Our Wedding: A Link-up

I wanted to link up today with Holly and Melanie they are hosting a link-up party since it's wedding season and have asked everyone to share their special days! And let's be honest, what former bride doesn't want to talk about the wonder of their wedding day (or the horror) right? So here goes, follow the link and link-up if you have some great wedding wisdom you'd love to share with newly engaged girlies!

I've shared a lot of my wedding details and photos on here (if you're interested click on the OUR WEDDING tab or go here). My husband, Mike and I had dated for quite a while before we got engaged. We didn't mean to necessarily plan a quick wedding, I always thought I'd plan for a full year, instead we planned it and made it happen just six short months after he proposed. I figured we'd been together this long, we're not getting any younger AND I wanted a fall wedding so engagement in April meant having a October wedding.

DETAILS //
We were married on October 22, 2011. Ten. Twenty Two. Eleven. The date really wasn't significant other than wanting a fall wedding, in October, and it was the only week available at the venue we chose. We later discovered that in fact the date 10/22 is actually Pearl Jam's anniversary of their first official show. Being HUGE Pearl Jam fans, we were floored when we found this out while watching their PJ20 documentary. It was meant to be. [We spent our first wedding anniversary celebrating at a Pearl Jam show, obsess much?]

LOCATION //
We wanted an outdoor ceremony, from the moment we discussed a marriage and wedding that was our plan. I had always wanted a beach wedding but quickly realize that due to the nature of our outdoorsyness (totally a word) we were much more suited for the wilderness vs. an ocean front wedding. We settled on a great Lake lodge in Alabama with water front views and foliage as our back drop.

BRIDAL PARTY //
Um, it was huge. Way larger than I would have thought I'd originally want in my wedding party. That being said, Mike has a huge family so most of them are his siblings and our friends sprinkled in. I was very happy to have so many friends from so many phases in my life. I had my oldest and closest friend from 7th grade until graduation and beyond, another dear high school friend, my maid of honor and I didn't get a long in high school and becomes the best of friends in our 20's, a dear friend I met in my late 20's and became close to, my future sister-in-law, my hubby's best friend and my dear friend, and my junior bridesmaids both daughters of two of my maids. The party is filled out on my husband's side by three brothers, a brother-in-law, and two best friends. His father also jumped in this photo, which makes me chuckle. Our flower girl is my youngest sister-in-law and our ring bearers were Mike's nephews. Did you get all that? It was huge but I'm really happy to have so many dear friends from all the different parts of my journey in life to find my husband.

COLORS//
Olive or Fern Green and Chocolate Brown were the main colors but we also went with lots of oranges and golds for the flowers. I simply wanted as many fall colors present as possible. As you can see the girls all wore green dresses, junior bridesmaids wore brown and I allowed them all to pick a dress they loved on their body. Oddly enough four of them in different locations picked the same dress. This concept BLEW their minds. None of our shoes match either. The girls all got gold heels, different styles. I also told all the dudes to simply pick a pair of shoes they loved, as long as they were brown, they were good by me. We had cowboy like boots worn and torn, we had Vans (worn by my husband), nice loafers and even TOMS on the little boys. I loved it. I wanted each person to be able to express themselves. My husband purchased special ties in green for the guys with a tree screen printed on them, and he got a brown one with a gold tree on his. The little boys had brown too and I nearly died when they little clip ons came in, SO cute!

FIRST DANCE //
We had our first dance to GnR's "Patience" The song has special meaning for our relationship because for me, I knew from the moment I met him I wanted to be with him. And while he was really fond of me too, he wasn't sure if he wanted to start a long distance relationship (for new people to my blog I am originally from Maryland and he lived here in Alabama where we currently live. Yes, after 5 months of dating I hauled my cookies to AL from MD and never regretted it for a single minute). If we hadn't chosen Patience and if the song "Longing To Belong" by Eddie Vedder had been released in time for our wedding THAT would have been our first dance song. Our videographer knew Mike's love for PJ and when he did our "teaser video" for the wedding he used that song in the beginning so I still feel like it was a special impact to our day. I can't listen to the song without picturing our wedding video so it's a great compromise.

HONEYMOON//
We went to Cozumel, Mexico. It was poised to be an epic vacation but was dampened by Hurricane Rina. Dampened as in... we had to leave our resort and travel inland to safety and stay at a $45/night hotel with a few of the other hotel patrons we befriended while there. It wasn't horrible but a bit scary. Needless to say we spent maybe 2 days in our 5+ day trip relaxing total, and that was only in bouts of 2 hours at a time. The rest of our honeymoon was spent flooded with text messages, emails and panic from our parents. We plan to have a do-over eventually. We made it safely home and we have an exciting tale to tell to everyone. However, I would have traded having a boring story about eating until we popped, drinking until we passed out and woes of sunburn instead.

WHAT WOULD I CHANGE? //
I really wouldn't change much about my wedding. I might have gone with a different dress. While I loved mine, it didn't have the free flowing bohemian vibe I thought about having. I also would have said eff the padding for my boobs - I didn't need padding I looked REALLY top heavy. It was a bit crazy. I thin the dress was a bit of my biggest issue. I ate, I drank, I was merry and we partied well into the night.  And I would definitely change the fact that we rented chairs for the event. The resort supplied chairs but I didn't love them, so I rented chairs for the ceremony, half of them were busted, and dirty and Mike and my father spent the AM stressing over that to get it right without me having ANY knowledge of this. It was a waste of money, and I should have gotten over my "has to be perfect" moment because the chairs the resort had were just fine. I got pretty much everything I wanted for my wedding day, and all within reasonable prices. My biggest splurge was photography and it was worth EVERY penny. They are the memories I have the most.

We forgot one item so a checklist is vital. I forgot to purchase things to cut the cake and serve it with and the hotel didn't have any available by the time we cut the cake (9PM) so I would have cut the cake sooner but I guess I saved myself embarrassment right?

Everything else went well. We had signature cocktails, we purchased our own booze for the event so we got to keep all the left overs and had a blast with all our friends and family. I might have changed one thing and that's the honeymoon destination - I'm usually really in the know about hurricanes and I'm not sure why it slipped my mind that it was still PRIME hurricane season over there. OOPS! Live and learn!

HEAD OVER AND LINK UP!!!! I want to hear everyone's stories!!!

the curse.

I'm really beginning to fear that my husband and I are cursed. At first it started as a joke here and there. We had an amazing dating life, we moved in together after only dating for 6 months tops, and it was smooth sailing. Almost 8 years later we got engaged it was awesome and then we got married, also awesome.

While we sat in the airport waiting to get on our flight to Cozumel, Mexico for our honeymoon getaway, the news reported about a possible hurricane developing off the coast of Mexico. I tried to just brush it off, hurricane, this is the first I've heard of it. I'm not too worried, after all this is our honeymoon. The wedding was perfect, why would this be any different.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

Upon arriving to our destination it was paradise. We had been upgraded to the nicer, more plush resort in the back of the compound and given a great suite for our week's say. Bonus, our room number was 1022 - our wedding date - FATE!  We settled in, and made our way down to the beach bar for some drinks.

A few margaritas, beers, and chips later we headed up to our room so Mike could take a shower. As he puts it, to wash many time zones worth of funk off of him. I settled in on the bed and flipped through channels, taking in how amazingly cool our room was, and the view of the ocean.  Moments later the phone rang, it was my mother-in-law, frantic. She was apologizing for calling us on our honeymoon and then scolding us for both turning off our cell phones (worried about international charges). She asked to speak with Mike.

Mike was a bit shocked when I brought him the cordless phone and said "It's your mom."

