Post-wedding post!
Hi friends! I posted this to my wedding community, but also wanted to share this with all of you.
So, we got married on May 2nd, and it was honestly and absolutely perfect. Not a thing went wrong! Everyone was on time, and dressed to the nines. It was amazing. We had an amazing time, and I'll do a vendor review after all the pictures, which we know is what you came here for. :)
I haven't gotten the professional pictures back yet, so these are the ones taken by friends and family. Though there is one that is professional, I bet you'll be able to pick it out. ;)
I supposed I should start with a review of the day, hm? So, the girls and I stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes from the church. We got up WAY too early in the morning, showered, ate breakfast, and headed out. I come to find out on Sunday afternoon that my cousin rear-ended my maid of honor in the parking lot, so now there's a big dent in her bumper. Oops. We get to the church, and start getting ready. I had to get into my dress early because it's a side zipper with a long neck, so I couldn't step into it, or get into it at all without ruining my hair. My former co-worker came over to do my hair, and she did a stellar job. It was amazing.
Most of the day was a blur. I remember when we first got to see each other. I walked into the sanctuary, and he's standing with his back to me, fidgetting like crazy. The photographer walks me right up to him, and says "you can't turn around yet." We held hands for a second before she let him turn. He had a white rose for me, which was super sweet. :)
From then on, it was just fast an awesome. I can remember bits and pieces, like standing inside snacking on cheese and crackers and grapes while watching the boys taking pictures outside, or turning around to be announced, and seeing two puppets sitting in the balcony. We had three groomsmen unable to make it to rehearsal, so my dad gave my hammiest uncle two puppets, and had him stand up front. So, of course, they had to come to the wedding. I also remember walking down the aisle with my dad and laughing the whole time. When we got to the end of the aisle, he looks at me and says "do I really have to give you away? Really? I can't keep you?" It was super sweet.
Anyway, on to the pictures!
Unfortunately, we couldn't catch any "getting into the dress" pictures because they would have all be indecent. I didn't wear a bra, so yeah. And I had to put the dress on before doing hair and makeup because of the way the neckline is built. Anyway. This is me in my dress, with my veil and hair. Love it! I love the back of my dress.
Me and the world's bestest maid of honor! She totally rocked, and helped everything flow so wonderfully. The previous pictures were us alternating glaring and laughing, but this was definitely the best picture. I love her so much. :)
This was taken outside in this little tiny garden hidden in the church. It was sprinkling, so we had to bring out the umbrella. We had wanted to go into old-town Poulsbo for some pictures, but it was raining too hard, so we just went out into the garden. It was still awesome. This is my favorite picture out of any that I've seen yet. I can't wait to get the rest from her!
The boys all lined up before the service. No, I did not marry the guy on the left. They lined up in reverse order. The groom is on the right. :)
Apparently, they were pretending to be a boy band. >.< There is allegedly a video of the boys playing with this little electric guitar for kids. I need to find that.
A close-up of my hair. It was perfect. I keep using that word, I realize, but it really was! :)
We took dance lessons from Todd's mom, and this was us managing to not fall down! It was great. I had a lot of fun, and really want to see what pictures the photographer got of it.
Spinny spinny!
Me and my daddy. In the background, you can see DJ 2. Yes. I had to hire a second DJ because the first one is made of epic fail.
So, we didn't have cake because my husband (I love saying that!) is allergic to wheat. I know, it's tragic. I didn't want to fight to find a gluten-free cake that I like, and wasn't going to cost us a fortune. Rather than that, we decided to have an ice cream sundae bar. It was a huge hit! As was the chocolate fondue orchestra, which was basically a big chocolate fondue with strawberries, pound cake, pretzels, gummy worms, and apricots. *OMGdroooool* And I managed to only drip once on my dress!
So, those are all the picture I have right now. Once I get the professional ones, I'll post those. And I probably won't go anywhere because I love looking at what other people are doing.
Ok, vendor reviews!!
