Archive for ‘To Wed!’

January 27th, 2011

You’re invited!

I waited until I had a ring. Then I started hunting for wedding invitations. I went to many paper stores, and any place I could think of that would sell wedding invitations. I was hoping to find some sort of inspiration to establish a color pallet or theme or something. Oddly enough… in the grand scheme of wedding planning, the invitations were one of the last items decided upon.

The price of “professional” personalized invitations eventually led us to look further into making our own. For a while we had planned on doing a black and white theme, so we purchased a kit from Michael’s and it sat around the house for a while… but after a while it just wasn’t going to work. I’m not a fancy enough to person to warrant a black & white affair. After settling on blue and brown we were able to more seriously continue the invitation making endeavours.

We purchased a kit from Target. It came with brown “envelopes” (picture coming) and cream inserts. The inserts were… saved for later. I used the small envelopes and cards for writing thank you notes after the wedding. And from there my Mom went about creating the information inserts for the invitations.

On the front we printed address labels in blue ink:

When you opened up the invitation you were greeted by our picture.

Underneath the picture were the details to our Summer BBQ… and wedding of course!

In the invitations that we gave to people from church we included this card at the top. Figuring out how to incorporate both of the ceremonies was a little tricky.

We also included this card to people whom we are close to, and that we definitely wanted to attend the temple with us:

At the bottom of the envelope was a little pocket.

The enclosed card detailed how our guests could get directions, hotel information, and address for the different venues we would be using. To avoid sending out tons of little envelopes with stamps that might not get used (we sent a lot of invitations as “announcements” rather than as invitations) we also had a place for guests to RSVP on the website.

With all of those little goodies inside the envelopes were folded up and sealed with a “W”.

And there you have it! The invitations!

I guess at some point I may write about the difficulties of having an LDS wedding when the only family members we had in the church were my parents and siblings. Honestly, the pain of things that my own family said to me over the course of the event still stings, over a year and a half later… which is probably why it is not a topic I have touched, and I probably won’t for a while.

CategoryTo Wed! | Comment8 Comments »

Tags:
January 6th, 2011

Getting Gussied Up

As mentioned when I blogged about our “budget” – we kept everything pretty low key. The people who put my wedding on are my Moms. Yes, I have more than one. When you move around a lot, there are people who you meet who become instant family. These women that I’ve known, some for the majority of my life, some for a few years, and some only for a few months, put my wedding together. One of these women happens to be a hair stylist. She did my hair for my bridal pictures, and she was ever so gracious is doing my hair for my wedding as well. The other Mamas helped get every body else ready too! So, here are my “Getting ready photos” – it’s kind of a scant section, but what I have will do.

5:05 pm – less than an hour before the ring ceremony starts. It took us a very long time to get from northern DC to Fredericksburg!  This is one of my sister’s dresses. Both of them were my bridesmaids. The Maid of Honor’s dress was blue with a brown belt.

I started the afternoon out by lying on the floor. I had been up since 3 something in the morning and was completely exhausted. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt this way… but I was the only one who laid down on the ground.

I got up off of the floor when two of my college roommates showed up. They came all the way up from Tennessee! Hmm… love!  The two people behind me came to Virginia all the way from Georgia! I’ve known them since I was a freshman in highschool.

I already had my jewelry on by this point. Brandi was curling my hair to give it a little more volume so it would look better in my up-do. Naturally I kept my veil on… THE ENTIRE DAY… so there aren’t actually any pictures of the back of my head.

According to our budget… I did my own make-up. Which was perfectly fine because I got a lot of compliments on it. I went very simple, and kind of understated. This is actually the same make-up I wear every day, plus lipstick. I did it that way because I knew that my normal make-up looked good. Why fix something that isn’t broken?!

Here is the Wendy-lady (she came all the way from Utah!) doing Chrissy hair (the maid of honor).

I gave Teresa, my sister and flower girl, this necklace. Isn’t she a cutie!

And that, sadly, is where my getting ready pictures end. Why? Because as soon as I was done with hair and make-up I disappeared. I went to an empty part of the church, and wrote down what I wanted to say to B-man. Yes. I procrastinated THAT much. As soon as I was finished it was… about 6. So I got dressed in the bathroom with just my Mom. Then she hurried out to be walked down the aisle and I slowly walked the hallways to meet my Dad at the back of the church. The next time any one saw me was like this:

Pictures by Alea Bryar. Except the last one. My Aunt Cyndi took this one.

CategoryTo Wed! | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
May 19th, 2010

The Inspirations!

