S4E11: A Fun and Accessible Wedding - All You Need is a Little Outside-the-Box Thinking | Married Couple
Have you ever thought about how lighting, the height of the centerpieces, combining live music with a DJ, and captioning your music might enhance your guest experience (and yours)?
What about scheduled a 45-minute nap into your wedding day?
Outside of the box thinking can make your wedding day even more fun than you ever imagined!
In this episode of The Wedding Dish, we dive into a whole bunch of ways that weddings can be accessible to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities — and enhance the celebration for each and every guest!
Sara is joined by guest co-host Erin, the CEO and accessibility educator behind Mabely Q.
Keri & Andrew’s Wedding
How did you two meet?
We met at sleepaway camp when we were 13 years old. We were each other’s first kiss at 13 years old in 1997. We lost touch due to lack of social media, etc and we didn't think to exchange our addresses to keep in touch via snail mail.
What was the first thing you noticed about your partner?
How empathetic and caring he is about the fact that I'm Deaf
Tell us about the proposal!
He planned it with my parents and arranged for them and my good friend Maly [she's a photographer] to fly to Cleveland. They all surprised me at the Westin Hotel [which was where I wanted to get married] and we did get married there 6 months later.
Wedding Date:
October 09, 2016
Wedding Location:
Westin Cleveland Downtown
Approx. number of guests who attended your wedding:
160
What were your top 5 favorite moments from your wedding?
Our first look, our photography journey that morning, our rehearsal dinner, everyone that came in from all over for the wedding and how we set up CART and interpreters for the wedding ceremony
What, if anything, would you change about the wedding planning process?
I would change the grand entrance to the reception and I would have insisted on my wedding planner to stay, instead of leaving at the start
What, if anything, would you change about your wedding day?
I would have gotten a second dress for the reception, I would have wanted to test out the equipment that was supposed to caption all the songs throughout the ceremony since it ended up not working well and I would have made sure everyone got cake since they did not at the end
Did you participate in any family traditions, or incorporate any heirlooms into your wedding?
My parents insisted on a reform rabbi so we had one to keep them happy
What was the planning process like? Did you run into any obstacles? How did you overcome them?
I ended up gaining a few pounds so my wedding dress had to be let out, which was fine I still looked beautiful. The only other obstacle was the captioning of each song, the words either didn't work or were behind.
What was the most important decision you made about your wedding?
To have it in Cleveland and on a Sunday to save my parents money. It would have been stressful for me if I had to fly back to Long Island for the wedding
What is your favorite thing about your significant other?
I love his little surprises such as some days he brings home my favorite food or candy, little notes he gives me from our dogs [he pretends that they're humans], and the bigger surprises such as a bouquet of flowers. I love that he loves food as much as I do and that he learns sign language to communicate with me.
What’s the best thing that’s happened in your lives since getting married?
Our two puppies, Kensie and Ace, and the fact that our love for each other continues to grow.
What is the most surprising difference about being married vs living together?
I feel like it's the same
Have something else to share? A funny story? Something crazy that happened? Let's Dish!
The first time I went to visit Andy in Cleveland, I forgot my wallet. It was an adventure working with him via text to figure out how I could still fly. I don't remember how, but I made it to Cleveland without a license.
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This episode is brought to you by:
Photos from the Harty, Internationally acclaimed wedding photography
District Bliss, the support you need to skyrocket your business with ease
Lemon Tree Editorial, copywriting for wedding professionals
Sprout Creative, marketing for entrepreneurs
Laughing with Gingers, a podcast where two feisty redheads spread silliness and joy
Mabely Q, accessibility education