The Build Up

Hello again.

Yes, you guessed it.  We're in the library yet again.  I'm starting to think I could write a book in here this year.  Either that, or read the whole library.  Hmm... 

Well, as promised, here are some photos of the months, weeks, and days leading up to the wedding, and the greatly understated "Thank you" to all those who helped me out along the way.

First, after much deliberation, I decided to go with a really neutral scheme for the wedding.  Something simple... maybe rustic if you want to label it that.  Naturally, I was quite anxious to get started, so right away in January, we went to work on creating our bouquets and boutonnieres.

 

The top right belonged to one of the bridesmaids.  The boutonniere on the right was Jered's.  The rest didn't have the little white puff balls in them.  Jered wanted his to look special, and I agreed whole-heartedly that it should.  The lower bouquet was mine.  I think my favorite part was the pine cone-looking things we found for it.  This shot on the right:  just a tiny look at how our house looked for about 6 months.  I only wish I had gotten a picture of our dining room during those last few weeks...



Next stop: Dress shopping!

My momma, my sister, and my may-as-well-be-a-sister, went with me to find the perfect dress.  I thought this was going to be a blast.  But "Saying Yes to the Dress"- not as much fun as it sounds.  I had a lovely day with my family, but I basically just felt like a little girl playing dress up.  Although- I did have a moment when I first tried on a veil with the dress I liked.  That was the clincher.  I finally felt bridal.  And to my surprise, I found my dress.  It was the complete opposite of what I had wanted.

I don't know how I don't have any pictures of these, but Sheri was wonderful and donated a ton of mason jars for our decorating needs.  Mom washed all of them and decorated them with raffia, hemp, and jute.  Katie and I found some great potpourri to use as fillers in some of them.  We also used a bunch for candles, and later wildflowers.

The flower girl dresses were courtesy of my wonderful mother.  I originally wanted to make them myself.  I chose all the fabric and ribbon and then never made it passed that step.  Ok, I almost did.  Mom started to help me sew them.  I had to rip out everything I did on them, so she graciously stepped in and took control of the project.  And I'm so glad she did because they looked adorable.  Oh- I can take credit for the headbands!

 



So what did we do the week of the wedding?  Blew up balloons... Lots and lots of balloons.  About 500 to be exact.  Big shout out here to Jessa, Katie, Tita, and especially Mom, who seemed to have the most hot air in the house.  

As you can see, our house was slightly uncomfortable during that last week.  Just not very practically for six people to be living there during that time.

We way over did it on programs.  Completely overshot that somehow.  Oh well.  Thanks to our assembly line tactics, Katie, Jessica, Mom, and I had them finished in no time just a couple days before the wedding.     

Mom and Grandpa picked all these wildflowers out at The Farm the Thursday before the wedding.  Grandpa also cut all the wood stumps we used for the table centerpieces.

I don't really like corsages, so I searched Pinterest for some alternatives and found something similar to this.  So Katie and I went to Michael's and bought a big container of pearl beads and flower barrettes and made these bracelets instead.




 

And then came the big day of decorating.  A HUGE thank you to all of those who helped.  I came downstairs to find Uncle Donny parked in the front yard, ready and willing to transport balloons to the reception hall... on his birthday.  Jessica, Abbey, Rebekah, Mary Beth, Sheri,Marian, Grandma, Grandpa, Molly, Jake, Katie, Mom, and Dad- please don't think ill of me if I forgot someone- I was so overwhelmed by everyone who came to help!  I felt so loved.


Whew! So there it is.  And that's really just decorating preparations.  That doesn't even take into account everything else that went into it.  But we'll get there. Still many more thank you's to be said. 

Well, my husband and I are getting hungry.  He's going to make hamburgers on our little grill tonight. Yum!

Later!
Aim