One year ago today, I married my most favorite person in the world. I married the world’s best cuddler, the world’s best doggy-daddy. I married way out of my league, because I married the best man I’ve ever known.

I’m a lucky gal.

To my husband of one year, Jordan: here’s to many more years together. I’m so excited for the adventures ahead of us!

And also, a reminder of the reading that was read one year ago today…I still feel these words to my core, my love.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a person loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.” “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?” “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

Love always, your wife, Sara.

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! and Analysis of our iPod Wedding}

Jordan and I spent six days in Jamaica for our honeymoon. In terms of deciding where we wanted to jet away to for our honeymoon, we both wanted to go somewhere warm with a beach and an ocean, and we felt excited (and anxious) about going abroad. It was the first time being outside of America for the both of us, which truly was an experience in itself. We’ve never before been herded like cattle through customs (which, apparently, is an all-too-common experience in other countries), and that was a bit of a disarming experience.

In terms of actually booking our vacation, we utilized the expertise of a family friend who has been in the travel agency for quite some time. We booked our six-day stay at Breezes Rio Bueno in Rio Bueno, Jamaica. While we had a good time overall and made the best of our vacation stay there, it wasn’t the ideal honeymoon locale for either of us, for the following reasons below:

1. Our first time overseas was completely overwhelming; looking back, for our honeymoon, we would have rather stayed stateside.

After finally arriving at our resort after a full day of flights and sitting around in airports, we were exhausted, and I (Sara) was completely overwhelmed by the airport experience of going through customs in Jamaica, and also by the car ride from the airport to the resort. (Note: I (Sara) felt like the car was going to run off of the road countless times; plus, we were offered illegal drugs not only in the airport, but also when we were driving – passengers in another car shouted to us and (I’m not kidding) dangled a little baggie of “goodies” outside the window.)

2. Our room was underwhelming, to say the least (despite the fact that Jordan looks super comfy above!).

We stayed in a total of two different rooms during our stay at Breezes; our first room was, to put it lightly, not comfortable. We found ants in our room crawling on the floor, and our bedsheets were stained. There was barely any furniture in the room, and we were quite unsatisfied. So, we asked to move to a different room, which the resort staff granted us on the second day of our stay. While this room had more furniture, no bugs and clean bedsheets, it still was not what we were expecting. We were hoping for a cushy bed with many, many pillows and soft linens, but the bed linens made us feel more like we were staying at a motel than a resort that we shelled out many pennies for. Also – no bathtub. Boo.

3. We couldn’t get room service.

If we had known this prior to booking, we probably wouldn’t have booked at all. Who wants to go somewhere where you can’t order food to your room on your honeymoon?!

4. The atmosphere of the resort was geared more toward families and young single people than to couples on their honeymoon.

From the games and activities (think: wet t-shirt contests, dance contests, and the like, along with your regular water volleyball games, which Jordan enjoyed) to the other people staying at our resort, we came to realize that the beach getaway we had wanted originally was what we received (and, to the credit of Breezes, the beach and the ocean were fantastic), but wasn’t what we wanted. Now we know that if we ever embark on a trip overseas to an all-inclusive resort again, we want a couples-only resort with cushy linens, room service and a bunch of yummy food.

5. Jamaica is, well, a third-world country, which made it scary (for us) to leave the resort.

Despite the fact that Jordan and I were well aware of this before leaving, the disparate divide between poverty and wealth is so obvious when you’re driving beside shanties, and just down the road, you see a mansion. It was certainly eye-opening. But, in light of the fact that our surroundings were so unfamiliar (and, to us, rather scary), we never left the resort, which probably was a detriment to the fun we had on our trip. But, we just didn’t feel comfortable leaving the resort.

What We Liked

What we will say, however, is that we really appreciated the staff of this resort. They were always kind and accommodating. We also liked the food, too! We ate at a French restaurant one evening, and at a Japanese hibachi restaurant another evening, both of which were quite delicious! The other restaurants, however, left quite a bit to be desired, although Jordan sure enjoyed his omelette every morning, and we both still crave the fresh orange juice! Lastly, the beach was seriously insanely beautiful. The weather was a bit rainy when we were there, but the sun always came out eventually, and it was wonderful to lay by the beach and read, drink in hand. We also took a glass-bottom boat tour (the bottom of the boat was glass, which allowed us to see the sea life swimming around below us) that was fun, too.