She told us about the hurricane we had already known was on it's way but totally dismissed as something that wouldn't happen. Long story short, for the next three days of our stay we spent our moments freaked out, worried about where to go, what to do, trying to get flights home, trying to reschedule flights to different locations so as to maybe finish out our honeymoon. We discussed looking into flights to New Orleans, or even flights to Nashville - ANYWHERE that might be more fun than returning home. It seemed returning home was our ONLY option and that we'd have to postpone our honeymoon.

A bit broken hearted but knowing that being safe was better than being sorry - we gave Mike's mom the reins to get us home safely. After hours upon hours (make that a full day) of calling around to change arrangements his mom came to a dead end. It was too late to get us out of Mexico. Airlines had stopped flights, and even if we could get a private jet into Mexico they wouldn't let it leave.

As we asked around the resort it seems we got a different answer from every worker, and or guest at the hotel. Some would tell you it was OK to stay, some would say you have to leave, others would say they had no idea to come back later when someone who was higher up could answer such questions.

None of the locals at the hotel seems concerned. That made me feel better, then I realized they were trained to act this way, then I got freaked out. Friends of mine from back home were freaking out. My father remained calm. He knew I knew how to handle myself, and I knew he trusted me to do the right thing. Mike said he was very worried, I think he realized this was his biggest test as a new husband. To keep us both safe and to ensure nothing happened to us.

Finally we made the choice to leave the hotel. Again all our signals were mixed. Stay or go? What happens if you stay and you're evacuated - with out reservations in town you go to the Convention Center with the rest of the locals and most likely where few if anyone speaks English. Needless to say my Spanish is very poor. I know enough on how to order a good drink, ask where a few things are (including the library) and probably be able to tell you how to properly pronounce a menu item so you don't look like a fool requesting "CAY-SA-D-I-LLAS" on the menu.

Instead of waiting to see what might happen, we instead decided to make hotel reservations in town at a local small motel that was $35.00 / night. We followed the lead of an older couple that sort of adopted us that weekend. They were from Arkansas and loads of fun to be around. The wife treated us like her kids and I really felt better having them with us in this new place.

We were instructed to not check out of our hotel, since that would make coming back easier once we returned after the storm, if there was a hotel to return to.  We hopped into a cab with our couple friends and headed into town. Half way there, the cab overheated. Thankfully we weren't left stranded, another cab was right behind us. I will be honest, it's a bit freaky when you're already on edge, to hop from one cab to another. After watching movies like Taken - you are always slightly fearful for your life and welfare in different countries. I'm a very, very cynical person so it was on full blast at this point.

We got safely to the hotel and checked in. The staff was friendly, spoke very broken English but I felt at ease once we were there. We got into our room, it was clean, not fancy, but clean. And I mean, you would feel OK walking in the bathroom barefoot clean. Again no luxury but we were better off than being at the convention center.

Mike and I locked up our valuables and headed out into the streets with our friends to find food. After eating high on the hog for 2 days in our resort, this was a bit of a challenge. We settled for the obvious, a nice authentic Mexican restaurant. We all got beers, and fajitas and some ceviche (my new obsession). We chatted, laughed, talked about what we would do, how we would handle ourselves and I was thankful that even if we didn't get the best honeymoon, we did get a great couple to spend our time in town with. I felt better, and safer with numbers surrounding us.

After our meal we headed to the local market. It was a lot like hitting up Walmart. We got everything we could for our nights ahead. Water, beer, food for sandwiches, ice, cooler, etc. Candles, lighters and batteries for flashlights.

We settled in for a long 48 hours. There was wind, rain, fear, nasty beer, peanuts that tasted like limes that were NOT tasty, gross sandwich meat, wishes of all you could buffets, and sleep. We slept fully clothed. I hate to do this but felt it was necessary incase we got evacuated due to the storm. I kept my passport and other important things in my cargo short pockets. We spent two nights in town. Most of the store fronts were closed the following day. We feared for the worst but after a long 2 nights we woke to sunshine. The water receded, and the birds were chirping.

When we finally got the news we could return to the resort we were beyond happy. Most of our honeymoon was over, but we were alive, safe and sound.

Once back in the resort we were instructed that our rooms were not ready yet, but that we could put our belongings back in our room and enjoy breakfast at the back resort. We headed over to the other resort for a breakfast buffet, mimosas and warm sun on our backs. The 4 of us were so happy to be back. I could hear other resort patrons chatting and complaining about the 2 nights they stayed at the hotel. Our hotel didn't get evacuated, instead they moved all patrons to the back part of the resort away from the ocean. Most were annoyed that they had to eat a Chinese Buffet two nights in a row and that they stopped serving alcohol at 9 PM the first night.  I had to bite my tongue from slaying them a new one... You had Chinese food? I ate nasty salami, and ham sandwiches - I had a "hamburger" in town where they literally had a burger with HAM on it... not good, trust me. And everywhere country wide stopped alcohol sales the night before the storm at 9 PM - great practice if you ask me.

Our bellies were full, and we were told we could return to our room that they had put the TVs back on the wall, refilled our bar, and put everything back in working order.  Side note: If you are ever in this position and you have a free wet bar - stock up on the beer and the coke and water in your suitcase before the storm and take it to your new hotel, it's a lifesaver!!!

Through all this mess, we finally relaxed. We sat on the beach, filled our stomachs with good food and recounted all the fun times (because there were fun times in-between panic), and what freaked us out on our trip. Our last night in the hotel we spent the evening on the hotel roof deck and watched the sunset with our friends we traveled with. We ate a nice dinner and tried to enjoy our last hours in paradise.

If I had it all to do again - I might have said we can't get on the plane at all and beg his mom to help us figure out changing the plans or rescheduling the trip. If anything we have an exciting story about our honeymoon. I would have rather had a lazy week by the pool and ocean, and or a chance to go back and do it over without a hurricane. But in the end, I'm happy we have these silly stories to tell our kids.

I'm sure you're wondering why I say we are cursed. Well ever since our honeymoon when we travel, we end up dealing with some type of natural disaster or unlucky plague.

For our July 4th vacation we headed to Maryland right after Virginia and Maryland had straight-line wind storms causing massive power outages. By the time we arrived to my father's home the power was out for about 12 hours, add to that another 12+ hours of sweating and no electricity. No fun. Add to that the totally heat wave that swept that part of the country and our trip North was far from the oasis we had hoped it would be.

While in Orange Beach, AL for the weekend Mike suffered his second strong bout of heat exhaustion putting a cramp in our weekend on the last night.

Don't get me wrong we are perfectly healthy and perfectly fine. And there are people all over with issues far worse than this, obviously. It just seems like the two of us can't take a trip together without some type of hitch messing something up.

And here we are now, for our final trip of 2012. We are heading to Colorado with Mike's father's entire family. As soon as I heard the news that Storm Draco is on it's way there, and sweeping across the US, all the way over to Chicago and beyond, I thought well, that seems about right. Our layover is in Chicago. So help me if Draco messes up our holiday plans I'm going to call 2012 a wash! Send good vibes our way if you would that we not only make it to CO safely but also back home, and preferably without a delay.

Let's hope that 2013 brings SMOOTH SAILING for us... even if we have more plans to have lots of STAY-CATIONS instead of traveling in the new year.

So tell me, was your honeymoon a dream, or a nightmare? I think ours was a bit of both.

Celebrating Southern: Weddings and Parties

Is it really Thursday already? This week has really flown by. We are now in day 4 of the Celebrating Southern week that the lovely Leslie @ A Blonde Ambition has created as a way for all of us bloggers to link up and discover each other's traditions, and find new blogs to read. Thanks Leslie!

