wedding post - the fashion

Finding the perfect dress.  It is what every girl dreams about.  I know I did.  I had to find my perfect dress twice though – well sorta.  The first bridal boutique I went to I was not ready to buy a dress.  I made that very clear to everyone involved (and by very clear, I mean the lady had to ask me to stop repeating myself, she got the picture).  But she didn't get the picture.  Like I mentioned in a previous post, I am a huge people-pleaser.  So as the persuasive and might I add, pushy, saleswoman kept talking, and my mom and my sister kept nodding, oohing and ahhhing, I ended up saying “OK I guess this is the dress.”  That was my first mistake.  You never guess it’s the right dress.  You know.   So I went home claiming to be excited about my wedding dress.  A few days went buy and I had talked myself into really liking the dress.  But a mom always knows.  It just wasn’t me.  She knew it, so did I and apparently so did the saleswoman because when my mom called the boutique the lady was more than happy to refund our money and cancel my order.  So that was my dress hoopla.  The second go round was much better and consisted of my mom and I sipping champagne, laughing a lot and finding the dress.  I will say despite the wedding dress debacle, the bridesmaid dress search was much more stressful – especially for a people pleaser.  How do I find a dress that all my friends will like, feel comfortable in and possibly wear again?  (OK OK I know that no one ever wears a bridesmaid dress again, but it sounds good).  Luckily I believe I found the perfect dress.  It helped that all of my bridesmaids are stunning in a garbage bag.  So here are the details about what we wore…

Bride's Dress: Pronovias

Bridesmaids' Dresses: Vera Wang

Groom & Groomsmen Tuxes: Calven Klein

the bling. 1. my engagement ring (thank you furnished photography) 2. matt's wedding band

the buttons.

i swear i didn't hire models to stand beside me.  my friends are just that beautiful.

love him

the handsome groomsmen

groomsmen gift.  cufflinks for the college they attended.

Again thank you to DVA Photography for all of my beautiful wedding pictures.

wedding post - food and flowers

Food and flowers.  My day-to-day life is still consumed with them both.  I love food and I love flowers.  This was probably the easiest part of planning my wedding.  Matt and I picked out the menu, appetizers and midnight snack in 5 minutes.  The cake design?  All the hubs.  The cake sampling?  We couldn't decide so we had a different flavor for every layer.  My mom, my sister and I knocked out the flowers with a couple of meetings and some wine.  I knew I wanted white – lots of white – and some green too.  Oh and texture.  I wanted some texture in my bouquet – aka not a super round ball (although lately I have seem some gorgeous round bouquets).  So my bouquets were a mix of lilies, white roses, lots of greenery and some spunk.  Here is what I ended with…

personalized menus

cake tasting with all parents.  5 mini cakes.  each a different flavor.  amazing



finished product.  Thank you Nancy Hearne.

yum

midnight snack - milkshakes and grilled cheese

1. bride bouquet 2. bridesmaids' bouquet

1. my bouquet 2. moss cones on the pews

place settings. some tall. some short.



wedding post - details

Best. Night. Ever.  That is how I remember my wedding reception and how I hope that most of my family and friends do as well.  But there was a lot of planning that went into that special night.  As I mentioned before it was not always a cake walk, but my control-freak nature kept me organized and my superhuman mom made everything possible.  I am excited to share with you all of the little details that made my reception my reception.  As much as I’d like to claim complete originality it is not so.  When I got engaged it was blogs and inspiration boards that I turned to in order to find my ideas and my details.  I loved the way roses floated through the air on one blog as the happy couple made their exit.  So I had to have rose petals.  My heart melted when I saw Thank You Boards in a card, so guess what?  I got me some boards.  So my hope in offering these little details is that someone will find inspiration for their special day or their best friend’s special day, or that someone will just appreciate it and smile.  As a Bride you always wonder, will anyone notice the silver chargers?  Or the pinned seating chart?  Or what about the personalized menus?  While there are some people who may pass over your details, I am not one of them.  I think that once you plan a wedding or have been a part of a wedding you have a new found respect for the art.  You notice the silver ribbon around the cake that matches the programs.  You get it.  And you appreciate it.  I am still consumed by wedding blogs and sweet love stories, because it’s not just one night you’re planning.  Not to me.  It’s the beginning of forever.  And that is something truly special.  So today will be about the details.  My details of my day.  Enjoy…  

1. Place Settings/Favors - Matt and I both have a huge sweet tooth.  So, on the reply cards we requested that every guest include their favorite desert recipe.  My mom printed and compiled all of the recipes for a desert cookbook as a favor on our wedding day.

our place settings had alternating gifts.  every other one had a tin of mints and the others had a cookbook. 

our cookbooks.  a labor of love.  thanks mom

2. Personalized Menus - we had a sit down dinner where everyone chose what they ate so we had to have a way for the waiters to know what they orderd....  Personalized menus in different colors were the answer.... once again, mom you're brilliant

personalized menus at every place setting

3. Candy Table - Have I mentioned we love sweets?  We had to have a candy table... and floating candles throughout the ballroom

4. Words of Wisdom - When I got married I was teaching 2nd grade and was blessed with an artist for a class mom.  Fate?  I think so.  She was so unbelievably kind and had all of our 7 year-olds write marriage advice.  Needless to say it was sweet, entertaining and hilarious.  She compiled the advice into the shape of a wedding cake and how could I not display this in my cocktail area?

5. Bridal Portrait - This one was tricky for me because I did not like my hair from the front.... so i got creative.

6. The same signs seen here were flipped over for the "Thank You."  We included these in our thank you notes.

7. Random Surprise - my dad called up a groomsman to sing the fight song for Virginia Tech.  (my dad is a HUGE Tech fan - more on that later)

8. Exit Strategy - my mom has been known to monogram everything, including our fake rose petals for throwing.

9. Transportation - My parents surprised us with a Rolls-Royce to leave in.  Best ride of my life.