DIY wedding guest (photo) book

I knew I didn't want a traditional guest book for wedding guests to simply write their name on a line like an attendance record. I wanted them to do a little work and to write us something nice and heartfelt or funny we could look back on for years (Andrew and I are both writers, after all). :) But I wasn't into the Jenga pieces, thumbprint trees, river rocks and other off-beat guest books you might see at weddings nowadays. They are awesome and creative, but it was hard for me to imagine them lasting a long time or being displayed after the wedding. I also wanted a way we could keep a small album of our engagement photos. So, I decided to make a photo album that guests could sign...

Our wedding

I'm sure you've heard many couples say that their wedding day was the best day of their lives. I've had many best days, but all I know is I've never been as happy and had as much fun as our wedding weekend. And even when you try to breathe and soak it all in, it still flies by too quickly. It was magical summer night with sunlight gleaming through the trees long into the evening, laughter everywhere we turned and a super moon shining overhead as we danced. 


It's funny how everything you planned so intently, everything you scheduled and thought out and mulled over for months can all wash away in your mind as you get caught up in the day. It's easy to just go through the motions and worry things won't go as planned. But it's better to just kick back and let it all happen. Not everything went just as I had planned it to a tee (the guys forgot their boutonnieres, my dress bustle ripped), but looking back it all went as perfect as a wedding day can go. Because in the end, as a friend told me, it's really not that day that matters most, it's every single day afterward. 
 

And there's a little white church on a hill in Bodega that will always remind us of June 22, 2013.

Here are a few of my favorite moments...

Hello again

at our rehearsal dinner June 21 (the longest night of the year!)

Well, hello, friends. I’ve been MIA for a while as I planned my wedding and went on my honeymoon. Now I’m back, a married woman and fully back into the routine of life and work.

Everyone keeps asking me if being married feels different. And I keep saying it doesn’t. It feels the same. It feels right. Just as it should feel. 

More posts to come...including some wedding photos, crafts and stories.  

Wedding colors

Let's talk about color! Our palette for the wedding is pretty simple: Seafoam for the nearby ocean. Pale yellow for the wildflowers like those that grow on the hills in Bodega. Ivory for classic lace. Coming up with wedding colors wasn't hard, but finding bridesmaids dresses, decor and stationary to coincide can be. Thankfully, I've never been too matchy-matchy...and we're being creative. More DIY projects and planning to come in the next few months! We're off to Bodega in the morning, in fact. Excited to see that beautiful sea.

Thanks for checking in! Life has been crazy. Same ol' story. But Tori has plenty of stories, so I'll be back and blogging more regularly again soon. :)

What's the best season for a wedding?

Winter, spring, summer or fall? We’re having a summer wedding (like many people do) but I love the idea of off-season celebrations.

A friend I used to work with told me about her winter wedding – there was a blizzard that left feet upon feet of snow where they were supposed to have their ceremony and the venue flooded! So, loved ones gathered at her parents' house. It was cramped, but family and friends pitched in to push away furniture, move in chairs and everyone squeezed inside for the day. It turned out unexpected, but became a great memory...and a funny story they can forever tell.

What do you think? What's the best season to tie the knot? Today is a rainy one throughout northern California, so here are some beautiful rainy weddings.

Our engagement photos

I'm thrilled to (finally!) post me and Andrew's engagement photos, captured beautifully by the talented Hannah Nicholson, who I went to high school with and who just happens to be my good friend Heather's little sis (follow that?). We ventured out to Empire Mine State Park in Grass Valley, with its beautiful stone house and gardens, and had a blast setting up shots around the grounds there in the beautiful late-summer afternoon light. Hannah snapped away, Andrew and I tried not to pose awkwardly and Heather helped us pick out good spots and faithfully carried around purses/water bottles/extra lenses. 

I must say, it was so much fun doing this kind of outdoor photo session with friends. All the pressure of a formal, stuffy engagement shoot went out the window and we could just relax, be ourselves and make it our own. Lots of laughter was involved that day. And the photos we'll cherish forever...We call this first one below our "album cover." ;)

Hannah also brought her film camera (yes, film!) I'm so glad some people still believe in this "old fashioned" photography method, because the results are truly phenomenal. As Hannah would agree, the grain, depth and captured light in film can't be beat. Below are some images she shot in film. LOVE the ring and daisy one. 

"Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along." -Rumi

THANKS, HANNAH & HEATHER! You can view more of our engagement photos on our wedding website here!

Bridesmaid boxes

As soon as we began planning the wedding, I knew I wanted to ask my bridesmaids in some special way to join me on the "journey to the alter" as I like to call it. We are all scattered around California and across the globe (literally!), so sending a little box seemed like just the ticket. I'd seen a few inspirational ideas for bridesmaids boxes around the web (like these and these beautiful ones) and fell in love with the idea, but I wanted to make them unique with my favorite colors and filled with little treasures made just for my ladies. It was my turn to pop the question, after all!

Here's how they turned out, with a little tutorial on the project...

All "Ruffled" up

The wedding blog Ruffled is killing me softly these days with its luscious photos of vintage-inspired and handmade weddings--everything from immaculate bouquets to crafty favors to unique venues (like the one below on a dock!). It's all almost TOO perfect, but I'm not ashamed to admit I peek at Ruffled for a few minutes every morning -- right after reading Cup of Joe and right before answering work emails (woops!). I might still read it after the wedding...it's that damn pretty! Here are some glimpses...

Engaged!

This week has been such a thrill letting everyone know that Andrew and I are engaged! I’m still letting the feeling sink in.

We spent the weekend in San Francisco (saw The Head and the Heart play at the Fillmore, played frisbee on the beach, rode the cable car to Little Italy and ate a pizza the size of the table…) He asked me at sunset at the end of the curved pier along Aquatic Park Cove with a HUGE full moon rising over the cityscape. Not 30 seconds after I said “yes!”, a cop came blaring his siren and got on the loud speaker telling us to vacate the area, because the pier was closing for the night. We rushed off hand-in-hand celebrating and still shaking with excitement, as the officer rode slowly behind to escort us and the other stragglers out. It’s a funny story I’m sure we’ll retell for years.

I was never a gushy girl for rings and weddings and such, but I am really looking forward to the months ahead. And the bottom line is: I’m truly happier than ever and so excited to share my life with this wonderful man God led me to find (in the plains of Wyoming, no less!)

I love you, Andy.

*Photo by yours truly (pre-getting-kicked-off-the-pier)