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the photo that started it all...

February 08, 2013

so fridays are dedicated to real weddings and/or tutorials or some sort. I didn't have a new submission for weddings this week (SEND SOME IN, LADIES!!!) and I didn't finish my tutorial, so thought I'd share a bit from my own wedding. the photo that started this whole business (above) was taken that day and it was the best day of my life outside of the day beckett joined our family. hope you enjoy!

my dad found all the wood and handmade the signs that were placed throughout the grounds.

I loved my bouquet. my florist rocked.

they didn't realize their hands and feet would become almost famous. :)

we incorporated a wine/letter ritual during the ceremony. changing it up a bit from traditional wine ceremonies (that I researched ad nauseum), we each placed a letter in and then as our parents came up the aisle, they placed one in as well. I hope we make it to our 25th anniversary before opening the box. the wine may be spoiled by then, but the letters; they're priceless.

if you were wondering about my choice of shoes : I went with rainbows. it was a good decision.

our friend kevin's signature wedding move. he goes backwards too!

our wedding was a lot of fun. hence all the dancing photos (and I'm not even a dancer!!!)

matt & reagan were awesome enough to follow us over to FSU (where I went to college) after the reception ended and take a photo of us all in front of westcott fountain. it's one of my favorites from the day and I have it blown up on a canvas in our house. makes me smile every time I walk by. :)

and one last thing just for fun. if you're on the fence about getting a photobooth/smilebooth. DO IT! :)

{all photos by the amazingly talented matt miller of our labor of love & his rad assistant, reagan powell of west destiny drive photography}

nikki & ben's intimate glacier national park wedding

February 01, 2013

glacier national park : one of the top ten places on my 'to visit' list. seeing the photos nikki sent over of her wedding day definitely reinforced my desire to get there soon! enjoy the photos and the awesome details nikki was nice enough to share with me.

I'd been scouring first Etsy and then Pinterest for ages for fun ideas for things to make and do for my special day...all I needed was that elusive guy to pop the question. When Ben did ask the question I knew two things for sure; I wanted to get married in Glacier National Park (so I could get the one picture I have been dreaming of forever or at least since I had come across a similar picture online- the newlyweds in a row boat on one of the many beautiful lakes the park has to offer with the mountain scape in the background) and couldn't wait to finally get to order the matching purses I had wanted almost equally as long from Oatmeal Lace!

(isn't she sweet!!! thanks, nikki!)

Needless to say, by setting a date that ended up being only three and a half months in the future, I didn't have as much time to get to all the projects that I had had in mind and the whole thing was much simpler than originally dreamed up, but perfectly us none-the-less. We were married on the shores of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park in Montana on a Thursday. I remember as I was walking into the lodge there with my Dad there was an older gentleman there on a group tour who smiled at me and said, "Well now, there's something I didn't expect to see on the tour today!"

As with all outdoor weddings, weather was a worry...especially I think, for my Mom. The day couldn't have been more perfect though. Hands down, we had the best day of the week as there were a lot of wild fires in the neighboring states and therefore a lot of smoky gloominess had been hanging in the air all week, but the skies were clear for our big day. Not so luckily the wind must have shifted again and the couple who got married the next day didn't have such luck.

It is hard to tell with only one attendant each, but the color scheme was supposed to be gray and yellow with pops of red and a blueish teal. I don't know where all those other brides find the nice gray tuxes to rent but I just couldn't find them so we had to settle for traditional black. The best surprises were the small touches that we hadn't planned on, such as the red in the boat oars and flowers that the park service surprised us with for the aisle.

Our twist on the new tradition of mixing sand was to use sand from the lake in my home town in Minnesota and from the river running through his home town in Montana. I'm thinking it might be a nice touch to add a rock or sand from the river here where we are making our first home in North Dakota.

(love, love, love this idea!!!)

In an effort to keep the ceremony small, we only invited parents, siblings, grandparents, and a few select friends. And a lot of these people were put to work as either the maid of honor or best man, playing musical selections, video taping the ceremony or even as the officiant. The part we hadn't been planning on were all the wedding crashers! Not only did Ben's extended family surprise us by making their way into the park (and therefore having to stand as we only ordered up 20 or so chairs), but I kept getting distracted by all the on lookers on the adjacent beach area taking our pictures and gawking at us.

here's her take on the photo she was inspired by. I can see why, can't you? gorgeous!!

thanks so much for sharing, nikki!! hope married life is fabulous!

{all photos courtesy of : marianne wiest photography}

nikki & ben's intimate glacier national park wedding

February 01, 2013

glacier national park : one of the top ten places on my 'to visit' list. seeing the photos nikki sent over of her wedding day definitely reinforced my desire to get there soon! enjoy the photos and the awesome details nikki was nice enough to share with me.

