Joy: Our Wedding – List of Vendors
Written by Sara on May 18, 2011 – 2:31 pm -
{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]
Tags: Alfred Angelo, Augustana College, Benson's Flea Market, Brown & Saenger, Cards & Pockets, Chapel of Reconciliation, ClubHouse Hotel & Suites, Creative Kindling, Evelyn's Floral and Formalware, Express, French Door Bridal, Hancock Fabrics, Happily Ever After, Helzberg Diamonds, Hobby Lobby, Holiday Inn City Centre, HyVee, IA, IKEA, Michaels, Radiance Day Spa, Riddle's Jewelry, Salon Ne-Zhoni, Save-on-crafts.com, SD, Signature Bridal, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls Rubber Stamp, The Dessy Group, The Flower Shop, VIP Nails, Washington Pavilion
Posted in Adornments & Embellishments, Beauty & Polish, Budget Weddings, Cakes & Cuisine, Decor, DIY, Eco-Chic, Fashion, Flowers, Honeymoon, Inspiration & Insight, Music & Entertainment, Our Wedding, Personal, Photography, Stationery, Venues, Vintage Beauties, Wedding Recap | 1 Comment »
Joy: Our Wedding – Girl & Guy Attire!
Written by Sara on September 15, 2010 – 12:09 pm -
{Click here to catch up on our wedding recaps: Hair appointments, Picking up flowers, Getting ready, The Gown, and Our First Look}
While Jordan and I were having our “First Look” moment and snapping a few pictures, our bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers and flower girls were getting dressed!
If you can recall, I had one heck of a time selecting a dress for my gal pals to wear on our wedding day. But, looking back, I couldn’t be more pleased with our final dress selection (dresses by Dessy)!
Here’s a picture or two of my beautiful bridesmaids; don’t they look gorgeous!? {NOTE: Preview pictures from the ceremony!!}
The guys (both groomsmen and ushers) looked equally fabulous in tuxes that we rented from Evelyn’s Floral and Formalware in Sioux Falls; I believe that the tuxes were Calvin Klein:
And, who could forget my darling little flower girls! Dresses were made by BoutiqueSophia on Etsy:
And now, the cutest baby picture ever: our niece and flower-girl-in-training, little Miss Harper:
Love that baby!
Up next: a few posed shots of my hubby and I, our wedding party, and our families! Stay tuned…
[All photos by the amazing Creative Kindling]
Tags: BoutiqueSophia, bridesmaid dress, Calvin Klein tuxes, charcoal grey bridesmaid dresses, Dessy, Etsy, Evelyn's Floral and Formalware, First Look, flower girl dresses, flower girl in-training, grey and yellow tuxes, Sioux Falls, tutu flower girl dresses, Wedding Recap
Posted in Adornments & Embellishments, Beauty & Polish, Budget Weddings, Fashion, Inspiration & Insight, Our Wedding, Personal, Photography, Vintage Beauties, Wedding Recap, Weddings | 3 Comments »
Joy: Our Wedding – The Flowers
Written by Sara on August 20, 2010 – 9:06 am -After leaving the hair salon, my maid of honor Kristen and I headed to The Flower Shop in Sioux Falls to pick up our bouquets.
Remember those inspiration boards that I created for my bouquet and my girls’ bouquets on Style Me Pretty’s Style Circle? I brought these to Twyla, our florist at The Flower Shop, to use as inspiration for our florals.
Well, I can’t wait to show you how our lovely flowers turned out!
In the top picture, notice the sunflower bouquet on the left; that was my throw-away bouquet! It was wrapped in burlap and was simple but beautiful. The other bouquets in that photo are my girls’ bouquets; they turned out perfectly! Very organic – they look like they were just picked right from a field before the wedding! The bouquet with the succulent is Kristen’s, to make hers a little special, as the maid of honor.
