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Ahh yes, the photobooth. I had been looking at photobooths since before we got engaged and it was one of my big must haves early on. I was willing to splurge to rent one, even. Enter mad amounts of stress that made me want to abandon all of it, except for the part where Garrett and I would be married.

My photographers (who are also friends of mine) set up the booth for me and hired someone to press the button. We discussed remotes but I just know someone would’ve accidentally dropped it into their pocket. Plus, drunk people going to check and see how the pictures are turning out = disaster. We limited the hours on the photo booth so our poor photo attendant could go home at some point. We were hoping for a legitimate backdrop holder but it didn’t arrive before our date. I don’t think anyone really noticed/cared. And now I have the yellow fabric for future projects, which is pretty special.

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Let the party continue!

Garrett’s little cousin Warren is one of my faves. I asked him recently when he was going to go to big school and he replied “when I get big.” So cute and so sassy.

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When last we spoke, you saw the centerpieces and read about our private dinner.  Next up, the reception.

Our first dance was to “Alabama Waltz” by Hank Williams. Garrett picked it and it was perfect in a lot of ways. It’s Hank Williams (Garrett’s a big fan and my uncle was impressed), it mentions Alabama, it was fairly short, and it’s pretty. Plus it’ll be very memorable for us and is fairly unique. Not sickeningly sweet or cliche.

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I know my wedding feels neglected, I apologize. I’ve been so excited about new things & planning for them that the wedding feels like old news. It was the best day ever, but now I get to be married instead of planning for it! This is a far better stage for me. Plus, now I can focus attention to friends that are getting married (3 in 2010 so far!)

My mom, Linden (one of my bridesmaids), and I prepped all of the centerpieces on the day before the wedding. I’d originally planned on all ranunculus, but truth be told it would’ve taken at least 600 stems and I ordered 300, so the rest were button mums. I had some white teapots that I used the ranunculus in, and filled all the blue with the mums. They weren’t particularly hard to make and not all that time consuming either. We used green floral foam to stick the stems in (we cut it into pieces small enough to fit in the teapots and used a pen to create holes so we wouldn’t damage the stems by cramming them in). We used Davis Wholesale Florist in Birmingham for the mums and the prep space (they were super helpful and offer delivery for cheap! I highly recommend them for DIY brides) and fiftyflowers.com for the ranunculus (I was also impressed with their customer service).

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belt from j.crew, $55; nikon d90 for newbie photo enthusiasts with wealthy santas, amazon, $794.95; snuggie, $14.95, image source; faux fur muffler (I have always wanted a muffler! I think one of our american girl dolls must’ve had one), from urban outfitters, $28; mustache necklace from etsy seller little angels jewelry, $11.99 (I want one); dj hero from gamestop, $119 (for PS3); julian scarf with hidden pockets, from wintercheck factory, $30; ambigram flask from red letter gifts, $20.99; scarf necklace from etsy seller Mlabel, $40.

I can’t believe it’s so close to Christmas. I feel like I’ve been in some time warp since our blessing and now it’s almost December! I usually do every kind of shopping (except grocery, and that’s rare because we eat out too much!) online and I’ve become exceedingly aware of how long it takes to ship things. So I have even less time. I feel at a complete loss of what to get the people in my life (and as you get older it’s hard to know who you’re buying for!).

So, newlyweds especially, what are you getting your husband?
Your new in-laws?
Your parents?
Your friends?

I’d thought about giving both our parents wedding albums for Christmas but I’ve run out of time, orders for those have to be in early November and I was swamped back then. I should probably be running to etsy, because it’s the greatest thing ever, but even there I get pretty overwhelmed. I feel like I’m at an age where we don’t really need anything, so why would we inflict additional goods on the people we love? I’ve come to appreciate food as an expression of love way more these days.

