Wedding Wednesday!

So as most of you know, I love weddings. Duh! I mean, why would I have a weekly feature (that I never miss, mind you!) devoted to them?! Well, what I love even more than weddings found online are those of my readers. Fun, exciting, love-fueled nuptials! When Christina contacted me about her wedding, I knew I had to feature it! Lots of DIY and a short dress?! Yes please! Hopefully you'll love it just as much as I do! Don't forget to click through the "Read More..." at the bottom to check out her interview! She dishes all of her bridal-knowledge to those of us preparing (and just waiting) to walk down that aisle! (Psst... she did it on a shoe-string budget, too! Swoon!)
















































Don't forget to click "Read More" for the awesome interview!




Hello gorgeous bride!  Let’s start from the beginning!  Tell us how you met your Prince Charming and how he popped the question!
Michael and I met online!  MySpace to be exact.  I used to be so embarrassed to say such a thing, but whatever, we’re awesome!  Michael and I were friends on MySpace for a long time.  He born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA and I was born and raised in Salinas, CA (just about forty minutes away), however, we were both living in the Central Valley.  We talked here and there every once in a while.  He was seeing some girl, I was seeing some dude, and coincidentally, we broke up almost at the same time.  Like a normal girl, I was having a hard time and like a normal boy - he was ready to move on.  He invited me to have dinner and a movie; to cheer me up.  It was more of a friends getting together; not a date.  However, from that day forward, we were two little peas in a pod.  Michael and I moved really fast.  We moved in together only three weeks after meeting each other - I know, I’m easy.


Michael always told me, he never wanted to get married.  After a year being together, Michael and I purchased our first home!  To him, he was in it for the long run and we were building our life together - but to me, I wanted a ring on my finger.  Then, Michael popped the question!  We were setting on our back porch, and I was looking pretty tore up.  It was a hot day and I wanted to go inside.  I got up and told him I was going inside, and he asked me to come give him kisses.  When I went over, he pulled me to set on his lap and he asked, “will you marry me?”.  I screamed like a little fat kid in a cupcake shop.




When did you get engaged?  How long did you plan before walking down the aisle?
We got engaged on July 13th, 2009.  Out of all honesty, that was good enough for me.  I had a ring on my finger and I was a happy little pumpkin.  We knew that when did get married, that we wanted it on Halloween.  Why, you ask?  Because Halloween is our favorite holiday.  Michael + Love + Halloween = Complete bliss!  Halloween, to me, is the complete vision of Fall - it’s just so beautiful.  We got married almost a year and a half after he popped the question; October 31, 2010!




Where you working with any certain budget constraints?
This is a tricky question - and I apologize if it gets a little long.  When we first started to plan our wedding, we were told that “anything you guys want, you can have”.  A girls dream come true, right?  Well this was told to us by my father and his girlfriend.  With these two, there is a lot of ruff history and Michael and I knew that things do not come without strings.  Well, when we were looking at venues, we looked at amazing, fancy places - however, I just felt so uncomfortable.  We accidentally came across Michaels on Main in Soquel, CA and we fell in love.  It had a wonderful atmosphere and it was very laid back.  Michael and I did not want a tradition wedding, and this was perfect!  We wanted to drink, get married, eat and drink some more!  We wanted to have fun - we wanted our wedding to be us.  Well, when it was time to put a deposit down, my father and his girlfriend made excuses.  It was a cat and mouse game and I wasn’t going to play.  I made an appointment with my Mother to go put the deposit down and my fathers girlfriend caused such a scene.  She was telling us who we could invite, what we could have, what we could not have and I wasn’t going to play that game.  Needless to say, we told them to not worry about paying for our wedding, and that we would take care of it.  Michael and I took care of some of the costs, and my Mother covered the majority of the cost.  She never gave us a budget - never.  She just told us to do what we want and have what we want.  So, that’s what we did.


When all was said and done, our wedding cost five-thousand.  Five thousand!  I’ve very proud of this number.  This includes everything!  I felt very strongly that we spend the money on our guests, and our bridal party.  I personally feel that the tradition of asking someone to be in your wedding and then asking them to purchase a dress or outfit for your day is ridiculous.  Michael felt the same way, so we bought all the outfits, shoes, ties, everything that our bridal party wore.  We also wanted to use homemade decorations and let the guests take anything and everything home with them!  Our wedding was not only the day that Michael and I became man and wife, but it was the day that our families became one.  We wanted to celebrate all of us - not just the two of us.




