Wedding Week: Our Wedding Part 2

Ok, I promise this one will be more full of eye candy and wedding porn...I think!

After the ceremony we went upstairs to bustle my dress and take my veil off. And that's where we took my favorite favorite pictures.

Then it was out to the beautiful front terrace for cocktail hour.

The backyard was magically transformed into the reception. I couldn't have been happier with the decor. I'm sure most of you know how hard it can be to choose the color theme, flowers, everything for your wedding all the while you don't truly know how it's going to look once it's together.

I chose these Moroccan lanterns as the main focus for the centerpieces. They were pretty cheap. Then I worked with Heidi at Lilac & Co to add flowers. I visited numerous florists but she was the one who truly understood my vision. Others wanted me to count exactly how many blooms on each table and which lanterns would get a flower on top and exactly how many petals to scatter and blah blah. Not Heidi, the quote she gave me was what I paid and she promised she would use any amount of flowers it took to make the tables just right and that's exactly what she did.

I'm not sure what I would've done if I had done a large floral centerpiece but I like to think I saved money with the lanterns. We also allowed each of our guests to take one home. Now whenever I see one at a friend's house it makes me smile. I still have tons left for our house too!

The little boxes held Razzles, Scott's favorite candy. Each box was decorated by my mother in law, my mom and myself, and each one was different.

I made these MadLibs myself. It's the story of how Scott and I met. They are hilarious!

I love Dahlias!

This was our cake. I didn't love it. And to be honest I could've done without it altogether. I don't have a picture of it, but we had a gelato cart with 4 flavors of gelato and it was a hit. Therefore, not much cake was eaten. But it came with the catering package, of well!

The sign in table. Instead of a guest book we had this tree. I made all these little tags that people signed and hung on the tree.

Then came the speeches. I don't know why but I love speeches! Even at other people's weddings!

This is the only picture I have of this little lounge area I planned. Shame. I was trying not to spill gelato on my dress, I failed.

The house had a closet full of old hats. We had fun posing for pictures!

Our get away car is my mom's Classic 1969 Camaro. I love this car! But unfortunately she's selling it! Maybe you need a classic car?!

And just like that it was all over!

Thanks for bearing with the bombardment of weddings! We're back to your regularly scheduled programming and starting the week with my very first giveaway! Have a great weekend lovers!

Wedding Week: Our Wedding Part 1

Settle in folks, it's going to be a long one. Need time to grab a beverage? I'll wait...

Ready?

Let's get to it!

As I'm sure most of you know wedding planning is not fun. Yes, I got to be all creative and "express" myself through the wedding and whatnot. But I generally found it utterly exhausting. In the beginning it was especially unpleasant. I will say the hardest part about planning our wedding was finding the venue. We didn't really start out with a budget, it's something that happened organically. I knew what we couldn't afford for sure so that helped to narrow it down. But for me it was all about the perfect location and I knew I could fit the budget around whatever this perfect place would charge.

The biggest issue with the venue was that I had to have a place where:

-Both the ceremony and reception had to be outside
-There had to be an inside option in case of rain
-They had to let me decorate myself without restriction
-We had to have Italian food for the reception

Doesn't sound too crazy right? Apparently it was. Most places do not have space to hold both the ceremony and reception outdoors. Those that did didn't have a rain option just in case. Those that had rain options could provide a tent, for a mere $5k. Venues that had a garden setting had strict restrictions on what you could and couldn't do. Like nothing strung from the trees, nothing in the ground, no candles unless suspended in water...Some places did not allow you to decorate yourself, you had to pay them to do it. Others had a limited menu and both us being vegetarian this was unacceptable. After several months of searching it was looking quite grim. It almost seemed as though some venues didn't even WANT my money!

Then we found the Aldredge House...From the moment we walked in we knew it was the one.

It is a beautiful historic mansion on a tree lined street full of equally stunning turn of the century homes. And it only got better from there. Megan, the Aldredge House coordinator was a dream. I threw all of my hopes and dreams at her and she happily obliged them all. She even answered ALL of my emails throughout the year, even when I asked her if it was possible to have the napkins folded a certain way (just a passing thought!). I wanted specific foods for the reception, they made it, I wanted the tables set a certain way, they allowed us to do it, I wanted to serve gelato, they brought in Paciugo, my favorite gelato store in a little cart with 4 flavors of my choosing. Amazing! And all for a reasonable price! I was in love!

I spent the morning getting ready with my one and only bridesmaid. My best friend Kirsten. We wanted to keep the wedding small and simple.

I had a pretty calm day before the wedding. Woke up, had breakfast, lazed around, then started getting ready around noon. It was perfect!

When Heidi, my florist from Lilac & Co. brought me my bouquet it took my breath away!

I wanted a layered bouquet and it turned out so lovely! I couldn't have imagined anything more beautiful.

Did I mention I like purple? It was one of the main colors at the wedding along with sapphire and raspberry. I loved my purple shoes. And I wear them all the time now!

