]

no picture or magazine article could ever truly capture what a wonderful person jen hoverson is or what a great couple jen and ray make, but i'm glad they tried and did a beautiful job of showing off two of jen's assets.... her talent and smile!

[jennifer H. Jahnke]

wow - what sweet friends i have! thank you guys!!

xo
jen

[Katie Dykema]

Where did you find the magnets at? did you make them?