So, here’s a recap of what we learned:

- We aren’t really all-inclusive resort people. We love nothing more than to make our own experience together by choosing to go to this shop or that restaurant to eat, and we found the all-inclusive environment rather limiting.

- We like a comfy room, complete with cushy soft linens and room service. And a bathtub instead of a shower!

- If we ever do an all-inclusive resort vacation again, we’ll stay at a couples-only resort. And, we would probably be open to going to an all-inclusive resort with friends (though, not Breezes) – that actually might be a good time!

- If we do go to a third-world country again, we will know what to expect in terms of the poverty level, among other things.

*Interesting fact: when I went to the Breezes Rio Bueno home page today to link to their site, I found the following disclosure:

“Please note: Breezes Resort & Spa – Rio Bueno will be closed as of April 30, 2011 indefinitely. For reservations after April 30, please see our other Breezes Resorts & Spas in Jamaica and in other destinations.”

Quite interesting, since we certainly felt that the resort was lacking the comforts that we wished for and expected.

In looking back on our honeymoon, we feel grateful for this experience, because it taught us what we want (and what we don’t) in a vacation. In fact, this summer, Jordan and I are embarking on a bit of a honeymoon-redo to…SEATTLE! That’s the best part about a honeymoon; you learn what you really want to do together on vacation! We’re so excited to experience a part of the United States that we’ve never been before, and we’re especially excited to enjoy all that Seattle has to offer.

Where are you headed on your honeymoon? Are you staying stateside or going abroad? What’s on your must-have list for your honeymoon destination?

[All photos by Jordan and I]

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]

AAH! I’m like, totally dying. My lovely wedding hairstyle was featured on Glamour Magazine‘s website!

Click here for the goods. I’m still pinching myself, y’all.

Until later…

[Photo by Creative Kindling, of course!]

{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 and Photos From Our DIY Photobooth!}

The food at our reception was super yummy! The Washington Pavilion has an adorable little cafe inside of it called Leonardo’s, and they catered our reception for us. We requested a taco bar with beef and chicken, and all the taco fixin’s we could ever want – and they delivered! We couldn’t have been more pleased with the delicious spread.

While the taco bar was outstanding, one of my favorite parts of our wedding reception were our wedding cakes! After seeing inspiration for an awesome rice-krispie tiered cake online, my parents and I agreed to try and tackle making our own! My parents took the brunt of the work on themselves in the few days before the wedding, and I couldn’t have been happier with the finished product!

We also ordered three half sheet cakes from HyVee, a local bakery inside a grocery store. We ordered red velvet (my favorite), vanilla, and strawberry (Jordan’s favorite). I’m sad to say that I didn’t even get a chance to have a piece that evening, but I heard wonderful things about how it tasted! Many thanks to my aunts for cutting the cake for us.

And now, for the pictures!

We also had a bunch of fun cutting the cake together, using a cake knife from my great-grandmother Sophie!

Up next: A look at our iPod wedding dance!

[All photos 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]

Hello readers! After taking a break for the holidays, I’m back with more recap posts! Click here to get caught 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 and Reception Table Centerpieces}

Today I’d love to showcase two personalized touches that made our wedding reception feel more “us” – our Wishing Tree display and our photo features!

Wishing Trees are certainly making their way around the blogosphere, but I knew that the majority of our guests had probably never encountered one before at a wedding reception. It’s really, really important to remember when planning your own wedding that the majority of your guests don’t spend time stalking the most popular wedding blogs, so it’s perfectly fine to utilize the trends that resonate with you, regardless of how popular or played out the trend seems!

While in retrospect, I wish I would have had my Dad or our friend Chuck (who both took turns at acting as MC for the evening) announce that the Wishing Tree was available and where it was located (on the way into the reception space), we did have quite a few wedding guests make their wishes for us.

Here’s a look at our adorable Wishing Tree, which my bridesmaids and I put together utilizing manzanita branches from here, a flower pot purchased locally and some moss. We also utilized a wooden crate box purchased locally to hold our slips of paper tied with twine for the guests to hang their wishes:

We also included a variety of photo displays of both our engagement pictures (flanking the bar) and some pictures of us as children and us while dating. These photo displays were a lot of fun (and super easy!) to put together, especially since we already gave our parents framed engagement pictures for Christmas the previous year!

I found these two adorable white shutters at our local flea market in Sioux Falls; I just love them, and I want to try and find a way to incorporate them into our decor in our home!

Here’s a few pictures:

Up next: shots from our homemade photobooth!

[All photos by Creative Kindling, our awesome 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]