Jen Chorost, Studio 139 Portraits - A+++ She was absolutely phenominal. She's an old family friend from years and years ago. Currently, she's living in Buffalo, MN. My dad was out there for a conference about a year ago, and met up with her for lunch. They got to chatting about the wedding, and that's how we ended up hiring her. She gave us a GREAT discount because she knows my dad, and she was great. I totally forgot she was there, which is the way it really should be for a photographer. http://www.studio139portraits.com
Michael Trevors, Michaels Market Cafe - A+ He was also amazing. I found him online the first time we started talking about getting married. Things got complicated, and so we ended up not communicating anymore. When I got back in touch with him again, he totally remembered me. I was thrilled. He made the most amazing food EVER. He made these caprese skewers that totally rocked, and the fondue was his idea. He was SO awesome. And he's got a great little cafe in the Northwest Design Center on highway 305. Go there for lunch if you're in town. You won't want to go anywhere else for lunch ever again. :)
Alicia's Bridal - A++++++++++++++ Ok, so I'm a little biased. I worked there for two and a half years as a sales consultant, but still. Pam, the owner, is AMAZING. If anyone lives up there, or is willing to take a drive to find your gown, go to Bellingham. They have a great selection of high quality gowns at amazingly reasonable prices. And if the gowns in the main store are too much, head next door to the outlet store. Same prices as David's Bridal, but higher quality materials. Sorry to anyone who got a David's dress, but I strongly dislike them. Nothing personal.
The Formal House - A+++++++++++ Again, I'm biased. They are attached to the bridal shop. We would have used them for our tuxes if I had still lived up there, but I moved to Seattle, so it made no sense. But the tux place we used didn't have the right vests. I'm one of the weird people who HATES full back vests. So I got half-back vests from The Formal House, and it was great. The only problem is that I should have gotten one of the best men an exra large vest, but I didn't, so it was a little short. Oh well.
Paxton Rembert, Whatcom Sound - F I booked him a year and a half ago for my formerly December 2008 wedding. I e-mailed him about a month and a half before the wedding, touching base. He e-mails me back to tell me that he can't do the wedding at the price we contracted, so either I could have my deposit back or he could charge us mroe for travel. I would like to point out we were already paying for travel. Not much, because he was going to stay with family, and it's not that far away, but we were paying him. But when he said that if I paid him more, he wouldn't be coming, but one of his employees, I ditched. I took my deposit back and left, thank you very much. Jerk.
The Tux Shop - B- They had great tuxes, but there were a series of problems. First, we find out that the guy we had worked with had booked us the MOST EXPENSIVE tuxes without telling us there were other options. Then all the vests were wrong, and so when I went back to check on those, I found out we'd gotten the most expensive tux, and had to change that. Then, we had to cancel the vests three times because no one could seem to get it right. Their employee turnover was high, and their communcation skills were low. But the guys looked AMAZING, so it's ok.
Laura Tong, Tong's Twigs and More - A She was a family friend again, through the church. She got us our flowers at an AMAZING price, and they were perfect. I loved my bouquet, and the girls, and the boys, and the centerpieces ROCKED. I had to buy glass vases for them (if you need vases, look for them wholesale!! I think mine were something like $2.75 a piece for 4" glass cubes), but bought the wrong ones for the tall centerpieces. So, we got together, and decided to crumple cellophane in the bottom, and fill them with water. It looked amazing. Those are going to be great pictures.
Mark Emmons - A+++++++ He was a friend of my mantron (male maid of honor), and a former instructor at his school. He DJs for a bar in Olympia (Pints and Quarts) every Friday, and he totally hooked us up. $100 an hour. He gave us a much more enjoyable time than Paxton would have, and the music was more the style of most of our guests. We had a lot of guests take off early because the wedding was close enough you didn't need a hotel, especially since there was no alcohol, but far enough away you didn't want to be out really late. But a lot of our friends stayed late to hang with us, so that was great.
