Pirate Wife

Inspiration board comparison

2010-08-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

So you remember my inspiration board right? You don't!? Neither do I unless I actually look at it, so as a refresher, here it is.

Sources: Bridal party posing: Victoria Souza Photography, Bride hair: Project Wedding, Red wedding dress: , Heart in hands: , Hands in Sand: , Matangi treehouse, Calla lily bouquet: , Card box, Cake topper, Cake, Ring dish

So how did my wedding really turn out?

I think we did a good job of sticking with my original inspiration. Sure it's not exactly the same, but who wants a cookie cutter wedding anyway?

Day of details

2010-08-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

These are the last of my pro pictures, how sad! :-(

Isn't she a beauty?

Bouquets

Our beautifully decorated ceremony

And our amazing and fun reception!

I love how the lights made the cake and head tables glow!

Don't worry, I'm not done with you all yet! I still have a few posts up my sleeve. :-)

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

We had uninvited guests!!

2010-08-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken so long to post. That's what happens when I don't have Internet.

Our recaps are done except for just a few posts. This post is about the uninvited guests we discovered luckily at the beginning of the day.

Our "lovely" uninvited guests were...ants. (Psycho music) When my aunt and uncle went to open up the reception hall and get some of the food ready, they discovered ants all over in our bags of chips. Luckily they were only in the chips and not anything else and my aunt and uncle were able to run to the store and buy more. Phew! But just to be safe, they also bought ant traps to put in the kitchen and under a couple of tables near the kitchen door.

Here are one of our pro pics

See the little red circle in the corner behind us? Ant trap

So glad this didn't turn into the catastrophe is could have been, but we just laughed it off.

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Two down, one to go

2010-07-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

My brother's wedding was this last weekend and it was gorgeous! It was an outside wedding and the weather was perfect, if just a tad warm, but we were all in shade most of the day. Here are just a few pictures.

Oh yeah, and all of the groomsmen wore swords :-)

Katie had spent the day and the house next door getting ready so when it was her turn to walk down the aisle, her uncle drove her down from the other house with her matron of honor.

Tim trying to see his bride.

Her poor dad kind of broke down when he handed her off to Tim

The ceremony was short, sweet, and to the point.

They had a quick sermon, said their vows, and then signed their marriage certificate

And then they were pronounced husband and wife

And got to kiss

Here are the two proud papas

For dinner they roasted a pig on a spit

Their first dance was a gorgeous make out session ;-)

The cake was rather untraditional, but very tastey! It looked kind of like a birthday

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the bouquet toss.

After all of the festivities and lots of dancing, they were off on their honeymoon to Spain...for 6 weeks!

Next up is my sister's wedding in two months! Yikes!!

Just had to share

2010-07-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

This is my brother and his fiance's wedding invitation. It is so totally cute!!

Hopefully you can read it okay. :-)

Goodbye!

2010-07-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Well, not really, but after having a blast it is time to leave the reception.

Our car was decorated and lovely by our wedding party and friends

Nick still has some of the window clings on his car. :-)

Everyone was given bubbles and we said our goodbyes.

I had taken my shoes off while dancing, so Nick carried them for me while I hiked my dress up.

Goodbye everyone!

And we were off to our house for a wonderful night ALONE!

Our wedding was so fun and amazing and awesome and wonderful and a lot of other great adjectives! I relive it everyday so I won't forget, but I don't think I ever could anyway. I love looking at all of our pictures and am having trouble deciding what ones I want in the album and hung on our walls. *sigh*

Don't worry, my posts aren't done yet, I still have a few other things to blog about such as budget and a surprise from earlier that day.

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Let's dance the night away!

2010-06-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

I won't put you through ALL of our dancing pictures because there really are a ton of them! We had a blast just hanging out on the dance floor and boogieing and singing along to our favorites. I even got a group up with me during 'The Time Warp' (form Rocky Horror Picture Show) and had to teach them the dance!

"Those summer nights!" (I think that's the song here)

*sigh* Loved dancing with Nick

They are so cute!

Some of these are a little blurry, sorry.

She danced until she dropped!

Couldn't help but sneak a kiss on the dance floor

All right, that's all I will put you through. There are many, many dancing pictures because we had a lot of fun partying!

The night was winding down and it was getting to be time for us to leave and go...to bed. My next post, will be about our lovely car decorations. I can't believe my recaps are almost over!! Does anybody actually read these or am I just doing it so I can keep reliving my wedding? Or both?

I won't be posting again until after this weekend so have a safe and happy Independence Day! Happy birthday America!! (Can anybody else not believe it's already the end of June!?)

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

I love surprises!

2010-06-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

This wasn't a surprise for Nick and I, but for our guests. After our special dances were over the DJ announced the lip sync contests. SURPRISE!! We had a pretty good turn out for the guys and girls separate contests and Nick and I judged and picked a winner for each. First up was the guys singing...

Source: Youtube

The guys really got into their song.

Nick and I had a hard time choosing a winner, but we finally did choose his brother as the best lip syncer. Although, this guy did pretty good too.

Haha, not much lip syncing though.

Then it was on to the girls. They lip synced to this song.

Source: Youtube

I mean, come on. What girl doesn't know every word to this song? Am I right?

Haha, my brother's girlfriend wasn't a big fan of the song.

My bridesmaid, Megan (now in purple), totally got into and Nick and I unanimously named her the winner of the girls' contest.

After the contests were over, it was time to dance the night away...in the next post. :-)

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

And I have tomorrow off, so happy Friday to me!!

I could have danced all night!

2010-06-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

I loved, Loved, LOVED dancing with Nick. It started off a little rough, since we hadn't practiced, we kind of stood there for a second trying to get our feet coordinated. Once we got the hang of it, I didn't want the song to end. It is such a beautiful song, I could listen to it all day and I have before!

Source: YouTube

It was such a special time for the two of us, like no one else was in the room. Nick sang the whole song to me and I loved every second of it.

I really didn't want our dance to end, but the song faded and Nick kissed me one more time before handing me off to my dad for our dance.

I really didn't want our dance to end, but the song faded and Nick kissed me one more time before handing me off to my dad for our dance.

