Wedding Blog | Wedding Ideas

Getting Ready before my Wedding

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2009
AMANDA W.

At the beach house. Nick had the bottom floor. I had the top. Downstairs was a fiesta. Ties were straightened. Last minute pow-wows with the officiant were had. Liquor, chuckles, and even a polish dog or two.

Upstairs I sat anxiously in my cave, wringing my hands and waiting for the big reveal. Wedding blogs don't prepare you for this. Amongst the buzz of hectic day-of preparations, my frantic pleas could be heard echoing down the stairwell.

Photos by Joey Bloom

Tags: wedding planning, photography, getting ready

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My Wedding Photobomber

WEDNESDAY, JULY 08, 2009
AMANDA W.

Our first wedding photobomb. Image: my dad and I posing happily on the beach before the ceremony. Photobomber: my feisty grandpa.

Yessss!

Image by Joey Bloom

Tags: wedding planning, photography

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Beach Wedding Advice

TUESDAY, JULY 07, 2009
AMANDA W.

I was excited to receive an email from my friend Brittney this morning announcing her engagement to long-time boyfriend Jacob. Congrats Brittney!

In the email she added, "I need to know EVERYTHING you know about having a beach wedding... need all your tips/tricks/and things to look out for! =)"

While I don't claim to be any sort of beach wedding expert (Ours was very non-traditional. No bridal party, no ceremony music, limited # of guests, etc.), I do have a few tidbits of advice for the low-key beach bride:

-Definitely consider how busy the beach is during the time of year you want to get married. Nick and I picked the weekend after Memorial Day weekend in hopes that the town would be pretty empty. We also picked a beach that we knew wouldn't be as packed (Manzanita) as say, Seaside or Cannon Beach (in Oregon). It worked out perfectly.

-Do you want a backup plan in case of bad weather? I was very anti-backup plan because I was so dead-set on getting married on the sand. You have to decide if getting married on a rainy beach is worth it to you. If you're like me, there are always umbrellas.

-Noise and music. We chose not to have any ceremony music for lots of reasons. First, it wasn't really in our budget to hire a ceremony musician and we didn't know anyone who could play an instrument for free (I was interested in splurging on a harpist, but was having trouble finding one in the area who would bring their harp out anywhere near the sand). Second, there was no way we were going to use an extension cord to drag a boom box onto the sand. It just wasn't realistic. Third (and most important), I loved just having the sound of the waves crashing in the background as I walked down the aisle. It was very serene. Also consider that you and your officiant will have to speak very loud so that your guests can hear you reciting your vows (ours had a hard time hearing us).

-Chairs. If you want to set up enough chairs for everyone and have a person in charge of hauling them off the beach afterward, that can be nice (assuming that like us, you are sans a day-of coordinator). We chose to just set up 5 on each side to create a makeshift aisle/allow for seating for those who physically couldn't stand the entire time. Depending on how many guests you have and what you want to set up on the beach (chairs, arbor, etc.) you might need to get a permit from the state (in Oregon). We didn't have to because we had under 50 guests. You may want to call the city that you are having the wedding in to double check.

-High tide and the sun. We planned our ceremony according to when we knew the tide would be out and the wind would be calm. Unfortunately, we didn't think about how bright the sun would be shining overhead in the afternoon. We originally wanted to take all of our formals beforehand, but ended up having to duck out of the reception a couple hours later in order to get some photos of us on the beach without squinting.

-Photobombers. Ok, ok. I'm kidding. But I did go through all of the photos my family took in hopes of finding one on the beach. No such luck. Just a few curious sunbathers. ;)

I'm sure I'm still missing some things, but my mind is drawing a blank. Once again, while our lack of music and decorations might not be for everyone, we felt the simplicity of it was much more "us".

Any other brides out there with some good beach wedding tips? Any questions?

Tags: wedding planning, beach, beach wedding, advice

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Bird & Peony Wedding Invitations

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009
AMANDA W.

I was beyond excited to see that Sarah of Things are better with a Parrott wrote this post today about our amazing wedding invitations. I meant to share them with you earlier, but my photos don't do them nearly as much justice as hers do. *sigh*

They go perfectly with our favor labels.

