Welcome to PLAYBILLDER Spotlight, where Playbill highlights shows from educational institutions or regional theatres and special events around the country (who have used Playbill's program-building service). By welcoming these PLAYBILLDERs center stage, we hope to give our readers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation and the way theatre lovers are bringing Playbill along for life's big moments.
How to Broadway-size Your Next Party or Event with PLAYBILLDER
This week's Spotlight is Eduard Zahariev and Laura Schmidt of Des Moines, Iowa. They didn't produce a show but they did use PLAYBILLDER for another kind of production: their wedding. The couple used PLAYBILLDER to introduce their "cast" of friends and loved ones (including their best dog!), to thank their supportive parents for keeping their busy weekend running smoothly, and to detail the precious heirlooms Schmidt included in her ensemble to honor her grandmother, Vera, and grandfather, Al.
The newlyweds shared with Playbill the important role musical theatre played in building their relationship, how family and friends reacted to seeing their Playbill for the first time, and which moments helped them feel each other was "the one."
Congratulations on your beautiful wedding! Tell us about yourselves.
Eduard Zahariev and Laura Schmidt: We are a couple who live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota with our blind rescue dog, Willow. We met in 2019 through a mutual friend, a coworker of Laura's and a college friend of Eddy's. Once we started dating, we pretty quickly realized that we were each other's person.
How did you know each other was the one?
For Laura, it was seeing how good Eddy was with her rescue dog. Willow was a shy little thing, and Ed somehow got her out of her shell to play. He also taught her how to bark, which she did not know how to do before. For Ed, it was less a specific moment and more a series of moments spent together. Time cooking, walking, and watching movies together.
What were some of the most challenging moments of wedding planning?
Some of the most challenging moments involved decision fatigue. When planning a wedding, you have to make so many decisions, large and small. But at the end of the day, we learned to focus on the things that mattered most to us, like adding little details that would really make the wedding unique and memorable for our guests.
What was the most rewarding moment of your wedding day?
The most rewarding part was seeing it all come together. While we had loved our venue, Rollins Mansion, before, seeing it decorated and full of our family and friends brought it to life in a way we never imagined.
What major milestones are you looking forward to experiencing as a couple?
We are still planning our honeymoon, so we are looking forward to that travel together. We're also looking forward to buying a slightly larger place, with a slightly larger yard for our dog.
What was the first Broadway show you attended as a couple?
One of the first big trips we took together was for Laura's birthday. It was complete surprise! Laura did not know where we were going until we got to the airport. The destinations were Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island.
We went to Providence to see Hamilton, as Laura had been raving about this show for longer than we even knew! One of our favorite shows was the revival of Parade. We just saw it during its tour stop in Minneapolis.
We love having a show to see. Laura grew up loving musicals and Ed also has a love and appreciation for theatre. Theatre tickets are still one of their favorite gifts for each other.
What drew you to PLAYBILLDER for your special event?
We knew we wanted to have our tables and decor take on a more personalized angle at the wedding. We decided to theme them after different musicals, as musical theatre is a big part of our story. Laura has some graphic design background, and she happened upon PLAYBILLDER, seeing that others had used the service for their wedding programs before.
We loved the idea of having our wedding party as the "cast." This was also a fun surprise for those involved! Our guests absolutely loved it. Seeing their reactions and hearing about it was so fun. Some of our family members took a few extra to send to cousins who weren't able to make it to the wedding.
Without PLAYBILLDER, we're not sure we would have succeeded in creating any sort of musical-themed program. Even if we had DIY'ed it, it certainly would not have looked as professional.
We would highly recommend PLAYBILLDER to other couples. It makes a really unique keepsake for guests, the software is pretty easy to use and customize, and the printing options were so convenient and quick.
Having PLAYBILLDER at our wedding was one of the highlights. It's still a detail our family and friends talk about. And, honestly, it was a fun experience to build the program together as a couple.
To design Broadway-quality programs for your next show or special event, head to PLAYBILLDER.com. Who knows, you might just be featured in our next PLAYBILLDER Spotlight! And if you are looking for a beautiful way to display your Playbills, click here to purchase Playbill frames.