Where you working with a certain theme of color scheme?  How did you achieve this?
We were working with a certain them - Halloween.  However, we didn’t want traditional pumpkins, dark orange colors, scary masks, witches and goblins.  We wanted something elegant - yet Halloween.  It was kind of a hard task.  However, my Mother and I owned it!  We went to Marshalls and found these gorgeous crackled glass, cream pumpkins.  We also found class jars that look like pumpkins.  We filled these with gorgeous popparie that we found at Target.  We also used mason jars to put our flowers into.  Very cute, yet very easy on your wallet.  We also used a handmade theme.  I made our table runners, the candy bar, our save the dates and the stuff I couldn’t hand make myself - I purchased off Etsy.  When everyone saw the pieces separately, they couldn’t envision what it was going to look like together - however, after our wedding and still till this day, people constantly tell us they loved our wedding and how low key it was!




What one item did you spend the most money on for your big day?
The one thing that we spend the most on, was our attire.  Like I mentioned before, we purchased our bridal parties outfits.  That what we wanted to do!  Not only did we purchase their outfits, but we also gave them (in my opinion) amazing gifts.  These people were our closest friends.  Friends going back twenty-something years!  For my ladies, we gave them diamond and pearl necklaces.  This sounds very expensive, and it could have been!  However, if you hit up Macy’s at the perfect time; you can score big!  For the gentleman, we gave them tobacco pipes and tobacco.  My husband is like an old man, always with a pipe in his mouth!  Now, these, we didn’t get the best deal on - but, they were for our closest and dearest friends, so cut lose, right?




Did you do any special DIY projects for your wedding day?  If so, what did you do?
For our wedding, the majority of it was do-it-yourself; which cuts down on costs a lot.  I made our table runners out of fabric and burlap.  I collected for months from Marshalls, Target and Ross.  I made our save-the-dates and hand-stamped them all.  Our thank you gifts to our guests were homemade honey (which a close friend made), and I did the fabric for them.  I also collected vintage hankies for our guests to take when they entered the ceremony area.  I labeled these, “tears of joy”, and I also made wands with ribbon for the guests to wave in the air when Michael and I walked down the isle as husband and wife!




Did anything go awry on your big day or leading up to it?  How did you handle the stress?  Did it end up being okay in the end?
You know, wedding planning is stressful.  And if you don’t have a strong support system, it could be awful.  I’m going to keep it real and be honest - I had a lot of conflict with my father and his girlfriend.  They started telling us what we could have, what we couldn’t, and then trying to yank us around on paying for things (like mentioned above).  Well, Michael and I had to finally put our foot down because it was giving me serious anxiety and bringing me down.  Well, after telling them that not to worry about paying, they totally fell off the center of the earth.  You know, on a girls wedding day, or bridal shower - you want your father there.  I did.  We invited them to everything, and they didn’t show.  My maid-of-honor invited them to a co-ed wedding shower that they threw for us, yet they said they were not going to attend.  I sent out our invitations, and they never replied.  It was seriously so hurtful.  How could my dad not want to be there for the most important day of my life?  I kept messaging asking if they were coming and I received no replies.  It was seriously rough, and sent me into a deep depression.  Nothing you wanted before your big day.  So, I started seeing a therapist three months before our wedding - every week.  It helped a lot.  


On the day of my wedding, my father didn’t show.  Not only did he not show, neither did my brother.  It was a total shock to me and so upsetting.  However, I learned a lot of tools in therapy that helped me deal with it.  I learned that the most amazing people were there for my day.  The most amazing people.  The people who traveled hours and ever across the States were there to celebrate Michael and I!  These were the people who mattered.  To be honest, when my Mother walked me down the isle, and I saw my soon-to-be husband standing there, smiling waiting to take me as his wife - I teared up.  I don’t remember seeing anyone, I don’t remember seeing my ladies standing up there with me - but I do remember starting to cry thinking of how my husband and Mother were there for me, and how my father wasn’t.  If I said I’m over-it, I’d be lying.  It’s very upsetting and a pain that will never go away.  But it’s things like this and days like this that really show who is important.    




Did you use any online sites or blogs for your wedding inspiration?  If so, which ones?
I was constantly surfing wedding blogs and Etsy like a crazy women.  My husband always joked, “What the hell are you going to do when we are married”.  I was a big fan of http://www.theloveliestday.com/, http://greenweddingshoes.com/, and http://www.oncewed.com/.  These sites are full of inspiration and ubber cuteness.  I also looked on Etsy.com for ideas.  There are so many creative people out there!




