Wedding Wednesday: Inspiration Board Revisited

This will be the last Wedding Wednesday post (no worries up next are honeymoon posts) and I thought it would be fun to revisit the inspiration board I created at the very beginning of our planning process in this post. I actually refered back to this a lot and it was the cover of my wedding binder so that my favorite inspiration was always right there.  So lets see how the real thing compares to the inspiration.

Here is the before:

And the After:

Not exact replicas but I think we did a pretty good job sticking with our inspiration.

So that is the end of our wedding recaps but hopefully next week (or soon) I will start the honeymoon recaps.

10 Unlikely Questions to Create Success

A friend of mine posted an article on Facebook called "10 Questions That Create Success".  I clicked on the article thinking I would see things about job performance and getting ahead at work.  Instead I found something that surprised me..  The questions are:

1. Have I made certain that those I love feel loved?

2. Have I done something today that improved the world?

3. Have I conditioned my body to be more strong flexible and resilient?

4. Have I reviewed and honed my plans for the future?

5. Have I acted in private with the same integrity I exhibit in public?

6. Have I avoided unkind words and deeds?

7. Have I accomplished something worthwhile?

8. Have I helped someone less fortunate?

9. Have I collected some wonderful memories?

10. Have I felt grateful for the incredible gift of being alive?

What an incredible way to re-frame what it means to be a success.  Think about how fulfilled you would feel if at the end of the day you could truly say yes to each of those questions.  These questions inspired me so I thought I would share a little inspiration with you.

Wedding Wednesday: Some Very Special People

I've been waiting to post about these very special people for a while now.  When Nick and I were deciding on our wedding party I had a very hard time choosing bridesmaids.  I have been blessed beyond words with many many amazing women in my life and it was very hard for me to limit the list to just a few. I wanted to honor all their roles in my life in a special way.  As I mentioned in last week's post a friend of mine asked many of her closest friends to be her "Something Blue" and stand up with her in spirit for her wedding.  I loved this idea but wanted to do a little different take on it.  After much brainstorming with my aunt and sister I decided to ask these special women to light the candles for the ceremony.  Using the the lighgt as a symbol of the light each of these woman have been in my life.  I even came across this poem which perfectly illustrated what each of them meant to me:

I've seen the light

And it's in you,

In everything you are

And in everything you do

It's a perfect light

That shines for all to see

It radiates from you

And has pierced the heart of me.

The light is from a friend.

It's a light that keeps me warm.

It lets me know how loved I am,

And keeps me safe from harm.

To you my friend I am thankful,

In each and every way.

For you lift my spirits up,

With every passing day.

To know that you are there for me

It makes me feel alive

Because it is your friendship's light

Upon which my love thrives.

It is your light of friendship

That gives my world its glow.

I sent each woman a card with that poem asking them to light the candles for our wedding.  Unfortunately for lots of reasons not all of them were able to make it to St. Louis for the wedding.  The lovely ladies that were able to make it did a beautiful job setting the stage for the ceremony.  Here are some pictures of the beautiful women: 

Today is going to be another 2 for 1 Wednesday with another post coming this afternoon!

Wedding Wishes

A couple weeks ago I posted about our invitations and promised a post with some of the our favorite responses.  We got lots of wonderful heartfelt advice that made getting the RSVPs back even more special.  Here are some of the highlights:

"If each of you will put the other first you'll have harmony.  In disagreements don't accuse the other but explain your feelings.  Give each other some space to do their own thing, then share it with each other."

"No advice for Martha, only Nick...always listen to Martha.  You don't always have to say anything or make a suggestion.  Sometimes she doesn't need suggestions just a good listener."

"I'm not an expert on marriage but I was told a few things when I got married: 1)Say I love you a lot. 2)Hold hands in public. 3)Resolve issues before bed. 4)Laugh often. 5)Treat your spouse as #1"

"Nick- Always remember 3 words... 'you're right Martha"

"When those inevitable moments occur when you can't stand each other or times get tough, remember what brought you together and the love that made you say 'I Do"

"Remember to share everything with your new husband, including the housework."

