Since the kitchen is at the stage where we have a bunch of little tasks to complete before we're "finished", I figured it was a good time to share our wedding!  We realized last night that we've already hit the 6 month mark, and somehow that was kinda crazy to us!  It seems like just a couple weeks ago we were basking in the afterglow of the awesome party. 

Last summer my posting was a little sporadic but I checked in at the end of August to let you know that we were finally "official" and shared one of my favorite shots.


Our wedding was honestly our best day ever.  While it was a majority of my project, Mike and I both worked hard to make it fun, and uniquely us.

I'm going to break this into a couple posts because, we honestly have so many awesome photos to share, that it's just easier that way.  Our photographer was a friend of mine from high school, and even if she wasn't, she still would be my top pick.  Sara Candle from Studio SPC was awesome!  The above photo was edited by her as our first sneak peek to hit social media and she used my hand-drawn lettering from our chalkboard sign to add to one of our group shots.  It's the perfect introduction, cover photo, and representation of the day!  She's a girl after my own heart and understands that details count.

via Instagram

Back to the big day.  We chose to hold the ceremony in a national park near where I grew up.  Both Mike and I spent our childhoods hiking the trails in the Valley and knew we wanted something outside.  The park also housed a shelter which helped calm my fears of needing a rain plan, we had perfect mid-70's sunny weather.  The shelter was  used for snacks and drinks after the ceremony.  At the entrance to the park we set up a tent sign Mike and I made using old pallets. 


Along the path, guests were greeted with a matching sign we also made, that let people know they were heading in the right direction.


On the other side, which would be read as the guests were leaving, read what would become my motto for the day.


I made fan programs, after this inspiration, and grabbed a Target basket from our old TV stand to place them in.  



My biggest creative contribution to the wedding was all the paper flowers.  I envisioned giant paper flowers sitting at all the tables, and took that idea further to all the flowers including the bouquets, boutonnieres, and ceremony decorations.  I liked the idea of the all paper flowers in the natural park setting, and not to mention but it was a lot cheaper than real flowers!


I started a month or so before the wedding date and made all the flowers using the silhouette and cricut, thinking I would have a majority of them completed ahead of schedule.  I had already planned to use vacation time to take the week off prior to the wedding, (I know, you're supposed to take the week after), and actually made most of them during this week.  The boys had shades of blue, while Mike's was white, and our family members had corals and shades of blues.    



We wanted a casual elegance feel and the boys wore khakis, (I told them to wear whatever they had on hand), with white shirts and we gifted them suspenders and bow ties.  Mike wore khakis, a blue shirt, suspenders under a vest, and a bow tie.

 
Our ushers were just as important, so I wanted them to look similar as well and asked them to wear dark pants.  We gifted the suspenders and bow ties as well. 


My bridesmaids wore convertible or infinity dresses in a light gray.  I tried to find something that they could wear again and not to mention that they were under $100 and wrinkle-free too!  We also had one of the cutest ring barriers ever that looked like a mini groomsmen!




After the gorgeous bridesmaids made their way down the aisle it my turn.  I chose to have my mom walk me down, a choice I made years ago, and loved sharing that moment with her.




We added a love letter ceremony and Mike and I wrote letters to each other to be opened on our first anniversary.  We also added a bottle of our red wine that we made for the reception.


Mike made the box for me and I stained and painted it.


Little known fact, but Mike was very particular about the hammer we used.  It was one of the first hammers that he owned and the hammer that built our home!


Before we knew it we were married and ready to party!




But first, the formal photos!