As you can see in the bottom picture, the girls’ bouquets were wrapped in ribbon, and I had Twyla attach a brooch to each of their bouquets (I spent the months before the wedding searching flea markets and antique stores for brooches!)
And now, a peek at my bouquet (more of the full bouquet after I reveal my wedding gown!):
I had Twyla wrap the stem of the bouquet in burlap, to echo the organic, nature-inspired feel of our wedding (as well as the burlap on the reception tables!). I then wrapped a piece of lace around the stem – my great-Grandma Sophie made the lace! As you can see from the bottom picture, I also had Paloma’s Nest on Etsy make me a bouquet charm (my something blue! notice the blue string?). I just LOVED the bouquet charm; it says “i carry your heart with me,” after the e.e. cummings poem we had read during our wedding ceremony. I also attached to the stem of my bouquet a little brooch that Kristen gave me – it was perfect!
In my bouquet, Twyla used sunflowers, succulents, dusty miller, billy balls, lisianthus, spray roses and much, much more. It was literally the bouquet of my dreams – I couldn’t have been more pleased!
A big plus – I had Twyla ensure to utilize as many locally grown blooms for our flowers as possible!
Stay tuned for what’s up next: me and my girls (and Jordan and his guys!) getting ready, plus a full list of make-up products that my sister-in-law used to achieve my bridal look!
[Inspiration boards made by me on Style Me Pretty's Style Circle; all photos by the amazingly talented Creative Kindling]
Tags: bridal bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets, e.e. cummings, Etsy, Paloma's Nest, Sioux Falls, Style Circle, Style Me Pretty, succulent bouquets, The Flower Shop, vintage bouquets, wildflower bouquets
Posted in Adornments & Embellishments, Eco-Chic, Flowers, Inspiration & Insight, Our Wedding, Photography, Vintage Beauties, Wedding Recap, Weddings | 6 Comments »
Showcase Friday: Our DIY Wedding Invitations!
Written by Sara on June 4, 2010 – 9:00 am -
Dear readers, I don’t even know where to begin with this post, except to say that Jordan and I are SO excited to share our DIY wedding invitations with you today! This post is rather lengthy, but for you budget-brides out there, I wanted to give you an extensive look into what it takes to DIY your own wedding invitation suite.
A note on our inspiration
It was quite a challenge to try and explain to Jordan (or anyone, really) what “vintage” means to me, and how exactly I envision us capturing that feel in our wedding invitations. So, I frequented many a web site, from Etsy to super awesome stationery sites to simple Google searches of random objects (mason jars, for instance).
Jordan and I began the design process with the idea that we would utilize Adobe Photo Shop brushes. Since little touches of birds, nature and aviary motifs will appear throughout our wedding, we felt it was important to include a bird in our wedding invitations. We found a Photo Shop brush of a tree, and we started working with that.
However, with each draft of the invitation, we began to hate the look and the feel of it more and more. It didn’t look elegant, it didn’t look lovely, and it didn’t look vintage. So, much to my chagrin (seriously, I was stressed!), we scrapped that idea and started over, a mere month-and-a-half before we wanted to start the printing process.
However, in re-conceptualizing our DIY wedding invitations, I remembered an art class that I took in middle school, where we carved images into a wood block, and then used that wood block to stamp with ink. (I’m sure this was a Mother’s or Father’s Day project from way back when.)
So, I started to try and tell Jordan about what I envisioned based on this look. Then I saw a few invitations around the web utilizing different fonts and a woodblock/boxed layout, and after brainstorming with Jordan, we downloaded a variety of fonts (which is over-simplifying the process – I was very picky about what fonts I wanted to use, and Jordan just would not let me go with Feel Script, no matter how badly I wanted to shell out the money for it – and he was right in the end…) and we got to work bringing together all of our inspiration into one invitation suite.
A note on the design process
Jordan and I used Adobe Fireworks to design our invitations. Jordan is very familiar with this program, and I found it to be a rather intuitive program myself after playing with it for 20 minutes or so.