And some of the more entertaining ones:

"Politics give guys so much power that they tend to behave badly around woman"

"Wishes- a baby boy....and a girl...and another boy...and another girl...and happiness.  Wisdom-a bottle of wine will solve any problem...that and telling Martha she's pretty. Advice- ditch the Cowboys and become a Saints fan!"

"We hope you enjoy the jacuzzi at the Holiday Inn! (we did)"

and this last one could only be explained with a picture:

"Nicholas, You have at least 50 years of rivalry ahead of you. GO CUBS"

Tulle and Tutus

Long before I was ever engaged I was perusing a photographer's website and saw pictures from a fabulous wedding.  The whole wedding was beautiful, but there was one thing that caught my eye and I have been in love with ever since.

Flower girl Tutus!  Seriously how darling are those girls? 

So when we got engaged the flower girl attire was a simple decision- she would be sporting a Tutu.

This weekend while my mom and sister were in town for the wedding I took advantage of having them around and pushed through the "wedding wall" and we started making these:

That is Emily's American Girl doll and her very own tutu. In our family we have a tradition of our special dolls sporting matching outfits like Emily and Baby Doll at Christmas:

We also decided that Payton should get a tutu as well so we spent part of the weekend making 3 tutus.  I don't have any pics of Payton and her tutu but this weekend was her 1 month birthday so I thought you might like a picture of her adorableness!

Wedding Wall

Two weekends ago Nick and I drove to Indiana for my 5 year college reunion.  As part of the festivities the girls I lived with in college decided it was a good time to have a bachlorette party for me.  It was a great time and wonderful to see some friends that I hadn't seen for a while. After that weekend I spent last week seeing lots of people I don't see all that often which of course led to lots of wedding questions and I found myself not having lots of answers.  (I will post pictures from the weekend soon-but today is a different topic!)  We are at a point where all that is really left are detail type things.  For months I have been saying I would get around to those once school was out.  Well school has been out for almost a month and I have done nothing, nor have I found the energy to get started on anything.  Now I find myself saying- I will get to that in July.  Then I realized- yikes- that only gives me 2 months maybe I should start now.  I think part of my problem is just not knowing where to start as well as having so many different inspiration pics for the wedding details that I just can't decide what to do.  Anyway maybe I have hit a Wedding Wall- maybe I just really don't care as much about little details as I did 10 months ago or maybe I will wake up tomorrow and be super motivated to get stuff done. Like one wise friend of mine said last week- "at the end of the day it won't matter if you have those things- the wedding will still happen and you will still be married"  But really I suppose I should get my butt in gear and finish things like the flower girl dress, so the poor kid doesn't have to walk down the aisle in a paper sack. 

Friend's Wedding Fun!

So I know this blog is mostly about our wedding, but this weekend 2 exciting wedding related things happened to friends of ours.  Our friends, Justin and Diana got married and while I was getting ready for the wedding I got a call from my good friend, Brittany, that she got engaged Friday night!

Justin and Diana's wedding was the first wedding we have been to together since we got engaged and it was fun to experience the wedding from a little bit different perspective.  It was a beautiful wedding and a lot of fun.  Here are a couple pictures from the day:

 Congrats Justin and Diana- it was a great day and we couldn't be happier for the 2 of you.

Brittany and Gabe so happy for both of you and can't wait to celebrate your big day!

Pretty Things: Politically Inspired

As I am sure you all know Nick works in politics and so politics, the good, the bad and the ugly are a part of our lives. (yes, there is some good- but that is a discussion for another day)  I thought it would be fun to share some politically themed wedding inspiration I have found along the way.  None of this will be making an appearance at our wedding, but we do have a good friend who just might have a politically themed wedding if he can convince the future Mrs. of that idea so we will save all this for them :)

Click on the picture to enlarge and  read the cute invitation wording

And now check out this awesome rehearsal dinner invitation. I had to do a double take before I realized it wasn't a real political mailer:

Front

 

Back

And here is a close up of both the endorsements:

 

How creative is that?