Source: Youtube

He was a happy daddy that day. Not sure if he cried or not, but he certainly smiled a lot and looked handsome in his tux.

Dad & I exited the dance floor and Nick and his mother walked out and began their dance.

Source: Youtube

Nick's mother did cry which made him cry. He is her youngest son, so I imagine it was hard giving him to someone else.

Source: Youtube

Oh Grandpa. He lasted about 30 seconds into the song (if that) and started crying, which got me crying, which got EVERYONE ELSE crying.

At one point I looked over at my sister and her head is buried in my mom's shoulder because she is crying so hard. Haha, what a family we are.

After we all dried our eyes, it was time for our surprise. :-)

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

I love my daddy and I was so happy to have him walk me down the aisle three months ago at my wedding. I know a lot of brides don't have that privilege for one reason or another so I am very thankful.

I love you Daddy. Happy Father's Day

“In Hollywood, brides keep the bouquets and throw away the groom.”

2010-06-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Haha, just kidding, but it got your attention right?

Source: Youtube

Our DJ announced the bouquet toss and all of the girls piled onto the dance floor.

I stepped up to the plate with my bouquet. If you'll remember from this post that my tossing bouquet was made up of about 20 single flowers bouquets. My bridesmaids and I wanted to make sure that the girls knew there wasn't just one bouquet coming at them so we staged a little scene. My bridesmaids yelled at me to toss the bouquet at them and I let them know there was plenty for everyone (I know, kind of cheesy).

And the pitch!

Going, going...

Gone...onto Megan's (bridesmaid) head. Hmm, the flowers sort of stayed all bunched together when I threw them and they all landed on Megan and she got dog piled. Oops.

Her saying, "That's not how this was supposed to happen!"

But as a whole, the toss was a success and everyone (I hope) got a flower.

This lovely lady got four!

What a laugh we all had over that and then I heard this music come on and Nick walking towards me with a grin.

Source: Youtube

I was plunked down in a chair

And I told Nick he had to be nice-ish. He could use either his hands or his teeth, but not both!

Pay no attention to the grin on my face!

He really went for it and I had to hold my dress down so nothing would show that wasn't supposed to!

But he finally got it off of me and my part was done. He let the garter fly.

Our ring bearer was going for it!

He would have had it too, but he was a little late in his grab and it passed into the waiting hands of...

My brother!

And he's on the run to...

Can you see those arms? He ran straight to his girlfriend!

The whole thing totally looked staged, even though it wasn't.

They are so cute!

We all had a good laugh at that (it looks awesome in the video) and then we sobered up a bit for the dances. This will have to be in another post because this one is really long already...and I might tear up a bit so it'll have to wait.

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Speech! Speech!

2010-06-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

We ate and mingled and had a lovely time for a while and then I was informed by my DOC that it was time for speeches.

Nick's best man started things off & got a little teary when talking about Nick. There was also a mention of homosexual gnomes that apparently is a private joke between the two of them (yeah, I didn't get it either).

Then it was my maid of honor's/sister's turn. She didn't have a speech planned, but it was cute and funny anyway.

And finally Nick thanked our families for helping and everyone for coming and we drank again.

Source: YouTube

Our beautiful cake was ready to be cut and eaten now that everyone wasn't so full of food. Nick and I weren't really sure what we were supposed to do, but thanks to our experienced photographers, we got everything figured out.

My turn to feed Nick first...

and I missed his mouth the first time. Luckily the cake fell back onto the plate and not onto our white clothes.

Take two was a success!

Then was Nick's turn and he didn't miss.

As fun as shoving cake in the other's face can be, it wasn't for us, especially since we were both wearing white and the cake had raspberry filling.

Stay tuned for our bouquet and garter tosses. Lots of fun!!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Oh, and happy Friday!!

Here we come!

2010-06-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

We kind of had a funny moment before we arrived at our reception when we had no idea what time we were supposed to head over! I didn't have my cell phone with me and Nick had his, but I didn't know any cell phone numbers that would actually be turned on! Nick finally got a hold of his best man and we were told that everyone was there waiting for us so we headed over.

When we got there, we were greeted by a couple of my coworkers who couldn't stay, so it was nice to catch them on the way out and thank them for coming.

Our DJ came out and greeted us too, since we hadn't met him yet, only talked through email.

We were announced and tripped our way into the reception...seriously Nick tripped over the door jam and almost face planted...and made our way up to our table.

Our photographers took a bunch of guest shots, so I'll share those as we walk up to the table.

This is my mom's cousin's baby and he is adorable!!

We ate and schmoozed and then it was time for speeches...next time!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Nick's gift

2010-06-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

For Nick's gift, I jumped on the boudoir bandwagon and had pictures taken of my scantily clad self. I had a lot of fun and wasn't nervous after the first few pictures were taken. If you are looking for a personal gift for your husband to be (or even your already husband) I would highly recommend boudoir pictures! They are very tasteful (or trashy, it's your choice) and will last forever.

Here are just a few of my favorites

Nick loved them, especially the picture I had taken with his Christmas present, a nerdy book.

My pictures were taken by Schona Kessler, if you live in the Vancouver, Washington area, check her out here!

The part everyone really goes to a wedding to see...

2010-06-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

The Kiss!!

I love this part of weddings, especially mine!!

These pictures are all post-jumping up and down (bummer didn't get pictures of THAT huh?) Seriously, after our officiant said, "You may now kiss the bride" I jumped up and down and threw myself at Nick. Haha!

Notice the missing veil? It fell off when I threw myself at Nick. Oops :-)

I am pleased to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Thompson

Hehe, cheesey grin!

Over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole OFFICIAL VIDEO from Mountain Apple Company on Vimeo.

And from there we were out the door to spend a few minutes to ourselves (and get something to drink since we were both super thirsty). I gave Nick his gift at this time, I will explain in my next post. ;-)

After we left, our party trickled down the aisle to head to our reception.

So cute!