If you missed my other topics prior to today just click the follow topics and check them out. 
Celebrating Southern:  Hair and Make-up, Food and Drink, Game Day Fashion! Today is all about Southern Wedding and Party traditions. Again, as a Northerner, I will write from my point of view, what I love about Southern Weddings and parties! Enjoy!

Southern Weddings

I'm proud to say that even though I'm not from the South, I did have a wedding that I think any Southern girl may be a bit proud of. My theme, or plan was to throw a wedding that felt like a party in your Grandmother's garden. I wanted to be outdoors and close to nature and thus chose a wedding in October, NOT the Summer. I would never torture my maids or groomesmen in this heat. It's hard enough for me to stay fresh faced on a daily basis let alone while dressed in heels and lugging around a 20 lbs dress (not sure how much my dress weighed but it was heavy). My wedding was down home, complete with Southern food, drinks and lots of love, family and friends. I wanted everyone to feel at home and from what most tell me, they did. I used a few Southern staples in my wedding day, and thought I'd share those things and a few others I think are primarily a Southern tradition.

MASON JARS
Whether used for decor or functionality they are the perfect Southern touch to any wedding! I used them on my tables, filled with coffee beans and small tealights. Note: Don't try this on your wedding day unless you soak the beans in water OR use a glass votive candle inside the jar, then surround it with the beans. Once the tealights reached the bottom of their wick, they started to catch the beans on fire. Yep... total faux pas at my wedding. I had a dear friend alert me and then quickly asked him to blow out all the candles. Whoopsie!

via

HANDKERCHIEF WEDDING INVITATIONS
Yes, you read correctly. Oh how I wanted to do these, at least for my Save the Dates. It is a time consuming and rather expensive, all be it impressive way to get your message out. Bonus they double as a hanky you could take to the ceremony. I had also thought about doing these and using them as wedding programs.

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VINTAGE, HEIRLOOM, ANTIQUE
I'm not just talking "Something Old" here, I'm taking celebrating family, tradition and history. I would have done this regardless of where I got married but I do feel like the South has a true way of holding on the past and showcasing it especially at special events. I love seeing all the weddings in magazines where brides have used their family's dishes, or collected old china and mixed and matched it for their guests. Old record players items such as these always put a smile on my face. I loved antiques before it became "trendy". I was raised in a home where Antiques decorated the walls so it wasn't unusual for me to use them in my personal decor for my wedding day.

This image makes my heart sing - SO fun, lovely and mixed and matched!

via pinterest

FOR THE LOVE OF BOOTS
I can't say I've ever seen this in the North but to be fair, I haven't been to a wedding that was in the North in quite a long time. My last friend in MD to get married was married at the beach [Hi Salt!], and they don't do boots at the beach. I had contemplated having my girls wear boots, not cowboy mind you, but boots for our Fall wedding but instead figured it would be more practical to have them pick heels they really liked. I had all my girls were different dresses of the same shade, and different heels of the same shade. But I love, love, love the BOOT look. Double points if you're marrying a real cowboy, or are a real cowgirl yourself. Note: I also love the non-conventional bridesmaid dresses and the wedding at a barn, LOVE!

via pinterest

SIGNATURE COCKTAILS
My hubby and I came up with signature cocktails for our big day. I don't know if this is especially Southern BUT I do think it was a highlight of the evening. We wanted a down home feel so I chose "Buttered Pancakes" and his was a "Peppered Stag". Very tasty and a nice little touch to our big day. Below is the actual drink menu I created for our special day!

via my crafty graphic designer ways!

GROOMS CAKE
To me, this is by far as Southern as it gets! When I was younger I didn't plan my wedding years in advance but I did long for the day I could get married and create a cake for my husband. I totally blame the movie Steel Magnolias. This is where I got my inspiration for the dream of having a Groom's cake. Most girls dream of their wedding cake, and yes, I was excited to create the look and feel of my cake, but Mike's cake was what made me totally excited. I decided to surprise him with his cake. I worked up a sketch for the baker and she made my creation come to life. I was SO over the moon about it I could hardly wait to see his face. He loved it and it's SO us! [Read about cake details here] I can honestly say I've never been to a Northern wedding where there was a groom's cake. Mike's brother got married and his table was fun, full of mini chocolate pies just like his mother makes every Thanksgiving. P.S. Chocolate Pie is another food I never had until I moved to the South. I think grooms really get the shaft when it comes to the wedding day. It's their day too so giving a dude a cake to me, is top shelf. Add to it their favorite cocktail (or soda if they don't drink) on their wedding day you've got a happy dude! His cake is below, the perfect rocking cake for my favorite rocking man - complete with superhero candy, SO him!

via turned up to eleven!

FORMAL INVITATIONS
I will say that the South is probably more proper, and more formal vs. the North. Not saying that some Northern Brides don't relish in ordering fine stationery for their wedding day, or letterpress mind you, but on average I think more Southern ladies order the finest letterpress stationery and the loveliest invitations. Most are traditional, with very little modern flare and all Southern Belles are sure to make their cards something their elders would approve of. I for one designed my own invitations, and all printed material that went into our special day with my husband's help (we are both graphic designers). Most women would frown upon that here. I work at a printing company and we see all kinds of Brides that come into our office, 80% of these ladies order Crane invitations, or something super fancy with all the trimmings. I admire women so deeply rooted in tradition and being proper. I for one need a guide book to make sure things are just as they need to be written for these invitations. I love fine stationery and when given the chance to order it, or create it myself I always love it. I love old fonts, scripts and how lovely a Bride and Grooms names will look together. Hand in hand with formal invitations is hand written calligraphy to address your envelopes. We have a woman that we use at our company and her penmanship blows me away. It's SO lovely!!! If you can afford it, I do feel like it's an extremely wonderful touch.

via pinterest

Bottom line, your wedding day is all about you and the person of your dreams. It celebrates love, and family and the joining of two families together. I had a blast throwing my own Southern wedding, even as a Yankee. And all my Yankee friends had a blast in Alabama. That to me was the second best feeling of the day, knowing everyone from all different sides of the US had fun on our special day. The most important feeling? Marrying the man of my dreams!

me, the happiest bride on earth!

Celebrating Southern: Hair and Make-up

Link up with Leslie @ A Blonde Ambition

This week we're Celebrating Southern! Being the lovely Southern Belle that she is Miss Leslie over at A Blonde Ambition has started a fun, week long writing project all about life living in the South. She made it clear that we didn't have to be from the South or even living in the South to participate. I was truly excited when she announced this link up last Thursday because while I can't say I'm a Southern girl, I'm certainly living in the thick of Southern Belle country and thought it might be fun to give a Northern girls point of view. Feel free to link up with Leslie each day this week!

A Little History

Before I start this process I want to go on record as to saying, I am a Maryland girl born and raised. And while many will tell you I'm either A) a Yankee or B) That Maryland is below the Mason Dixon line, either way you slice that I'm OK with it. Being called a Yankee is not an insult to me in the least and I've been called that many times when I first moved here to Alabama. Since then I've been dubbed a "Southern Yankee" by my Brother-in-law. I've been living in the South for almost 8 years now and I will say for the most part I feel I fit in quite well, that's not to say it wasn't an adjustment. Most of the rumors you hear are true, lots of others aren't.  Southerners are friendly, truth. Southerners are very protective of their kin, truth. Southerners make the best sweet tea on earth, truth. Southerners are polite, truth. Football is a way of life and a second religion, truth. Southerners are all married to their cousins, false. If you hear banjos you should probably run for your life, semi-true. Ok that last one was a joke! In all seriousness, just like any other part of the country there is an exception to every rule. Not all Southern men and woman talk with a thick accent (my husband disappointed many of my friends when they heard him talk for the first time and he didn't have an accent). Not all Southerners are polite, but if you could compare the slower pace and friendly ways here to say somewhere up North, I bet you'd agree people are much more friendly here. For me it wasn't a huge struggle to get used to this way of living. Lots of people smile, and say hello. They ask you how you are, and truly mean it. Most Southern folks don't go through their days in a rush - they take their time. Maybe in the bigger cities the hustle and bustle is quicker but the small town I live in currently doesn't reflect big city living in the least.

