The Wedding: Beauty and Fashion

As I explained in this earlier post, the day of our wedding was a little bit different than usual.

When it came down to fashion on the day of our wedding, mine was pretty simple. I bought my dress and cathedral length veil on super sale at Alfred Angelo. I wore super cute, gold peep toe pumps that you can see in my blog header! My pearl necklace was borrowed from my Aunt Brandi and my white gold earrings were a gift from my mom a few days before the wedding. That took care of my something new and something borrowed.

For my hair, I decided to keep it simple and just go straight and "half-up/half-down". After the ceremony, it got so hot outside that my MOH (who was amazing) fixed my hair into a cute low bun with two flower pins.

But what I was really proud of was my make-up. I have super oily skin, so I really needed make-up options that were long lasting. Last year I found the Bare Minerals Matte foundation and absolutely fell in love. It goes on smooth and provides great coverage, but doesn't look cakey. To keep my pretty pink eye shadow going strong, I primed my eye lids with the Urban Decay Primer Potion. Top it off with the Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick for some subtle color and I was good to go. I'm usually one of the people that requires 50+ photos before there is one I actually approve for public viewing, but when I opened up our wedding photos I was really happy with the way I looked. Doing my own make-up let me be in control. I didn't have to worry about an over-zealous make up artist coloring my face. Don't get me wrong, a great make up artist is worth their weight in gold, but not only was this out of my budget but doing my own just made me more comfortable.

What are you doing for your wedding? Hiring someone or going it on your own? Any products that you just have to share? I'd love to know!

The Wedding: The Day of & Getting Ready

Yes, it's been over six months since our wedding, I'm just now getting around to a few of recaps but the more I thought about this particular post, the more I wanted to write it so I wouldn't forget. In a perfect world, I would have those pretty pictures of me being laced into my dress and having my make-up done, but then I wouldn't have had all of the awesome "pre-wedding adventures" that my girls and I had on the big day.

As you might have noticed, I was a super DIY bride. (You did notice, right?) I had the plan. And from table setup to decor, I wanted to be involved. So that morning, I work up around 10:00AM completely chill but with a big smile on my face. I ran a few errands with my amazing MOH, Tabetha (best sister ever!) and then we all (Mom, sisters, best friends, and his family) made our way over to the reception hall a few towns over.

We did everything. We hung ornaments outside, my amazing in-laws spent the humid, early afternoon hanging their white Christmas lights on the deck for dancing that night, and we got everything prepped for the rental arrival later. It was sweaty but fun. I had made a mix CD for the trip down to my hometown the prior weekend, and I remember jamming to some Ke$ha (my guilty and very hidden pleasure) while working on the reception site.

We had done as much as possible before the clock said "Seriously, Megan, you have about 3 hours before you walk down the aisle" and it was time to head out. At this point in time, I was still feeling no nerves. Just kind of disconnected happiness at the fact that a wedding was going to happen. I'd like to attribute this to the fact that I work for an event planner and had set up for a few weddings in the past but I really think my calmness was a product of knowing that by the end of the day I'd be married to my high school sweetheart and that's all that really mattered.

Still, with three hours to go, we went to a leisurely lunch at an awesome Mexican food restaurant. (Seriously, I'm not sure how I'll survive without Mexican food when we move to the North one day). And then we made our way to the hotel room to get pretty. I really had so much fun before the wedding that I didn't start getting the flutters until about 30 minutes prior to the ceremony? (Is there a world record or something for this? I may have a shot!)

Amanda, Sarah, Me, & Tabetha (MOH)

It maybe wasn't your typical "day of" schedule but I had so much fun with my sisters, mom(s), and friends that I wouldn't have traded it for the world. So there you go, a "Day Of" recap over six months later. And after writing this post, I can think of a few more wedding related posts I'd love to put up for the sake of sharing and remembering!

The Wedding: When things go wrong...

It's hard to believe that just over 3 months ago, Josh and I got married. It's even more difficult to believe that the week leading up to our wedding was one of the most difficult weeks we had to deal with as a couple.

About 8 days prior to the wedding, I had it all planned out for the week of to run smoothly... no, seriously. But, of course, things usually don't work out as planned. We wanted to get married in our hometown, which is six hours away from where we currently live. The Sunday before the big day, we arrive in our hometown in the evening, I drop Josh off at his parents house, and I'm headed to mine when... I hit a huge chunk of wood with my car that all but destroys parts of the under-carriage (for your sake, I'll leave out all of the technical mumbo-jumbo). So there I am, one week before "the biggest day of my life" freaking out (and blubbering, I might add) because our only mode of transportation is now a stationary heap of metal. "How do we get to the airport for the honeymoon? How do we get home after that? How do we even begin to afford another car?" It was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to deal with at this point in my life.