I’m kind of a crazy person. And a copy-cat galore.

On occasion I can be creative, but usually I see other things and then recreate them. My wedding was no exception. I originally wanted an outdoor wedding. My ceremony was outdoors, but we did the reception inside for the A/C and because we needed a rain-back-up-plan. But, I wanted to share where some of my ideas started!

The first thing I did was google “Mormon Ring Ceremony.” What can I say? I was desperate! The only information I had was a paragraph from a book. Not a lot. But I needed more than just a description of what it was. I needed a guide. A serious planning guide. I’m kind of big on lists. After searching through tons and tons of websites and flipping through pages of google results, I landed on the Wedding Bee website. The I found Mrs. Avocado (now That Wife) – and her detailed blog of their ring ceremony was the best thing I could’ve asked for.

I loved everything about her ceremony. It was small and intimate. I used hers as the bones for what I wanted to do. There will be more about that in the post about the actual ceremony. I did take some decorating cues from her wedding though. The one big thing I was inpisred by was her Chandelier that she had hanging over their ceremony. It was so pretty and beautiful.

Photo By Kelli Nicole Photography

I ended up going a little more homemade, and didn’t have the time to burn the candles for the cool phantom-candle effect, but I think my version was perfect for us!

I had some ideas about the invitations. I drew up probably 10 different options. I looked at hundreds.

And we ended up doing this:

And this was the actual invite. My mom designed them. All of the borders and everything!

For the ceremony I had big plans. I wanted something like this:

Or this:

And I decided on this:

And even though our plans went back and forth and around the moon, my Mom pulled this off! It was funny, after the fact she said “hey… this was just like that drawing you sent. Because well… I sent the drawing to her just a month after I got engaged (a year before I got married)!!

My reception plans looked something like this:

But were changed because August in Virginia means *HIGH CHANCE OF RAIN*!

The last thing I wanted was a very small cake. I was an economical bride. I just needed something simple to cut with the hubs. Back when I was feeling the wild flowers I drew this design:

And what we got was… hmm… bigger.  It was only two teirs, but the wonderful woman who made it for us included tiers. I guess it made it more of a focal point, but I was kind of taken back when I saw it.

Now you see that cake topper? It is the exact same one my Mama had on her cake at her wedding! I actually saved hers, when she was going to throw it away. So we bought a new one off of ebay. It arrive in all of it’s 1990′s glory with those big white flowers!

In my Mom’s wedding, some one added PINK flowers to it, to make it fit with the color scheme. I actually had plans to just use the little statue, but I kind of got over ruled. One of the small problems of letting some one else plan your wedding – you’re not around for every little detail. That’s ok though. My Mama added the blue ribbon, and little flowers, and it looked beautiful, and it made me happy having just one more connection to my Mama.

So there are the majority of my wedding inspirations – the big ones. I did spend a fair amount of time on The Knot surfing through color organized pictures, and thousands of different ideas.

Tell me: What, or who was your wedding inspiration?

CategoryTo Wed! | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
May 9th, 2010

Decorating with out candles…

If you have ever been to a Mormon wedding in the cultural hall… you will know that there are no candles. There are fake candles, but no real ones. This can be a big stop for LDS brides, because candles set the mood, they give off a hint of elegance, and make every look 5 pounds slimmer. So, many brides go the route of those battery powered tea-lights. Ick! They do not offer enough light to be worth it, and at best they only take off one pound. Plus they can be unsightly unless your candle holder is tall, and closed. My mom had stocked up on these little devils, but thankfully we went a different route.

I was a (relatively) cheap bride. We spent less than $8000 on the whole wedding. While it was nothing you would see in any kind of wedding magazine, it was still beautiful. We did decide to do it at the local chapel, for two reasons. a) it was free. Free space, free chairs, free tables, free kitchen… the list goes on. b) At first I wanted to do it at home. But, after some number crunching, and the lack of a rain back-up-plan, I agreed to do it at the church. I wasn’t thrilled. I will be honest. I have seen many a cultural hall wedding where the basket-ball hoop is in the couple’s first dance pictures, and the carpeted brown/red walls overpower any other color present in the room. I did NOT want that.

Of course, thanks to my smart Mama (I had to get it from some where!) and he wedding crew, my cultural hall wedding was perfect and beautiful!

After the ceremony guests walked the short distance into the chapel. They were greeted by the guest book, and one of our engagement pictures.

The overhead lights were turned off before the party started, trust me!