Here's an interesting tidbit. Our whole ceremony last only 19 minutes!! So, in all actuallity, we spent about $1,000 for less than half an hour, but I'm not complaining! I was ready to be married and go to a party and the faster the better!!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Vows, leis, and sand oh my!!

2010-06-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

We wrote our own vows to each other (I had mine done before even asking Nick if he wanted to write them) and I really liked how personal it made our ceremony. Not that I have anything against the repeat after me vows, it just wasn't for us.

Nick's vows:

Samantha, it took some time for us to figure out we were going to work well together.
I like that you have a spiritual guide to follow for living your life.
It is an instrumental part of who you are and a part that I will continue to support as we move forward together.
I promise to keep you grounded when your thoughts are running wild.
I apologize for the times when I will kiss you just to make you forget everything you know.
I will always listen to you, I will always laugh with you and I will always be there for you.
Now as we walk the future together, I promise you love and honesty.

My vows:

I have been waiting for this day since I knew God had someone special for me.
He gave me a big heart and you have filled it completely.
My heart belongs to you along with all of the love, honor, and respect it can hold.
I want to spend the rest of my life laughing with you, crying with you, and sharing your dreams.
I will trust you even when I don’t understand, and be honest and faithful to you for the rest of my life.
I look forward to any challenges we encounter because I know we will face them together and come out on the other side stronger than ever.
I love you and will walk beside you, from this day forward, as your wife.

After drying a few MORE tears (had a tissue hid in my hand) we joined our officiant up on the actual stage for our lei and sand ceremonies and to sign our marriage certificate and become legal.

Source: YouTube

Let me explain this section a little bit, the lei exchange was something we wanted to do to recognize his Hawaiian heritage. Normally the bride and groom exchange leis with their families as well, but Nick and I just wanted to do this by ourselves. It was Nick's job to get the leis and he did a great job picking them out. They smelled so good!! Nick's lei was made of Maile and mine of Pikake (my new favorite smell).

(Nick did too, I promise, there just isn't a picture of it)

We stood and just stared at each other and talked while our best man and maid of honor signed.

Love this picture

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Our ceremony

2010-06-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

Walked up the two stairs to the stage, being careful not to snag my dress on any corners, and proceeded with the ceremony.

I loved that we got to face each other during the ceremony. I always hold Nick's hand when we're together, so it was neat that we were able to then too.

Besides, who wants to stare at a pastor? I'd rather look at Nick any day! Haha, just kidding.

Don't remember what was so funny here.

The guys behaved nicely despite Nick's warnings.

Group shot

Sanctuary shot

Haha. She was trying to get her mom's attention

And the girls behaved too

Before we said our vows, our officiant read a poem I had picked out.

Union by Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment.
At some point, you decided to marry.
From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way.
All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks – all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” – all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” – and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart.
All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”
Look at one another and remember this moment in time.
Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past few years.
Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband. This is my wife.

After wiping a few tears, it was on to our vows that we had written for each other.

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Look at me! Look at me!

2010-06-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned before that I was crying when I heard to music. Well, I got myself under control after a few minutes of deep breathing and watched everyone file into the sanctuary. Then my song started and I started crying again! Ugh!! No time to check the make up, just breathe and hope I look happy and not like Dad is dragging me down the aisle.

And again, you can listen to the song I walked down to while you are looking at pictures and reading.

Source: YouTube

Dang ugly cry face!

Seriously, I was really HAPPY to get married, but it doesn't look like it huh?

In my defense, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, so I wasn't the only one crying!

Okay, getting it under control.

All of my pretty girls. :-)

Our officiant

My Nick. He almost lost it too.

And the pass off. Daddy's last unmarried-daughter kiss.

There are some smiles!

Up to the front and let the ceremony begin...

Next time! Haha, yes I'm going to make you wait. Can't overload you too bad and I want this to last as long as possible!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Dum dum dum dum (think wedding march)

2010-05-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

After pictures were over, it was about one hour until go time and I was hustled out of the sanctuary so any early guests wouldn't see me in all of my gloriousness.

Five o'clock rolled around and Nick comes into the room we are waiting in and says, "Don't panic, there is a slight delay because people are still filtering in." Ahem...what!? You mean there are actually going to be people watching!? Seriously, that was my first thought after he said that. I know, that's ridiculous because we actually invited all of these people, but I never expected there to be as many as there were. Apparently the sanctuary was almost completely full and that was when I started getting nervous. Not about getting married, oh no, I had already felt married for about a year by this point (with none of the perks mind you). I was nervous about remembering my vows (which wasn't a big issue since I would have them up front with me) and not tripping while walking up the aisle or on the stairs on the stage.

Take a deep breath, one last hug from my mom and it's down the stairs to the door we would all be entering through. I was concentrating on not falling down the flight of stairs and...I heard the first bars of the first processional song and absolutely lost it. I tried to hold it in, but I was just so overwhelmed and happy to be marrying Nick that I started sobbing!! Thanks to one of my girls, not sure which one, they were all blurry, I was handed a tissue to keep my make up from running down my face. More deep breaths and our processional line is moving forward.

You can listen to the processional song while you read!

Israel kamakawiwo'ole - "What a Wonderful World from Mountain Apple Company on Vimeo.

First up were the grandparents. I only have one picture of Tim (my brother) walking my granny down the aisle.

Next were Nick's parents and my mom. Both of our mothers were to bring our sand up front and put it on the table on the stage for the union sand ceremony. Apparently they forgot about the sand until after Nick's mom was already up front and my mom was halfway down the aisle. Yikes! Mom turned around and grabbed both sand containers and walked back up the aisle.

Crisis averted.

Next up came my maid of honor andbridesmaids, I don't have pictures of all of them either so I will show the ones I have. They were so pretty!

Junior bridesmaid and ring bearer (handled the ring dish very well, even with our real rings on it)

Other junior bridesmaid and flower girl.

I love the interaction between FG and Granny. So cute!

My turn...

Nick looks a little antsy doesn't he? He's had to wait all this time...

And so will you because I will be in the next post. :-D

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Final formals

2010-05-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Here are the last of our formals, we will start with our wedding party pictures and then wrap up with the family pictures.