As a Northern girl, I truly love living in a land of Southern Hospitality. And being exposed to the Southern way of life is a nice change. I miss home, a lot but oddly enough being here in the South suits me too. Reese Witherspoon's character wasn't lying in Sweet Home Alabama when she said she felt right at home in both locations. It's true. I could be just as happy here in the South as I could back home in the East, so long as I have my husband, my family and know who my true friends are I'm 100% happy. P.S. She also wasn't lying when she said you need a passport to come down here, truth.

As a not-so-girlie girl myself, being in the South has helped me get in touch with my inner Southern Belle. One thing you must know is not all Southern ladies are Scarlett O'Hara, although they'd wish they were. And not all Southern Belles are Dolly Parton, although it wouldn't be a bad person to be compared to, would it ladies? Ok, ok, truth be told they'd rather you tell them they were kin to Carrie Underwood these days, am I right? If there is one Southern lady that has it going on, it's Carrie Underwood. The hair, the clothing, the body, and I'm sure most would say the Prince Charming-esque professional hockey playing husband is a bit of a dream thing for most Southern girls. {The profession is inter changeable, I don't know many girls here in the South that gives a rats tail about hockey!} But I digress - the topic today is Hair and Make-up trends so while I won't call myself a forerunner for this type of stuff I will comment on the trends or ways I handled living here in the land of Southern darlings!

Let's start with today's topic of discussion, shall we?

Hair and Make-up Trends

HAIR:
Long, layered and lovely. That's how most Southern belle's rock it. I still haven't figure out how they look so perfect, poised and not drenched in sweat, but they do. Since I've cut my hair shorter I wear it down more often and end up looking like a sweaty mess. I have vowed to grow my hair out again. If it's on your neck, it's going to look a sight here in the South. Either you have it super short, above your shoulders or it's long, flowing and in a cute pony. OR you stay in the AC all day long!

BATTLE OF THE FRIZZ
I've always had issues with frizzy hair. I thought I knew humidity when I lived in Maryland, and don't get me wrong it DOES get humid there but darlin' you haven't known humidity until you've lived a summer in Alabama or any of the surrounding Southern states. Someone once said to my husband, "Breathing the air in the South is like trying to breathe in mayo." They were SO spot on with that. Gross, yes, but it's the truth. The air here in the summer is thick, extremely thick. Oddly enough, so is my hair. Thick, a bit course and very wavy. In my youth I had straight hair, but after years of perms in school I really think my hair decided to stick with the waves and bid my silky locks a general peace out when I was in high school. Since those days of bad perms I have been fighting the frizz and waves in a never ending battle for straight, pretty hair.

via google

My first defense with this issue is smoothing shampoo, followed by frizz ease products and finished off with a flat iron, and more frizz ease products. I seriously swear by John Frieda products. I start with my LO'réal EverSleek or EverPure sulfate free shampoo. It isn't a huge NEED but I love the way it smells and keeps my hair feeling soft, clean and manageable. Then I follow up with my arsenal of Frizz Ease styling products. Truth be told I probably don't need all of these in my hair but it's a tried and true method I've been using to keep my hair nice for days on end. I try not to wash my hair every day. I will often try to go 3 days or more if possible to keep my hair healthy. I'm no spring chicken and neither is my hair the less I dry it out the better. Add to that not having a super greasy scalp and I will say, I'm blessed.

My Anti-Frizz fighters are as follows: ALL FRIZZ EASE - 3 Day Straight Spray {thank you Misty for the tip}, Straight Fixation Smoothing Creme, Hair Serum, and Flawless Finishing Creme. Lastly I do use the Heat Protecting spray for my flat iron as well. (See John Frieda link above for details about each one).

Yes, I use all that in my hair, but not a huge amount of them. I use a dime size of each thing and work it through my hair. Blow it out straight, in sections, then iron out any kinks and then live in it for a few days. Yes, I still have to fat iron out kinks each day, and yes I wear my hair in a top knot while I shower and iron it again but in the long run it works for me. I still battle frizz and kinks but I found that it's not as bad as it used to be. If John had his products when I was in HS my life would have been much easier.

FRIZZ FRIEND: WAVES
Some days I just don't have the time to blow out my hair. It takes me a half hour most days to get this hair in check. Now you see why I don't like to blow it out all the time. If I'm in a time crunch, or just don't want to fight my natural texture, I will wash my hair the night before and add in some frizz fighting product and a bit of mousse, sleep on it and handle the rats nest in the morning. I will then curl my hair using my curling or flattening iron to make soft waves. Thankfully this style will last me a day or two as well. I usually think it looks better on the 2nd day. My Southern dolls I have not perfected the poof, or teasing my hair for volume - I may need you all to come hold my hand.

SPEAKING OF VOLUME
I know a huge trend here in the South is big hair. Thankfully big hair is pretty now - some of the old big hair, ala the 80's [metal AND country] was just plain scary. I totally rocked the huge 80's bangs if you're wondering and mine were fabulous thanks to all those evil perms! Trends here in the south for big hair now are less beehive and more, poof. And not Snookie poof, heavens no! Poofs are reserved now for volume in your crown, your ponytails and your updos. I've heard it quoted "The higher the hair, the closer to God." Am I right Southern ladies? Truth be told I'd like to think this look is "natural" but I know damn well that Carrie's stylist teased her hair to the heavens to get that volume. Note to self: Perfect the tease! Can we all take a moment to gaze at Carrie's perfect locks. I want to hate her, but I can't.

via google • she makes it look so effortless!

Let's talk Make-up!

EYES
Most Belles will tell you that you are not to leave the house without your face on. At the very least you should be rocking mascara. Well ladies I'm here to say I break this cardinal rule all the time. Not for lack of my Northern mother trying. My mom never went out without her make-up on. I can recall going to the grocery store, being told we were going and about 45 minutes later we left. She insisted she put on all her make-up. I didn't get it - I do now. Trust me if I didn't have bags under my eyes, I wouldn't mess with as much make-up as I do now. I NEVER wore make-up until I was 19. I started wearing it in college. My inspiration? Rose from Titanic. I wanted her eyeliner so bad and thus started wearing it and mascara, regularly. I say that I break the rules now all the time because once a week I vow to not wear make-up and give my face a chance to rest/breathe. That day is usually Sunday. Most of the time it's spent relaxing at the house, with the off chance I have to hit up the store, I still will go sans make-up. I should care more, but I figure all the women here judging me will say "Oh, bless her heart... she just don't know." Then they will see the Jeep tag that reads MARYLAND and give me a free ticket. I think it's good to let me my face breathe from time to time, so wrong I know but it feels so right to me. NORTHERN FREE PASS!

MASCARA
I've found that water proof IS vital. I don't wear it all the time but for outdoor events, hot days and kayaking it's a given. Yep, you read that right, Mrs. Odd Pants over here will wear mascara when she goes kayaking (as well as light make-up) but not to the store. I'm flawed, clearly. I don't ever recall my mascara truly running from crying lightly at weddings but why chance it right? Kayaking I sweat a lot, and it runs into my eyes sometimes, having waterproof isn't just a beauty thing but a safety thing! Safety first!

