Our Wedding: Getting Ready

Planning for our wedding was simultaneously the most exciting and the most stressful thing I think I have ever done.  I didn't want it to be a traditional wedding and I didn't want to be one of those brides who is all about her wedding and all the wonderful and expensive things that went into it.  I also didn't want it to look like we didn't care at all.  I wanted something artistic and fun for everyone (although we all know it's impossible to please EVERYONE), that was equal parts me and Bear.  I wanted to represent each of our family members who we grew up with and honor family, as family is important to both of us.  The guest list was the most difficult thing by far.  I have a huge family, and almost everyone came out to celebrate with us!  Then we had a ton of mutual friends and a few of those separate friends, and then parents of friends we've had for eons.  In a perfect world we would have invited everyone we knew AND their mothers, but caterers want money per plate and venues want head counts and can only accommodate so many people.  But I digress.











The day of wedding seemed to magically jump forward on my calendar.  Of course, it didn't, but it FELT like I had all this time, and then one day I woke up and went straight into makeup and hair.  Where did the time go?  I spent a good portion of the morning with my coffee and mimosas chanting "things will go wrong, and that's totally cool".  Things DID go wrong, but it was totally cool.  For the most part, everything went off without a hitch.  I felt nauseous the whole day and drank a metric ton of water (I felt like I was soooo dehydrated, which always happens when I am nervous), and my stomach was all tied up in knots.  I was worried about some things I couldn't do anything about (like the opinions of certain people or if other people were enjoying themselves), and tried desperately with some success to let it all go.  Eventually I stopped beating myself up over the minor things, and realized there was no way to alter the course of the day at this point, and there was DEFINITELY no way to read the minds of the people I was anguishing over.  So, I gave up the goose and felt instantly at ease.  It's best to just enjoy what YOU can out of the day, and not let other people's possible feelings or interpretations ruin it all for you.  But I digress (again)...

The morning was a whirlwind of activity as the girls and I got dolled up! I had a truly wonderful time hanging out with my girls.  Jess did an AMAZING job on my makeup (if you click the link a fair warning, she works on zombie movies and does lots of special effects makeup, too!), and Kaite made us all look like 1940's glamour queens with our fancy hair... and somehow managed to get herself ready in the knick of time, as she was a bridesmaid!  Seriously, my friends are all Wonderwomen.





I was so in love with the flowers Kendall of The Crane Factory on Etsy made us out of our favorite books!  My bouquet was made with pages of a Charles de Lint novel, and the girls all had Shakespeare in reference to their theatre affiliations.  The guys all had Tolkien and/or Robin Hood boutonnieres.  The wedding party was super enthralled by them, and my sister-in-law De planned to make Ben's boutonniere into a Christmas ornament!  I told Kendall this and now she even offers ornaments in her shop... cute!  Kendall was an absolute DREAM to work with!  She was fast and the craftmanship was excellent.  We had wonderful conversations about weddings and family and coffee and art.  I LOVE her, and if I ever make it out to her neck of the woods I completely plan to call her up and meet her for coffee.  Etsy is amazing in the way it brings people together, even if they live on different coasts!





I purchased my jewelry from Etsy also.  I adored my earrings and necklace!  We used a lot of paper craft for the wedding ambiance and I wanted to carry that theme through to my accessories.  I purchased my earrings from mxmjewelry; they looked like tiny pinwheels!  The necklaces I got for myself and my girls were purchased from PaperPeaches.  I chose the origami cranes, which were also a decor feature.  Each bridesmaid received a chain of cranes in a tiny glass vial that matched her dress color (exactly, which is wild considering I purchased the necklaces when I knew the general colors but we hadn't figured out the exact hue yet!).  I chose the rainbow crane chain for myself to involve all the colors of the day in my outfit.  Kim was amazing... we had planned our wedding to be much later this year, and she doesn't usually do custom orders during semesters.  She allowed my order, though, since I had already contacted her, even though she had to complete the order during finals!  I am forever grateful to her for her generosity!  And holy cow... how does one even BEGIN to wrap one's mind around creating tiny origami cranes situated on a needle?!?!  Mind = blown.





While we sipped on mimosas and talked about romance, the boys spent the morning preparing as only boys can: with beer, bourbon, and video games.  Guys kinda luck out in all this: while it took us the full morning and early portion of the afternoon to get ready, it took the guys a MUCH shorter time.  Then it was all Smash Bros and beer and hilarious photo shoots at the hotel pool!  I think Bear was MUCH more relaxed about the prospect of the rest of the day than I was by the time we saw each other for the first time that day.









I asked Bear for a silly photo in the massive hot tub (that's in our wedding night suite) and he delivered!  I had NO IDEA that kind of goofiness was going on in the pool room, though... now I know what Auntie Lynn meant when she said "you're gonna LOVE the boys' photos!" with that mischievous twinkle in her eye.  Touche, Auntie Lynn, touche.

I love the contrast of the morning between the girls and the guys!  I am a little jealous that I didn't get to play video games and drink beer, too, but I had a ton of fun with the girls (even if it looks mild in the photos).  Next up: the first look and formals.  Until then!

*All photos in the post c/o Lynn Norgren Photography!