Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor; Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music, Walking Down the Aisle, More Ceremony Shots, The Getaway Car, Reception Table Centerpieces, Wishing Tree & Photo Displays, Photos From Our DIY Photobooth!, Analysis of our iPod Wedding, Our Honeymoon, List of Wedding Vendors and List of Etsy Sellers}

Hi everyone! I can’t believe that I’m finally to the end of my list of wedding recap posts – it was certainly an adventure to plan our wedding, but it was even more of an adventure to try to recap it in a meaningful way for all of you who care to stop by my little section of the Internet. Lots of thanks and love to all of you for your support and encouragement throughout the planning, execution and recap process!

Here’s a final list of the DIY projects that we took on and completed for the wedding, along with links and/or pictures:

- Save the Date cards

- Cootie Catcher favors

- Wedding Invitations

- Cards: Wishing Tree

- Wedding Programs

- Flower Hairpieces – Bridesmaids

- Garter & Throw-Away Garter

- Bunting: Cake Table – Reception

- Burlap Table Runner/Table Squares – Reception

- Placecards – Head Table at Reception

- Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

- Gift-Opening Invitations

- Napkins – Wedding Reception

- Rice Krispie Wedding Cake

- Photobooth Wall

- Thank-you Notes

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor; Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music, Walking Down the Aisle, More Ceremony Shots, The Getaway Car, Reception Table Centerpieces, Wishing Tree & Photo Displays, Photos From Our DIY Photobooth!, Analysis of our iPod Wedding, Our Honeymoon and List of Wedding Vendors}

Hello all! I’m back with a list of the Etsy sellers that we used. I highly recommend all of them, but the sellers that created custom items for us (especially Lovliday, The Lucky Button and Boutique Sophia) were a dream to work with.

Lovliday: Guestbook Tree

Paloma’s Nest: Bouquet Charm, Jewelry Bowls (for Bridesmaids and Moms) – “You Are” version

Oatmeal Lace Design: Bridal Clutch

LeahLeah: Burlap Pew Bows

The Lucky Button: Boutonnieres

Y&E Bridal: Hair fascinator (flower)

BPoetic: Shoe Clips

Nomsa: Earrings (for Bridesmaids)

Whisker Graphics: Yellow and White Baker’s Twine

Whisker Works: Mustache Props – Photobooth

Love to Create Stamps: Return Address Stamp

Galla 15: Yellow Fashion Ring (Bride)

Allegro Art: Silver Swirl Card Holders – for Reception

Vintage Time Machine: Ladies Vintage Hat – Photobooth

Queen London’s Carriage: Men’s Vintage Hat – Photobooth

Maxim Creative Invites: Monogrammed Stickers – for wedding invitations

Earmark: “Just Married” banner for getaway car

A Remark You Made: Eco-friendly wooden placecard holders

QA Create: Baseball cufflinks (Groom)

Boutique Sophia: Custom flower girl dresses (tutu dresses)

South House Boutique: Burlap wine holder bags – for wedding helper gifts

Satin and Birch: Little soaps – shower hostess gifts

Oh Louise Designs: Personalized Stationery – shower hostess gifts

[Photo by Creative Kindling]

{Click here to catch up on our wedding recaps:

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor; Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music, Walking Down the Aisle, More Ceremony Shots, The Getaway Car, Reception Table Centerpieces, Wishing Tree & Photo Displays, Photos From Our DIY Photobooth!, Analysis of our iPod Wedding and Our Honeymoon}

I’m finally nearing the end of my wedding recaps, which is fitting, since Jordan and I have been married almost one year already! I can hardly believe that ten months have already passed by; what a blessing it is to have someone by my side each and every day. While our first year of marriage hasn’t been a walk in the park, this year (so far) has been full of blessings.

I wanted to share with you today a list of the vendors that we used throughout planning our wedding, so that any of you local SD brides will have all of these resources in one place! Also, stay tuned for a full list of Etsy vendors that we used – that’s the next post that I’ll write! Also coming up is a final list of the DIY projects that we completed for the wedding, so if you don’t see something listed below (i.e. the boutonnieres or my garters), don’t fret, because it was either purchased from Etsy or DIY!