BB CREAM
It's a fairly new trend and I'm completely on the band wagon. It's lighter to me than most liquid foundations and/or tinted moisturizers. It goes on well, gives me ample coverage and I only have to grave a few bad spots with cover-up. It also helps with my dark circles. This product also let's my freckles shine through - I don't like covering them up. Since it helps me I then only have to use a light powder and bronzer to feel 100% covered. Again, I'm new to all this make-up stuff. Well I guess as new as a 30 something can be, but I like to look natural, not overly made up unless I'm going out for the night so this helps me. Having a less thick face covering also keeps me cool and makes me less concerned when I have to blot my forehead/face/cheeks from sweat.

SERIOUSLY HOW DO YOU LADIES STAY SO COOL AND PUT TOGETHER?

LIP GLOSS
I don't know if it's a trend but I'm obsessed with lip gloss. If I had one product I would swear you couldn't take away, it would be my lip color. There you have it... this Northern gal likes her lip smackers, and gloss, and stick - I love it all! I think it's the quickest way + mascara to look dressed up and put together in a pinch and it also can cover you in the blush department if you're in a jam.

So there you have it, my not so Southern ways of trying to fit in with the sea of Southern beauties that have it all figured out! See you tomorrow when we discuss more Southern Topics!

____________________________________
Today I am back on the wagon. The workout wagon. I am going to be starting Chalean Extreme for the second time. I had a lot of luck with it before and it fit my lifestyle a lot better having 2 days of rest vs. just one. I want to make this a goal to change my way of thinking about fitness, weight loss and health in general. It's not a quick fix. If I treat it as one I will gain all my weight I've lost back again, for the third time. No more! Check back for updates! I will be listing my Workout of the Day [WOOTD] at the bottom of each daily post. Operation Fit Into My Snowboard Pants has started!

WOOTD: Burn Circuit I: Chalean Extreme

wedding wednesday: video preview

formerly dare2Bdoemstic!

I know I told you I'd start to share the story of our crazy honeymoon, but I realized the other day I never shared the preview from our wedding video that our videographer made for us. I really wanted to have this on my blog. I tend to like to look back at entries and this is one from the wedding I didn't want to forget.

I loved all the vendors we worked with. Chris at Up Down Media wasn't my first choice for videographer, only because I didn't know about him when I was first choosing my "line up". A "pal" through work was a videographer and I thought about using him. Things simply didn't workout and when Mike found Chris' work online we were BOTH floored and immediately wanted to meet with him. Upon having lunch with Chris and his wife I felt like we had known them for ages. I am not always comfortable with having my pictures taken, and I'm even more uncomfortable with having myself filmed. I hate the way my voice sounds, and it's just... not my thing. The way that we felt at ease with Chris and his wife made it that much easier to know we made the right choice. Add to that his portfolio, and we were sold!

I will let the video speak for itself. If you have time please go to his site and view all his work. Chris has a real knack for picking just the right music to reflect the couple in each one. He surely did for us. I made one comment to him before the end of our big night, that Mike loved Pearl Jam's new album and especially loved the one slow song on it. I thought for sure Chris would use that, instead he surprised us with one of Eddie Vedder's new songs from his solo project and I was over the moon and so was Mike. If this song had been released when we were getting married {on Pearl Jam's 21st Anniversary} I would have picked it in a heartbeat for our first dance.

NOTE: When the video is over and Up Down Media's logo flashes up, wait another moment and you'll get to see mine and Mike's ACTUAL first dance of the evening! One of my favorite moments, is opening my present with my little sister-in-law, it's priceless.

ENJOY!!!! Chris if you're reading this, thank you again from the bottom of my heart!!!



 

wedding wednesday: photobooth

Here we are another Wedding Wednesday post. We're almost through talking about this special event in mine and Mike's lives. I will probably post one more entry about the big day and talk about issues we had, changes we may have made, and road blocks we encountered. I thought a post like that might be beneficial to some of you planning weddings yourself. Our day was amazing, but far from perfect, but in the end it made our day unique and the important things that needed happen did, and the others in the end just didn't matter as much as I thought they would.

Today I wanted to talk about my favorite addition to our wedding reception. Originally I had wanted to rent sit in photobooth but I wasn't having much luck finding one to rent, affordably. A few years prior to me planning my wedding an old co-worker and her hubby got married and ended up having a photobooth set up at the reception and manned by one of the photographers. I had asked my photographer if she offered this service and she said she had never done one before. After some discussion she was more than willing to test run this service at my wedding and thankfully only charged me the cost to pay the third shooter. She's anxious to offer this to her future brides and I'm glad I could help her make that happen. If you couldn't tell already, I loved my photographer, and her assistants were just as amazing on our big day.

I purchased all my own props. This was easy considering Halloween was right around the corner and I got a ton of hats and sunglasses for a steal at Target. I would have liked to do more work, and more crafts to make this a little more special but time was running thin at that point. I had contemplated a back drop but opted not to. In the end I walked away with only two props, because guests I guess in the  swirl of the evening slowly started walking off with glasses and hats, probably stumbling to their respective rooms for the evening.

Originally I thought we would have more room in the reception area to set up the photobooth, but once they set up the room complete with buffet tables we realized that there was very little room. Thankfully there was a little nook outside of the door where people could run out and enjoy the fun. Sadly our DJ only made one announcement about the booth and other than word of mouth from guests and myself and Mike I think some people didn't realize the booth was out there, which makes me sad, more on that next time.

The guests who knew about the photobooth had a ball. As you can see from the pictures there were plenty of repeat offenders and these aren't even ALL of the pictures. I am SO happy we did this for our wedding day to catch everyone. In the end it seemed more affordable than getting disposable cameras to place on the tables. My only regret is not getting more pictures with my bridesmaids - they took theirs while I was busy thanking people for coming.

 A Shot of our AWESOME Photographers!

 One of my FAVORITE candid shots of the night!

This by far was my favorite addition to the reception. We had a blast!

What was your favorite addition to your wedding or reception?

linking up: Time Travel Tuesday!

Today I'm linking up with the lovely Britt over at The Magnolia Pair. If you haven't read her blog I suggest you head on over, it's always fun read. Britt is a newlywed who has moved from her comfortable roots in Louisiana to Alabama - much like myself, she's finding a way to call this great state home, one day at a time.  Her new link-up is Time Travel Tuesday! I love the idea and concept and anything that helps me flex my creative mind and writing is OK by me. So if you feel so inclined please feel free to head over to Britt's blog and link up as well. {Be transported over to her blog by following the links above or clicking directly on the nifty logo provided by Britt herself}.

Today's theme is 

Where Was I A Year Ago?

Well let's think, this time last year the date was March 27, 2011. I'm not going to take the date literally but focus on the season of Spring. Everything was starting to wake-up from a long winters nap and Mike and I were doing great. I never shared this story on my blog before because I was a bit embarrassed about it, but I will now. 

I'm not sure when exactly I threw my fit, it was probably during this month but one night after a bit too much drinking a group of friends, Mike and myself went out to a local "cantina" {I use the word loosely because it's sort of a dive bar, and well, the restaurant share's a name with Chip's internet girlfriend from Napoleon Dynamite}. On the way there I was over come with a huge case of feeling down on myself, and my relationship. Mike and I have always been tight and our bond was strong but being a girl I guess in the back of my mind I sort of felt that after almost 7 years of dating, I was ready to take things to the next level and started to worry that Mike might not ever pop the question. I mean let's face it, I wasn't getting any younger. Call it too much wine, call it being a head case for the evening, or PMS but when we all got out of the DD's vehicle I lost it... There I was, 34 in a parking lot, crying like a high schooler who's boyfriend just dumped her at the roller rink. Mike and I started to talk and I confessed that I was upset that he hadn't proposed to me yet. Ladies n' Gents this is something I SWORE I would never do. I used to read that damn book "The Rules" {note: after a rough relationship I totally ate up every self-help book one can imagine in my early 20's}. In "The Rules" you're not supposed to give ultimatums {hate those by the way}, or call the guy, or ask when you think you'll get married, or be to available, yada, yada, yada. I was breaking all the rules but to be fair I broke the rules in the beginning of the relationship too. {I chased after him first - GASP!} I really think that damn book is sort of hokey but it did help me in my formative dating years to not get played {too much} by guys.  