If you could give any advice to a Bride-To-Be, what would you say?
I would just like to tell every bride-to-be that this is your day.  This is a day for you and your husband.  Don’t let other or mistakes ruin your day.  Your wedding day is suppose to be the happiest day of your life.  Let it be!  To be honest, I let my father and my brother not showing up put a black cloud over my head.  It brought me down a notch.  If something like this happens to you, brush it off - and enjoy your day.  This is the beginning of the rest of your life - enjoy it.




Photographer:  Margaret Jacobson Photography  http://www.margaretjacobsen.com/ 
Bakery:  The Buttery, Santa Cruz CA
Vendor:  Michaels on Main, Soquel, CA    http://www.michaelsonmain.net/newWP/

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Wedding Wednesday!

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Wedding Wednesday!

I'm excited to share with you another reader wedding this week! It's been a couple of weeks since the last one and the weather is dreamy and gloomy so I thought some bright and bold pictures of a cute, happy couple could liven up the mood! Check out the wedding of Miss Tiffany Troop to her lovely beau, Kyle. In lieu of the traditional WW interview, Tiffany has put together an account of her magical day in her own words! Be sure to check out more photos and more of the story after the jump!

All words by Tiffany.



"When I was 21, I woke up one summer day and realized that I was falling for my best friend Kyle.  Eeeek!  Since he'd been hiding romantic feelings for me for 5 years, it wasn't long before we were an item - and since we knew each other so well before becoming a couple, it took us just a few weeks to realize we were headed straight for marriage.







I put our wedding together in a matter of months.  A few months after Kyle and I got engaged, both of our mothers were diagnosed with cancer.  We delayed choosing a wedding date until their treatment was completed.  Kyle's mother made a full recovery after a few months, but my mother's treatment continued for another year.  Finally, as I was finishing up my last semester of college, she told me to just choose a date already and quit putting it off - so I did!  We chose Sunday, April 26, 2009 in downtown Cartersville, GA, just outside of Atlanta.






Everything about the wedding was DIY - I made my own wedding invitations, shower invites, "admission tickets" (like movie tickets), advice cards for the wedding guests to fill out for us, sign-able photo frames, guest book, wedding decor - including brightly-colored paper lanterns from the 2-story ceiling, flowers for myself and my bridesmaids...you name it, I did it myself (assisted by bridesmaids at times!)






As an extremely fair-skinned person, I had no desire to wear white.  I LOVED the dress I purchased - it was technically a bridesmaid's dress, so I got it for a steal...$199!  Everyone told me it looked as though that dress was made just for me (even though it was off the rack!)  My grandmother let me borrow her amber brooch, which I pinned to the dress.


My bridesmaids wore black faux snakeskin peep-toe pumps and black satin dresses in different styles, and they carried brightly-colored bouquets of daisies, which matched the color of their nail polish.  My husband and his groomsmen wore dress pants from Gap, white dress shirts from Express, black ties from Target and Converse - he wanted the guys to get use out of their clothing again, too.







Click the jump to see and read more about this big day!






Kyle's best man Zak was in a horrible wreck a few months before our wedding, breaking both legs, among other injuries.  He was worried about messing up our day and photos by being in the wedding in a wheelchair, but we told him we wanted him there with us no matter what.  He took some pain medicine and stuck it out through the whole wedding!


Kyle and I and our groomsmen and bridesmaids all got ready for the wedding together.  The salon I go to was nice enough to open it up for us on a Sunday, and the girls and I got there early to have our hair and makeup done.  The guys came later in the day to get dressed.  Kyle and I didn't care at all about seeing each other beforehand - we make our own luck!  We were all running behind, so I helped my stylist get the guys ready - I washed and dried Zak's hair since he was in the wheelchair and couldn't do his hair well himself.






Our wedding took place at 4:00pm that day, in a nightclub called the House of Rock.  Our church purchased the old nightclub a few months prior, and our wedding was the first event to be held in the renovated building.


Unfortunately, our wedding also took place illegally.  The building wasn't up to the city's safety codes - and worse, the building inspector's son was a guest!  He asked his father to please stay away from the street the building was located on, but we had to hurry our reception - we got out of there in 2 hours!