Hooray! I'm married! :)
So, we got married on May 2nd, and it was honestly and absolutely perfect. Not a thing went wrong! Everyone was on time, and dressed to the nines. It was amazing. We had an amazing time, and I'll do a vendor review after all the pictures, which we know is what you came here for. :)
I haven't gotten the professional pictures back yet, so these are the ones taken by friends and family. Though there is one that is professional, I bet you'll be able to pick it out. ;)
I supposed I should start with a review of the day, hm? So, the girls and I stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes from the church. We got up WAY too early in the morning, showered, ate breakfast, and headed out. I come to find out on Sunday afternoon that my cousin rear-ended my maid of honor in the parking lot, so now there's a big dent in her bumper. Oops. We get to the church, and start getting ready. I had to get into my dress early because it's a side zipper with a long neck, so I couldn't step into it, or get into it at all without ruining my hair. My former co-worker came over to do my hair, and she did a stellar job. It was amazing.
Most of the day was a blur. I remember when we first got to see each other. I walked into the sanctuary, and he's standing with his back to me, fidgetting like crazy. The photographer walks me right up to him, and says "you can't turn around yet." We held hands for a second before she let him turn. He had a white rose for me, which was super sweet. :)
From then on, it was just fast an awesome. I can remember bits and pieces, like standing inside snacking on cheese and crackers and grapes while watching the boys taking pictures outside, or turning around to be announced, and seeing two puppets sitting in the balcony. We had three groomsmen unable to make it to rehearsal, so my dad gave my hammiest uncle two puppets, and had him stand up front. So, of course, they had to come to the wedding. I also remember walking down the aisle with my dad and laughing the whole time. When we got to the end of the aisle, he looks at me and says "do I really have to give you away? Really? I can't keep you?" It was super sweet.
Anyway, on to the pictures!
Unfortunately, we couldn't catch any "getting into the dress" pictures because they would have all be indecent. I didn't wear a bra, so yeah. And I had to put the dress on before doing hair and makeup because of the way the neckline is built. Anyway. This is me in my dress, with my veil and hair. Love it! I love the back of my dress.
Me and the world's bestest maid of honor! She totally rocked, and helped everything flow so wonderfully. The previous pictures were us alternating glaring and laughing, but this was definitely the best picture. I love her so much. :)
This was taken outside in this little tiny garden hidden in the church. It was sprinkling, so we had to bring out the umbrella. We had wanted to go into old-town Poulsbo for some pictures, but it was raining too hard, so we just went out into the garden. It was still awesome. This is my favorite picture out of any that I've seen yet. I can't wait to get the rest from her!
The boys all lined up before the service. No, I did not marry the guy on the left. They lined up in reverse order. The groom is on the right. :)
Apparently, they were pretending to be a boy band. >.< There is allegedly a video of the boys playing with this little electric guitar for kids. I need to find that.
A close-up of my hair. It was perfect. I keep using that word, I realize, but it really was! :)
We took dance lessons from Todd's mom, and this was us managing to not fall down! It was great. I had a lot of fun, and really want to see what pictures the photographer got of it.
Spinny spinny!
Me and my daddy. In the background, you can see DJ 2. Yes. I had to hire a second DJ because the first one is made of epic fail.
So, we didn't have cake because my husband (I love saying that!) is allergic to wheat. I know, it's tragic. I didn't want to fight to find a gluten-free cake that I like, and wasn't going to cost us a fortune. Rather than that, we decided to have an ice cream sundae bar. It was a huge hit! As was the chocolate fondue orchestra, which was basically a big chocolate fondue with strawberries, pound cake, pretzels, gummy worms, and apricots. *OMGdroooool* And I managed to only drip once on my dress!
So, those are all the picture I have right now. Once I get the professional ones, I'll post those. And I probably won't go anywhere because I love looking at what other people are doing.
Ok, vendor reviews!!