During my epic melt down / snot-fest one of Mike's friends from high school walked by {his band was playing that night} and he shook his head and looked at Mike and said "Sorry man..." and kept walking. My face at that point was red from crying AND from being totally ashamed of behaving like I was. Mike calmed me down and assured me that his intentions were to marry me.

I'll be honest I can't remember all that I said, or what he said to calm me down. It was a low night for me, I had way too much to drink. I am not one to cry in public, or that much for that matter... I was at a breaking point, clearly. We went inside to listen to some music {after I cleaned myself up of course}. And I drank water the rest of the night and felt better about our union. Thankfully the night was not ruined, and neither were we. We were able to get past the speed bump I had made. Something I felt even better about was that while I didn't approach this discussion in the right way, the air was clear and so was my heart. I was able to trust that we were moving forward and not staying in the same place. I know some girls that had married their Mr. Right within in a year, maybe three years but I had waited while dating mine for over 7 years and felt it was time.

Little did I know... what when I had this blow up, Mike was already formulating a plan to propose to me that summer, at the beach, with all my friends in tow. He started hatching the scheme long before my break down and I had no idea. The plans for the elaborate beach vacation fell through, we were still going to the beach in July but a force of nature changed his mind about when and how he would propose....

On April 30th, 2011, after the dust from the huge tornadoes around Alabama and surrounding areas {communities are still rebuilding, 1 year later}, Mike realized he had to hold on to what was precious to him, and instead of waiting until July popped the question in our home town.

I hate how I expressed myself to Mike. We have a policy to be open and talk about our feelings no matter what, and I'm sad I let myself get to the point I did, to express them, but in the end I'm thankful it didn't ruin us, or his intentions that he had all along. We were married 6 months later, and I couldn't be happier.

Moral of the story: Patience is so important in a relationship, if he's worth the wait, be patient. But also, don't hold your feelings inside - don't wait to be eyeball full of Pinot G before you express yourself to your boyfriend in a dive bar parking lot on a Saturday night - and always wear water proof mascara.

wedding wednesday: the reception

Happy Wednesday everyone! I think this is my second to last entry in the wedding story. It makes me sad, I've really enjoyed telling you all about our special day. I will have one last entry about an amazing addition to our wedding reception AND our honeymoon as well. So stay tuned. For now, it's all about the reception.

THE RECEPTION

Mike and I wanted nothing less than a huge party. We wanted all our friends to have fun and after all our planning we wanted to celebrate being husband and wife with all our nearest and dearest. Our three most important elements to this party was to be sure everyone was fed well {The food was amazing}, that everyone had a cocktail or beverage of choice {we fully stocked the bar}, and that everyone had tons of wonderful music to dance too {we hand picked every song played by the DJ that evening, along with a few special requests by guests - I still don't know who requested "Cotton Eye Joe", but it made for a fun family hoe down}.

Since the resort doesn't have a liquor license and the county it's located in is essentially a dry county we had to bring in our own drinks for our "private party". Mike and I raided the local ABC Liquor Store. It was a blast, and the first time I've EVER used one of the shopping carts they offer you up front. The beauty of this store was that any unopened bottle we didn't use could be returned or exchanged. Sounds great to me. We were purchasing for a bunch of different tastes and tried to keep most of our guests favorite brews in mind. We also purchased lots of wine {2 types of red, 2 types of white} and 2 Kegs of Beer {Originally we wanted Oktoberfest by Sam Adams but it wasn't available, we went with Coors and the guys got a darker brew for the rehearsal dinner}. Thankfully the resort did offer a bar set up, complete with mixers and garnishes for our guests. As well as Sweet Tea and Lemonade.

Mike and I both came up with our own signature cocktails. His: Pepper Stag, Hers: Buttered Pancakes. Both of these were a hit, needless to say we had hardly any Captain Morgan left, and NO Red Stagg left after the event. All of our guests loved the idea, and loved the cocktails.

ARTWORK DESIGNED BY ME FOR THE BAR TOP

This design matched all our Save the Date items as well as "seating cards" for the reception.

Food: We had an amazing buffet laid out for our guests complete with what I like to call a bit of Southern Comfort food. It was important to me to highlight to my out of town "Yankee" guests some of what I love about living here in Alabama. Being and Eastern girl born and raises it's strange how well I fit in down here, but I do. I think the funniest comment I heard about the food all night was from one of my maids she asked about an item on her plate "What's this? Is it a tater tot?"  I smiled and said "No, it's fried Okra." She looked at me confused. "What's IN Okra?" I laughed, "There's nothing IN it, Okra is a vegetable goof!" To be fair before I moved here I had heard about okra but never tried it, now I'm hooked! I love it fried, steamed, pickled - you name I'll try it. I think the seeds are my favorite part, my least favorite part, the slime. The food line was packed and everyone raved. I really wanted some specialty food originally but the resort requires you to use their catering services. In the end it was way better than I would have imagined and while it wasn't what most consider 5 star dining, it was affordable for out budget, tasty, and everyone was happy! It was like a sweet Southern grandma prepared it for us and that's just what I wanted.

The reception was amazing from cocktail hour, introduction, our first dance until the end of the night we all had a blast, but don't take my word for it. Check out the pictures!

OUR FIRST DANCE

We chose, "Patience" by Guns n' Roses. This song has a lot of meaning because in the past I've never been patient with love. Mike made me wait, longer than I was normally comfortable to wait for a guy. I was so into him, I figured he was worth it. In the end I couldn't be happier. {FYI That's my Brother-In-Law's Tie, and yes, everyone planked EVERYTHING that weekend and that is my other Bro-In-Law on the top of the bar.}

We all had a blast and half the fun was retelling each other the stories of the evening before. I wish I could up load video of the Best Man and Maid of Honor speeches because they were so epic I can't even put into words how amazing they were. All night my biggest issue was keeping track of my drink. I'd stop to say hi, set down a drink, give a hug and then realized there were two drinks of similar colors and I wasn't sure which was mine. Since it was open bar I ran and got another one. All in all we had an amazing time and I'm so thankful for all the great vendors we worked with.

Stay tuned for next weeks entry all about the Photo Booth!!! It was the best addition I could have ever asked for on our special day.

wedding wednesday: details 2

Here we are - Wedding Wednesday again! As you can see I didn't blow away in the storms, but I will say many families around Alabama and surrounding states were effected by the storms last week. My thoughts, prayers and well wishes go out to them as they rebuild their lives. I'm truly OVER this weather.

Without further rambling I present to you, more of the details from our wedding day!

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

Cake is always a very big party of wedding days, with that being said I've only ever eaten cake at one friends wedding and that is simply because it was forced down my throat by the groom. Odd, yes but it was a prank the Bride and Groom tried to play on myself and the bestman. I saw the prank coming a mile away and mouthed to the Bestman to "Duck!" he didn't understand and as I ducked and ran he got cake smashed in his face by the bride. The groom then chased me down and around the dance floor finally tackling me and giving me cake. Thankfully he and I are very close friends or I might have been really pissed not only at my bride/bff but at him too. Most weddings I go to I'm too busy dancing, or drinking to care about sweets, so while I was excited about planning my cake for my own wedding - I wasn't really concerned about eating it.