In addition to that little snag, our wedding party shrunk by two people a day before the wedding.  One of Kyle's groomsmen called him, saying, "What was I supposed to buy to wear in the wedding again?"  Kyle nicely told him not to worry about being a groomsman at all.  Then one of my bridesmaids had a drug overdose!  She'd had a procedure done the week before, and she was sent home from the hospital with the wrong orders and prescriptions.  She nearly died!


My mother wasn't able to attend my wedding, but we streamed the entire ceremony live online for her to watch at home with her best friend.  Although it was very difficult for me to leave the house that morning knowing she wouldn't be able to attend my wedding, I made it through and had a wonderful day.


Before the wedding started, we showed a countdown video.  We found a video of 6 Asian kids playing a classical song typically used in weddings on youtube, so we used that.  Afterwards, our ceremony lasted only 9 minutes - a very practical and realistic ceremony, focusing on a Biblical marriage, without using all the cliche phrases - "to have and to hold," "lawfully wedded husband/wife," etc.  Our first kiss was pre-choreographed to Angels and Airwaves' "The Adventure" and it made everyone cry!


Our reception took place in the same building.  We set up tables with candy centerpieces and played a mix of our favorite songs, including Jack's Mannequin, Rancid, Blink-182, Dashboard Confessional, and lots of 90s hits.  We didn't dance, though - we didn't have time for that, and I hate to dance, anyway!


We served coffee and hot chocolate, and lots of cookies and pastries and other sweets.  My mother-in-law made hundreds of cupcakes in leu of a wedding cake - including my favorite, chocolate cake with strawberry frosting!


For a laugh, we included changing our Facebook statuses to "married" with a projector on a big screen as part of the reception.  We also used my Macbook to set up a photo booth for guests to use.  We got lots of fun pictures and some hilarious videos!  Although I know I wasn't the first to come up with this idea, I'd never heard of it before the wedding and thought it up myself.  The idea appeared at the weddings of nearly every engaged couple that attended our wedding!


After the wedding, we went out with our photographers to take our "bride and groom" photos at sunset.  They were just wonderful and speak for themselves!  Then finally, one of the best parts of the day - I got to take off my false lashes and heels.


Then we woke up the next day to head off to our honeymoon, staying at a funky hotel in downtown Atlanta!  We wanted to stay close to home, so we spent our honeymoon eating lots of sushi, doing lots of shopping, drinking lots of Starbucks, and getting tattoos.


My husband is the most wonderful man I've ever met and is the perfect match for me.  Although it was a great day, our wedding day was just that - a day.  At about 4:00 on the morning of the wedding, Kyle sent me the sweetest email telling me he couldn't wait for us to be a family, with our own values and traditions.  That's the best part of our wedding - it was the start of the two of us being a family unit.  We both have wonderful families,  but since Kyle's parents divorced when he was young and my mother passed away 3 weeks after my wedding, it's nice to have a stable family unit to come home to...even though it's just the two of us (plus the kittycat and dog)." 


Photography by TLH Studio.





♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 
Thanks for submitting your lovely day, Tiffany!

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Wedding Wednesday!

I'm excited to be starting of the Wedding Wednesdays of the new year with the personal wedding of my friend Jennifer! I went to college with Jennifer and not only is she the sweetest gal around but she is also an incredibly talented designer and illustrator. And today you're going to see her playing the role of beautiful bride! Her wedding was full of adorable DIYs and gorgeous photography! There are even a few ideas I'd like to snag myself (and she may or may not have had my DREAM CAKE!) Have a look!








To read Jennifer's interview about budget, DIYs, and to see many more photos, please click the jump!







Hello gorgeous bride! Let's start from the beginning! Tell us how you met your Prince Charming and how he popped the question!


• Well... we went to high school together, him graduating 2 years before me. I was dating someone else at the time. We later got reconnected and hit it off instantly! 


When did you get engaged? How long did you plan before walking down the aisle?
• We got engaged May 22, 2010, right after I graduated college. I knew it was coming by didn't think it would be that soon! Thinking about when and where we wanted to get married, we decided on a fall wedding, since it's both of our favorites. Not wanting to wait a year and a half, we planned for that October... October 9th to be exact, which was the second Saturday of the month, prime time for the autumn colors, as well as my late grandparents' anniversary, so I deemed it good luck! So, in all, we spent a round 5 months planning away! 


Were you working with a certain theme or color scheme? How did you achieve this?
• My favorite color has always been purple, so I definitely had to include that, also NOT wanting to do the typical "fall" colors. I really stuck with simple and fun for the overall look. We wanted everyone to feel comfortable and enjoy the gorgeous day. 