I'd been scouring first Etsy and then Pinterest for ages for fun ideas for things to make and do for my special day...all I needed was that elusive guy to pop the question. When Ben did ask the question I knew two things for sure; I wanted to get married in Glacier National Park (so I could get the one picture I have been dreaming of forever or at least since I had come across a similar picture online- the newlyweds in a row boat on one of the many beautiful lakes the park has to offer with the mountain scape in the background) and couldn't wait to finally get to order the matching purses I had wanted almost equally as long from Oatmeal Lace!

(isn't she sweet!!! thanks, nikki!)

Needless to say, by setting a date that ended up being only three and a half months in the future, I didn't have as much time to get to all the projects that I had had in mind and the whole thing was much simpler than originally dreamed up, but perfectly us none-the-less. We were married on the shores of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park in Montana on a Thursday. I remember as I was walking into the lodge there with my Dad there was an older gentleman there on a group tour who smiled at me and said, "Well now, there's something I didn't expect to see on the tour today!"

As with all outdoor weddings, weather was a worry...especially I think, for my Mom. The day couldn't have been more perfect though. Hands down, we had the best day of the week as there were a lot of wild fires in the neighboring states and therefore a lot of smoky gloominess had been hanging in the air all week, but the skies were clear for our big day. Not so luckily the wind must have shifted again and the couple who got married the next day didn't have such luck.

It is hard to tell with only one attendant each, but the color scheme was supposed to be gray and yellow with pops of red and a blueish teal. I don't know where all those other brides find the nice gray tuxes to rent but I just couldn't find them so we had to settle for traditional black. The best surprises were the small touches that we hadn't planned on, such as the red in the boat oars and flowers that the park service surprised us with for the aisle.

Our twist on the new tradition of mixing sand was to use sand from the lake in my home town in Minnesota and from the river running through his home town in Montana. I'm thinking it might be a nice touch to add a rock or sand from the river here where we are making our first home in North Dakota.

(love, love, love this idea!!!)

In an effort to keep the ceremony small, we only invited parents, siblings, grandparents, and a few select friends. And a lot of these people were put to work as either the maid of honor or best man, playing musical selections, video taping the ceremony or even as the officiant. The part we hadn't been planning on were all the wedding crashers! Not only did Ben's extended family surprise us by making their way into the park (and therefore having to stand as we only ordered up 20 or so chairs), but I kept getting distracted by all the on lookers on the adjacent beach area taking our pictures and gawking at us.

here's her take on the photo she was inspired by. I can see why, can't you? gorgeous!!

thanks so much for sharing, nikki!! hope married life is fabulous!

{all photos courtesy of : marianne wiest photography}

liz & justin's gray & pink new york wedding

January 24, 2013

what a beautiful wedding! I know I say it each time I post on here but I'm so excited that I have so many past brides that want to share their weddings with me. I'm determined to make my friday posts (or my once weekly posts, let's be honest) real weddings. here is week three in a row! gray is one of my favorite colors, so I was obsessed with her bridesmaid's dresses. she let them each choose their own dress with the only requirements that it be above the knee. such a perfect ombre selection. LOVE!!!

does it totally date me to say that I was married before the days of pinterest?? I know you're probably nodding yes- oh well! liz credits a lot of her inspiration to the various pinterest boards she followed during planning, and I'm totally jealous. anyways, enough from me, here is liz to tell you a little bit more about her day:

the wedding was at the Grandview in Poughkeepsie, NY. it was directly on the hudson and overlooked the mid hudson bridge. the whole "theme" of the wedding was pink and grey. check out the ring bearers' grey converse.

brayden (the older RB who is pictured above) was carrying domo the little brown thing, which had the rings on it. that was how justin proposed. love!!

I decided to go non-traditional with my wedding programs and made charactures through vistaprint.

All of the flowers were in antique blue mason jars found at a local antique shop.

