Making it my own

A few months back I mentioned I was making a change to my dress. http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/06/28/new-dress/. Originally my Private Label by G dress went straight across in the back. I knew my dress was the the best for my body and it really had all the elements that I wanted in a wedding dress. But something was missing...there was something that I just knew I wanted to be different. It wasn't until the dress arrived and I had my first fitting that I realized I need some extra pizazz in the back. When I went in for my second fitting I asked the seamstress what could we do to have it dip in the back. A few pins later she was ready to start my dip. I think the results turned out great! I loved the back of my dress. I really felt like the dress was a little bit more of my own and not like any other bride.
This is the back after I had the dip detail added.


Here is the before from knotbio of southerngrl *her dress is also in a different color than mine but you get the idea :)

Posed vs. Candid

I wanted really wanted a mixture of both posed and candid shots throughout the day. We all have seen the wedding albums were it is just page after page of forced poses. No matter how many times I watch Top Model I still don't have my model pose totally perfected. So rather than worry about that I wanted to make sure we had many candid pictures throughout the wedding. I really want to be able to look at our pictures in 50 years and have them look like a day in motion.
But then I started thinking the benefits of having posed pictures can also be timeless if done in a natural way. I was very lucky to have a good photographer that made this happen. I had a mental list of posed pictures I wanted captured beyond the bride and groom shots. For example I really wanted to be able to capture all of our families together, my siblings and I needed a new picture together as well and a individual shot of us with each bridal party member.
Then their is was grey area of pictures types that i didn't know about until I started to take my pictures. They are I will loosly call posed candid. They are pictures that look candid but they are actually somewhat posed.
When you hire/hired your photographer what style of photographs did you request more or less of?
Here are a some of my favorite posed and candid pictures.
I love this one because it is posed (Tor asked me to stop and look back), but it looks somewhat candid(mostly cause I didn't know what I was doing :)).

Posed sibling picture

Then candid ones when we went looking


This was during a bridal shot when our niece decided she wanted to run and play so it turned into a candid!

This is a posed bridal group shot.

Ok I went a little over buget...

But it was worth every penny! When I originally started reviewing our wedding budget with my dad we allotted $200 for flowers. I know some of you are the "WHAT!?!" Well the thing is Mr. Butterscotch and a few of our other family members are very allergic to pollen and even have a skin reaction to grass and flowers. So I didn't really see a need to have a large floral budget. I thought I would find some practical alternative. Well after a few months of looking into other ideas I decided to at least see what a florist had to offer. I went into each meeting with only one request, my bouquet had to have Iris's in it. I met with about 6 florists and while their ideas were great, either the price was all wrong (i.e. too much) or I just didn't really click with them. Since we originally didn't have a large floral budget we decided to reviewed the estimates thus far, I had quotes ranging $1400-$5000. Based on my needs we agreed $2000 was more than enough to allot to flowers but of course I was going to do my best to come under that.
My last florist I had to meet with was Kendra at Loves me Flowers www.lovesmeflowers.com. At this point I was ready to resume my alternative ideas search. But once I sat down and talked with her, I had hope again for flowers. Kendra was very knowledgeable of the different types of flowers and what I could or could not get away with for allergies. Bonus for me was Kendra was familiar with our venue she came up with centerpieces that would compliment the room and incorporate iris and hydrangea! She is also very nice, I can easily say she was the nicest florest I met with and wasnt the least bit turned off when I really did not have many ideas of what I wanted. She was more than happy to help guide me to what she thought would work with the room and our colors.
Her final estimate was very affordable and she was willing to work with me if that wasn't within my budget. But her quote was well within our budget and as soon as I had the "ok" I speed dialed Kendra to book the date! :)
On the wedding day Kendra was right on time and as soon as she brought in my bouquet at the church I knew I had made the correct choice in having Kendra do my flowers. It was breathtaking!
Here are a few shots of the flowers by Tor Clausen.
My bouquet had white Iris and white roses.


I just loved how the flowers are so striking against their dresses.



The groomsmen and my brother/usher wore the purple iris

My brother aka the usher

The groom, my dad and grandma wore all white iris. His Mom and Dad white orchids. This picture is funny because my grandma was cold so she left her sweater on, it was like 80 degrees out. Gotta love the Grandma!

So for under $2000 I was able to get
1 Bridal bouquet
5 Bridesmaid bouquets
8 boutonnieres
16 centerpieces
cake flowers
tea lights for all the tables
and Kendra was even nice enough to throw in a gift table arrangement!
My guest were able to take the centerpieces home which was a huge hit!
Here are a few candid shots at the reception so you can see the centerpieces.