Since Jordan and I are living 45 miles apart right now, we designed our entire invitation suite on the weekends we were able to be together. For us, the process worked like this:
1. Sara tells Jordan in advance, “We need to work on this part of our invitation suite this weekend.”
2. Sara sends Jordan links of what she’s found that she likes (“I like this overall look, but with this wording and this graphic and this font.”)
3. Jordan comes home, sits on the couch and designs away, making sure Sara doesn’t look over his shoulder until the project is near completion (it drove him nuts!).
4. Sara edits, says what she’d like changed, and Jordan makes the changes.
5. When Sara and Jordan are both satisfied with the design, they PDF the file and send it to their right-hand person to print a proof.
6. After final proof approval, the document goes to the printer, and a few days later, the final product arrives at Sara’s house.
Multiply this by 5 pieces (there are 5 items in our invitation suite), and you have approximately 24 weekends (6 months!) of design work that we spent working to complete this invitation suite. It was definitely a labor of love; there’s no other way to describe it.
A note on invitation wording
It was important to Jordan and I that we acknowledge the contributions that our parents have made to our lives and to making our wedding happen, so we included them in our invitation wording. In determining the other parts of the wording for our invitation, we spent quite a bit of time (probably two weeks) changing words and tweaking the look of the invitation.
Here’s what we ended up with:
Sara’s parents and
Jordan’s parents
Invite you to celebrate the wedding of their children
Sara Jo and
Jordan Wayne
(Ceremony Details)
(When/Where)
Dinner, Dancing & Merriment to immediately follow
at the Washington Pavilion
A note on the details
First, I spent about 8 – 10 hours of time gluing little doilies (see above picture) inside both the mailing envelopes and the RSVP envelopes (a la Holly) – what a project (!!), but I’m SO happy with how well they turned out. (Everyone thought I was nuts, but I was having a great time!)
I then stamped our return address on each of these envelopes, proceeded to freak out when the ink I used wouldn’t dry, and then our envelopes were miraculously saved by a can of hairspray. Moving on…(I just can’t talk about those darn envelopes anymore!)
Next, once everything was printed, we glued the invitation matte directly to the pocketfold, and then glued the wedding invitation on top of the matte, to create a layered look (again, see above picture).
I knew that I wanted our invitation suite to have a few components to it. While the majority of our guests are from South Dakota (and are rather localized to Sioux Falls, where the wedding will be held), I still wanted to provide guests with a map to help them navigate their way to each location. Thanks to a wonderful classmate of mine, we had a lovely hand-drawn map to showcase to our guests. We placed the map on its end in the right-side pocket of the pocketfold.
For our RSVP card, we wanted to make sure that our guests knew to expect an offbeat, relaxed wedding from the moment they received their invitation. So, we utilized the following check box system, as seen on A $2000 Wedding:
- Gladly Attend
- Regretfully Decline
- Regretfully Attend
- Enthusiastically Decline
- I’m in the wedding, so I have to come
- Other ____________________________
Since Jordan and I are coordinating the music for the wedding dance ourselves, we also wanted feedback from our guests to see what would get them out on the dance floor. Our “Request a Song” card was so much fun to design, and Jordan even made the record player graphic himself!
These two cards were tied together with the RSVP envelope using baker’s twine, which is a special type of yarn that blends two colors (our’s was yellow and white) together. This little package was then placed in the pocketfold in front of the wedding map.
A note on the construction and presentation of the invite
I owe a lot to the lovely Holly at Nothing But Bonfires for introducing us to a company without which our invitations would have lacked cohesion: Cards & Pockets. We ordered nearly everything for our DIY invites from Cards & Pockets … from the pocketfolds in which each piece of our invitation suite was placed to the envelopes that carried our invitations to their destination, we found Cards & Pockets to be the best value for our money. And the quality of the materials? Couldn’t have asked for a better product or better customer service along the way. [No, this is not a sponsored/paid post; I just love the company!]
