Joy: Our Wedding – The Gown!
Written by Sara on August 30, 2010 – 9:00 am -
After a morning full of hair appointments, picking up our bouquets and applying make-up, it was finally time to put on my wedding gown!
As you all know, I haven’t yet revealed the gown that I chose to wear – so, without further delay, here it is! I chose an ivory Alfred Angelo tiered lace gown with an ivory satin bodice and sash :)
The gown has since been discontinued (actually, this gown was discontinued a mere two weeks after we ordered it!) – I love knowing that I am one of the last women to wear this beautiful, vintage-inspired gown.
My Mom helped me get into my gown…
Then it was time for jewelry…
I wore beautiful pearl earrings that Jordan gave me as a gift; a Norwegian brooch that has been in my family for generations; a Norwegian necklace that my grandmother gave to me when I was young; a fun yellow-gold ring that I purchased from Galla15 on Etsy; and a lovely pearl bracelet that my friend and bridesmaid Serena gave me.
And then, it was time for my veil! I purchased my veil at a local bridal shop; it’s by Signature Bridal.
Next up were my (hand-crafted and homemade!) garters and my shoes, featuring shoe clips from BPoetic on Etsy!
And with a few tears from my bridesmaids and my Mom…
…I put the finishing touches on my bouquet (isn’t it beautiful!!)…
…took a few bridal portraits…
…and headed over to the chapel to meet Jordan for our “First Look!”
Coming up next: my favorite part of our day – our “First Look!”
What do you think of my gown? Was it worth the wait?
[All photos by the outstanding Creative Kindling]
Tags: Alfred Angelo, birdcage veil, BPoetic, bridal portraits, Etsy, First Look, Galla 15, Norwegian jewelry, Signature Bridal, vintage jewelry, vintage wedding dress, vintage-inspired wedding gown
Posted in Adornments & Embellishments, Beauty & Polish, DIY, Fashion, Flowers, Inspiration & Insight, Our Wedding, Personal, Photography, Venues, Vintage Beauties, Wedding Recap, Weddings | 1 Comment »
Helper of the Bride Award…and a Teaser!
Written by Sara on August 16, 2010 – 3:12 pm -Hey y’all!
Today I started off my career in graduate school – eek! It was SUCH a great day, and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to pursue higher education and especially to get to teach incoming undergraduate students! I can’t wait for the semester to get started.
Anyway, the lovely Valery from Young(s) and In Love bestowed upon me the super-awesome HOT Bride (Helper of the Bride) Award, which therefore requires me to bestow 7 powerful pieces of advice regarding weddings. Well, here’s my batch:
1. Ignore the WIC voice that’s telling you that you need a wedding planner – you definitely don’t. For us, our friends and family were more than willing to help make our day a success, and chances are, your loved ones will, too.
2. Wear the yellow shoes. Or the veil. Or no veil. Or a short dress. Or a long, long, forever long train. Or a pantsuit. Or whatever. In other words, DO WHAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU.
3. DO NOT sign up for stuff at bridal shows. All you get is spam email…and no sweet deals, sadly.
4. Try one DIY project. Just one. I promise, you’ll learn something about yourself that you couldn’t learn otherwise.
5. However you’re feeling is how you’re supposed to feel. Don’t worry about “being present” or “remembering the little parts of your day.” If you look back on your wedding day and all that you remember is the blissed-out joy you felt, cool. If you look back on your day and remember how the stupid DJ didn’t play the right music, or the best man misplaced the rings right before the ceremony, only to find them in *enter random spot here* later, but you still feel the serious joy of being MARRIED, equally cool. Just own those feelings, and don’t worry about whether or not they’re right, or they’re what you’re supposed to be feeling.
6. Yes, take a honeymoon. But don’t think that it has to be epic. Don’t think that you have to go abroad and stay for a whole week (unless you want to!) … do what YOU want, even if it’s a trip across town at your favorite getaway spot.
7. This one I feel super strongly about: DO A FIRST LOOK. It was the single most goosebump-inducing experience of my life, and I’ll never, ever forget it.
And now, a teaser of lovely things to come:
[Photo: Before our wedding pictures began on the hottest day of the summer, courtesy of our amazing photographers]
Tags: HOT Bride Award, Young(s) and In Love
Posted in Our Wedding, Personal | No Comments »
101 in 1001 Assessment: July 2010
Written by Sara on August 9, 2010 – 5:55 pm -
I know, I know, you thought that I’d be blogging about the wedding…but I promise, I’ll start with the recaps as soon as we have our professional pictures (which should be in the next week or so!!). So, stay tuned!