When planning the cake of my dreams I knew two things. I didn't want fondant, I hate that stuff. And I didn't want a cheesy topper.  I clipped tons of images of cakes and every trend was the same, rustic frosting like your grandmother used to make and flowers or fun items placed on the cake. I looked all over Esty for the perfect topper, and only found a few that spoke to me, but not to Mike and I as a couple. We thought about going with wood block letters from our work, but the fact that they were so old, dusty and otherwise not in the best shape to be put on a cake turned us off. One day while pinning a million things on Pinterest I found the perfect topper and kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner.

via pinterest

BABY PUMPKINS!!! How cute are these? I'm obsessed with everything pumpkin and not sure why until seeing this image I had never thought to use them, especially since our wedding was an Autumn wedding.

When Mike and I met with our baker it was a dream. She was excited about our wedding and loved all my ideas. She also worked a lot with our Florist who would provide her with the flowers and items she needed for the cake, and she would supply the pumpkins. I was disappointed we didn't get to do a tasting but before leaving that afternoon and getting our price quote I tried to purchase two cupcakes which she then gave to us for free. SCORE! We picked the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and it was amazing - we knew immediately we would have this option on our cake.

After details were nailed down we made our choices and the cake was executed better than I could have imagined. Details: The cake was a 4 tier cake with 3 different flavors: Top Anniversary Tier was Chocolate with peanut butter filling, the 2nd tier was Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Filling, Tier 3 was Chocolate with Oreo filling and the bottom was Chocolate with peanut butter filling again. The entire cake was then covered in the most amazing buttercream frosting. I think that she did an awesome job with the woodland theme I wanted and incorporating all the flowers used in our arrangements. The pumpkins were sanitized, and cleaned and were the perfect topper for our cake. Everyone raved about it. I was also extremely pleased that they offered up the stumps for cake bases, this was something I wanted really bad.

THE GROOMS CAKE

Since I was younger I've obsessed about getting my husband-to-be a Groom's Cake. This is probably about the ONLY thing I ever thought of when I even considered day dreaming about a wedding day [Note: I didn't have my wedding planned out since I was 5, I ran screaming at the thought of marrying anyone for a long time, until meeting Mike]. My groom's cake obsession is from one thing, and one thing only... Steel Magnolia's. Yes, ever since Shelby's father said "Nothing like a good piece of ass, huh Ouiser?" And chopped off that bloody armadillo's tail end for her I've wanted to be sure my husband got a cake that would reflect him.

I actually took time to brainstorm and think about what I wanted to do for Mike. I wanted the cake to be a surprise so he didn't know anything about it. I sketched up my idea and took it to our baker and she was overjoyed at the idea of making his cake. I had brought two different ideas one that might be less difficult to do, and one that I thought would be the most fun. She chose the most fun option and the cake was born! I gave her the topper to scan and print on fondant - yes I said I hated the stuff but it's the only way we were going to get the illusion of a stack of records!

THE GROOM'S CAKE BACKSTORY

The story behind the cake is almost as amazing as the actual cake. First off the cake was surrounded by candy bars, his favorite is Snickers, but I couldn't pass up the Reese's simply because he loves chocolate and peanut butter - AND they were covered with Superhero emblems. If his cake had not been AC/DC it would have totally been something superhero oriented.

The Story: Mike and I met many moons ago on a little thing called Myspace.com. One night while bored out of my mind I decided to just randomly search through profiles. As I was browsing through tons of pictures I came across Mike's image. His user name at the time was AC/DC. AC/DC has always been one of my favorite bands since I was in HS and discovered them [our HS fight song was Back in Black]. I clicked to enlarge his picture and gasped. He was SO attractive. I thought to myself no way in hell is this guy going to talk to me, but what the hell I'm feeling daring. I messaged him and waited. I can't recall exactly what I said but I know I mentioned that his screenname got my attention because I too loved AC/DC. Within a night or two he messaged me a polite message back and sent me a friend request. There I sat... with the key to his myspace page to make comments, not to seem over anxious to start a conversation I plotted my perfect first comment. I was totally spazzing like a teen girl at this point and freaking out. I've never been like this with a guy, let alone one I never met in person. I finally decided it was close to the weekend so I'd place these lyrics on his wall... with a message about enjoying his weekend.

Stand up and be counted

For what you are about to receive

We are the dealers

We'll give you everything you need

Hail hail to the good times

'Cause rock has got the right of way

We ain't no legend, ain't no cause

We're just livin' for today

For those about to rock, we salute you!

- AC/DC

He quickly replied on my page saying that was the best comment he's ever gotten and from that day forward we commented, messaged and eventually started talking on the phone. It took us a good year to get together as a couple but the song will always remind me of one of our first exchanges upon meeting.

The biggest downfall to our wedding and reception is that we cut the cake really late in the evening. I didn't expect anyone to leave as early as they did. Most cut out after dinner and a few drinks. I was so worried about greeting everyone that I sort of forgot about cutting the cake. What disappointed me more was that the DJ had a timeline, but I would figure that in his experience he might try to pull the bride and groom aside and say, "Do you want to cut the cake early since the crowd is dying down?" He didn't, and we didn't think about the cake. I feel bad because a lot of co-workers and friends commented how much they wanted to try it. Lesson learned - again this would have been a great time for a wedding planner, or even someone to say to me "HEY GIRL, CUT THAT CAKE!"

CAKE CUTTING SONG:

"I Wanna Grow Old With You" - Wedding Singer Soundtrack

We knew we wanted to use this song during the big day but couldn't figure out how to work it in. I am obsessed with Adam Sandler movies, and Mike enjoys him too. We thought about continuing to dance to it after our first dance, but didn't want to be on the dance floor that long. While reading a favorite blog of mine [Finding Silver Linings] she mentioned that she used the song for the cake cutting, and I loved the idea. Sorry Mindy, I totally copied you.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed seeing our cakes. Next week I will do details and fun moments from the reception! Enjoy your week lovies!

wedding wednesday: details part 1

One week later, we're back to Wedding Wednesday. Where does the time go? HAPPY LEAP DAY!!! I wanted to share the details of our special day. Things that often go unnoticed by some guests and others completely gush about. I thought instead of doing several different posts I would try to lump them together in two. I wanted to be able to share the flowers, the printed materials, the cake, the accessories and the important tid bits all in two posts.

It's All In The Details... PART I

Flowers, Accessories and Odd Bits

I think the best place to start is with the flowers. I could not have been happier with the arrangements put together by our florist he and his team did an amazing job! I wanted Autumn colors and never truly thought about incorporating bright green into this, but once I saw the flowers I knew it was the perfect pop of green to offset the girls dresses and our guys ties.

I had given my florist a ton of images for inspiration and told him flowers I loved. What he gave me didn't look exactly like any of the items I showed him but I mean that in a good way. I told him to do what he felt, use the flowers, his expertise and colors I suggested and give me something fun, something rustic and different. My only request in making my bouquet was that he incorporate my mother's tiara from her wedding day into the arrangement. I think he did an amazing job of not only doing that but highlighting it as well.  I absolutely love the wheat sprigs, and the berries that match Mike's flowers.

This is a better image showing off the tiara, and the fact that I wanted a fresh cut feel to the bouquet. I did not want it wrapped all the way to the bottom. My original vision was a garden wedding, something tossed together by friends and family for us, so I wanted the flowers to reflect that.

MY SECOND BOUQUET
In Loving Memory of Marjorie, My Mother

I carried a second group of flowers down the isle in memory of my mother. Six long stemmed white roses with a chocolate ribbon were carried and I placed the bundle where she would have sat for the ceremony. It was a special moment, and one that after reading our program explaining this act, most of my guests applauded my "In Memory" part of the ceremony. My photographers grabbed it for me after the ceremony and I have since dried the roses to keep for the future.