The buffet would soon be full of food. We had delicious B-B-Que Pork, a long with other summer favorites, like water melon, potato salad, and coleslaw, among other things. I’m sure there were more vegetables, but I was starving, and I think I just ate the pork. Sadly the white dress required that I skip the watermelon.

The tables were set with brown linens, and eight chairs at each round table.

It was easy for us to find our seats, I mean… who could miss ‘em!? I still have these seat ties, and I’m still trying to think of a good use for them. Any suggestions? lol.

The center pieces consisted of blue and white hydrangeas in watering cans of half of the tables, and a potted tall hydrangea on the other half.

Each table also had a reception schedule. We got this idea from another bride who had been married earlier in the summer, and it worked very well at her wedding. At mine… not so much. We took far too much time taking pictures (well… it was really fast, but still a little longer than we had hoped) and so we were always a bit off the schedule. A nice idea, but only if you can stick to it.

Each guest seat looked like this:

The little tins were from Ikea, and each one had a small brown bag full of blue and white M & M’s, my favorite candy. They also had a small glass the toasting that would happen later in the evening.

Each table also had mints and peanuts on it. We did serve dinner, but snacks are always welcome, right? We still have a ton of those mints in our house… I wonder how long those last? Nine months? Maybe it’s time to throw them out. Hmm…

We also thanked ourselves for coming! lol. No, the special part of this picture is the crystal glasses that B-man and I used for toasting. These belong to my grandparents, who used them at their 50th wedding anniversary.

We had a second backdrop in the reception hall, very similar to the one outdoors. The cieling was draped with gauzy floaty fabric, with icicle lights and white Chinese lanterns. We also petitioned the “dance floor” off with rope lights and more floaty fabric.

I’m going to have to stop here. Because if I share any more pictures… they won’t be “decor” related… and then I can’t use them later. lol.

Overall I think my Mama (and her crew) did a wonderful job of turning the indoor reception area into the starry night, tent covered event I had envisioned. To be honest, I’m sure my guests were thankful for the A/C, and much happier than an outdoor reception would’ve left them.

CategoryTo Wed! | Comment14 Comments »

Tags:
May 8th, 2010

Save The Date!

This was a haphazard project. I had already made the mistake of not telling every one I was getting married, and then accidental announcing it on Facebook (before I had figured out that “Reply All” is the default setting. Oops. Regardless, we needed to make things a bit more official, and hand out some more information. I only sent these to relatives, and maybe a few people who lived a far away. Every one else was just invited to the Facebook group.

So I threw this little number together:

Along the bottom was our wedding website. We didn’t have a color scheme yet, so I used some orange ribbon and sent them along with out Christmas cards, which were Orange and football themed. Plus it saved on postage. I know… I’m kind of cheap, but hey! We were also sending out graduation announcements and a ton of Christmas cards, so… yeah… stamps are expensive!

CategoryTo Wed! | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
May 7th, 2010

My Outdoor Wedding.

Okay guys, I had big dreams. I drew lots of pictures. One of them was this precious depiction of what I wanted.

Sorry it looks so green. Pretend the green is white. Those bows are blue.

When I e-mailed this to my Mama, she said it looked pretty, but that she wasn’t sure we would be able to pull it off. Then we were through a few different stages. There was the Yellow, Black & White stage, then the Black & White stage, then… maybe we threw in some pink. Then, I stuck with my guns and said “I definitely want blue.” So we went with Blue & Brown. Hmm… I’m so glad we did!

And so we ended up with this:

My Mama is a visionary. And she is amazing. The trees, the flowing backdrop, the chairs with blue bows! It was perfect!

My Daddy built that backdrop, and from the top hangs a chandelier. When we purchased the thing, it looked like this (with out the fake candles) :

Then I made it look like this:

A little paint, some string, and some beads! Took me less than two hours with the help of my little sister Tess.

Speaking of Tess ( and all the other little kiddos who came), I wanted it to feel comfortable and relaxed, with a touch of class. Often times weddings can be boring for kids, and I’m sure mine was no different. But, to make things a little more interesting, we laid quilts out to represent the first “row” of chairs for kids to come up and sit on.

It didn’t catch on as much as I had hoped, but I’m sure that was because parents didn’t want their kids to be distracting. That’s okay, I really liked it – and I’m glad that my younger siblings were able to be up front and “in the action.”

The ceremony was short, but perfect for us. The sun was setting, my family was there, and I wouldn’t change a single thing. It fit us perfectly, and I loved it.