Since the weather was playing nice, we headed outside and took pictures in an alley.

Notice anyone missing? That's right, my brother! He was still at the church talking on his cell phone to his girlfriend (now fiancee) and didn't know where we went. Silly boy.

We all huddled up because even though it was not raining, it was still cold!

Another laughing picture. Ha ha ha...ha...

Ah! Brother decided to show up for this picture.

Then it was time to head back to the church for family pictures.

Full wedding party...love the faces on the younger kids. Precious!!

All the handsome boys and moi!

More of the handsome boys!

Nick, his brother, and nephew

Nick's family

Nick's parents

My family...I feel like a doll. My expression hasn't changed in any of these pictures.

My granny

My grandparents

My parents, brother, and sister

My parents

Aw!

We take some good pictures...

...And then we take some interesting pictures.

Uh...

Right, so...yeah, we're an interesting family. Haha! Gotta love them.

Well, I've finally run out of pre-ceremony pictures! You know what that means?! It's on to our ceremony! Yay!!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Just the two of us

2010-05-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big fan of getting my picture taken, but I had gotten used to it by this point and it was actually kind of fun! Note: This post might be a little picture heavy. I'll try to pear them down, but I liked so many!

After our first look, we stayed on the bottom floor of the building to take some pictures on the fabulous leopard print staircase!

And then we headed upstairs to Jessica's studio.

This is my sexy face.

My absolute favorite pictures of the whole day

Hold me

Another favorite

Time to head back and take pictures with the rest of the group, but one more on the stairs to show off my train :-)

I warned you it would be a lot of pictures. Up next is our wedding party pictures!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Our first look

2010-05-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...it's been a while. I apologize, but work has gotten REALLY crazy since we hired a new person and I am her trainer.

Anyway, we're on to our first look! After my girlie pictures, photographer Jessica and I headed over to the building where her studio was located so I could hide before Nick arrived. The whole building is done in 1920s decoration, so it is really neat and made a great background for pictures! I went upstairs and hid in Jessica's studio until Nick was set up at the bottom of the stairs with his back turned.

Ain't he cute!?

I think I said something about trying not to fall down the stairs, so that got us all laughing.

Almost there!!

Turn around Nick

Safe to say he liked what he saw :-)

First kiss of the day with many more to come!!

He was so handsome in his tux! I loved the fact that it was white against the other guys' black (you saw that in the last post). We couldn't stop smiling and kissing!!

From there we went on to our formal shots, which will be in the next post! Stay tuned!!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

We interrupt these recaps with an important announcement...

2010-04-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

Aah!!!

I have an introduction to make...

This is my brother and HIS FIANCEE!!!

He asked her to marry him last night by scavenger hunt!! What an awesome brother I have! So now, my parents have a married child and TWO engage children (remember this post?)!! Poor parents!!

Now back to your regularly scheduled program. :-D

When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

2010-04-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Just food for thought. :-D

After we all got dolled up, it was time to get our pictures taken...separately of course! We hadn't seen each other yet!! We were hoping to get out pictures taken at the lake in town, but because it had been raining for a week, the ground was really wet so we didn't want to chance getting muddy. Bummer.

Smiley girls

Sexy girls

Aren't we all pretty? I love how all of the dresses match, but are so different! Only two of them were purchased from the same designer as my dress; one is homemade, and the other two were purchased from different companies.

When I first tried on my dress, before I had ordered it, we took a picture with my cousin who would be my flower girl. It was such a cute picture, we wanted to duplicate it.

For being three, she did very well before the wedding even though she missed her nap.

All of the handsome guys, including my dad!

The weather was nice enough to have some of the guys pictures taken in my grandparents' backyard (no fair).

This is my favorite picture of Nick. He was(is) so handsome!!

Next up, our first look! I can't wait to show you!!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons, and her assistant. Check out her amazing work here!

Getting ready-macho style

2010-04-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

While us girls were getting ready at my parents'/the church, the guys were hanging out at my grandparents' house. They were all dressed by the time the photographer got there, so I'll show the pictures that I have.

My handsome brother

My handsome (at the time future) husband putting on his boutonniere

Dad in the tux we had to pull teeth to get him to rent

"Can I put the tux back in the bag yet?"

"I'm hott"

Nick's brother

Unfortunately I don't have any single pictures of the best man or ring bearer, but you will see them later.

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons. Check out her amazing work here!

Getting ready - girly style

2010-04-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

*Ring ring ring*, okay, that's not what my alarm sounds like. I have a random song on my cell phone for my alarm that I don't hate yet (note: do not make a song that you like be your alarm because you WILL grow to hate it).

After eating breakfast (don't remember what it was, I think two bites of cereal or something), my hair & make up artist showed up along with my photographer.

I spent the time I had while getting my hair and make up done trying to memorize my vows. Didn't really work, but it was a good thought at the time (good thing we had hard copies of them during the ceremony).

Look at all those curls!

Texting my soon-to-be-husband!!

Checking out my new do in the mirror

Getting made up

Putting on my mascara (thanks to my sensitive eyes, only I can do it)

Junior bridesmaid getting her hair done

After getting hair and make up done, and eating lunch (Subway sandwich platters) we headed over to the church where the wedding was being held to get dressed. The youth room where we were getting ready also serves as a dance studio and has a wall of mirrors that the flower girl (and me too!) enjoyed spinning in front of.

My mom helped me get dressed and it's a good thing because there was no way I could dive into that dress by myself! I was so happy that I was finally getting to put it on for longer than 15 minutes!!

No brides were harmed in the making of this wedding. Haha!

Sucking in to get it zipped up that last inch! Thank you Lord for Spanx and corsets!

Two beautiful bridesmaids!

We had out girly formals while the guys were getting ready, but you will have to wait for those!

Guys are up next! Stay tuned!!

Note: All pictures were taken by our photographer, Jessica Lemmons. Check out her amazing work here!

Preparing for a wedding (reception)

2010-04-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

Setting up our wedding locations took the whole day before the wedding, minus when we were rehearsing. Good thing I was so prepared with diagrams and drawings of what I wanted. Let me tell you, it was chaos even with the diagrams, can't imagine how it would have been without.