What one item did you spend the most money on for your big day? [e.g: dress, flowers, photographer…]
• Probably the dress. We had a tight budget, so nothing was outrageous... but a girl's gotta look good on her wedding day! 


What was one huge misconception you had about your wedding day? [e.g: Everything on your big day should go exactly according to plan]
• I kept telling myself that I wouldn't get stressed, but I lied to myself. There was stress from many aspects, so it was inevitable. Looking back, however, it was perfect. I wouldn't do it differently. 


Did you do any special DIY projects for your wedding day? If so, what did you do?
• We did a ton!! Where to start... Elijah, my now glorious husband, comes from a family of logger (aka lumberjacks!) so him and his stepfather made our arch out of wooden beams. We also cut logs in half, drilling holes in the top to place tea light candles, for our centerpieces! We also took tin soup cans and planted in-season flowers from a local nursery. The cans were complementary after eating your soup, and the flowers were so much cheaper than buying cut flowers from a florist. And they're still alive on our front porch! I also was not keen on the idea of rented linens to cover the tables. So we bought roles of kraft paper and rolled them out on the tables, put a lace runner, and sprinkled with color-coordinated Crayola crayons! (FYI: You can order custom boxes from Crayola with only the colors you want!!) The guests loved it, and we have the paper rolled up, so we got to see what messages were left for us. An inexpensive keepsake. We also created a "Build Your Own Sandwich Station" with different breads, deli meats, spices, and condiments, alongside different salads, and a  Hot Dog & S'more Roasting station set up by a fire pit outside. 


And, of course, being a graphic design graduate, I did all the invites, signs, maps, etc myself. Going with the kraft paper, I used the classic brown paper bags as envelopes for my invitations, folded over and fixed with a "B" wax seal. The post office thought I was crazy, but everyone else loved it! 


Did anything go awry on your big day or leading up to it? How did you handle the stress? Did it end up being okay in the end?
• Well... yes, lol. We did forget my garter, which my mom had made. We had to improvise by tying leftover lace ribbon around my leg! Other little things that no one else noticed by me, ha. 


Did you use any online sites or blogs for your wedding inspiration? If so, which ones?
• I looked at a lot of things on Etsy for inspiration, but never ordered anything from there. I also referenced The Knot for checklists as well as a starting point to find the wording for the invitations, RSVPs, etc. 


Any special and small details you'd like to share?
• I, well my bridesmaids... the night before, made my husband's boutineer. He expressed interest in wanting to "match" on our wedding day. After thinking about it for a while, I got an idea. I asked Bridal Warehouse, where I purchased my dress, to save the "trimmings" after alterations. I used that to recreate the flower motif from my dress, and a kraft paper leave was cut to adhere the fabric flowers to, along with jute, which was used on everyone's bouquets and boutineers. I sent it over to him the morning of, vis my sister, and he loved it. We matched perfectly. :)  


If you could give any advice to a Bride-To-Be, what would you say?
• Do what YOU want. When people hear you're planning a wedding, everyone wants to throw in their two cents... whether you ask or not. Stand up and be confident for what you and your fiance really want for your special day. 


Hire a good photographer. Pictures are worth a thousand words. I used Chuck Arlund, and was ecstatic to see the day in pictures! 


I also read in a bridal magazine a piece of advice from a bride... "You're getting married, not weddinged." This stuck with me because it's very true. In perspective, your wedding is one day, but the person you are marrying is forever. My dress is still covered in dirt, my flowers were destroyed, and our unity sand is missing, BUT I have my husband, which means more that any of those things. :) 




** Feel free to include a breakdown of what you spent your budget on [or don't, if it's too personal!] and you can list the venues, vendors, photographer, etc if you'd like!
• We didn't spend a lot of money... we didn't have a lot to spend! We got married in a state park, which is free!! Stunning backdrop complementary and hotel and campground options for guests.

We ordered the flowers for my bouquet from a wholesale flower shop. Affordable prices if you're willing to DIY! I went to Import Flowers in Nashville. They were very helpful with picking and recommendations.


The groom/groomsmen ended up buying suit separates versus renting. I couldn't find anything I liked to rent, and the suits were about the same price as renting! They still have them as an option in their wardrobe, instead of rushing to get them back the same day. I found what I was looking for at Bach Rach. 
















A huge thanks to Jennifer for sharing her very special day with us! It was truly beautiful!

PS: Today is her birthday! Everyone tell her Happy Happy Birthday! xo

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Wedding Wednesday!

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