Wedding Wednesday: Reception Details

It's finally time to start talking about our reception. Our reception was such a blast, I loved every minute. I'm going to talk today about the room in general and some of the details. 

Decor 

I wanted my wedding to be classy and with lots of sparkle! There was gorgeous draping and lights in the room already and that was something that totally sold me on the venue. I also convinced my mom to spend a ridiculous amount of money on chivari chairs and in my opinion, it was worth every penny for how beautiful it made it look. 

Centerpieces

Our decor package included the hurricane centerpieces, but my fiance didn't love them so we decided to also make our own centerpieces and have a mix of the two. I really did love the floating candles that my fiance convinced me to do so I think the money and work was worth it. 

I also made all of my own table numbers, lots of modge podge and glitter! Then I just added a few small plastic diamonds to add some color and texture to the table. 

Cookie Bar

My fiance loves cookies so I had to have a cookie bar. It doubled as a favor and everyone loved snacking on them throughout the night. We also had a lot leftover to take home with us. :) 

Cake

We went with the cake/cupcake combination and it was better than I ever imagined. My mom's friend did the baking and they were the best cupcakes I've had in my life. We have some leftover in the freezer at my mom's house and I take them out four months later and the are still just as delicious! Her husband made this cake stand and it totally blew my away. It was HUGE, the pictures don't do it justice. Also there we so much detail on all of the cupcakes which included glitter and pearls in my wedding colors. 

Sweetheart Table

We went pretty simple with our sweetheart table. We had the crystal toasting flutes that my mom gave us as an engagement gift, my bouquet, and a sparkly 'Mr. and Mrs.' sign that hung behind us. There was also a fake fireplace with uplighting in it which looked great in pictures. 

If you can't tell... I loved my reception details. I obsessed about them leading up to the wedding and it all ended up being so much better than I expected. One of the hardest parts about planning is not being able to see things completely set up and I could not have been happier with the final product. 

Linking up! 

Wedding Wednesday: Receiving Line

I read a lot of articles about how to greet guests at your wedding and receiving lines get a lot of debate. We opted to do one and I ended up being so thankful that we did. Here's three reasons why we went for it. 

We wanted to eat dinner. I read so many stories about  couples who don't even get to eat the meal that they paid so much for. While we didn't eat much, at least I got to taste the food and have a minute with my new husband before the rest of the reception happened. 

We wanted to make sure we saw everyone. There were some friends of our parents attending the wedding and we wanted to make sure that we were able to see everyone and thank them for coming. I've been to weddings before where the bride and groom had the best intentions of getting to every table, but it didn't happen and then they felt terrible for not saying hello to everyone at their own wedding. 

We wanted it to be quick. I knew that time would fly by during the reception and I didn't want to be obligated to spend a lot of it going from table to table. 

Ours was a little untraditional, we did not include the family or bridal party, it was just us. We stood at the door that connected the cocktail hour space to the reception room. About halfway through cocktail hour we opened the doors and greeted everyone as they went in to the reception. It was a quick hello and hug to everyone as they walked in. We had seen all of our family the night before at the rehearsal dinner and we knew we would be dancing the night away with our friends. We spent a little longer chatting with people that didn't fall into either of those categories and it worked perfectly. We were ahead of schedule and it only took about 20 minutes to get all 125 guests through the 'line'. 

It was totally worth it for us and worked for our wedding perfectly. 

Are you for or against a receiving line, what did you do at your wedding? 

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday!

Wedding Wednesday: The Ceremony

Happy Wednesday, time for another Wedding Wednesday!

As I was planning our wedding I tried to make sure that the ceremony was meaningful, because that is truly the heart of the wedding. We kept ours pretty traditional and I loved it. 

My dad walked me down the aisle and it was such a surreal moment. I tried to take it all in, I remember looking at my family and friends in the seats and also looking at my future husband. What a special moment. 

Our pastor said some great words and one part that stands out was him talking about how from this moment forward we have to always put each other first in our lives...that our partner will come before any job, activity, or other friend. I laughed, thinking of my best friend who I am extremely close with (she jokes I am the third person in her marriage), and turned to look at her and our photographer caught this picture, priceless. 

We wrote our own vows and when C said his he cried the whole time. He could not keep it together. It made me tear up seeing him cry, basically everyone was crying their eyes out...talk about water works. I made it through mine without crying. I think it was just full on 'teacher mode' with public speaking.