BRIDESMAIDS FLOWERS

I wanted my maids bouquets to be simple, timeless and not too over done. Originally I had thought a bouquet of Lily of the Valley blooms would be amazing... until I saw the price tag. [Note: the price is INSANE and probably only since has been amplified by Kate Middleton's wedding day bouquet]. BABY'S BREATHE IT IS! This bouquet was not only so fun but so affordable. I think it was the perfect pop for my girls to hold. I had intended to dry the left over bouquets [most of my girls left them since they would be flying home], and using them to stuff my Christmas tree but it didn't work out as planned.

Ends of the stems were tied with chocolate ribbon. 

JUNIOR BRIDESMAIDS & FLOWER GIRL

Mike's little sister was our Flower Girl and she carried a basket that I decorated with flowers to match her hair piece. For the Junior Bridesmaids I wanted the girls to have something young and fun to carry. They both are 10 and 12 years old and I didn't want them to have to bother with stuffy flowers. These Pom Poms were the perfect combo, and the green again - popped. Originally I thought he might just use the geraniums I was happy to see he added the bright mums too when I saw them for the first time. Ladies, sometimes when you let go of the Type A Bride personality... magic happens. Every, single, flower arrangement was a surprise for me and I loved them all!

GROOMSMEN FLOWERS

All the men in the wedding, minus the groom and fathers all wore simple sprigs of baby's breathe and lemon leaves for their flowers. I'm really glad I chose this. All too often the flowers for men are too heavy, and these held up great throughout the evening and all the dancing! Again I wanted the day to feel like a bunch of friends just picked flowers and put them on at the last minute, I didn't want the day to feel too contrived at all.

GROOM AND FATHERS FLOWERS

Originally I wanted to make Mike's flowers, but time was not on my side, and frankly I don't think I would have done such an amazing job myself with buttons or anything else. Mike chose his berries and we both were smitten with the wheat. Mike, my father and his father wore these. I didn't get pictures of Mike's mom and grandmother's flowers or the flowers for my program attendants. His mother and grandmother both had the beautiful green lilies for their wrists [as seen in my bouquet] and my program girls had white roses. I went with wristlets for them all.

RING BEARERS

ETSY, how do I love thee, let me count the ways! Etsy was my life saver through this planning process. I wish I could remember all the wonderful stores I shopped at to get items for my wedding but I will be honest it might take a year to write them all down. The ring bearer's pillow was a purchase from Esty. As well as Mike's cuff links, our guest book and many other little items along the way. We had two ring bears, they were Mike's two nephews. Only the oldest carried the pillow, he held his little brother's hand with the other. They did an amazing job!

RECEPTION SPACE FLOWERS

For the reception space we had these lanterns with flowers on 5 tables and low center pieces with the same flowers on all other tables. We had a sweethearts table, and not a huge head table. I wanted my guests to mingle and I wanted my bridal party to be able to sit with their dates. Most of the husbands and dates of our bridal party didn't know each other that well, and I figured that giving them all time to mingle and "snuggle" with their sig others would make the evening more full of love, and honestly who wants to sit on display while eating their dinner. I know I didn't, but I did anyway since I was the bride and all.

BRIDE AND GROOM ACCESSORIES

Let me just tell you... I stressed about my shoes. I stressed about them more than anything else on my list of things, except maybe the jewelry, I stressed hardcore about that. Why did I stress about something covered by my dress? Well because I KNEW I'd want to have these shots taken.

 OMG SHOES!

 Don't you just love his shoes?

I'm really happy my tattoos don't stick out too bad in this shot! And yes, ladies he didn't wear socks, he doesn't like to unless it's freezing outside. Hey, it's his day too!

JEWELS AND BOBBLES!

Our Rings - Mike picked out my wedding band - I gave him ideas and I was starting to feel like I'd never find what I wanted. A simple, small delicate band with diamonds that was a bit antique was what I wanted. Nothing fit up against my engagement ring until he showed me this. It was perfect, a bit more modern than I wanted originally but in the end fit me perfectly! Mike's wedding band is made of wood. This was another amazing Esty find. I ordered two. Thankfully I did, probably about 3 months into the marriage he broke his at work. I saved the pieces as a keepsake from our big day. The price was wonderful, the service was great and now that I'm typing this I am going to do a special post all about the etsy people I've dealt with, they deserve it so stay tuned.  You all might be wondering why we went with a wooden wedding ring, the reason is because Mike is allergic to all metals. It doesn't matter what he wears it breaks him out. Gold, Silver, Titanium, Platinum, and all the other fancy metals the jewelers claim will be OK. I showed him the wooden rings and he was hooked. I love the one he picked.

My "SOMETHING OLD"

This ring belonged to my mother. It has been passed down from generations of women on her side of the family originally coming to them from over seas. There were only four of these rings made, and my mom's family owned 3 of them. It's very special to me. I wish they would have gotten a picture of my "Something Blue" - Mike's sister got me an amazing pearl with our wedding date and initials. I will share that etsy seller as well! SO cute!

My Jewelry - I stressed BIG TIME on these items.

I wanted a statement necklace from the minute I saw them featured in many of my bridal magazines. The issue I was having was... can I pull it off? Will it be too much? I had so much fear and doubt in my mind. When I found these gems on ebay [They are from J. Crew]. I was floored and swooned over them. Originally I was looking for green, or possibly a rose colored necklace to compliment my shoes. But when I saw these I felt like I had to have them. Even if I didn't wear them on my big day. I did this a lot, the second guessing. I stopped asking for people's opinions because that just confused me more. In the end I brought these, my bird cage veil and the hair clip I had made to the lodge. I figured I'd decide at the last minute. Necklace or earrings, both, or none. And I'd figure out what to do with my veil after my hair was done. Oh, did I mention I changed my hair from my trial too? Yes, I was that girl. But the hair I chose was actually easier on my hairstylist so that was good.

HAIR PIECES

I totally dropped the veil. The night before the wedding during our rehearsal after party for some reason I started to fret about my choices for wearing a blusher/veil or not. Mike's cousin, C who is 22 said to me "Veils are so last year." I'm sure he was joking but he kept insisting that they were dead, no one should wear them, etc. The next morning while getting ready I started to fumble with my bird cage veil before the girls got there. I finally said F-IT! No veil. Instead I went with the hair piece I made myself using flowers, some bling and bits of my mother's veil. It was really important to me to have my mother represented on our special day. Having her items from her wedding day made it really special to me. I also made a flower pin for my little sister-in-law, the flower girl. Her's had brown accents in it and she wore it all day the next day she loved it so much!

Mike's Cuff Links - These were awesome!

Mike picked these out and ordered them himself, even before I had shown him anything that I wanted to order like the pillow, and the guest book made of wood that was burned with a wood tool. These were the talk of the night, everyone loved them! We wanted our wedding to have a big nature feel, and trees seemed to be a running theme.

THE MEN'S TIES

Mike, the fathers and the ring bearers all wore chocolate brown ties with this tree printed on them. I squealed when I saw the little ring bearers ties, so cute, so adorable and totally clip ons!  All of the groomsmen wore the green ties shown above. Mike and I were so excited to find not only the tree design but the colors we needed for our special day [again esty is a miracle!]

 Our Wedding Programs

These were designed again by Mike and myself! The logo was displayed all over our printed materials, our koozies, and even on banners that were gifted to us, hand painted by a friend and also an esty store owner by commission.

Well there you have it - part 1 of the details from the wedding. My next post will be a bit more brief, showing off the cakes, and some of the fun at the reception and any little tid bits I might have missed in this post. I hope you enjoyed this! More to come!