If you get a chance, MAKE A DIAGRAM OF YOUR CEREMONY & RECEPTION LAYOUTS. Makes things SO much easier. Here are my diagrams, I made them in Excel, although it was a pain in the butt so if you have a better idea, than use it!

Ceremony location

Reception location

Guest tables

Family tables

Head table

Anyway, those definitely helped in setting everything up. The following are pictures of us doing the setting up (again, taken by my uncle). I don't have any ceremony set up pictures, but you can see what it all looks like in the actual wedding pictures.

My two favorite men, look how strong they are!

Untangling white light strings

Haha, still untangling

Best Man helping decorate tables

My awesome aunt (and many other people) helped iron 12 tablecloths and 28 table runners. Wow

Brothers awesome girlfriend was a BIG help too!! We had her running all over town for two days!

Brother sneaking a kiss from awesome girlfriend

My uncle, Dad, and brother strung lights all around the room and after all of that, we finally decided to test them. Oops, one string didn't work, so this picture and the next are of my brother and dad taking down that string and putting up one that does work.

Hilarious

In the kitchen pre-prepping food (I have a funny story to tell you in a later post)

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of a finished table, but you will see them in the reception pictures, so hold on tight!!

Up next...getting ready on our wedding day!!

READ THIS BLOG!! Seriously!

2010-04-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

My sister wrote this on her new wedding blog (check out the whole blog, it'll be awesome). She is very wise beyond her years to be able to see this at the age she is (19).

If only all newlyweds/engaged couples/dating couples could figure this out.

Time to rehearse

2010-04-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

My photographer uncle was gracious enough to take pictures of our rehearsal and set up, which I am very glad of or these next couple posts would be very sparse and wordy.

I'm not going to go through the timeline of the rehearsal because you all know how it goes (or will) and I will be doing the timeline of the wedding. Seems kind of redundant to do both right? Exactly my thinking. Most of the rehearsal pictures are just going to be fun, goofy pictures.

I am starting, however, with our processional because we don't have pictures of everyone during the processional of the actual wedding.

So here we have all of the guys up front waiting for the girls

We had my sister/MOH walk up first, I know, not the norm, but you will see how it all makes sense later.

Then bridesmaids with invisible bouquets

Ring bearer and one junior bridesmaid (did it this way because they are siblings)

Other junior bridesmaid and flower girl (they are cousins)

Then Dad and I with my lovely ribbon bouquet

Okay, see how the girls are standing? Made much more sense to have MOH walk up first then walk up last and have to shuffle the other girls around to get to her spot. Where she stood also made it difficult for her to adjust my train during the actual ceremony, but she had other MOH duties to do instead.

Jokingly greeting everyone as "Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Thompson", haha.

And leaving...

Love the parade wave

What a nut!

Mom snapping at Dad to hurry up

Okay, so the rehearsal is over and we're waiting for food. We just had pizza brought to the church so we could eat and then head over to the reception hall to set up (next post). So the next pictures are just everyone hanging out.

Love the facial expressions...

Threw this one in because, again, my sister's lovely expression.

Bachelorette finale!

2010-04-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

As you last read, we were having an awesome time crashing parties and scavenging and eating edible undies!

Item #4: Make a toilet paper veil

We even have the blusher!

Item #5: Measure one of the girls with grocery store products

I am 5 cat litters and a lint brush high.

Showing off mad karate skills

Item #6: Do the Beatles walk across a sidewalk

Item #7: Take a picture "worshipping" the squirrel statue in town (yes, we have a giant squirrel)

Dani was having fun being worshipped too!

Item #8: Join a statue scene

Our statue was a little girl reading Dr. Seuss to her cat

Item #9: Make a word out of our bodies

Whew! What a night! From there we went back to my house and watched movies, ate cupcakes, and crashed!!

Up next, rehearsal & set up photos!!

Bachelorette scavenging!

2010-04-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

My sister/MOH had a scavenger hunt planned so we had a blast doing the things on the list. Unfortunately I don't still have the list, but I think we did the majority on it so I will explain as we go along.

Item #1 was play "Duck, Duck, Goose" in a parking lot, there was a Target nearby so we headed there.

Then we went inside...

...And headed for the bathroom for item #2: fit everyone in a bathroom stall (except the photographer)

Had to stop by the hats and try some on!!

Item #3: Get everyone's reflection in something other than a mirror.

#4: Take a picture with someone dressed like you...we both had on jeans and a gray jacket so we figured it counted even though he's a guy.

Couldn't resist! It's a giant iPhone!! And I still want one!!!

Mama iPhone and Baby iPhone :-)

Yes, that is exactly what you think it is...my sick bridesmaid (she couldn't make it to the party) bought me an edible thong and I couldn't resist!

Fighting over said thong. Hey! It was cherry!!

Final party pictures later, then it's on to the rehearsal!!

Back to the beginning

2010-04-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well, not the TOTAL beginning (please don't make me do the whole 15 month engagement over again!!), we're just going back a week to my bachelorette party!

We met in our church's parking lot (got to be a joke in there somewhere) and headed south to dinner and fun! Note: If you live within driving distance to Vancouver, WA, check out Golden Tent Mongolian Grill. FABULOUS food!! So guess where we went for dinner? Yep

And my sister had fun playing with the wraps! Haha!

From left to right: Maid of Honor, Maid of Honor's friend, Bridesmaid. :-)

The head in the middle was our wedding photographer, a good chunk of these pictures were taken by her or with her camera.

Nick was also having his bachelor party this night and I was being really good about not texting him. Well, during dinner I started getting text messages from the drunk best man, and then Nick, and then my brother!! Someone let slip where the guys were and we couldn't help but crash their party!!

Maid of Honor and friend in the restaurant, since they weren't allowed in the bar.

Us three sibs at the bar that the bachelor party started at. Notice the lovely lei around my neck made of penises and condoms...just...lovely. Hm, well moving on.

We got shooed out pretty quick by Nick's brother, which was fine because we had our own fun planned! So stay tuned!!!

Final honeymoon pictures

2010-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last of the pictures, I promise!

