Remember the couple from A Picnic Wedding? Well, we just got our invitation (hand-delivered too!) this weekend. I love when an invitation sets the tone for an event, and this one did the job perfectly. Locally made recycled paper, earthy handcrafted details, and simple vintage font – absolutely perfect! The envelope was especially cool and had a great texture to it which you can’t see in the pictures. I can’t wait to attend!
Now that the wedding is over, I can finally rave about our wedding party gifts! Not surprisingly they were from Etsy - we knew we wanted something personalized and unique so I spent many happy hours shopping through the many vendors. For my girls I was looking for a piece of jewelry that could be customized with colors, initials, or something for each bridesmaid – Cindy V. had both! I got each girl a jewel cluster necklace in a different color with a tiny initial charm…I couldn’t resist getting one for myself too.
Shopping for the guys was a little trickier at first (isn’t it always?). We had played around with the idea of cufflinks but didn’t find any we liked until I happened upon these awesome ones made out of antique typewriter keys at QA Create. Sold! We got each groomsmen and Drew a set of cufflinks with their initials which they wore on the wedding day. I thought they looked pretty cool against the classic black and white tuxes. I’ll have detail shots from the day up in the near future!
This morning while stopped at a red light, I decided to check my email on my iPhone. Big mistake. Because there it was, the first of many emails I’ve been dreaming about since we first hired Kitty Maer, photographer extroadinaire! The temptation to endanger myself and other drivers by immediately oohing and aahing over our teaser pictures was overwhelming, but somehow I pulled myself together and made it to work safely. These are what I got to feast my eyes on – we aren’t celebrities, rock stars, or models but Kitty makes us look like it! Such is her genius 
We’ve all been in/to lots of weddings at this point so everyone wasn’t used to not having to pose since we wanted more candid shots – but our ring bearer is a pro!
A close up of my gorgeous green monochromatic bouquet from Petals & Leaves.
We normally aren’t good in front of the camera but Kitty can coax amazing shots out of anyone.
I love this GQ one of Drew in front of the awesome bunny statue!
So far I only have one picture of one of three types of centerpieces that we had at our wedding (thanks to my fellow teachers!) but I couldn’t resist a sneak peek. I can’t even begin to say how much fun I had working with Dee and Amanda at Petals & Leaves. I’m sure that I’ll continue to rave about their work when I get the detail shots from our photographer, but for now I’ll just say that I went to them with all sorts of crazy ideas (because that’s what happens when you’ve been reading wedding blogs for a year right?) and not only were they supportive and enthusiastic but they took my thoughts to the next level. This custom designed screen you see behind us with damask elements and orchids strung through it began as a vague thought about a “screen of flowers.” It turned out so well, even though we ended up inside instead of outside. In fact, I think it juxtaposed even better with the classic vintage appeal of Derby Court, giving it that modern twist we were going for.
And here is the shot of centerpiece one: a tall hurricane vase turned upside down with uplighting from the bottom, moss, flowers, green apples, and metallic curly willow spraying out of the top. I was blown away when I saw them! They were the one type of tall centerpieces we had, and they definitely added dimension and visual interest in such a huge room. Plus since the vases were thin and clear, people could still have conversations through them which was one of our main priorities. I’ll add pictures of the rest of their fabulous floral details as soon as I have them!
While I’ll still be posting weding recaps on this blog, I wanted to let you all know that I’ve started a new blog as well - La Vie Cheek. It’s going to be a mishmash of life as a newlywed, shopping, and anything else fun to write (and hopefully to read!) about. I knew nothing about blogging before I started BridalCheek and I’ve loved getting to know the awesome online community. Depeche Mode says it best, I just can’t get enough!
Thank you everyone for continuing to read
I’m going to briefly interrupt my wedding recaps with some practical stuff – the image uploader on Weddingbee classifieds isn’t working, so I figured I would just host the images here! In addition to the table numbers in the post below I’m selling a damask ring bearer pillow, vintage brooch and shoe clips, birdcage veil, and garter from Piper Ewan (which I didn’t get to wear because my dress was too slinky!). Feel free to contact me here or on Weddingbee’s classfied site if you have any questions!