The escort cards were traced and hand cut, then glued. I was trying to find grass to go into the plant holders the night before and couldn't. So I had to go to a nursery and buy sod. I had to hack it all up in
the middle of the street in Queens to fit it inside the holders just right. That was an experience!

love the pictures she got of the bridesmaids' bags. :)

liz mentioned how the photobooth was the hit of the evening- I totally agree! photobooth's give all your guests something fun to participate in, especially those who don't like to dance. it was the hit of our wedding as well. :)

one of my favorite shots, and one that was inspired by pinterest!
**

thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous wedding day with me, liz! hope married life is fabulous. :)

{all images courtesy of uplift photography}

liz & justin's gray & pink new york wedding

January 24, 2013

what a beautiful wedding! I know I say it each time I post on here but I'm so excited that I have so many past brides that want to share their weddings with me. I'm determined to make my friday posts (or my once weekly posts, let's be honest) real weddings. here is week three in a row! gray is one of my favorite colors, so I was obsessed with her bridesmaid's dresses. she let them each choose their own dress with the only requirements that it be above the knee. such a perfect ombre selection. LOVE!!!

does it totally date me to say that I was married before the days of pinterest?? I know you're probably nodding yes- oh well! liz credits a lot of her inspiration to the various pinterest boards she followed during planning, and I'm totally jealous. anyways, enough from me, here is liz to tell you a little bit more about her day:

the wedding was at the Grandview in Poughkeepsie, NY. it was directly on the hudson and overlooked the mid hudson bridge. the whole "theme" of the wedding was pink and grey. check out the ring bearers' grey converse.

brayden (the older RB who is pictured above) was carrying domo the little brown thing, which had the rings on it. that was how justin proposed. love!!

I decided to go non-traditional with my wedding programs and made charactures through vistaprint.

All of the flowers were in antique blue mason jars found at a local antique shop.

The escort cards were traced and hand cut, then glued. I was trying to find grass to go into the plant holders the night before and couldn't. So I had to go to a nursery and buy sod. I had to hack it all up in
the middle of the street in Queens to fit it inside the holders just right. That was an experience!

love the pictures she got of the bridesmaids' bags. :)

liz mentioned how the photobooth was the hit of the evening- I totally agree! photobooth's give all your guests something fun to participate in, especially those who don't like to dance. it was the hit of our wedding as well. :)

one of my favorite shots, and one that was inspired by pinterest!
**

thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous wedding day with me, liz! hope married life is fabulous. :)

{all images courtesy of uplift photography}

brooke & tyler's romantic winter wedding.

January 18, 2013

I squealed with delight when I opened up brooke's email and saw the photos she was kind enough to share with me of her wedding day. she and tyler were married in jefferson city, missouri on december 15, 2012 at the central united church of christ and their reception was held at la maison.

what a stunning couple!

adorable, right?

brooke had the girls carry their clutches down the aisle in lieu of bouquets. I love how she requested the larger red blooms- they really pop against the black bags.

brooke and tyler were high school sweethearts and he loved the drumline back then, so she surprised him with the jefferson city marching band at the reception. so fun!

what a beautiful day. thank you so much for sharing, brooke!

congratulations again and best wishes for a wonderful life together!

xx

{all images courtesy of lindsey pataleo : click the link to see more from their fantabulous wedding}

brooke & tyler's romantic winter wedding.

January 18, 2013

I squealed with delight when I opened up brooke's email and saw the photos she was kind enough to share with me of her wedding day. she and tyler were married in jefferson city, missouri on december 15, 2012 at the central united church of christ and their reception was held at la maison.

what a stunning couple!

adorable, right?

brooke had the girls carry their clutches down the aisle in lieu of bouquets. I love how she requested the larger red blooms- they really pop against the black bags.

brooke and tyler were high school sweethearts and he loved the drumline back then, so she surprised him with the jefferson city marching band at the reception. so fun!

what a beautiful day. thank you so much for sharing, brooke!

congratulations again and best wishes for a wonderful life together!

xx

{all images courtesy of lindsey pataleo : click the link to see more from their fantabulous wedding}

anna's german wedding.

January 08, 2013

new year, new blogging goals. actively setting aside a little time each week to work on new posts that feature my absolute favorites : the lovely brides I have the honor of working with on their wedding day. hooray!

anna was the first bride I've worked with in germany (awesome) and was such a pleasure: kind & patient even when her bag got lost in the mail somewhere in europe. thankfully there was enough time to whip up another and ship it out before the big day. funny story- the original bag found its way back to me 2 months later. :)

she was sweet enough to share a few photos and they are amazing. her dress? his suit? the setting??? it looks like such a fun, family filled day. so glad I can pass along some of the prettiness to you all.

seriously? I die.

danke, anna!!

{the amazing photographer : sebastian bahr}

anna's german wedding.

January 08, 2013

new year, new blogging goals. actively setting aside a little time each week to work on new posts that feature my absolute favorites : the lovely brides I have the honor of working with on their wedding day. hooray!

anna was the first bride I've worked with in germany (awesome) and was such a pleasure: kind & patient even when her bag got lost in the mail somewhere in europe. thankfully there was enough time to whip up another and ship it out before the big day. funny story- the original bag found its way back to me 2 months later. :)

she was sweet enough to share a few photos and they are amazing. her dress? his suit? the setting??? it looks like such a fun, family filled day. so glad I can pass along some of the prettiness to you all.

seriously? I die.

danke, anna!!