CategoryTo Wed! | Comment5 Comments »

Tags:
May 6th, 2010

The Patch Kids

I grew up with the unique oppertunity to move around the world and meet new people. I will forever be thankful for the people I met and the places I saw and the things I was able to do.

Considering B-man and I went to college in Germany, we were getting married in VA, and I have lived in 9 states and 2 countries in Europe (these numbers are not equal to the number of moves, which might be almost twice as much). A lot of moving. Trust me. With the advent of the internet (you know… like last year), I have been very lucky to keep in touch with people. Some times it is in the stalkerish way on Facebook, and some times it is a little more productive.

I don’t know if this number will surprise any one else, but including B-man and I, there were NINE people from Patch High School at our wedding.

Yes, one is my sister, and one is his brother, but they rest of them came of their own accord. There was Da Brother’s date, whom he knew from HS, my Maid of Honor, Chrissy, Jessica M. – who was first chair flute in Concert Band… she sat right in front of me. She also drove from North Carolina to see me! Then there is Sarah, who’s family also moved to VA, we were in show-choir together!

Then there is Paulo (Umm… the “o” is additional… I don’t think it’s on his birth certificate) and he and I were very good friends in HS. He came all the way from new Mexico! It was so good to see him because, aside from Jessica, I hadn’t seen him since graduation!

Sometimes it can be difficult to up and move, but lucky for me I have made some wonderful friends. Friends who are willing to travel across the country just to celebrate with B-man and I. I guess it was kind of a two-fer, since every one knew both the Bride and the Groom!

CategoryTo Wed! | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
April 29th, 2010

Making Things Official

Making things legal was complicated. I was living in Tennessee at the time, B-man was living in Mid-Virginia, and we were getting married in Maryland. We had to sign it in front of a notary of some sort who would then sign off on it. Well, it was quite a hassle to find some one to sign it. Most of the Tennessee Government entities that I contacted said they would not sign out of state wedding papers. Hmm. We ended up doing it on campus for free. Then we just had to send a money order of like $50 and we were legal to marry!

This picture is our application with a picture of us. This picture is very special to me. It was taken on one of my trips home. I had stopped just to say hello to the B-man. He had a girlfriend at the time, but we were just friends. It’s the proof to me on rough days that we really are perfect for each other, because even when we weren’t “together” he made me exceptionally happy.

CategoryTo Wed! | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
April 28th, 2010

Bridal Shower # 2

I can’t share any pictures from this event for two reasons:

  1. There are none.
  2. The gifts were funny, albeit a little inappropriate for my blogging audience. Just imagine what girl friends give girl friends at Bachelorette parties, and you’re probably really close!

B-man and I were driving some where. Either to my parents house, or away from my parents house, and we stopped by my MOH’s apartment for a visit. We were greeted with streamers being thrown at our faces, and a little party just for us! Chrissy and her roommate know how to throw and awesome 4 person party! lol.

There were post-it’s all over the wall wishing us congratulations, and a fun basket of… fun!

There were Dragon cupcakes.

There was lemonade.

It was perfect.

Thanks Chrissy!!!

CategoryTo Wed! | Comment1 Comment »

April 28th, 2010

Bridal Shower # 1

I live 441 miles away from my family. That’s a long ways away. I also did not grow up in the town where they live now. I know a lot of people say it is kind of tacky to have more than one Bridal Shower, but I had one that was planned, and two that were surprises. I’m just throwing that out there RIGHT NOW! lol.

My first bridal shower was hosted by my friend Jennifer. It was so much fun and I really really enjoyed it. All of my friends from the single’s ward, and my friends from my program at school, and my roommates all came!

First Things First, I got ready.

Then, we partied. We played that game where you make wedding dresses out of toilet paper. I got lucky, because I was the judge!

First we had the mini-skirt style:

Then the Hula-skirt style:

I don’t remember who won, but it was a lot of fun.

With my roommates!

I wish I had gotten a picture of the food. It was delicious. Jennifer made cookies and home made icing in the shape of wedding bells, and she had sprinkles and every one got to decorate their own cookies. After the food came present time.

Next came present time. These girls didn’t let me down. I obliged by offering my sexiest faces. Yeah… I don’t know what got into me.

From my roommates, simple & sexy - they know me well.

Hmmm... leopard...

Ice Cream Cups... wait... this doesn't fit into the story... never mind.

And a schmexy apron!

This was so much fun, and it was nice to just hang out with the girls, laugh at my underwear, and eat cookies. Thanks Jen!

CategoryTo Wed! | Comment1 Comment »

« Older Entries