In the mean time, here’s a recap of the goals that I wanted to complete for July:
- Get married! (CHECK!)
- Take a trip overseas. (CHECK!)
- Write a poem. (Nope…)
- Cut bangs into my hair…again. (CHECK! See top photo; you like?)
- Go kayaking. (When we were in Jamaica, we chose to go kayaking on our last day in the country. However, the weather had other plans for us; it rained all day long! So, this goal went unaccomplished…)
- Take one shot of tequila. (Nope…I was too scared to get sick on our honeymoon!)
Goals for August:
- Investigate life insurance.
- Post regularly on my blog (see: wedding recaps!).
- Watch “Animal House.”
Hopefully I’ll be back very soon with my first wedding recap!
Posted in Inspiration & Insight, Personal | 1 Comment »
Big.
Written by Sara on July 29, 2010 – 10:56 am -
Dear readers, I’ve been struggling to find the words to blog ever since our wedding day, simply because it was such an overwhelmingly wonderful day and I just can’t seem to find the words.
But – I’m going to try.
Our wedding day was full of tears (mostly my Mom’s), happy claps (mostly my maid of honor Kristen’s), sweating (everyone; it was nearly 100 degrees outside) and happy-nervous energy (mostly mine).
I promise to bring you full-on recaps as soon as A) I feel up to it – I’m still rather exhausted and overwhelmed by the hugeness of it all, and B) we get our professional pictures back from our lovely photographers.
Be back soon, I promise. Just know this: it wasn’t perfect, it didn’t go all as planned, but the utter fact that it WAS is just big. It’s BIG.
[Photo by my dearest friend and maid of honor, Kristen]
Tags: Wedding Recap
Posted in Our Wedding, Personal, Wedding Recap | 1 Comment »
Coming to you from inside wedding week…
Written by Sara on July 12, 2010 – 9:52 am -…and we’re looking good!
Hey y’all – it’s wedding week here in our neck of the woods!
Projects left to complete:
- Make our tiered cake.
- Make a tiny loaf of bread for communion.
- Line the flower girl dresses.
- Febreeze the burlap table squares.
- Finalize the wedding day agenda.
- Confirm cake, flowers.
- Pick up my wedding gown!
- Add wedding dance playlists to ipod and back-up ipod.
- Make signs for tables.
- Pull together props for photos.
- Put together my “just in case” bag for the wedding day, full of safety pins, sewing materials, etc.
- Finish packing for the honeymoon.
I’m sure there are other little things to finalize, but that’s all I can think of right now.
I’ll try and post one more time before our wedding this weekend!
Tags: Wedding week
Posted in Budget Weddings, DIY, Our Wedding, Personal | No Comments »
101 in 1001: June 2010
Written by Sara on July 4, 2010 – 12:18 pm -Hello all!
As a reminder, I had a rough month accomplishing my goals in May, so I kept these same goals on my plate for June.
Here’s what I hoped to accomplish this month:
- Make or bake at least one Rachael Ray recipe.
- Try beets…again.
- Go bowling…and actually try to bowl well.
And…0-3. Boo me!
But, here are the goals I did accomplish in June:
- Purchase a new computer! I’m typing to you from my new Macbook Pro.
- Get into graduate school! I actually did this in March, but I can talk about it now, since I’ve told my employer. As of this August, I will be a graduate student at the University of South Dakota pursuing my Master’s in English Literature and my teaching certification! I think USD will be a great start on my path to higher education and eventually pursuing a PhD.
- Go garage saling at least one time per year. Jordan and I set out looking for a dresser, so we hit up some local garage sales. No luck, but it was fun!
- Try at least one new wine per month for a year. I’m on #5 of 12, and this month I tried New Age Wine at my bachelorette party; it was delicious with a lime!
That’s it!
Here are my goals for July:
- Get married! We’re only 13 days away!
- Take a trip overseas. We’re going to Jamaica for our honeymoon!
- Write a poem.
- Cut bangs into my hair…again.
- Go kayaking.
- Take one shot of tequila.
Tags: 101 in 1001
Posted in Our Wedding, Personal | 1 Comment »
18 Days Out…
Written by Sara on June 29, 2010 – 3:14 pm -
…and I’m feeling fine!
That’s right, readers – dare I say that my obsessive need to work ahead has paid off…here are the projects we have left:
- Cut squares of fabric for the tables. When we’ll get it done: this weekend.
- Sew a lining into the flower girl dresses. When we’ll get it done: this weekend.