We did a lot of driving around the week we were in Hawaii, and it is definitely a gorgeous island, there is always plenty to see!

These two pictures are of the Kilauea Lighthouse with a gorgeous view of the ocean.

Wailua Falls, a very pretty and big waterfall (80 feet is pretty big in my book)!

Another picture of a chicken, taken in the Burger King parking lot.

The trees were in bloom! Beautiful purples and reds and oranges were everywhere!

A couple of the many one-lane bridges we had to cross to get to our resort, I believe there were six or seven in the five miles stretch we had to drive.

One of our wedding gifts was a sunset cruise up the Na Pali coastline. It turned out to be a gorgeous (I apparently like that word) day, but pretty windy. We ended up not getting to see the Na Pali Coast because the waves "were getting too exciting" according to the captain, but we did get to see some whales (I don't have whale pictures, but Nick got some) and the sky was clear to see the sunset (pictures also taken by Nick).

After the cruise, Nick and I both had a craving for steak so we looked in our handy guidebook and found The Bull Shed, which was listed as having the best prime rib on the island. Let me tell you, it was HUGE!

When I got it, Nick just sat there and laughed. I ended up not finishing and we took the rest back to our condo and cooked it up for lunch the next day.

I had been trying to get a picture of this tree ALL WEEK and when I finally did, there was power lines through the middle of it. Oh well. This tree was very pretty and caught my eye because it was covered with ivy and blue flowers and sat on the edge of a river.

We took these pictures on the last day, notice the sun? The clearest day of the whole trip was as we were driving to the airport to leave. Go figure.

We really did have an awesome time and we both want to go back. If you have a chance to visit Kauai, we recommend staying at the Hanalei Colony Resort, especially if you are honeymooning. It is a beautiful resort full of two bedroom condos and is nice and secluded, but still close to beaches and sites to explore. And definitely visit the local farmer's markets. The fresh fruits and vegetables are amazing!

Honeymoon part two

2010-04-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

All right, on to part two.

The day after the luau we drove up the road a bit to the Limahuli Gardens. If you ever get a chance to go to Kauai, I definitely recommend seeing this site. For $15 you can tour the gardens by yourself with a booklet, it's about a 3/4 of a mile circle and it's gorgeous!

I had to take a picture of this mountain because it reminded me of the profile of a gorilla.

This picture starts the tour...

A lovely waterfall that is kind of obscured by an equally lovely flower.

Bird of Paradise

Chickens! The unofficial official bird of Kuaui! Seriously, they were EVERYWHERE!!

Another pretty little waterfall

Dried up waterfall

These trees reminded me of Dr. Seuss trees

Don't remember what this flower was called, but it was pretty...

Cabbage on a stick, haha. Don't remember the name of this tree, but the description was seriously "cabbage on a baseball bat."

View from the top of the garden trail

View of the beginning of the tour taken from the end of the tour

Happy one month anniversary to us!!

2010-04-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well, almost a month. Tomorrow we will have been married for a whole month and I haven't posted!! Yikes! Well, all of you married ladies know how busy life can get and all of you unmarried ladies will learn!

So we’re going to start with honeymoon pictures and go backwards because I don’t have all of the other pictures yet. Nick and I went to Kauai, Hawaii for our honeymoon and it was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!! My first words when we got off of the plane were, “When can we move?”

We stayed at a very nice resort that was rather secluded, but that was the plan anyway. We were on our honeymoon and didn’t want to be around a lot of people.

On the map below, we were in Ha’ena, which was about five miles from the nearest “town”, Hanalei.

The view from out window, was a gorgeous shot of Hanalei Bay.

Look at all of the lovely clouds. It rained most of the week, but was a nice 75 degrees, so we didn't really care. We're from the Pacific Northwest and 75 degree rain is A LOT better than 45 degree rain.

Here is a couple more shots taken from our window, a palm tree with baby coconuts and one of the other buildings.

These flowers were everywhere at the resort!

These next three pictures were taken on the beach in front of our building. Our condo was the top window in this first picture.

A view across the bay...

Nick on the beach :-)

The second night we were there, we went to the luau at the resort. It was a nice family luau and all of the cute dancers were the daughters of the musicians.

Nick watching the show...

He even volunteered to get up and dance!!

The fire dancer...

Just kidding, here's the real fire dancer

We had a blast at the luau even with it pouring outside!! Stay tuned for more honeymoon later!!

The time has come!!

2010-03-13T07:48:00.000-08:00

Now I have the poem from Alice in Wonderland stuck in my head.

I can't believe this day is finally here. The 15 months(!!!) of preparation all led up to this moment and I am so excited!!

Thank all of you for reading my blog and commenting. It's been a wonderful ride! I will see all of you after our honeymoon in Hawaii when I will begin recaps starting with the bachelorette party last weekend.

Congratulations to all of you other brides getting married this weekend too!!!

DIY win and fail...

2010-03-09T19:08:00.001-08:00

Let's do the win first, because it's happier (sure why not, we'll go with that). My tossing bouquet was something that I wanted to be different than normal. Everyone has been to a wedding and wanted to catch the bouquet and maybe you have caught one (I did once). At our wedding, I am giving all of our single ladies a bouquet to catch. Each flower in the "bouquet" will be its own bouquet. Here's what I did...

Take 20 parts flowers...

And add equal parts of ribbons along with some scissors.

With a snip, snip here and a little sweat there, the idea takes shape.

Each bouquet was tied with a ribbon and I let the strings hang because I thought it was adorable and fun. Here is how they turned out all together.

When the time comes to throw, I will hold them all together like one bouquet, but then they will separate and then every girl can catch one (hopefully, as long as there are only 20 or so girls to toss to).

So that's my DIY win, now for the fail. My card box did not turn out how I wanted it to, so I went to Michaels and bought one. I'm the bride, I'm allowed to do that if I want to.

In other news, I got my dress back from the seamstress today!! Yay!!! Now she is hanging in my room, teasing me that I get to wear her soon. Argh!!

I have one more day of work left! Whoopee!! And then I can devote my few remaining days to getting everything together and trying to remain calm. Good luck to me.