We did a memory box that we placed letters in from our family members and each other. We are going to display it in our house and open it in 10 years. I wanted something different and unique so that's when I found this idea. 

I remember feeling so relieved when we finally got to have our first kiss and walk back down the aisle as husband and wife. It was official, we were married! 

Linking up! 

Wedding Wednesday: Wedding Party Pictures

After our first look and pictures with the two of us we felt like we got plenty of pictures and our friends joined us for Wedding Party pictures. It was a lot of fun to see the guys and they were all gushing about how pretty I looked. It was super sweet. 

We started with the typical girls and boys. I didn't have a very good shot with just the girls. I guess getting 6 of us to all look perfect is a struggle. But this one from the side was kinda cool and shows some of their great hairstyles. 

This silly picture is one of my favorites. I love my girls, I love my husband, so much greatness in one silly shot. 

These handsome boys are the best. I am so lucky that he has such great friends and I also consider each one of them my friends as well. 

Me and my best friend/matron of honor. She's the closest thing I have to a sister, best friends since 5th grade. 

 It's all fun and games for the guys. 

We had a blast the whole time we were taking pictures. Our photographers kept us moving and on track with time and we got all of the shots that we needed. Next up was family. I was a little more stressed about this, but those went well too. That meant it was time to go and get hidden, then prepare for the ceremony! 

I'll be back next week for more fun. Linking up with Macy!

Wedding Wednesday: First Look

After a crazy morning of getting ready it was finally time for the first look! From where I was getting ready in the locker room of the country club I could peek outside and see C as he got ready for the first look. The photographers had him standing along this path near the trees. As I was walking up to him I said a silent prayer hoping to be able to take in everything throughout the day and really soak it all in. I wasn't nervous, but I was so excited to see his reaction and it was absolutely perfect.

When he turned around he couldn't stop smiling and looking at me, it was the cutest thing. He told me that he loved my dress about 20 times. It was great to be able to talk about our morning and the night before because we hadn't see each other all day.

After that we went right into all of our pictures and it was a lot of fun. Our photographers were wonderful in making us feel comfortable and giving us good direction to get great shots. They also let us be ourselves and take any pictures that we wanted.

I actually wanted to go into the forest to try and get some pictures and those are some of my favorites. We enjoyed the time and it went by really fast. After first look we went right into our bridal party and family pictures. I'll share those next week! :)

Linking up! 

Wedding Wednesday: Getting Ready!

Here we go, finally getting to my wedding day! 

Getting ready was a really fun part of my day. One of my goals from the beginning of wedding planning was to make sure that I had plenty of time so that I could enjoy the entire morning and not be rushed or late for pictures. I had pictures scheduled starting at 1:30 at the venue (me getting dressed) so I wanted to go to the venue around 12:30 to double check all of the decor before I had to get dressed. 

So...my bridesmaids and I stayed in a hotel the night before my wedding. I slept with my maid of honor in one room and the other girls were across the hall. My best friend and I had some snuggles and chatted when we woke up before we started getting ready. 

We went to Starbucks to get the traditional 'Bride' and bridesmaids drinks and grabbed a light breakfast from our hotel. 

 When we got back, it wasn't long before the hair stylists arrived. I had a lot of drama with having a stylist, her moving unexpectedly and having another lady at the salon do my hair. Neither of my trials were exactly perfect for it gave me some anxiety. She also brought an assistant who worked on my bridesmaids. 

My hair took way longer than it was supposed to and when I got up and looked at it in the mirror, I hated it. Literally I wanted to cry. My mom and bridesmaids were all like, you look so pretty, its okay...but it was bad. There was no poof like there was supposed to be and it was so matted down with hairspray. It was nasty. I had to just hold it together and get my make up done because my make up artist was there waiting.

Finally, 4 hours later we were all ready. Thankfully my make up was amazing, I felt like a supermodel. That made up for me hating my hair and I tried to not let it get me down. We packed up our stuff and headed to the venue in our robes. We took this teaser picture for me to put on facebook, I'm a little obsessed with it. :) 

After I checked out everything in the venue, it was time to get dressed! My mom officially zipped me into my dress put it took all of my bridesmaids to get it all on right. There's a lot of poof! My bridesmaids were the best and kept the morning so fun and light hearted. They were constantly reassuring me, checking in on me, and making sure I was doing okay. I love them. 