Did I also mention the sweet guest book she did for us? More on that later. With photos. I promise.

Photos from Sarah's flickr

Tags: wedding planning, invitations, peonies, birds

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Wedding Favors

MONDAY, JUNE 08, 2009
AMANDA W.

When we started the planning process many ideas were tossed around. Vintage salt & pepper shakers, bonsais, saltwater taffy, macaroons. All were scrutinized and left to fall by the wayside (or in the shakers' instance, the back of my mom's closet). Eventually just the sound of the word "favor" made me collapse in a sugary mental meltdown ("Sweetie, will you do me a quick favor?" Ahhhhhhhh! 'Sleep deprived bride goes to prison for shanking unsuspecting fiance...').

Then one day I ordered some goodies from Whimsy & Spice and fell madly in love with their homemade marshmallows. Soft, fragrant, heavenly. It was fate.

And so the story ends. We ordered a box of rose flavored marshmallows. Bows were tied around them with nimble fingers (*ahem*). Custom labels slapped on the front. A few may or may not have been secretly devoured in the meantime. And voila!

Would any of our guests have noticed if we didn't even have favors? Eh. Probably not.

Did Nick and I think they were cool-as-heck? Totally. And that's all that matters.

Disclaimer: No fiances were shanked in the making of these favors. And yes, the word "favor" still does make my eye twitch.

Tags: wedding planning, marshmallows, favors, etsy,

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mrs. h is back

FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009
AMANDA W.

Drank lots of pink vodka lemonade. Had even more fun. BBQ. Peonies. Sunsets.

More to come later!

Love,
Amanda

Sneak peaks from the new mother-in-law. Professional shots to come later. Of course.

Tags: sneak peak, wedding planning

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16 days and a recap, yo

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009
AMANDA W.

I've been adding "yo's" to the end of everything I say this past week. I blame it entirely on this.

Potato chip diet, I abhor you. Thankfully cellulite doesn't fall into my category of "wedding related things I have the energy to care about right now".

Our play list is finally finished. I had a few glasses of wine the other night and took over where Nick left off. No David Sedaris. Plenty of David Bowie and David Byrne.

The future ceremony location

Hair flower by Twigs & Honey (and a bolero that I can't get enough of!)

Sneak peek at the reception mini
The perfect pair of J Crew heels

A funky 70's suit

A plethora of DIY peonies

Birds from the runny bunny

Napkins, napkins, napkins

The excitement is killing me!

Tags: update, photos

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My Bachelorette!

TUESDAY, MAY 05, 2009
AMANDA W.

For my bachelorette party my friends came together to create the most joyous of Saturday nights. One made bundles of garland and goodie bags (etc.), while another set up a raunchy trip to a local pole dancing studio. After bribes of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and a hot pink foam ensemble, I made my way to the stripper pole- where I quickly slung my legs around it, grunted, "Uh-oh Gawwwwd!", and tumbled clumsily onto the hardwood floor. My prospects as a future pole dancer: not so bright. Stunt double in the next Jackass movie: call me.

My abs are still killing me from the deceiving workout and I can't bring myself to take the garlands down from my living room ceiling. Yay for girlfriends, party games, and champagne hangovers!

Tags: bachelorette

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Thank-You's

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2009
AMANDA W.

If the thought of doing another DIY after the garlands didn't make me want to cry, I would so whip up a batch of these amazing thank-you's by Jeffery Rudell to send to our guests. Maybe after the wedding I'll be feeling a bit more crafty?

via StumbleUpon

Tags: thank-you, diy, paper

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So we bought a Polaroid 210

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009
AMANDA W.

...and I found a killer hookup at a local camera store for some insanely cheap 669 film. (I love being a girl)

Check out these amazing wedding photos taken with a Polaroid 210 that I found on Flickr. I'm going to cry with joy if ours turn out half as nice.

From Dunstan's Flickr

Tags: polaroid, photography, vintage

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Getting Ready before my Wedding

My Wedding Photobomber

Beach Wedding Advice

Bird & Peony Wedding Invitations

Wedding Favors

mrs. h is back

16 days and a recap, yo

My Bachelorette!

Thank-You's

So we bought a Polaroid 210

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Amanda W.

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