I am in the process of getting the bachelorette pictures together, so don't worry, that post is still on it's way (although might not come until after we get back from our honeymoon).

4 days!!!

Time to party!!

2010-03-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for my bachelorette party!! I will post pictures when I've recovered (and by that I mean catch up on sleep). :-D

Thanking my parents

2010-03-05T18:35:00.000-08:00

I spent MONTHS thinking of how to properly thank my parents for everything they have done. I just couldn't find the right token to show my appreciation until I was checking out my recommendations on Amazon. As soon as I saw these two, I knew exactly what I was giving my parents.

For my mom:

This is our favorite children's book. She bought me a copy a couple of years ago, so now she has her own copy to read her grandchildren someday (no, no surprises, it's going to be a couple of years).

For my dad:

When I was younger, I used to dance on Dad's feet all of the time. After seeing the cover of this book (and with the last couple pages being wedding related) I knew this would be perfect.

Showing your appreciation to your parents doesn't have to be grand and showy, even the smallest or seemingly silly thing can mean the most to them. :-)

8 days!!!

Weather update

2010-03-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

One thing I forgot to add onto my last post, with the wedding being within Weather.com's 10-day forecast, I was able to check out what it will be doing on our day.

Unfortunately, right now this is it:

Sad Panda

We want to do our pictures at the lake because it is a beautiful location. We do have a back up plan, but would rather not use it. I know the weather can change in between now and then and I REALLY hope that it does.

Pray for now rain Friday and Saturday!!

Single digits!! happy dance

2010-03-04T09:30:00.002-08:00

9 DAYS UNTIL OUR WEDDING!!!

So much is going on right now that I haven't really had time to blog! Sorry!

On Tuesday, my granny came over and we had a work party. We spent the evening putting tags on bracelets and ribbons on bubbles. I took pictures with my phone so you can kind of see what we were doing.

I had to print out 250 little tags and then punch holes in all of them to put the ribbon through.

Granny, my sister, and her fiance spent the evening threading the tags onto ribbon and then tying them around the bracelets. All 250!!

It took a while, but we got all of them done.

Then I got to working on the bubbles. I ended up getting all of the red ribbon done, which is only half, but now I only have half left. It's not so bad I guess.

I could have made it a lot easier on myself by just tying a not and clipping the ends short, but the bows were so cute! (Not that you can see them very well in the picture, but oh well. Take my word for it!)

This week I've been going through my closet and I finally decided to just pick an outfit for each day of the week until the wedding. Then I could take the rest of my clothes over to our new house. I was shocked when my clothes went from filling two rods to being about a foot thick on ONE rod!!

Might not be easy to see in the picture, but the small amount of clothes on the left are the ones I am wearing this week and next. I had a "moment" and had to sit down and just stare at it. Where has the time gone!!? I only have 9 days left and a fairly long to do list left!!

It is going down though, here it what is left:
-Print poem for memorial table (will take two minutes)
-Take engraved vase to Your Marketplace (again, two minutes, minus travel time)
-Make card box (I need to find plain, red wrapping paper & an appropriate cardboard box
-Pick out young-ish pictures for under glass (mine are done, now I just need Nick's)
-Put ribbons on bubbles (only orange is left)
-Ribbons on tossing flowers (I have both, now I just need to sit down and do it)
-Decorate centerpieces (I need to get red floral paper to put around the pot)
-Make CD for DJ
-Make CD of prelude & postlude music
-Print vows & 'Union' poem on invitation paper (need to get Nick's vows)
-Finalize rehearsal dinner details (mostly done)
-Gifts to parents
-Pass out schedule to all involved (only have a few left to pass out)
-Pay videographer
-Buy reception food (doing this on saturday, we're doing a nacho bar!)
-Honeymoon itineraries to parents
-Get pedestals from Beth and Matt (bridesmaids is doing this)
-Pack bags for honeymoon!
-Prepare bag to take to wedding (with emergency kit)
-Guys' final fittings & pick up tuxes (next thursday)
-Rings cleaned (day before)
-Assign someone to be in charge of ring bearer's dish, flower, girl basket, etc.
-Designate someone to transport card box to McClelland
-Go to credit union for honeymoon, tip, & emergency money
-Paint fingernails & toenails
-Pick up rentals & pay balance (day before
-Set up ceremony (morning of day before)
-Set up reception (afternoon of day before)
-Gifts to bridesmaids (at rehearsal)
-Have someone pick up my bouquet and the memorial flowers (morning of)

Whew! Still a long list, but we'll get it done.

This weekend we're buying the food for the reception (like I said in the to do list) and it's my bachelorette party!! Stay tuned for THAT post and pictures!!

9 days!!!!

15 days!!!

2010-02-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

And boy am I ready for a vacation!!

Nick decided yesterday that I need a bouquet made from real flowers, so now I get to add that to my to do list! (Not that I'm complaining, he's paying for it!)

Music makes the people come together!!

2010-02-23T19:53:00.000-08:00

It only took like 11 months, but here is our music line up.

Ceremony first

Everyone in our processional will walk in to 'What a Wonderful World' by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole

Israel kamakawiwo'ole - "What a Wonderful World from Mountain Apple Company on Vimeo.

Have you seen Disney's Man of the House? For those of you that have, do you remember the song Farrah Fawcett walked down the aisle to at the end? That is the song I am walking down to. 'Return to Innocence' by Enigma

Source: Youtube
Gives me chills whenever I hear that song.

While we sign our marriage certificate and pour our unity sand, this song will be playing 'Deeply in Love' by Hillsong

Source: Youtube

After we are pronounced husband and wife (I love that line!!), we will be walking back out to 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' also by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole

Over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole OFFICIAL VIDEO from Mountain Apple Company on Vimeo.

Onto the reception

Okay, I'm not all the way done because I don't know what song we will be announced to.