A Dr. Seuss Bonus

When I was looking for things for yesterday's pretty things post I came across some Dr. Seuss wedding vows that I thought deserved their own post.  Nick and I are a bit too traditional to go this route, but they made me smile so I hope you enjoy!

Pastor: Will you answer me right now
These questions, as your wedding vow?

Groom: Yes, I will answer right now
Your questions as my wedding vow.

Pastor: Will you take her as your wife?
Will you love her all your life?

Groom: Yes, I take her as my wife,
Yes, I'll love her all my life.

Pastor: Will you have, and also hold
Just as you have at this time told?

Groom: Yes, I will have, and I will hold,
Just as I have at this time told,
Yes, I will love her all my life
As I now take her as my wife.

Pastor: Will you love through good and bad?
Whether you're happy or sad?

Groom: Yes, I'll love through good and bad,
Whether we're happy or sad,
Yes, I will have and I will hold
Just as I have already told,
Yes, I will love her all my life,
Yes, I will take her as my wife!

Pastor: Will you love her if you're rich?
Or if you're poor, and in a ditch?

Groom: Yes, I'll love her if we're rich,
And I will love her in a ditch,
I'll love her through good times and bad,
Whether we are happy or sad,
Yes, I will have, and I will hold
(I could have sworn this has been told!)
I promise to love all my life
This woman, as my lawful wife!

Pastor: Will you love her when you're fit,
And also when you're feeling sick?

Groom: Yes, I'll love her when we're fit,
And when we're hurt, and when we're sick,
And I will love her when we're rich
And I will love her in a ditch
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold
Ten years from now a thousandfold,
Yes, I will love for my whole life
This lovely woman as my wife!

Pastor: Will you love with all your heart?
Will you love till death you part?

Groom: Yes, I'll love with all my heart
From now until death do us part,
And I will love her when we're rich,
And when we're broke and in a ditch,
And when we're fit, and when we're sick,
(Oh, CAN'T we get this finished quick?)
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold,
And if I might now be so bold,
I'll love her my entire life,
Yes, I WILL take her as my wife!

Pastor: Then if you'll take her as your wife,
And if you'll love her all your life,
And if you'll have, and if you'll hold,
From now until the stars grow cold,
And if you'll love through good and bad,
And whether you're happy or sad,
And love in sickness, and in health,
And when you're poor, and when in wealth,
And if you'll love with all your heart,
From now until death do you part,
Yes, if you'll love her through and through,
Please answer with these words:

Pastor and Groom: I DO!

Pastor: You're married now! So kiss the bride,
But please, do keep it dignified.

Pretty Things; Dr. Seuss

Had I been on the ball I would have posted this in March for Dr. Seuss's birthday (yes I know when his birthday is- don't judge!) but alas I was not on the ball so you get it randomly this week.  Dr. Seuss has always been a family favorite and for as long as I can remember he has been one of my favorite author and still to this day his book Sneetches tops my list of favorite books.  I thought it only appropriate that I dedicate a pretty things post to Dr. Seuss inspired weddings:

And this last one looks much less Dr. Seuss esque but I thought it was a beautiful way to include his words into a wedding. 

Let Them Eat Cake!

I have a confession to make: I don't really like cake!  Shocking, I know.  As a kid I used to eat the frosting and leave what I referred to as "the fuzzy part" (really appetizing I know) on my plate.  As my palette matured I really stopped even caring for the frosting all that much too so if I have to choose a dessert cake is probably always going to be my last choice.  So really picking the wedding cake was not high on my priority list. I am, however, open to the fact that other people enjoy cake and would be disappointed to show up at a wedding and not get cake, Nick included.  So have no fear we will have cake!  Our contract with our reception site actually includes a contract with a local baker for our cake so we didn't get to spend weekend after weekend in a sugar comma going to every bakery in town to choose one, which again I was a-ok with! I had a small collection of inspiration photos (Just because I don't like to eat it doesn't mean I don't think they are pretty).  Nick and I sat down Friday night to go through my stack of ideas and decided we wanted something like one of these below:

So Saturday afternoon we took our inspiration to Wedding Wonderland.  We walked into a showroom full of decorated Styrofoam cakes.  They were pretty busy but we finally found someone to help us.  She told us that our contract with the Holiday Inn included any of the cakes on the showroom floor.  If we wanted something other than one of the cakes on the floor it would cost us on top of the contract.  Honestly, my heart sunk just a little bit at that moment.  While I didn't really care about the cake in the grand scheme of things, I know what I like and didn't want someone to tell me I only had a few options to pick from.  However, not caring enough to pay extra we started wandering the showroom.  We immediately found a few cakes that actually weren't so bad and I could like.  We quickly narrowed down the 60-some cakes down to 4:

And the one we picked:

Ha- totally kidding!  Not sure I can imagine any occasion where that is the cake I would pick.

Seriously here is what we decided on:

Ours will only be 4 tiers instead of 5.  The black tier will be royal blue and the swirls will be green. 

We also got to decide on what flavors we wanted our cake to be.

We sampled 6 different flavors:
yellow with strawberry filling
chocolate with fudge filling
white with raspberry filling
banana with no filling
carrot with cream cheese filling
strawberry with no filling

We decided on 3...can you guess which 3??  I will give you a hint- 1 of the 3 doesn't have any filling.

Pretty Things: Our Flowers

When I started posting the weekly pretty things posts I mentioned that we were in a bit of a planning lull.  Well I lied! Not really lied I guess but forgot that there were several things that I never posted about, one being deciding on our flowers and booking a florist.  It seemed fitting to make this a "Pretty Things" post because what is prettier than flowers.

When we first started planning I had decided that I thought we could just buy flowers from a wholesaler and arrange them ourselves to save money.  Nick convinced me that maybe we should at least meet with a couple of florist to make sure it was really worth it.  Thank goodness he did because we found a very reasonable florist who has been amazing to work with and is really flexible and willing to put up with my millions of changes and our budget restrictions. I think it will greatly reduce my stress level the week before the wedding and be worth every penny.  I am really excited to work with Jenny at Floral Jaz.  We first met with Jenny in January.  We came with just a couple of pictures and she sat with us for about an hour and talked through everything and had great ideas of what might work for the look we were going for.  Here is the original inspiration photo we brought with us:

My bouquet will look similar to that with roses, hydrangeas, spider mums, berries and we are adding some blue cornflowers:

 

The bridesmaids bouquets will be a similar structure including the grass loops but will be a mix of daisies and buttom mums.  It will look similar to this bouquet but the daisies will be smaller and have green centers. The bouquet will also be a tighter fit like mine. (It also wont have the weird bling in the picture):

The rest of the flowers will be a mix of those above in shades of white, green and blue.  So there are our flowers!

Pretty Things: Baseball

As most of you know Nick and I are huge baseball fans (if only we could agree on a team!).  Today is Opening Day of the baseball season so I thought it only fitting to do a baseball inspired Pretty Things post and who knows some of these things may just be making an appearance at our wedding!

Some of these are a little to theme-y  for my taste but who knows there may be some hidden baseball surprises involved in our wedding!

Happy Baseball Season- and as always- GO CUBBIES!

Pretty Things: Fiesta

So I may have jinxed the weather after last week's spring post.  We started the week with 80 degree weather and ended the week with  30 degrees and 4 inches of snow.  With terrible weather like that what can one do but throw a fiesta, so we decided to invite all our friends over for some margaritas and nachos last night.  In honor of that I thought I would post a little Fiesta wedding inspiration. Enjoy!

Unfortunately we didn't have one of these but how fun would this be at a wedding:

Too bad Nick said we can't have one :( Hope the rest of you are keeping warm and aren't buried in snow!