A note on printing
Jordan and I feel extremely blessed to have had the help and support of one of my father’s business colleagues throughout the DIY invitation design and printing process. From our first initial idea to our final proof, having a person to walk us through the process, telling us what worked and what didn’t, was absolutely invaluable.
While I understand that what’s right for us might not be right for everyone, I would encourage readers who are looking to DIY their own invitations to get them printed by a professional (but local!) printing company. All we supplied was the paper (we chose a partially recycled natural ivory linen cardstock), and the printers and our right-hand person handled the printing and the cutting gratis (yes, we were extremely lucky).
A note on the materials used
Materials:
From Cards & Pockets:
- Perfetto pocketfolds in “Smoke” (We ordered a sample of one, loved it, and then ordered 90 for our invitations)
- 5.75 inch square invitation mattes in “Lemonade” (Again, we ordered a color swatch, then ordered 90 mattes for our invitations)
- 90 6.5 inch square envelopes in “Lemonade” (to hold the invitation; we scrapped the inner envelope, because I think it’s wasteful and frivolous (no offense))
- 90 RSVP envelopes in “Lemonade” (while we initally thought about designing postcards, I loved these little envelopes, so we went with them)
From Etsy:
- Customized stickers from Maxim Creative Invites on Etsy (we ordered two different designs of stickers, one which we used to close the pocketfold and the other which we used to close the envelope)
- Yellow baker’s twine from Whisker Graphics on Etsy (we used this adorable twine to tie a bow around our RSVP package)
- Return address stamp from Love to Create Stamps on Etsy (we used this stamp as a return address and as the “deliver to” address on our RSVP envelopes)
From around town:
- Partially recycled natural ivory linen cardstock (we printed everything on this stock; we probably utilized 250-300 sheets for invitations for our entire guest list)
- Doilies + glue sticks + glue lines + ink pads from Michael’s craft store
- $0.61 cent wedding cake stamp, plus 2 $0.10 cent clock/nautical stamps, per invite, purchased at our local post office (I really wanted stamps with one of our engagement photos on it, but I couldn’t justify the cost)
- $0.44 cent “Love” stamp for our RSVP cards; we chose the stamp with the King and Queen on it!
A note on final cost
After calculating cost for everything ordered, including postage, it seems that the cost for each invitation suite was $3.74.
Here’s the breakdown:
Pocketfolds: $0.98 per invitation
Invitation Mattes: $0.18 per invitation
Natural Ivory Linen Cardstock: $8.00 per ream, $0.09 per invitation
Mailing Envelopes: $0.17 per invitation
RSVP Envelopes: $0.12 per invitation
Stickers: $0.47 per invitation
Address stamp: $0.08 per invitation (includes RSVP envelope)
Doilies: $0.14 per invitation (includes RSVP envelope)
Glue/Glue Lines/Double-stick Tape: $0.22 per invitation (includes all construction)
Baker’s Twine: $0.04 per invitation
Postage: $0.81 per invitation
Postage: $0.44 per RSVP card
TOTAL: $3.74 per invitation
What do you think of our DIY wedding invitations?
[All photos taken by my soon-to-be father-in-law, Steve!]
Tags: $2000 Wedding, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Photo Shop, baker's twine, Cards & Pockets, DIY envelope liners, DIY layered wedding invitations, DIY Request a Song card, DIY RSVP card, DIY vintage wedding invitations, DIY wedding invitations, Etsy, Feel Script, Google, invitation wording, Love to Create Stamps on Etsy, Maxim Creative Invites on Etsy, Michael's Crafts, Nothing But Bonfires, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Washington Pavilion, Whisker Graphics on Etsy, woodblock invitations
Posted in Budget Weddings, DIY, Eco-Chic, Inspiration & Insight, Music & Entertainment, Our Wedding, Stationery, Vintage Beauties | 7 Comments »
Guest Post: Planning the Proposal
Written by Sara on February 23, 2010 – 9:00 am -
Hello readers! My lovely fiance asked me recently when he could write a guest post on the blog (truthfully, I was SO excited that he wanted to write, I said, “Uh, how about now?!”). So, I’d love to introduce you to my dear almost-husband, Jordan – he’s going to tell you all about planning the proposal, from a groom’s perspective:
It was very early after Sara and I met that I knew that I would one day marry her. However, Sara and I took a lot of time falling in love, so it took about two and a half years before I realized that my dreams would come really come true. And reader, she was worth the wait.