Jen Chorost, Studio 139 Portraits - A+++ She was absolutely phenominal. She's an old family friend from years and years ago. Currently, she's living in Buffalo, MN. My dad was out there for a conference about a year ago, and met up with her for lunch. They got to chatting about the wedding, and that's how we ended up hiring her. She gave us a GREAT discount because she knows my dad, and she was great. I totally forgot she was there, which is the way it really should be for a photographer. http://www.studio139portraits.com
Michael Trevors, Michaels Market Cafe - A+ He was also amazing. I found him online the first time we started talking about getting married. Things got complicated, and so we ended up not communicating anymore. When I got back in touch with him again, he totally remembered me. I was thrilled. He made the most amazing food EVER. He made these caprese skewers that totally rocked, and the fondue was his idea. He was SO awesome. And he's got a great little cafe in the Northwest Design Center on highway 305. Go there for lunch if you're in town. You won't want to go anywhere else for lunch ever again. :)
Alicia's Bridal - A++++++++++++++ Ok, so I'm a little biased. I worked there for two and a half years as a sales consultant, but still. Pam, the owner, is AMAZING. If anyone lives up there, or is willing to take a drive to find your gown, go to Bellingham. They have a great selection of high quality gowns at amazingly reasonable prices. And if the gowns in the main store are too much, head next door to the outlet store. Same prices as David's Bridal, but higher quality materials. Sorry to anyone who got a David's dress, but I strongly dislike them. Nothing personal.
The Formal House - A+++++++++++ Again, I'm biased. They are attached to the bridal shop. We would have used them for our tuxes if I had still lived up there, but I moved to Seattle, so it made no sense. But the tux place we used didn't have the right vests. I'm one of the weird people who HATES full back vests. So I got half-back vests from The Formal House, and it was great. The only problem is that I should have gotten one of the best men an exra large vest, but I didn't, so it was a little short. Oh well.
Paxton Rembert, Whatcom Sound - F I booked him a year and a half ago for my formerly December 2008 wedding. I e-mailed him about a month and a half before the wedding, touching base. He e-mails me back to tell me that he can't do the wedding at the price we contracted, so either I could have my deposit back or he could charge us mroe for travel. I would like to point out we were already paying for travel. Not much, because he was going to stay with family, and it's not that far away, but we were paying him. But when he said that if I paid him more, he wouldn't be coming, but one of his employees, I ditched. I took my deposit back and left, thank you very much. Jerk.
The Tux Shop - B- They had great tuxes, but there were a series of problems. First, we find out that the guy we had worked with had booked us the MOST EXPENSIVE tuxes without telling us there were other options. Then all the vests were wrong, and so when I went back to check on those, I found out we'd gotten the most expensive tux, and had to change that. Then, we had to cancel the vests three times because no one could seem to get it right. Their employee turnover was high, and their communcation skills were low. But the guys looked AMAZING, so it's ok.
Laura Tong, Tong's Twigs and More - A She was a family friend again, through the church. She got us our flowers at an AMAZING price, and they were perfect. I loved my bouquet, and the girls, and the boys, and the centerpieces ROCKED. I had to buy glass vases for them (if you need vases, look for them wholesale!! I think mine were something like $2.75 a piece for 4" glass cubes), but bought the wrong ones for the tall centerpieces. So, we got together, and decided to crumple cellophane in the bottom, and fill them with water. It looked amazing. Those are going to be great pictures.
Mark Emmons - A+++++++ He was a friend of my mantron (male maid of honor), and a former instructor at his school. He DJs for a bar in Olympia (Pints and Quarts) every Friday, and he totally hooked us up. $100 an hour. He gave us a much more enjoyable time than Paxton would have, and the music was more the style of most of our guests. We had a lot of guests take off early because the wedding was close enough you didn't need a hotel, especially since there was no alcohol, but far enough away you didn't want to be out really late. But a lot of our friends stayed late to hang with us, so that was great.
Hooray! I'm married! :)