A Love To Last A Lifetime

This past weekend I had the pleasure of being apart of two very special peoples wedding. One of my very best friends, who has been my friend since 7th grade, and her fantastic fiancé.

These two people couldn't be more perfect for each other. I haven't met too many couples that truly complement the other so well. They lift each other up and make each other better people (didn't think that was possible). They glow when they are around each other or even just talk about one another. And I couldn't be happier for them.

It was a really fun weekend, even with the freezing rain we got Friday night. I must say, walking in heels on an ice rink -parking lot- is quite the experience. The wedding day was gorgeous and, thankfully, not too cold!!

I'll never forget the wonderful memories made. The icy rehearsal, meeting great people, staying up till 1 am, getting ready, watching my best friend walk down the aisle, and pigging out on the most amazing Italian food. Every moment was perfect. I'm so very blessed to have been apart of it all.

Wedding: What I Would Do Differently

 For the last wedding week post it's all about the things I wish I could change or just do a little differently. Every bride has things they wish they could go back and do over and if they say they don't then they either are lying, had an unlimited budget or is just a simple person who didn't want much anyway. I LOVED our wedding day and pretty much everything about it. The things I wish I could change were little things that I'm sharing only to help other brides out there.

{I included a few of my favorite photos that haven't already been shared}

#1 Hire a Videographer. 

I read this everywhere: Get a videographer or or you will regret it. Well, I didn't because I really didn't think it was necessary. I was very wrong. This is one of the big ones. As much as I don't mind not having a video of our ceremony, the big reason I wish I had video was for my brother's speech. As I mentioned before, it was awesome, and I really wish I had it to watch again. Then again it would be nice to watch our ceremony again considering I really didn't pay much attention. Which leads me to #2.



#2 First kiss as Mr & Mrs do-over.

Let me share a picture:

First of all, we stood so far apart from each other during the ceremony and apparently never really got any closer to each other so just standing closer together would have made a difference. Second of all, I'm holding hubby hand...and it looks weird...and it looks like I'm pretending to shoot him in the side...

Do over please. 



#3 Do a First Look

Have you seen the pictures out there from couples doing first looks?! Ah-ma-zing. Plus, I think it would have relaxed Chris a little during the ceremony. He even said he held back a little because he was standing in front of a bunch of people. I think having that moment between just the 2 of us would have been perfect. 

#4 Get Chris a Card 

I had planned on doing this and I was up at 6:30am so I had PLENTY of time. But, I had so much on my mind that morning that I completely forgot. I didn't relax until I was at the church and in my dress. Chris had actually texted me a sweet message before the ceremony as well which I didn't see until the reception! So there's another thing...I could have at least texted him back. :)

#5 Do More Cake Shopping

I know, it's such a small detail and really doesn't matter, but I still wish I would have looked more. I do think our cake was pretty but it wasn't what I asked for. I'm a perfection-ist...



#6 Get More Pictures with Family

There are so many times I look through our pictures and say "Oh I wish I had a picture with...". There was just so much going on and we were getting pulled in so many different directions it was impossible to get everything. This one also leads me to #7...

#7 Make Sure Little A Was More Involved...

We don't have many pictures with him and we didn't get to do a few of the things we had planned. This is one of my absolute biggest regrets...



#8 Go Out After the Reception & Celebrate More...

I have no explaination for this. Why didn't we? I don't know but we really should have. With all the mingling we did during the reception, hubby and I didn't get to really celebrate together and I wish we would have simply just to relax and enjoy the rest of the night. 

I really had so much fun and I wish I could relive our wedding day over and over. We have such wonderful family and friends who all deserve a great big THANK YOU for everything they did to help us make this day so special.

All photos taken by Shannon @ PeoplePaperPrints

Wedding: The Details

I know I missed a day, life got in the way and I wasn't able to blog yesterday. However, I'm making up for it and doing 2 posts today!!! 

This one is all about the details. They are honestly one of my favorite parts of a wedding. I love looking at all the little stuff that the bride put so much effort into just to make her day perfect and a lot of people don't give them enough attention. I know when planning, most brides look all over for inspiration, which is why I wanted to share all my details. The flowers and decor were all important to me and everything you see {except the flowers} was all DIY.  I spent plenty of nights up late {with the help of some wonderful people} crafting and making everything perfect. Everything turned out better then I expected and looked fantastic!

 The Flowers

 My something blue that my mom found for me :) I was  {and still am} completely in love with my bouquet. It was absolutely perfect!!

 Bridesmaid's bouquet

 

All of the guys boutonnieres were some form of the grooms. His was all white with a yellow ribbon and the groomsman's were yellow flowers with a grey ribbon. 