Long story short, we did end up buying a "new" car after the honeymoon and I feel like the experience of purchasing something that big on our own was a great way to start out our marriage, but that doesn't mean it wasn't hard as hell.

I know that this is probably the least fun topic to cover in regards to wedding planning, but things happen and it's important to be aware. So, what do you do when things go wrong close to your wedding? Certainly my case, is not the most serious thing that could happen, but I do feel like there would be similarities between all cases.

1. Go ahead and cry. No, crying won't really solve anything or make the situation better, but if you need to, let it out. Just periodically blow your nose, or it can get messy.

2. Breathe. This is especially important if you choose to participate in Tip #1. Because, I don't know about you, but I am an ugly crier and once I get going, it takes a lot of deep breathing to calm me down.

3. Talk with your fiance. If they aren't with you at the time, get to them or in touch with them as soon as possible. After all, you are marrying this person. Chances are that they are the person you confide in, as well as, the person you will need to discuss the matter with anyways. Plus, it will be a test of their love, once they see your crying face. (KIDDING!)


And 4. Make a game plan. This is somthing that depends entirely on your situation, but if it's something like car trouble or an injury, really think about what the challenges will be in relation to the wedding and decide (with your soon-to-be-spouse) what the best option is.

The most important thing I'll stress is just open communication. Be open-minded and ready to listen to solutions. But most of all, know that you and your other half will have to deal with tough situations throughout your lives and the key to getting past it is supporting each other and rationally creating a solution.

Candid Moments

The Wedding: Photography

It turns out that photography ends up being a pretty big deal on the most important day of your life. Who knew? But with our budget as small as it was, Josh and I were not inclined to spend the typical $1500+ for five hours of coverage.

We decided to hire one of our friends from high school who is into photography and takes really beautiful pictures. Ours was his first wedding and I have to say he blew it out of the water. I've been looking at the photos several times a day since we picked them up, and I love them!!! Not only did he do an amazing job, but he only charged us $500. It was a total steal. We have all of our photos on a DVD and have permission to print them as frequently as we would like. So we stayed on budget and got to support some local talent! Thank you, Ben!

Now time for some photos!

They turned out beautiful. I can't say thank you enough to our photographer, Ben! Stay tuned for more photos and wedding recaps.

Traditions with a Twist

Now-a-days weddings are all about reflecting the couple (hopefully not just the bride). The days of all white weddings with puffy white sleeves, white cake with weird fruity fillings, and gifts you give your daughter 20 years later because you never used them (thanks mom) are pretty much gone. Today, an engaged couple can choose from millions of color schemes, wedding styles, and even themes. It's pretty neat. But something that a lot of people look forward to at weddings are the traditions. You know. The cake cutting, the bouquet and garter toss, and of course pelting the couple with rice as they run for the hills. But when weddings are morphing so quickly, it's bound to happen that traditions change as well.

Josh and I are including several what I'll call "traditional traditions" in our wedding but you might find that they have a slight twist that makes them more enjoyable to us.

Numero Uno: Ceremony music. This I'm pretty excited about. The Bridal Chorus and Wedding March are beautiful, but it's no longer mandatory that they make an appearance during the ceremony. I'll be walking down the aisle jamming some Frank Sinatra and Josh and I will be announced as Husband and Wife to the retro sounds of the Platters. You just couldn't do that 10 years ago.

Two: Cake cutting. For the life of me I cannot find the Real Wedding post I found this on, but it is an amazingly cute idea. Josh and I will (most likely) be cutting and plating our own wedding cake. Crazy? Maybe. But I have a stellar apron that I'll throw on over my fancy dress and we will be able to get more face-to-face time with guests as they come on down and get some cake. Yum. Plus it's a cost saver.

Tres: We decided to have only a Maid of Honor and a Best Man stand up with us on that day. This decision was slightly dictated by the size of the church (teeny-tiny but oh-so-adorable), but it also made sense to us because we are having an intimate ceremony and it seemed as though 2 bridesmaids would have led to twelve if you know what I'm saying.

Of course, I'm sure there are a lot more traditions we'll be twisting but those are definitely the top three.

Now for traditions we're skipping:

• Bouquet and garter toss. No thank you.
• Tossing anything for the exit. I'm really hoping just to hug everyone, since a lot of family is coming in that I haven't seen in a while.
• Formal dancing. Including first dance, dancing with parents, etc. That just takes up too much time and guests are expected to stand and watch us for 3-6 minutes while this goes on? Boring.

It is completely acceptable to take traditions and make them your own now. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what our parents and grandparents had done if they had the freedom to forego traditional traditions? What traditions are you skipping and which ones are you twisting?