Adding those finishing touches! We had a nice 'locker room' to get ready in at the country club. There was nobody else in there and plenty of space. We could also peek out of the windows as they set up the ceremony decor so that was fun. I also got to watch my future husband walk out to his spot for the first look before I went out. 

Next you'll get to see the first look! Writing this was so much fun, I love re-living the memories and all of the feelings I had on that day. 

Linking up! 

Wedding Wednesday: Rehearsal Dinner

Happy Wednesday!  Today we are taking a look at our rehearsal dinner. Since my fiance's family doesn't live anywhere near where we were getting married, my mom graciously hosted our rehearsal dinner. It was quite the large affair because I wanted to invite all of my family who traveled from the west coast. We also invited all of his family who traveled for the wedding. Add to that the bridal party and we had about 50 people at our rehearsal dinner, good thing my mom has a big backyard! 

I made this big sign to make sure everyone knew where they were going. 

Me && my beautiful bridesmaids. <3

We had italian food since that is easy for a large group. My mom and I prepped it all the day before so all we had to do on the day of the rehearsal was put it in the oven. Our menu included lasagna, chicken alfredo, meatballs, bowties, caesar salad, and rolls. There was so much food and it was all delicious. 

Some of my friends, plus yard games in the back. We played ladder ball and bocce ball. 

My cousins from New Jersey! There is one missing, hence the space, but it meant the world to me that almost my entire family flew across the country to be at my wedding. 

This is a re-creation of a picture that we took 16 years ago. 

It was such a special evening and the perfect start to my wedding weekend. Next week, we'll start getting to wedding pictures! :) 

Linking up! 

Five on Friday: October Favorites!

I am so excited about this month! There are so many fun things going on that I have to look forward to. 

1. Halloween fun with friends! 

One of my friends asked if we can go to the corn maze and have a Halloween-y party and of course I agreed! I am not a huge fan of scary things, but as long as we go to the corn maze during the day time I am totally down. Plus, who doesn't like a reason to get together with friends?

2. WSU Homecoming!

My husband and I are heading back to our college town for the homecoming football game in the middle of the month. Both of my roomates are also going with their respective significant others, as well as a few other friends. Even though we graduated 3 years ago it feels like no time has passed and I am looking forward to the hitting our favorite places in town and cheering on out team. 

3. FFA National Convention

As part of my job I am an advisor for our school's FFA chapter and I have the privilege of taking 13 students to Louisville for the National Convention. They are all competing while we are there so that is stressful, but also so rewarding. 

4. Growing in Faith

I am in a bible study group and we just had our third meeting and I am really enjoying it. I was in a small group before through my church, but this is a little more challenging and I like being with a new group of women. I also am meeting with my Pastor next week to talk about being a leader for a teen group which is both intimidating and exciting. I'm just praying for guidance and that if it is meant to be, I will be a good fit for those girls. 

5. Wedding Planning.

If you've been reading my blog you know that my wedding has already passed, but I am a bridesmaid in 3 weddings over the next year so there is still plenty of planning to be done. One of my friends has her first dress shopping appointment this month and I can't wait for that and all of the other fun things that will be coming up.

Linking up with Amanda!

Wedding Wednesday: Hotel Bags

Happy Wednesday! One thing that I knew I wanted to do for my wedding was make hotel bags. When I went to my cousin's wedding in NJ we were welcomed with one when we checked in and I thought it was the cutest thing! I bought these navy bags on sale on black friday for like .25 each, score! I bought a roll of silver tulle at JoAnns to make bows and tie each bag closed. 

Buying personalized bags is expensive, so instead I got these labels. Online there are a bunch of templates and I picked one out and made my own labels. I think this package of 60 labels was like $4 at walmart. 

Now it was time for to stuff them! I priced things out at Winco and Costco, turns out that Winco was cheaper and I didn't end up with as much excess. My shopping list included: Oreos, peanut butter crackers, granola bars, fruit snacks, gum, starbursts, and water. 

I wrote a cute little note and that was that! 

Of course I forgot to take a picture of them completed, but they were pretty cute if I may say so myself! It also didn't cost nearly as much as I thought. I bet it was under $100 for all 30 of the bags that I made. 

Linking up!