I really had some plans to go really out of this world, blow her mind, and make anyone who can listen jealous (Sara requested that I don’t even tell her, so that she won’t be let down, so I won’t mention it here, but what I ended up with was leagues better in the creative and caring department that she should know that she’s ahead.). (Sara’s Note: Reader, he told me one of his ideas once upon a time - all I’ll say is that it involved PENGUINS, my favorite animal ever…but honestly, he wowed me with his actual proposal. WOWED ME. Read on…)
Well money and timing issues, among other things, got in the way of my grand plan, so I went back to the drawing board. Sara had told me that I needed to ask her Dad for permission, so I went along with setting up that meeting, and he gave me his blessing.
I had asked my parents for ideas on how to propose, and they had some great suggestions. I also asked my friends who did their own proposals and kind of got a mixed bag. However, one proposal did stick out, which was my buddy’s and groomsman’s Eric Depue. So, I borrowed his proposal plan to construct the overall structure of my plan.
My plan was to send Sara on a scavenger hunt around Sioux Falls, where we live. I would first send flowers to her office, with a card containing her first clue. I then planned to leave gifts at each stop on her journey, along with cards holding clues as to where she should go next. At the final stop, I would get down on one knee and propose.
Having the plan in hand, and the permission to go through with it, the hardest part came in planning and pulling off the whole ordeal. For my plan, I had to come up with a list of Sara’s favorite things and/or meaningful things we’d shared or experienced in our relationship. Luckily this list was pretty easy to put together, and the next plan came from mapping out the stores I would have Sara visit as she got her gifts from store to store. This was the hard part. I had to first find the right stores, and then make sure they had the right product, or something similar at least. Then I had to make sure I could trust some random employee to be working late enough for Sara to find them. Yeah…it was hard. [A special note: I wrote special cards explaining the reasoning behind purchasing each gift and how much I loved her. This also became a tough task, as I had to rewrite two of them because I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, and had to act on my toes to find the perfect gift for the occasion. But she said yes, so I think I nailed it.]
But by the hands of God, the plan could not have gone more perfectly. She received flowers at her office right on time. She then traveled to get her gifts from Barnes & Noble, to HyVee grocery store, to Triple Play Sports cards (a baseball card shop here in town), and then to Best Buy. The final clue then instructed Sara to trek out the waterfalls of Sioux Falls where she found me and walked (through misty rain) toward me. I said some sweet things that I’m certain she paid little attention to, I asked, she said yes, and we’re now happily engaged for 6 months, and have 5 months until we will be married!
The engagement took tons of special care, time, and thought, but I loved every second of it, and I would do it all over again. Next time, though, I’ll try for a sunny day.
To read Sara’s version of the proposal story, click here.
[Photo: Creative Kindling]
Tags: Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, HyVee, Proposal, Sioux Falls, Triple Play Sports Cards
Posted in Inspiration & Insight, Our Wedding, Personal | No Comments »
Showcase Wednesday: Our Love Shoot, Part II!
Written by Sara on January 13, 2010 – 9:00 am -Happy Wednesday, all! Let’s get right to the photos, copyright Creative Kindling! [See Part I of our love shoot here!]
After we left the really cool (and HUGE!) green door, we went to the Old Courthouse Museum in downtown Sioux Falls, where we kissed and danced!