Oh, and a fun gift idea for newlyweds (that we actually received but haven’t had a chance to test out yet, we’ll have to ask our only other set of married friends to play):

source

Since Garrett and I got married in San Francisco without our families and friends (with the exception of Garrett’s aunt, uncle, and best friend who all reside in CA), we both wanted a way for them to be part of the marriage and we knew we wanted to have the marriage blessed, because God is the important part. We decided on the chapel of the church Garrett grew up in, a side portion of the sanctuary with its own altar and a more intimate setting.

I love this image, by Kristen, of us walking in. You can see the priest’s white robe as we follow him in, walking together, hand in hand. It was really nice to go in together, I was only thinking about Garrett the whole way. We decided on having the church’s music director play organ for our entrance and exit which was lovely. Once we got up to the altar I remember Garrett asking if it was okay that we were holding hands. (”Yes!” I said, “we’re married!”) Either way, I wasn’t letting go.

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The moments (how short they were!) before we ran (walked briskly) into the church to be blessed by a priest (Epsicopal, not civil, if you’ve been keeping up):

This was fun. Somehow, in my rushed and mildly freaking out state, I got the task of pinning on Garrett’s boutonniere. I’ve pinned on lots of boutonnieres at weddings where I was photographing, but never with the pressure of it being a few minutes until our ceremony, with a husband who dislikes all things sharp and pointy, and with an uncooperative pin (that was probably too short in retrospect. So yeah, I stabbed him. Can you believe that? No wonder he’s afraid of needles! Luckily he did not bleed and does not have a nipple ring hole now. Very glad he wasn’t in a white shirt.

I’m pretty sure Garrett hates most pictures of himself (unless he took it in a mirror with some ridiculous hat or sunglasses on, or, if he has a beard and hair that make it look like he’d been lost in the woods for 6 months), but he does seem to like the one on the right with the tree, so we have success! And I like them all, of course.

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So, on the big day (third big day if you’re counting), I had a bridesmaid tea with my ladies and our mothers & grandmothers and then we were off! And running behind. I think I took the whole “getting married beforehand means less stress” thing too seriously, and the tea didn’t get kicked off right on time so we were a little rushed but once we made it to the chapel things felt great.

Yes, I committed the coat hanger sin. I had changed the coat hanger after san francisco just to make sure it would stay on the hanger and forgot to change it. Ugh. You really can’t see it though, so I’m thankful for that.

That’s right. Three pictures of my shoes. That’s what you get when you’re dealing with me. I really like the white on white and kind of want to incorporate it in my house when/if I get one.

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I realized I haven’t posted pictures of our invitations yet! And I wasn’t even paranoid about wedding crashers. Anywho, I really wanted letterpress invitations more than anything else and it was my big splurge. But really, not that bad. I used someone local, Jenny Barry from Press Charming, and I brought in some art nouveau books I’d bought to try and figure out a design. Jenny sent me back so many possibilities and this is what we finally decided on!

We got a 5×7 invitation with a postcard size reply card (saved on postage for the envelope and the reply! One regular 44 cent stamp was enough for the invitation (we liked the king & queen so that worked out) and we used polar bear postcard stamps for the postcards (not my favorite but we didn’t really have an option and the colors didn’t clash).

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I really like the idea of out of town welcome baskets and the like but they were never really an option in my mind due to the cost & organization they require (knowing who is staying where, knowing who is coming –the rsvps were giving me enough trouble as it was). Garrett’s parents decided to get a block of rooms at the Embassy Suites solving part of that problem and Garrett’s mom wanted to make welcome baskets, so I lucked out. She used a “taste of Alabama” theme and the bags included goodies only to be found in the yellowhammer state. Here’s what they included:

Golden Flake Chips (in a variety of dill pickle, original, bbq, and cheese puffs).

(image from country living, they have a list of the best local chips in a lot of different states so if you are stuck for an idea check here! Zapps from Louisiana, Cape Cod from Massachusetts, and Kettle chips from Oregon are all ones I recognize)

Priesters Pecans (in little mini bags, divinity and pralines I believe, but they have a really tasty key lime pecan there as well)

(from Priester’s Pecans)

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