{the amazing photographer : sebastian bahr}

holiday traditions.

December 10, 2012

(cards are top left: minted; bottom left & right: emilyley)

when the holidays rolled around the year joey and I got married I started thinking about the traditions I wanted to start as our own little family. coincidentally, I won a contest from minted for 50 free cards and decided that framing them each year and including them as part of our christmas decor was going to be one of the traditions we started. I know how much I loved looking back at pictures of us as kids with our parents and commenting on how silly mom and dad looked or how horrible our coordinating outfits were and seriously, WHY did shoulder pads ever exist?! figured I'd pass that fun along to beckett. (you're welcome, buddy.)

like most husbands, joey hates taking photos, and like most wives, I insist that he is going to look back on these pictures and be glad that we have them. we're only three years in and the fights continue each time we get ready to smile for the camera, but looking at that photo above it's already completely worth it. what I like best is that even though our first year's photo doesn't 'show' beckett- he's there. I was pregnant but didn't know it yet when we took that picture.

what traditions do you and your family have or have you thought about starting? I'm still trying to come up with some fun, kid friendly ones. suggestions are welcome!!

gratuitous shot of little man. he is LOVING all things christmas these days.

xx

holiday traditions.

December 10, 2012

(cards are top left: minted; bottom left & right: emilyley)

when the holidays rolled around the year joey and I got married I started thinking about the traditions I wanted to start as our own little family. coincidentally, I won a contest from minted for 50 free cards and decided that framing them each year and including them as part of our christmas decor was going to be one of the traditions we started. I know how much I loved looking back at pictures of us as kids with our parents and commenting on how silly mom and dad looked or how horrible our coordinating outfits were and seriously, WHY did shoulder pads ever exist?! figured I'd pass that fun along to beckett. (you're welcome, buddy.)

like most husbands, joey hates taking photos, and like most wives, I insist that he is going to look back on these pictures and be glad that we have them. we're only three years in and the fights continue each time we get ready to smile for the camera, but looking at that photo above it's already completely worth it. what I like best is that even though our first year's photo doesn't 'show' beckett- he's there. I was pregnant but didn't know it yet when we took that picture.

what traditions do you and your family have or have you thought about starting? I'm still trying to come up with some fun, kid friendly ones. suggestions are welcome!!

gratuitous shot of little man. he is LOVING all things christmas these days.

xx

gold, pinecones & glitter! simple holiday wreath under $10.

December 07, 2012

I love my holiday door wreaths SO HARD! glad my first try was less than stellar and forced me to start over. so, I'll share the ridiculously easy process I used to make them. did I take photos of all the steps? no. but you won't need them. it's THAT easy. and did I mention they are less than $10/wreath? score.

let's get started!

materials:

1 : grapevine wreath 18" (buy at joanns and use one of their 40% off coupons)

2 : 10-15 small pinecones gathered from your yard (FREE!) or buy a bag at a craft store : COUPON!

3 : gold spray paint - I used the valspar above and it covered well and dried fast!

4 : box of mini ball ornaments. I bought these from joanns and one box was enough for 2 wreaths. but maybe you want to get a little crazy with the gold balls. do it!

5 : handy, dandy glue gun. not sure what I'd do without mine. :)

6 : forgot to picture it, but you will need a wreath hanger like this one.

don't be lazy and forget the coupons. you can print them offline or just download the joann's app so they'll be on your phone. then you can be like me and pull up the competitors websites while waiting in line for additional discounts. (michaels, hancock, hobby lobby, acmoore...)

you're welcome.

steps:

1 : spraypaint your wreath and pinecones gold. you'll have to spray down one side and wait about 20 minutes, then come out and flip them all over to spray the other.

ignore the silver paint. that was from the first project and doesn't apply here. love the silver?

just replace every instance of 'gold' in this post with silver, or for that matter, whatever color you choose!

2 : once you've gotten everything painted, fire up the glue gun and crack open the box of mini ornaments. you're ready to start playing around with pinecone/ball placement. sounds fun, yes?

3 : after you've figured out placement, glue away! don't be frugal here- you want these puppies to stick, so glob it up. once it's dry you can pull away any excess glue strands that are bothering you.

4 : hang that beauty on your front door and pat yourself on the back.

pretty holiday decor in under an hour and under $10.

your wallet (and husband) thank you.

if you make one, share a link to the photo. I'd love to see what other variations you come up with.

happy holidays!!!!

xx

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