Materials for Invitations:

Cards & Pockets (ordered online)

Sioux Falls Rubber Stamp, Sioux Falls, SD

Map of Sioux Falls – Wedding Invitations:

Designed by a friend of the bride

Printing:

Brown & Saenger, Sioux Falls, SD

Wedding Rings:

Sara’s Engagement Ring and Wedding Band: Riddle’s Jewelry, Sioux Falls, SD

Jordan’s Wedding Band: Helzberg Diamonds, Sioux Falls, SD

Photographers:

Creative Kindling, Brandon, SD

Florist:

The Flower Shop, Sioux Falls, SD

Sheet Cakes (Remember, we DIYed the Rice Krispie Cake):

HyVee on Sycamore Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD

Manzanita Branches – Wishing Tree:

Save-on-crafts.com (ordered online)

White Shutters – Photo Display:

Purchased from a seller at Benson’s Flea Market (Sioux Falls, SD)

Fabric – Wedding Napkins:

Hancock Fabrics, Sioux Falls, SD

Classic Car:

Borrowed for the day from a friend of the family

Hair and Nails on the Wedding Day:

Hair: Salon Ne-Zhoni, Sioux Falls, SD

Sara’s Manicure: VIP Nails, Sioux Falls, SD

Sara’s Pedicure: Radiance Day Spa, Sioux Falls, SD

Wedding Gown:

Purchased from Happily Ever After, Sioux City, IA (gown was by Alfred Angelo, and has since been discontinued)

Veil:

Purchased from French Door Bridal in Sioux Falls, SD (veil was by Signature Bridal)

Tuxedos:

Rented from Evelyn’s Floral and Formalware in Sioux Falls, SD, a business which has since closed its doors (the tuxedo was by Calvin Klein)

Groomsmen/Ushers Gifts:

Flasks – Brown & Saenger, Sioux Falls, SD

Socks – Express (ordered online)

Ceremony Helpers Gifts:

Wine purchased from HyVee Wine & Spirits, Louise Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD

Bridesmaids Dresses:

The Dessy Group, ordered online from www.bridesmaids.com

Ceremony Site:

Augustana College Chapel of Reconciliation, Sioux Falls, SD

Organist:

Kyle Quanbeck, Sioux Falls, SD

Vocalist:

Sister of the Groom

Catering, Reception Site:

Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, SD

Wedding Weekend Accommodations (Guests):

Holiday Inn City Centre (Downtown), Sioux Falls, SD

Wedding Night Accommodations (Jordan and Sara):

ClubHouse Hotel & Suites, Sioux Falls, SD

I also wanted to make sure that I made a list of places that I shopped for a variety of materials for all kinds of projects:

Hobby Lobby, Sioux Falls, SD

Michaels, Sioux Falls, SD

IKEA, Minneapolis, MN (votive candles)

I think that’s it! In terms of whether or not I would use these same vendors again if I were to do it all over again, the answer is a resounding yes. I was so pleased with all of our vendors, despite some last-minute stress from HyVee regarding our cakes. But, everything couldn’t have been more perfect, and we think back fondly on our wedding day and all of the vendors that made it happen for us. Cards & Pockets is a fabulous online resource for those of you who plan to DIY invitations in the future, and I couldn’t recommend the ladies at Happily Ever After in Sioux City, IA, any higher. The Flower Shop did an extraordinary job realizing my vision for the flowers, and the staff at the Augie Chapel and the Washington Pavilion couldn’t have been more helpful. Brown & Saenger also played a huge role in pulling off our wedding in terms of satisfying all of our printing needs, and our day wouldn’t have been chronicled in such a meaningful way without Creative Kindling. We couldn’t have been more blessed!

If you have any questions, please let me know!

[Photo by Creative Kindling]

Hello readers! Just a little note from me to tell y’all that we’ve been FEATURED on A Practical Wedding today! Jordan and I are so excited to share our wedding with Meg’s wonderfully smart and sassy readers – it’s a great community over there! Feel free to head on over and check it out.