- Gather (and print, if necessary) a few pictures of Jordan and I for a photo feature. When we’ll get it done: by Friday.
- Wrangle and frame few more wedding pictures of our relatives. When we’ll get it done: this weekend, hopefully.
- Practice making our DIY tiered surprise wedding cake. When we’ll get it done: this weekend, hopefully.
- Print and mail gift-opening invites. When we’ll get it done: this needs to happen ASAP!
- Fold napkins. When we’ll get it done: first round tomorrow, second and final round hopefully next week.
- Reception playlist. When we’ll get it done: probably next weekend; it’s about 70% done right now.
- Silhouettes (of Jordan and I) for frames. When we’ll get it done: next weekend; we just need to format and print.
- Finalize pew decor. When we’ll get it done: tonight.
- Purchase gifts for our parents and our ceremony helpers. When we’ll get it done: next Friday (payday!).
- Tie baker’s twine on the programs. When we’ll get it done: Probably the week of the wedding…eek.
- Take photos of decor, pack up decor items in boxes according to tables. When we’ll get it done: next weekend. BIG project, but I hope to have lots of help.
- Get our marriage license. When we’ll get this done: the Wednesday of the wedding week.
I have my hair trial and my final make-up trial on Thursday and my final gown fitting on Saturday. We also are having our premarital counseling session with my uncle, our officiant, on Saturday. We also turn in our guaranteed guest count to the Pavilion on Saturday. My wedding week beauty treatments are all scheduled, with the exception of a manicure appointment…truthfully, I may just paint my own nails!
Things are coming together really nicely – I hope that I’m not forgetting anything!?
[Photo: www.free-flow-coaching.com]
Tags: DIY wedding, Wedding zen
Posted in Budget Weddings, Cakes & Cuisine, DIY, Decor, Fashion, Music & Entertainment, Our Wedding, Personal, Stationery, Weddings | 2 Comments »
What We’ve Been Up To…
Written by Sara on June 16, 2010 – 2:52 pm -Hello readers! Again, I apologize for not posting much these past few weeks; it’s been a whirlwind to say the least. With only one month to go until the wedding (!!), Jordan and I have been hard at work finishing up last-minute details with our families and friends.
Here’s what we’ve been doing:
- Last week, I spent the evening building our photo booth with the great help of my future father-in-law. The photo booth turned out wonderfully; I can’t wait to see how it looks in our wedding photos! I hope to provide a full tutorial for you all at some point, so stay tuned…
- Made a list of must-have photos for our photographers, and met with our lovely photogs to discuss our wedding day. I’m SO excited that we’ve chosen such wonderful and supportive photographers; they will be so great to have with us on our wedding day, and I know that Kara will help to keep me relaxed.
- Started tanning! While I’m definitely not a fan of how bad tanning beds are for my skin, I do need to build up a base tan of sorts before heading off to Jamaica. So, I’ve stared tanning a few times per week!
- Started the napkins process! With the great help of my bridesmaid Serena and her mother, we’re making headway with the DIY napkins project! We’re about halfway through the project, and I plan to bring the last batch of fabric over to Serena’s home this week for cutting.
- Mailed our rehearsal dinner invitations. They turned out wonderfully, and we’re so excited for our Italian-themed rehearsal dinner!
- Ordered 3 one-half sheet cakes for our wedding reception. We ordered 1/2 sheet of red velvet (my favorite!), one half sheet of strawberry (Jordan’s favorite) and one half sheet of vanilla cake from a local bakery. I’m glad to have that completed!
- Set up a final meeting with our on-site reception coordinator and our florist to cover last-minute details. Both of these appointments are next week, and I’m excited to finalize all of the details!
- Set up a meeting to visit the chapel where our ceremony will take place. I’m visiting my alma mater, Augustana College, this week to set up decorations around the chapel to see what they look like. I’m excited to see how/if the pew bows will attach to the pews…frankly, that’s all I’m concerned about. I know that everything else will look great!
- Finalized gifts for the groomsmen and ushers; everything should be done next week, so I can wrap the gifts!
- Secured a classic car to transport Jordan and I from the ceremony to the reception!
- Got the guys measured for tuxes! Only a few of our guys have yet to do this, and they’re under strict instructions to do so ASAP.
- Finalized our wedding ceremony script. Yes!
- Trying to wrangle wedding pictures of our relatives; I only need a few more pictures, and we’ll be set!
I think that’s it!