While we were upstairs getting ready my "decor team" was downstairs setting up. At one point I looked outside and saw some of my loved ones carrying a table and it melted my heart!

I know this is controversial but Scott and I did a first look before the ceremony. I have no regrets. Even though I model and dance I am sort of a private person. My performer self is separate from my real self. The thought of locking eyes with Scott for the first time in front of everyone as I was walking down the aisle did not sound appealing to me. So we met for the first time in private and it was lovely.

And since we met beforehand we had the luxury of taking all our formal pictures before. We had a short wedding and wanted to spend as much time with our guests as possible. I won't bore you with the family pictures but we did have fun taking pictures with the bridal party!

Then it was onto the ceremony!

We wrote the entire ceremony ourselves, including our own vows. I won't post every word, here are a few readings and our vows.

Mark Twain once said that "a marriage makes two fractional lives a whole. It gives to two purposeless lives a work, and doubles the strength of each to perform it. It gives to two questioning natures a reason for living. It brings a new gladness to the sunshine, and a new fragrance to the flowers, and new beauty to the earth, a new mystery to life."

Scott and Brandi have chosen passages to be read, as inspiration for their love on this day.

The first is from "the Prophet" by Khalil Gibran
Love one another
But make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
Between the shores of your souls
Fill each other’s cup
But drink not from the same cup
Sing and dance together and be joyous,
But let each one of you be alone
Even as the strings of the lute are alone
Though they quiver with the same music
Give your hearts
But not into each other’s keeping
For only the hand of life
Can contain your hearts
And stand together
Yet not too near together
For the pillars of the temple stand apart
And the oak tree and the cypress
Grow not in each other’s shadow.

The second is from STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER by Tom Robbins

"Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free."

Scott: I hope I can always make you happy for my happiness depends on it

Brandi: I hope I can always give you strength for we are stronger together

Scott: I hope we always see each other as we are

Brandi: and I hope we always love what we see

Officiant: What do you give to each other?

Scott: I give you serenity when you need peace.

Brandi: I give you passion when you need spirit

Officiant: What do you ask of each other?

Scott: I ask that you always stay close to me, both physically and emotionally.

Brandi: I ask that you always kill spiders for me, both literally and figuratively.

Officiant: May I have the rings please? Scott, please repeat after me: I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you.

Scott: I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.

Officiant: Brandi, please repeat after me: I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you.

Brandi: I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.

And then we were married!!!!

 

If you're still here, thanks for reading through such a long post! stay tuned for part 2!

Wedding Week: A Country Wedding on the Cheap!

I have two weddings I am delighted to share with you this week so I've deemed it wedding week here on FOW! This first one is the wedding of my brother and now sister and law, Jackie. If you recall from this post I planned this wedding for them. I don't have all the pictures yet but I thought I had enough to share with you!

The second wedding is....

wait for it....

MINE! I know, I got married a year and a half ago but I just got the digital photos, long story.

The theme of the wedding was country chic, filled with wildflowers, vintage mason jars and tins, homemade food, and the union of JSquared (Joel and Jackie!). And all for around $2000!

My mom and I searched for months for different vintage tablecloths, mason jars, tins, and glass bottles. For flowers had originally intended to use a local florist near the farm. But after speaking to her she didn't have access to most of the flowers I would have liked, she also wanted to make the bridesmaid bouquets out of carnations, gasp! Then she told me if I was coming from Dallas I might as well just get them here and transport them myself because that's where she was getting hers and we could save money doing it this way as well. At least she was honest! So I called up Central Market and scored several bunches of Texas Wildflowers for $11 a bunch. Since they were seasonal, they didn't know what would be in them but said they're always beautiful. Add on some hydrangeas to make bouquets and a couple of Freesia boutonnieres and call it a day.

Jackie's brother cooked all the food and it was delicious. He also played piano for the ceremony and set up a playlist on his ipod for the reception. He was a busy man! We spent the whole morning setting up and then barely had time to get ready!

My BFF Kirsten did all our hair and makeup in 30 minutes flat.

Then it was time to run out to the Ridge where the ceremony was being held. Jackie put her dress on in a tent nearby so no one would see her walking out before it was time. (I told you it was country!)

I made the bouquets, so don't look too close!

I really loved the idea we used for the ceremony seating. The farm down the road loaned us the hay and family members brought blankets. I made the sticks down the aisle. They have different kinds of ribbons attached to them to flutter in the breeze, too bad there wasn't one!

My mom made Jackie's dress and I designed it. It looked so lovely!

The ceremony was so beautiful! There wasn't a dry eye in the place!

Here is Jackie with my mom. This is the view from the Ridge where the ceremony was held. Isn't it nice!

Bridesmaids with yours truly on the right!

After the ceremony they planted a tree, their first act as a married couple.

I just loved how the decor turned out. So perfect!

The lanterns in the trees really defined the space too.

The sign in table, before I put the flowers out. The birdcage was for cards and the case on the right is one of my favorite Canton finds. It held fan favors for the guests.

It was definitely hot but such a nice wedding don't you think?