Lots of love (and promises of more wedding recaps soon), Sara

[Photo by Creative Kindling]

{Click here to catch up on our wedding recaps:

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor; Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music, Walking Down the Aisle, More Ceremony Shots, The Getaway Car, Reception Table Centerpieces and Wishing Tree & Photo Displays}

I was totally bitten by the photobooth bug early on in my efforts to make our wedding enjoyable and fun for us and for our larger community that supports us day in and day out. My father-in-law helped me to build our photobooth from plywood, wallpaper, crown molding and a picture frame; I love the way it turned out!

Here’s how it worked: we set up the photobooth after the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, at the same time that we were decorating the reception space. My father-in-law made the photobooth collapsable by sawing the plywood in half hot-dog style and attaching hinges, so that the photobooth was easy to transport. We set up a digital camera on a tripod in front of the photobooth, so when our wedding guests utilized the photobooth, they also brought up another friend to take the photos for them. We also provided props for our guests:

Here are a few shots from our photobooth from our photographers, Creative Kindling:

Up next: Our reception food + our wedding cakes!

[All photos by Creative Kindling, our talented photographers]

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor; Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music, Walking Down the Aisle, More Ceremony Shots and The Getaway Car}

Here’s a look at the centerpieces that we utilized at our wedding! We used the following items for each table, as well as the cost per item:

- 1-2 birdhouses (depending on size) from my mother’s collection. We did purchase a few birdcages (my Mom mostly has birdhouses, and I love cages!), so I would say that we spent $50 max on 2-3 birdcages.

- A picture of our relatives on their wedding day. While we borrowed many, many picture frames from family members, we needed to purchase a few frames; I would estimate that we spent no more than $25 total.

- Mason jar, tied with ribbon, with a candle inside. We brought these from the ceremony site to the reception site (yay for reuse!), but we needed to purchase one set of jars (my mother had the others!), candles and the ribbon. I would estimate about $25 for this project; we purchased a ton of candles from IKEA for super cheap!

- Letter ‘G’ to represent our last name, Gillis. I purchased these at Hobby Lobby, painted them ivory and distressed them with sandpaper. Total cost for this project: about $15.

- Square of burlap, which acted as an anchor of sorts for the centerpiece. I know that we purchased a large bolt of burlap from Joann’s Fabric for 50% off one day…I’m sure it didn’t cost more than $20.

Here are a few more pictures, including our cootie catcher favors, a note for our wedding guests, our DIY fabric napkins, and our DIY photobooth tickets!

Up next: More reception decor – the wishing tree and our photo displays!

[All photos by Creative Kindling, our lovely photographers]

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor; Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music, Walking Down the Aisle and More Ceremony Shots}

For our getaway car, I really wanted to rent or borrow an old classic car to ride away in. Luckily, one of my father’s coworkers restores cars, and he allowed us to borrow his classic Chevrolet free of charge (actually, all he requested as payment was a photo of us with the car, looking overjoyed – how sweet is that!). It was so much fun to ride away in it. My lovely father drove us from the ceremony to the reception; here are a few pictures!

The only downside to the car was that being a classic car, it lacked air conditioning. Since we were married on literally the hottest day of the year, it was quite miserable inside the confines of that car. However, our emotions were running at an all-time high, so we were too overjoyed with the variety of people honking at us in celebration to care much about the heat!

For those of you that are curious, our “Just Married” sign came from Etsy seller Earmark – it was whimsical and perfect!

Up next: the centerpieces at our wedding reception!

[All photos by Creative Kindling, who we couldn't recommend higher!]

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor; Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music, and Walking Down the Aisle}

Here are some more shots from our wedding ceremony, which took place at the Augustana Chapel in Sioux Falls, SD:

Up next: Our Getaway Car!

[All photos by Creative Kindling, our lovely and talented photographers]

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion, Ceremony Decor and Our DIY Ceremony Programs, Prayers, Readings and Music}

After communion, my father and I spent a few moments alone in the pastor’s office. I was a nervous wreck – I knew that the moment had finally come to walk down the aisle, and that made me nervous! I wasn’t nervous at all to marry Jordan, but I was nervous for everyone to look at me! Silly, I know, and looking back, I overreacted, but in the moment, I was taking in and living my authentic emotions.

