wedding reception details!

I know, it's just what you wanted - more wedding pictures/details. Don't worry, I'm almost done - I'll do a real post soon... I just have a lot swimming around in this head of mine and I'm trying to get together before I write about it, so for now - more fun pictures of the wedding! I am so happy with how our reception decor/details came together... We knew from the beginning that we wanted it to be bright and fun and I think I just LOVED it all....

When you walked upstairs from the ceremony we had a table with everyone's table assignments, the guestbook, framed pictures of DJ and I, and some fun party favors... we weren't going to do a guestbook but then I saw this post on Perpetually Engaged and decided that Nikki's idea was perfect for DJ and I so I ordered this book from amazon...
 

We decided to do black tableclothes and bright colored napkins on the tables along with those we had black, gold and silver NYE party favors and some silver ornaments and of course - our goldfish centerpieces....

We also decided not to do a head table and to have a sweetheart table, it was nice because we were able to sit down and have our dinner together and have a little bit of time for "us" before we started making our rounds. Once the "dancing" portion of the evening started the table was broken down and moved for more dancing room but I'm glad we were able to sit together for a bit (and eat, duh).

wasn't that fun? :)

Our Ceremony

Our ceremony was by far one of my favorite parts of the wedding, if not my very favorite... it was just perfect, 100% us - through and through [okay, the turkey painting above the mantle is not very us, but that can be fixed with photoshop and it's pretty funny if you really think about it - I could have covered it/taken it down, I'm just lazy].  Anyways, our ceremony was carefree, fun and relaxed and I felt like it oozed love... here are some of my favorite pictures from the ceremony [there are a lot]...

our grand entrances...

our readers doing such an amazing job, Craig who was one of my old staff members read the Benediction of the Apaches. Our Friend Stevo then read/spoke in tune of the song an excert of Fool's Rush In (Elvis Song).  Then our last reading was a Taylor Mali poem Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog which was read by two of my old staff members Chris and Brian - it was hilarious, sweet and just perfect. I'm so happy with the readings that we choose... it couldn't have been more us!

clearly we laughed a lot....

 and so did everyone else...


our amazing officiants - DJ's older brother Mike and his younger brother Mat... and yes, they read off of iPads... I think this is going to be a new trend in weddings, so efficient!  

two of my favorite pictures from the ceremony...

the breaking of the glass...

 our first kiss [and the turkeys]

we're married [again!]

don't they just make you smile?

okay, maybe its just me!

First Look!

DJ and I decided to do a first look for a few reasons, one we wanted to go ahead and get pictures done since we weren't having a cocktail hour (and didn't want to miss out on the fun) and well, we're already married so let's just get the show on the road, right?

It was great, I went with our photographer Sarah a few weeks in advance to scope out picture locations and we decided to do it on the stairs of our B&B - DJ and friends/family were on the bottom of the stairs and I came down the stairs... we only had one photographer and I really wanted to capture DJ's face when he saw me in my dress (the only real surprise in the wedding)... I think it went really well and I didn't fall down the stairs (SUCCESS)!

So here are some of my favorites from our "first look"

next up, the ceremony! :)

dressing the bride....

After the bridesmaids got dressed in one of the King Suites at our bed and breakfast, my MOH Lindi, my mom and I went to the main house of the b&b to my mom's room to "dress the bride" - we decided to do a "first look" [the next post]. I got dressed upstairs in my mom's room and then I went down the stairs to my groom. So here are some additional bridal details and the "getting dressed" process...

My beautiful dress...

My bridal hair....

"Dressing the bride"

putting on those last final touches....

the final product - tada!

borrrowed, blue, old & new... [bridal details]

I put a fair amount of thought into my something borrowed, blue, old and new - and then a little bit of it was just happenstance. These pictures are some of my favorites of the wedding because it highlights some items that are very important to me and that I wanted to be a part of our wedding.

Something Blue:
Well, my undies were my original something blue (lovely pair of unmentionables from two of my besties and bridesmaids Kelly and Lindsey) and also my shoes played a more "visible" role of my something blue.  Here are my shoes ($12 from Target), that I fancied up with shoe clips ($22.50 from Absolutely Audrey). Along with my bouquet that my bridesmaids, mom and I made ourselves!

Something Borrowed:
The majority of my jewelry was my something borrowed. I borrowed a beautiful pearl bracelet from my mother-in-law and earrings from one of my best friends and bridesmaids Lindsey (that she wore in her wedding). I opted not to wear a necklace to just keep the simple look that I was going for and to not detract from the detail of my dress.

Something Old
I wanted to have honor both my mom and dad on my wedding day and instead of buying a new purse I used one of my mom's vintage purses, which was just beautiful and perfect. Also, the idea of my wedding without my father was definitely a difficult one so I knew he had to be a part of it in many ways. One of the ways that I carried him with me was I carried his pocketknife [that he always had with him] in my pocket through the duration of the wedding. Not something super visible, but something close to my heart and special to me.

Something New:
So originally my something new was going to be my wedding dress but on the day before the wedding DJ surprised me with a beautiful diamond ring. I never had an engagement ring as we eloped and just exchanged wedding bands. When his mom was moving his grandmother from NJ to GA she found a diamond ring that belonged to DJ's Great Aunt and called DJ to see if he wanted to make a ring for me. They had been planning this for months and his mom had a beautiful ring made just for me and I can't even explain how touched I was by DJ and his family and their love and generosity. It was one of the most special moments of the wedding and I was genuinely surprised and still can't stop looking and my beautiful ring(s)....

So there they are my beautiful something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new! Now because I'm a picture junkie here are some of my other favorite "bridal detail" pictures - enjoy! :)

Hey Ladies... [my bridal party]

I can't even begin to explain how amazing my bridal party was... they're five of my favorite ladies in the world and the best part is that they all loved each other too. I loved getting to spend time with them that week, they all came in two nights before the wedding and we had a massive slumber party at our house Wednesday night, they helped with massive amounts of wedding prep on Thursday and then Friday was the wedding day. They were so helpful, loving and supportive - having them stand up with me and the time with them definitely were one of the best parts of the wedding!

When it came to "dressing the ladies" we went with simple strapless black dresses from White House Black Market (on sale for like $50, you can't beat that). The tops were pleated and they had POCKETS just like my dress, hooray! During our ladies weekend I gave them the colors that I wanted the bridesmaids shoes to be and they picked their colors and we went from there. I gave them their jewelry and bright colored Victoria's Secret PINK sweatpants as their bridal party gift and they looked absolutely amazing and beautiful if I do say so myself... here are some of my favorite bridal party pics - enjoy!

some of the bridesmaids bouquets (that they made themselves)

bridesmaid's shoes!

my loves!

yeah, it was just a little cold that day...

these are some of my favorite pictures of the day....

yay POCKETS!

aren't they the cutest??