So here we are, the first of the many detail oriented posts I neglected to write in the last few months! For our table numbers, I knew I wanted something artsy and unique but not too labor intensive. After a long search for the right vintage looking frames, I found some simple textured gold ones at Costco - yay for cheap wedding supplies by the pound! The frames cost $15 for a set of three, and I then I bought some super cheap art books at a used bookstore. A couple wooden numbers from Michael’s, some black spraypaint, and little glue and voila! Even in my completely ecstatic and overwhelmed emotional state at the wedding, I noticed them on the tables and thought they worked out really well with the rest of the table decorations. Here they are lined up on my dining room table:
And a closer shot. Each one is a different painting that Drew and I picked out.
I know, I know. Like so many other wedding bloggers, a month before the big day I disappeared, lost in an endlessly growing pile of placecards, forms to sign, details to tweak, and minor moments of panic to manage. In the home stretch of our wedding, I kept telling people I felt like a secretary, or maybe air traffic controller would be a better comparison. For those of you still waiting for the big day, be prepared to answer more emails, make more phone calls, and do more busy work that you imagine possible.
But. It was absolutely, completely, so totally worth it. Again, like other wedding bloggers I’m going to tell you that the day went perfectly. Did it, in actual fact? Well we ended up having our ceremony inside rather than out due to overcast skies (I am a Seattle girl, it’s only appropriate). But I think partly because I began this whole process with a go-with-the-flow attitude and also because our venue is just so amazing it worked out better. The whole night was a whirlwind of friends, family, vintage modern decor and details, ice cream, soul band….I could do it over and over again!
However, I’m back from the best honeymoon ever and ready to settle down to enjoying married life and of course, if you know me, a new and growing list of goals. But not before I recap those details that I missed out on sharing with you all the last few weeks! I’ve got lots of DIY projects, tips, and anecdotes to share, not to mention some wedding paraphenalia that can be used again. I’ll be selling my table numbers, dress, ring bearer pillow, and various other items so stay tuned!
In the meantime I’ll leave you with a teaser picture of our reveal from our artistic genius of a photographer, Kitty Maer. I absolutely cannot wait to see the footage she shot from our day, and neither can the rest of our guests – in fact one of my two fabulous Maids of Honor recently compared her to crack. In a good way of course
To commemorate Drew’s last mid-twenties birthday, his grandparents, dad, and I all went in together to get him a solution to the serious camera envy he’s been experiencing ever since the last wedding we went to where he played with a Canon Rebel.
Behold the Nikon D-40:
When we bought it today, our salesperson immediately lapsed into a foreign language rattling off words and abbreviations like “aperture,” “ISO,” and “granularity.” Drew nodded knowingly, while I became increasingly terrified that I would a) never be able to turn the camera on, much less take a decent picture b) these words also double as some password to the elitist photography underground or c) I am going to drop it. But all my fears quickly dissolved when I realized that the camera is not only user-friendly but really cool to use. Sure, I’m only pointing and shooting right now, but regardless we spent an awesome afternoon walking around German Village snapping pictures of everything in sight.
What does this have to do with weddings? Well, besides my urge to take creative pictures of my ring, I’m in the midst of a ton of DIY projects right now, so now I have the equipment to document it all in high res For now I’ll leave you with a few of our beginning efforts. We have a lot to learn, but I think this will be a perfect new hobby for us to share.
Unfortunately, neither of my maids of honor (yes I have two) live in the same state as me. So when my best friend from college and I decided to meet in Pittsburgh which is about halfway between us to shop for her dress, I figured we should make the most of it! Drew and I are level two rewards members at Nordstrom, mostly because we bought his entire work wardrobe there last year, and the program comes with some perks. Some of them, like free shipping on all online orders I’ve taken advantage of, and others like the personal shopping service I hadn’t.
Let me just say, if you ever have the chance, a personal shopping trip at Nordstrom makes the best girl’s day ever! We arrived and were immediately ushered into a huge room filled with beautiful clothes, shoes, and accessories all in our size…of course we immediately zeroed in on the Jimmy Choo’s, and spent a blissful few hours mincing around in front of the floor length mirrors in all sorts of fabulous ensembles. Every five minutes, our man Stanley would knock on the door to bring more goodies or suggest other outfits. Heaven! Even though we didn’t end up buying her dress at Nordstrom, the experience was amazing and as always the staff was incredibly helpful. Here are some of the fun things we tried on:
One of the most gorgeous shoes I have ever tried on…the subtle tie-dye effect was so cool!
Robin Piccone makes very flattering bikinis. I still might have to take advantage of this one!
I couldn’t find the exact dress that was our favorite, but it was something like this - simple, a-line, classic, and gorgeous.