While my father and I were waiting for our turn to walk down the aisle, Jordan escorted my grandmother and our mothers in, and then he took his place with my Uncle Rick for the ceremony:

This picture below is one of my absolute favorites from the entire wedding; it makes me so, so proud to call my father mine, because he’s such a wonderful man:

He was a complete gem that day, so calm, telling light-hearted jokes to make me giggle and smile and forget that in a few moments, everyone in that church would be watching me walk down the aisle. He revealed the next day, at our gift-opening brunch, that he too was nervous to walk in front of the 130 guests in attendance, but I never would have guessed it. Both of my parents were so wonderful on our wedding day; they both had joy in their eyes that I won’t ever forget. My mother was with me the majority of the day, helping me to get dressed – it was an emotional day, and it was wonderful to have my parents with me.

After our groomsmen and our bridesmaids took their places, and our flower girls graced the aisle with yellow rose petals, it was finally our turn.

With my sister-in-law singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as I walked, I felt goosebumps take over my arms. I clutched my dad’s arm, and when I saw Jordan, I grew so, so excited. Today was our day; it was finally here.

Up next: More photos from the ceremony!

[All photos by the outstanding Creative Kindling]

Hair appointments; Picking up flowers; Getting ready; The Gown; Our First Look, Girls & Guys Attire, More Photos, Jitters and Communion and Ceremony Decor}

Jordan and I wrote our wedding ceremony together from a sample Methodist wedding ceremony, given to me by my uncle, who was performing our ceremony. I labored over the prayers and the readings in particular, because I wanted every bit of that ceremony to reflect Jordan and I.

So, here’s what we ended up using:

Music – I walked down the aisle to my lovely sister-in-law’s rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I still get all starry-eyed every time I hear that song, because it makes me think of clutching my dad’s arm, and of seeing Jordan at the end of the aisle.

We also had my sister-in-law sing “We Are Man & Wife” by Michelle Featherstone while we signed our marriage license. Every time I hear this song (it’s evidently a song that my Itunes DJ likes to play), I smile from ear to ear. This song will always make me think about our wedding, and I get tears in my eyes whenever I hear it. It’s such a special, emotional, personal song for me.

Readings – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Excerpt – The Velveteen Rabbit (found here); “i carry your heart with me” – e.e. cummings

I’ve loved the Ecclesiastes verses ever since I was young; the notion that “two are better than one” gives me tingles inside, and the imagery of the three cords (one for each of us, and one for God) remaining unbroken is the strongest symbol of marriage that I’ve ever heard.

The Velveteen Rabbit reading sort of fell into my lab one day as I was scanning the blogosphere for reading ideas; I love, love, LOVE it. It’s the first book that we’ll give to our (someday, future) child, I think. These are the words that Mommy and Daddy read at their wedding ceremony. I’m tearing up already.

Lastly, the e.e. cummings poem was so, so perfect for us. I had the lovely Paloma’s Nest on Etsy make me a bouquet charm that read, “i carry your heart with me,” and it’s such an evocative poem…makes me giggly thinking of my husband carrying my heart in his.

Prayer – I really, really wanted to honor our grandparents (we’ve lost seven of our eight grandparents) at our wedding. In addition to the seven candles that we placed on the altar, my uncle and I also composed a grandparents prayer, which went like this:

Through the joys and struggles of life, you two have emerged as unique people, thanks to God, your family and friends, including some who have gone before us. Our prayers go out to them this day as well as to others who, for whatever reason, cannot be here in person.

We offer prayers of thanksgiving especially for the grandparents who have fostered your dreams and enriched your lives. We remember today and always the lives of [names], honoring their contributions to your lives.

All who cannot be here today still share in our joy through the Spirit of LOVE, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. We praise God for His presence with us, and especially in the solemn creation of this marriage covenant, through Jesus Christ our Lord. -Amen-

This prayer was so, so emotional for me; it took almost everything I had not to cry.

And, here are a few pictures of our DIY programs…an 8-page labor of love that Jordan and I created while holed up for a weekend in his tiny, tiny apartment watching the ENTIRE Lord of the Rings series.

Up next: Walking Down the Aisle!

[All photos by the fantastically talented Creative Kindling]