Our ring bearer at the gift table before the reception started with our complimentary bouquet. P.S. Check out my last minute DIY card box!

Not one bad one in the bunch.

My bridesmaids were wonderful! They were all helpful throughout our whole engagement. And on the actual wedding day they were even more amazing. They helped answer questions from vendors to family so that I would not be disturbed all while keeping track of me and Mr Butterscotch so we didn't cross paths. I don't think my sister/maid of honor left side that day until it was her turn to walk down the aisle. I let the girls pick the dress and I think they choose well. It was flattering on all of them.
They all looked so amazing!












Now a little vendor info on the bridesmaids: We purchased their dresses at Moms, Maids and More in Bellevue. We originally placed the order in February and they would be there by the end of May for pick up. They came in a whole month early! The staff was very nice and helpful. Their dresses are by Bill Levoff. I had the 5 girls in the blue and one usher in a violet.
The shoes were from C.B. Collections and I got them for $15 each from Bealls Florida.com. They matched the dresses perfectly and what a steal!

Its almost 5 o'clock

Sure everyone tells the bride your day will go by so fast. So when my sister came in to our bridal suite and said "It's almost 5 o'clock we should start getting ready" I was shocked. I still would swear to you I had just looked at a clock and it was 3! Oh well, I wouldn't complain about getting into my wedding dress! Here are our professional getting ready pictures.
Pictures taken by Tor Clausen









Time to head up stairs for our bridal party pictures...What do you think so far? I love how the black and white pictures look! I swoon every time I look at them. More to come soon!

Freeze frame

And I have pictures to prove it! Our wedding day was perfect! The sun was shining and birds were chirping from the moment I got up. I really don't even know where to start! I guess if I could freeze time at any point of the day it would be this moment.

I know some brides would choose the moment they first saw their groom. But not me. At this moment as we exited the church the bells were chiming and our families and friends were cheering with joy! And we were husband and wife! Ok, ok, ok it was basically my Cinderella moment come to life. ***Watch the end of Disney Cinderella and you will know exactly what I am talking about.
Photography: Tor Clausen
If I was a teacher I would give him A+++! I met Tor last year when I was a maid of honor at my friend Kori wedding. I loved the photos he took at her wedding so it was an easy choice when I got engaged a few months later. Tor has a wonderful way about him and he can put anyone at ease. Which is exactly what we needed since the groom is shy and not fond of taking pictures. tor was always available to answer my questions prior to the wedding. He was at the church on time and had already scoped out some great places for us to take pictures. I can honestly say I didn't even really notice him around that much, that was how well he blended in with the crowd. His prices are very reasonable and the finished product...well I can honestly say I couldn't be more pleased. http://www.torstudios.com/

Ahhh....

Ok let me see a show of hands, how great are honeymoons??? Everyone should take a honeymoon! Its better than a vacation! St. Thomas was so beautiful, we spent 24 hours a day together and...we get to come back to the same house!!! It was like the icing on my honeymoon cake!
When we got back I had a fun surprise in my mail...My pictures! I will be back in full form this week. I cannot wait to share!

That darn Dean!

We are very lucky that hurricane Dean has passed over our honeymoon location. I almost feel like we should be wiping our brows with a "phew". Our final two choices were Mexico or the Virgin Islands. And the only reason we didn't choose Mexico is because we knew we could easily get there one day. But I cannot even imagine how frustrating it is for everyone else that has their honeymoons hanging in the balance. Does anyone else have a honeymoon back up plan?

Whirlwind

I feel like Dorothy after she landed in OZ. What a whirlwind of a weekend I had! The wedding was wonderful! Not one snag during the whole day.

Here is a teaser picture taken by my beyond wonderful photographer Tor.

Practice makes perfect

Friday night before the wedding we had our rehearsal. We had a great time! Everyone was there on time 6pm sharp! A few months prior our pastor that was performing the ceremony had told us that when it came to the rehearsal he would be running the show. And he did just that. I think we were done in less than 45 minutes.

Here are the girls getting the aisle ready. We used chiffon and hydrangeas. HA! I caught Trisha off guard!



All the girls came down alone one by one and here is my sister the maid of honor


Ok dad its our turn

All us girls ready to go at the front


Ok now we get to practice putting on our imaginary rings...

A fake kiss a few moments later and ta dah! The rehearsal was over. Next it was time to party at the rehearsal dinner!