 The mother's corsages 

The Ceremony

For the ceremony we kept it simple. A little aisle decor {no runner allowed}, simple programs and our unity candle. 

 You can't see it in the picture but our unity candle has almost a lace detailing on it. I purchased it, the tapers and the glass stands all from Hobby Lobby for about $10.

The Reception

{Not Pictured: our private covered patio was decorated with string lights & glowing yellow and grey round lanterns}

 

Card Box- Supplies all from Hobby Lobby

 Our cake was from Vande Walles Candy. Each tier was a different flavor and we decided to not do fondant & just did buttercream.

 We had 3 different centerpieces on our tables: a cylinder filled with lemons & a floating candle, White football mums, yellow tulips & sliced lemons, and yellow football mums, white tulips & river rock. We had a grey table runner on each table along with the table numbers and votive candles.

Table number frames: Ikea (purchased from a bride on Wedding Bee) 

Votives & Holders: Purchased from a bride on Wedding Bee

Personalized votive wraps: Theknot.com

 The escort card display was made from a vintage frame {not pictured}, foam board, fabric and ribbon. It was something I saw on theknot.com and I loved it! All of the escort cards, table numbers, programs & displays were printed at home by me!

 We had a few interesting "words of wisdom" from a few guests of the restaurant located in  the same building as our room.

Our guest "tree". Something I saw on etsy and loved. It was different then the traditional book and is something I will enjoy displaying in my home for years to come.

This Girl

Some of you may recognize her. This is Whit {BlackLittleButton}, she is amazing and a big detail that needs to be mentioned. There is no way our wedding day would have gone as smoothly as it did without her. She was my personal attendent and she went way above and beyond what I expected. She designed our invitations, the guest tree above, helped me with a few DIY projects, and ran around like a crazy person all day making sure everything was perfect and set up exactly how it was supposed to be. She even had a big bag of everything...literally EVERYTHING that anyone could possibly need. A few of our guests even went to her for something. I adore her and there is not enough thanks in the world for what she did for us.

Flowers: Fleur Couture

All photos were taken by Shannon @ PeoplePaperPrints

Wedding: Reception

Everyone says your wedding day goes by SUPER fast. For me, it didn't....until the reception. It was so much fun and the time just flew by! We had our reception at a local restaurant that was right on the river. It was my first choice for a reception site so we actually changed our original wedding date just so we could have our reception here. Everything went perfectly and the staff there was great and the food was fantastic. We had such a blast dancing the night away and mingling with guests. I couldn't have asked for a better wedding day!!

 The best man and man of honor, they are quite hilarious.

My brother's speech was the best. It was absolutely the funniest (he asked for any single girls number) and the most heartfelt speech. There is only one thing I wish I could do differently because of this exact moment...which you will hear about on Friday. :)

 

Best picture of the night simply for our groomsman's expression.

 We were being heckled to smash cake in each others faces & to quit being nice. I totally would have done it but I didn't feel like getting cake smashed in my face.

Two of my closest and dearest friends. The 3 of us have been bffs since 7th grade. The lovely girl on the right is getting married next year which I'm sooooo excited for!!!

We danced to "You and I" by Michael Buble.

 Again, just like having both my Dad & step-Dad walk me down the aisle, I needed to have a dance with both of them.

 Mother-Son dance...so sweet!

 My crazy-fun Momma. I have some of the most epic dancing photos of her and countless other guests BUT they would kill me if I shared them. ;)

All photos taken by Shannon @ PeoplePaperPrints.

Wedding: Ceremony

Our ceremony was held in a huge and absolutely gorgeous old church. I knew I wanted a church wedding but we didn't have a church we belonged to so our hunt for the perfect one began. We checked out a few chapels which were either too far away from the reception site or not what we wanted. I got a lead on a local Lutheran church in the area that would do non-member weddings and I found this one. I loved it!!

Gorgeous, right?!

The ceremony was very traditional, just like we are. I had my father and step-father walk me down the aisle. They are both very important to me so there is no way I would do it any different. Our music was played on the piano and violin by my step-grandma (is that a thing? It is now) and one of her friends. I've grown up listening to her play piano and even had her accompany me at a few music  competitions in high school so it only felt natural to have her be apart of the ceremony doing what she does best. The whole ceremony went smoothly (it even started on time) other then a few hiccups caused by nerves and the fact that our Pastor didn't say "you may now kiss the bride" {more on that later}. I will remember every moment & am so happy to be a Mrs!!

All photos were taken by Shannon @ PeoplePaperPrints