After a little more wandering around inside the museum, we found an exhibit of an old-fashioned diner! We also got some great shots here:
We left the Old Courthouse Museum after that and drove a little further downtown to Falls Park, where the name “Sioux Falls” comes from. We had some fun on bridges here, too – and we took a break in the middle of the road!
Our last stop was Rotary Park in eastern Sioux Falls, where we walked the railroad tracks and had some fun with props:
We also took some BEAUTIFUL shots on a bridge, and giggled on the swing set:
Again, HUGE thanks to Kara and Aaron of Creative Kindling, who have been wonderful to work with thus far. We feel so lucky to have them!
[All photos copyright Creative Kindling; please do not use these photos without express written consent.]
Tags: Creative Kindling, engagement photos, Falls Park, mustaches on sticks, Old Courthouse Museum, Rotary Park, Sioux Falls, vintage engagement photos
Posted in Inspiration & Insight, Our Wedding, Photography | 1 Comment »
Showcase Wednesday: Our Love Shoot, Part I!
Written by Sara on January 6, 2010 – 9:00 am -Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Today is a big day for Eco-Vintage Weddings, and for J and I – we’re finally ready to reveal our engagement pictures to you all, courtesy of Creative Kindling!
Jordan and I had a wonderful time at our engagement shoot, despite the absolutely freezing weather! Kara and Aaron, who own Creative Kindling, have been an absolute joy to work with – we feel so fortunate that they understand our vision for our wedding! I went to high school with both Kara and Aaron, and I can say that these two have always been geniunely thoughtful people. I can’t recommend them higher!
For our engagement shoot, I made an inspiration board to give our photographers an idea of what we were looking for. We couldn’t be more pleased with how the photos turned out! All photos appearing in this post were taken by Creative Kindling; please do not use these photos without express written consent.
Our fashion: I wore a pink dress that I purchased last summer from ModCloth, a pink headband from Claire’s Jewelry, black tights from Target and black pumps with a rounded toe from Shoe Carnival. I purchased my blue coat from Target a few seasons ago, and the scarf and gloves are from New York & Company. Jordan wore a wool grey Kangol hat, a white dress shirt from Express, a pink striped tie and navy suspenders from JcPenney (the tie was on clearance for $4.99!), navy flat front Dockers from Younkers, and a pair of brown shoes from his closet. He’s had his dark wool coat forever…I couldn’t tell you where he got it.
Our photo shoot began at the Phillips Avenue Diner in downtown Sioux Falls, where we shared a milkshake (and giggles!):
Our photographers then lead us to a building further down Phillips Avenue; by far, these are my favorite pictures of the day:
We also had some fun with a chalkboard:
One thing that I knew that I wanted to do at our engagement shoot was for our photographers to shoot us walking around the downtown Sioux Falls area. I am SO excited with how these photos turned out; how neat would these photos look showcased in frames as a series!
Part II of our engagement session will be featured next Wednesday, but to finish up today’s post, here’s a couple photos of Jordan and I in front of a really cool green door. These pictures are all about the love!
Look for photos next week of Jordan and I at a historic museum downtown, in a old-time diner booth, dancing cheek to cheek and having fun on bridges, railroad tracks and swings!
[All photos taken by Creative Kindling; please do not use these photos without express written consent.]
Tags: Claire's Jewelry, Creative Kindling, Eco-Vintage Weddings, Express, JcPenney, Kangol, ModCloth, New York & Company, Phillips Avenue Diner, photos with chalkboard, Shoe Carnival, Sioux Falls, Target, vintage engagement session, Younkers
Posted in Fashion, Inspiration & Insight, Our Wedding, Photography | 2 Comments »
Our Wedding: Engagement Shoot!
Written by Sara on December 3, 2009 – 9:18 am -
Happy Thursday, everyone! One more day until the weekend - I hope that you’ve all had a relatively easy week; it’s so much harder to work after a long holiday weekend! Snow arrived in Sioux Falls last night…BRR!