Here’s what we have left:
- Our reception playlist. We’ve started working on it, but Jordan’s school quarter ends this Friday, so Jordan will have a lot more time to devote to finalizing our playlist starting next week. This is his pet project, and I’m excited to help with this process as much as I can.
- Getting a few more props for the photo booth, as well as finding/purchasing baskets for the day’s needs, a few picture frames, and a few props for our wedding photos on the wedding day.
- Figuring out what camera to use for the photo booth.
- Print the wedding programs. We’re waiting for the final OK from our officiant, and as soon as we have that, we’re good to go!
- Cutting table squares and a table runner for the reception; we are purchasing the fabric today, so it won’t be too long before this project is off our list.
- Sew a lining into our flower girl dresses. Again, the fabric for this has been purchased, so hopefully we can finalize this project soon.
- Purchase a gift for my personal attendant and our parents, as well as gifts for our hosts & hostesses and our ceremony reader.
- Gift-opening preparation and invitations.
- Bring my engagement ring and wedding band into the jeweler to be soldered and plated.
- Premarital counseling session with my uncle, our officiant, to discuss our personality inventory.
- Discuss our DIY tiered wedding cake with my mother, and maybe practice making a cake.
- Final wedding gown fitting; I’m so excited for this part!
- Final hair and make-up trial, as well as week-of beauty treatments; again, SO excited!
- Wrap gifts and box up ceremony/reception decor.
- Marriage license.
- Meet with our travel agent to finalize details for our honeymoon, and pack for our honeymoon.
- GET MARRIED!
Surprisingly, my stress level is rather low; while I know that there’s still more things to do, I feel remarkably calm heading into the final month before the wedding.
How are you handling wedding stress?
Tags: wedding timeline, wedding to-do list
Posted in Adornments & Embellishments, Beauty & Polish, Budget Weddings, Cakes & Cuisine, DIY, Decor, Fashion, Flowers, Honeymoon, Inspiration & Insight, Music & Entertainment, Our Wedding, Personal, Photography, Stationery, Venues, Weddings | No Comments »
For Our Guests: An Update on Hotels!
Written by Sara on June 9, 2010 – 10:16 am -Greetings!
For our out-of-town wedding guests, please read the information below regarding area hotels; while we don’t have many family members and friends that live out of town, we have heard from some of you that rooms in Sioux Falls are filling up rather quickly, so here are a few options for those of you who still need to make a reservation!
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
A selection of area accommodations is below; the hotels appear in order of proximity to the Washington Pavilion:
Holiday Inn City Centre: $142.95/night; 605-339-2000
Country Inn & Suites: $99/night; 605-373-0153
Hampton Inn Sioux Falls: $92.80/night; 605-362-1700
Sheraton Sioux Falls + Convention Center: $189.99/night; 605-331-0100
Holiday Inn Express – Brandon (15 minutes from Sioux Falls): $162.99/night; 605-582-2901
We can’t wait to see you in July!
Tags: hotels
Posted in Our Wedding, Personal | No Comments »
101 in 1001: A Rough Month…
Written by Sara on June 1, 2010 – 10:35 am -Hello readers! First of all, I apologize for the blogging drought…I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed with wedding planning (and life changes!) lately, and this blog has sadly been quite far down on my to-do list. I promise, though, the wait was worth it: on Friday, I plan to showcase our DIY wedding invitations, which were sent out to our guests last week! Be sure to tune in for that.
Today, however, I am prepared to give you all an update on my (lack of) progress toward my 101 in 1001 goals project.
Here are the goals I wanted to accomplish for May:
- Make or bake at least one Rachael Ray recipe.
- Try beets…again.
- Learn how to drive a stick shift/manual vehicle.
- Go bowling…and actually try to bowl well.
And here’s the one (yes, one) that I actually completed:
- Learn how to drive a stick shift/manual vehicle.
While my guy has tried to teach me how to drive a manual car before (his lovely old Jeep Wrangler!), he now has a new manual car (yay for Jettas!), so we spent a few hours together driving around a parking lot, and then hitting the main road!
I did rather well (I swear, the Jetta is easier to drive than the Jeep EVER was!), but once I had to take a detour (lame-o South Dakota construction!), I got scared as the car inched up (and then down!) a rather steep hill. Needless to say, that was the end of my driving experience that day.
I really sucked at completing my other goals, so I’m going to leave those on tap for June.
How are you doing on your life goals? Do you have a bucket list?
Tags: 101 in 1001, DIY wedding invitations, Jeep Wrangler, Rachael Ray, South Dakota, Volkswagen Jetta
Posted in Personal | No Comments »