Married! Getting Ready and Formals

Being a Type A Planner, I was slightly stressed in the days leading up to the wedding, which meant waking up exhausted and already running on adrenaline that morning. After spending some time finishing decorating for the reception and visiting all the lodges to hang out with relatives (and for a big breakfast made by one of the groomsmen!), we started getting ready a little after noon.

At which point I sat down at a table and couldn't decide between putting my head down and sleeping or crying because I'd decided I was in dire need of a Diet Coke even though I very rarely drink caffeine and the only things anyone had were Diet Pepsi or Diet Mountain Dew. I wasn't quite that desperate! I think it was my only bridezilla moment of the day, and luckily all was saved when it was discovered my aunt and uncle were out at the grocery store and could bring me some back.

My hair also would. not. cooperate. My good friend who was supposed to help me with it ended up not being able to come due to a death in the family, and although a practice run earlier in the week went perfectly, I finally just gave up. The wind and jumping pictures destroyed it anyways, and I just decided what my hair looked like was not important to getting married. Obviously.

Let's talk about my jewelry for a minute. A friend from my grad school program offered to make all of my jewelry, along with that of the bridesmaids and gifts for the girls doing readings. Because she needed something to do at 2 in the morning since she only sleeps like 3-4 hours a night - crazy woman! She did such a good job and wouldn't even let me pay her for the supplies, which included swarovski crystals!

Putting on the dress was the first time I really felt overwhelmed for the day. It just made it seem real that the wedding was finally here. Then it was off to see Ryan for our "first look" pictures. I am so glad we did this - walking down the aisle turned out to be a nervewracking, overwhelming moment for me; seeing him in private without all the people around was good for me and a nice few minutes for us.

Then formals (all these amazing photos are by our photographer, Rebecca Castro, whom I highly, highly recommend!). Here's a barrage of pictures:

Then a toast with my girls before the ceremony, which is about the time I really started feeling like vomiting. Which was also stupid, since it was a smallish wedding and it was all people I knew and cared about and loved.

Married! Invites

Our save the dates were postcards with a photobooth style strip. More info went on the back left, with the mailing address on the back right, so we saved money on postage and envelopes. We took the photos ourselves using our remote shutter clicker. My mom and her friend helped me design them, and we ordered them from VistaPrint for super cheap.

I spent forever combing through free font sites to find the two font types we'd use for all our printed items - one is an art deco looking print and the other a fun almost handwritten script. They were used on the std's, invites, food, drink and cake descriptions, place cards, the table name stories, etc. All the rest of these items, which I sadly don't have pictures of, saw the use of my favorite new thing - a corner rounder!

The invites were designed by my mom's friend and me and included a copper-colored pocket-fold card, a square leaf-filled invite and inserts for Friday night and lodging/directions (this was my sample, so there were a few differences in the ones we mailed out, like the leaf shape and the shade of red, but I liked it better this way). The whole thing was wrapped with hemp cord (the circle cutouts were nixed because I had a definite "f*ck it" moment while trying to get them to stay on over the string's knot). The paper AND printing was all FREE at my mom's work (because she's in HR, I always forget that her company has a printing press). The copper cardstock was rescued from being thrown away, and my mom's friend spent HOURS putting together the pocket-fold card.

The envelopes were kraft paper ones I ordered from envelopemall.com. The wraparound mailing labels were on a custom-cut label from my mom's work inspired by Martha Stewart's, and the stamps were ordered from photostamps.com using one of our engagement pictures. Even though it is more than regular postage, the square invites required $.65 stamps, of which there are only a few, all ugly, options. So I was more than happy to pay a little more (using my mom's photography professional 30% discount) for something that we received tons of compliments on, including from the grumpy post office worker!

Married! Friday Night Chili Dinner

Because we are not into fancy formal dinners and because most of my family was traveling from far away and staying right on site with us, we decided to have a big get together Friday night in lieu of an actual rehearsal dinner.

And it was a great decision. It was awesome to spend a few hours just relaxing and catching up with everyone (about 40 people, or half our guests, were there). It takes a lot of the stress off for Saturday - when I've already visited with half the guests, there isn't so much pressure to constantly make the rounds at the reception.

I made two chilis - a smoky version of my usual chili and an absolutely delicious white chicken chili (which has since been remade at home, so recipe to follow!). We also had hot dogs, salad, cheddar ale dip, and cornbread. Ryan and I provided a little bit of wine, and everyone else brought more wine and beer and my brother made a few very popular batches of sangria. My parents' significant others got everything all set up for us during the rehearsal.

Later in the night, we had chocolate chip pumpkin muffins and cider and s'mores and stood around the bonfire or gathered around the tables inside. It was pretty much the best pre-wedding night I could picture, capturing the the fall feeling we were going for and just right for us.

MARRIED!

So, Ryan and I went and got ourselves hitched last month. October 3 to be exact. It was an amazing and fun and love-filled and exhausting weekend with most of our family and closest friends. And then it took me a month to recover.

Just kidding, but we did take a 2 week honeymoon (lots and lots of stories and pictures to come!), and then it's taken me a couple weeks to get my life (or rather my new last name) in order (because hyphenating your name is apparently a somewhat bigger pain in the butt to take care of than just taking your husband's name).

I'm working on several posts that I was just waiting for our CD of professional pics to show up to finish, so look for those in the next couple weeks, too!