Speaking of cold, that’s what J and I will be this Sunday – we’re taking our engagement photos! J and I plan to meet up with our photographers from Creative Kindling here in Sioux Falls at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Remember the inspiration board I made for our engagement shoot? Well, to accomplish the vintage-inspired feel of these photos, we’ll be taking photos on some railroad tracks, (hopefully) in an old-fashioned diner, and all around downtown Sioux Falls. I’m also looking forward to the chance to lay down on the road – I really loved those pictures in my inspiration board!
We’re also planning to bring along some props. As you recall from an earlier post, my future sister-in-law Larissa and I went to Hobby Lobby here in town, where I purchased red foam and black foam. Last week I went to Michaels and purchased long, flat wooden sticks. After finding a suitable heart shape online, I cut out 2 hearts from the red foam and used tape to attach the hearts to the sticks. We’ll be bringing these hearts on sticks with us to our engagement shoot, as well as mustaches on sticks (I plan to make those tonight!). We’re also bringing a chalkboard and chalk with us – sounds fun, doesn’t it!?
Now for the fun part: what we’re wearing!
J will be donning brown shoes, a pair of navy slacks, and a white button-up shirt. For accessories, he’ll have a pair of navy suspenders (FUN!), a grey Kangol golf/Grandpa hat, and a striped pink and navy tie. I can’t wait to see the outfit all put together!
Here’s my dilemna, readers: I have this whimsical and fun dress to wear for our engagement shoot, but it’s geared more toward the summer season. I have this BEAUTIFUL royal blue coat with black buttons that I’ll wear for our outdoor shots to stay warm, but I still need to figure out how to “winterize” this dress!
The dress is from ModCloth, which, if you haven’t heard of them, silly you! When I purchased it, ModCloth called it the Gidget Dress:
Photo Courtesy of ModCloth.com
This dress is SUPER flattering on my figure, and makes me feel pretty and fun. I love the bow, too!
I plan to wear it either with black Mary Jane shoes or these fun black heels with a circular design on the strap that I bought from Shoe Carnival on Black Friday.
The question for you, dear readers, is this: How do I “winterize” this dress so that I stay warm during our photo session? I’m DEFINITELY planning to wear tights, but I need to know what color/texture to purchase.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
How have you “winterized” out-of-season clothing?
What accessories should I wear with this dress?
Tags: Black Friday, Creative Kindling, Hobby Lobby, Kangol, Mary Jane, Michaels, ModCloth, Shoe Carnival, Sioux Falls
Posted in Beauty & Polish, Fashion, Our Wedding, Photography | 5 Comments »
Green Post Monday: Color Me Mine
Written by Sara on November 9, 2009 – 10:08 am -Good Monday morning, everyone! If I seem a little cheerier today, it’s because today is my 23rd birthday – yay for birthdays!
Today’s Green Post Monday is devoted to Color Me Mine, a paint-your-own ceramics studio right here in Sioux Falls, SD. If you’re looking to make your own handmade gifts this holiday season, look no further: Color Me Mine has many ceramic pieces, from plates and mugs to vases and figurines, that you can personalize for your family and friends!
For the bride-to-be, Color Me Mine can provide the tools needed to create wonderful and personalized gifts for bridesmaids and other special people. Also, because brides are investing their time and energy in creating something special for their loved ones, they aren’t contributing to commercialized waste by purchasing gifts at a store that doesn’t uphold eco-friendly practices!
The Color Me Mine studio is also available to rent. How much fun would it be to get together with your bridesmaids and paint the afternoon away! That’s a bachelorette party or wedding shower in the making, if you ask me.
While Color Me Mine isn’t the most “green” venue in Sioux Falls, the studio strives to encourage community between novices and professionals, and to provide an open environment to create beautiful pieces of art. I would love to treat my bridesmaids to an afternoon at Color Me Mine!
Photo: Color Me Mine
Tags: Color Me Mine, Sioux Falls
Posted in Decor, DIY, Eco-Chic | No Comments »