We will cut the cake to 'Baby I Love Your Way' by UB-40

Source: Youtube

For the bouquet toss, I really couldn't resist being cheesy. 'Single Ladies' by Beyonce

Source: Youtube

My garter will be slipped off and tossed to 'Let's Get It On' by Marvin Gaye

Source: Youtube

Took a while to decide on our first dance, but we finally agreed on 'Love and Honesty' by Hawaiian Style Band

Source: Youtube

I will dance with my daddy to 'Butterfly Kisses' by Bob Carlisle

Source: Youtube

Nick will dance with his mother to 'Road That Never Ends' by Keali'I Reichel

Source: Youtube

I am going to have a special dance with my grandfather and we will dance to 'And I Love You So' by Perry Como

Source: Youtube

So there you have it, our (mostly done) play list of the day.

18 days!!

Newsflash!! We have centerpieces!!

2010-02-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

That's right, we now have (most of) our centerpieces!

After going from this:

Source

To this:

Source

To, finally, this!!

Source

We're using potted Bromeliads!! They are so pretty and vibrant and just the look we were going for! And I got them on sale at Fred Meyer, buy two and get one free!! So, we saved about $100 on our centerpieces. *Happy dance*

And right now, our laundry room looks like a tropical jungle! I want to go on a safari!!

Boy did I get showered!!

2010-02-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

Saturday was my bridal shower and I REALLY got showered!! Thirty five women showed up and we all squished into my grandmother's living room! It was awesome though. I felt very blessed! I received some really great gifts, like ALL of our dishes, silverware, and glasses (very exciting, now we can eat in our home!). :-) And a facial!! Yay! Now for some picture fun!

The cake was so cute!!

My sister the Maid of Honor

The adorable flower girl!

From left to right: one of Mom's friends, Granny, my great aunt, Grandma

Again, L to R: Hairdresser (you can only really see her hair, cousin, cousin, Mom's friend, cousin, great aunt who is making our cake, and up top is my aunt :-)

FSIL playing the game: a prize was wrapped (many times) and you have 20 seconds to take off the wrapping. Whoever got it all the way unwrapped, won what was in the box.

Cousin playing the game

Great aunt--see the lovely duct tape?

My cousin got the duct tape off, but not the last layer in time.

My mom's friend and her daughter--she won the prize! A yummy smelling candle!

The package didn't make it all the way around the room, so the rest had to split into teams and make toilet paper dresses.

This was the winner. When it was finished, it had a corset back and lovely designs in the front. Even came with a headband and garter!!

Here are all three brides :-)

Like I said, I was blessed very much!

I was so excited that I received all of the dishes we registered for! Nick and I both loved them. :-)

Whew! What a party! I was exhausted afterwards!!

19 days!!

I bring this sort of thing on myself

2010-02-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

I've known all along that we wanted to put M&Ms on the tables, just because we could get them in our colors and they made an easy treat for our guests. I was getting ready to order 15 pounds (yes you read that right) online, when it was mentioned by Dad that I should hit up the after Valentine's Day sales for our red and white M&Ms. Genius!! Shannon and I made the trek to Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon and bought 19 bags of M&Ms!

Then we got home and the work began. If you remember right, Valentine's colors are red, white, and PINK. We had to take out ALL of the pink M&Ms from ALL 19 bags. My wonderful Shannon/Maid of Honor and my brother's wonderful girlfriend helped me separate the M&Ms, thank goodness.

Wonderful Shannon

Brother's wonderful girlfriend :-)

About halfway through this ordeal, we realized that we would only end of with half of the white M&Ms that we needed. Not a big deal. Now I only have to buy half the amount I needed.

Total cost of red and (half of) white M&Ms? $26.00
Cost online? $150.00
I love bargain shopping. Two bad Halloween isn't before my wedding for my orange M&Ms.

Taking a trip to Build a Bear Workshop

2010-02-16T18:35:00.001-08:00

Saturday before picking my grandmother up from the airport, my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin took my flower girl to Build a Bear to make her gift, or I should say, her distraction. Shylee is three and doesn't have a very big attention span so her new bear friend will (hopefully) distract her during the wedding.

It didn't take her long to decide on the pink bear. :-)

Shylee chose to put in a heartbeat (although I don't think she knew that's what it was) and then it was time for stuffing.

I'll also say here that she wanted to put a sound in her bear and promptly chose a song from iCarly. Not that I have any problems with that, but I didn't want her bear bursting out into song in the middle of our ceremony. Instead we got her a giggle, which could very well have everyone giggling on our wedding day. Oh well.

There are SO many choices of clothing in that store it is amazing.

My mom found the two wedding dresses in the store and Shylee chose one of those before seeing the rest of the store (we would have been there ALL DAY).

25 days!

Where has the time gone!?

2010-02-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

Nick and I only have a month left! A lot has happened in the last week (see my last post for something truly exciting!) so we'll start with my first fitting on Thursday.

First let me just say that this seamstress is awesome and very inexpensive! I didn't need a lot done with my dress, just tightening the straps, tucking the lining of the dress in at the top, and the bustle. So I am only being charged $40 for my alterations!! Yay!!!

In this picture, you can see the top of the lining along the top of the dress. The seamstress is going to tuck and tack it so it won't show.

Here is kind of what my bustle will look like, right now it is just pinned in place.

Shannon was goofing off with my veil since she had her fitting before I got there.

Silly girl :-) (If only she had known then, and if you don't, see my last post)

I also got my shoes that day. I love how they are two-tone like my dress!

This last week we also decided to change the reception centerpieces from fruit to flowers. This is just going to be less stressful all around because we won't have to make them two days before the wedding (yes, that was the plan, but no longer). So I have been calling around and haven't been able to find a place that can get me 24 potted white lilies. If worse comes to worse, we will use fake calla lilies as the centerpieces, but I'd rather have live ones so that I can plant them after the wedding.

Yesterday we met with our photographer to get her paid and the details finalized. She said I was super organized (must be my OCD) and the appointment took all of 20 minutes.

I was going to post this on the one month mark, but that was two days ago and I couldn't very well write this post while Nick was here because of my dress pictures. Here is my to do list for the next month and what I have finished from the last list (again, updates are in bold):

-Finish buying decorations (almost done with this one, still need the taper candles and vases for the ceremony, a couple more candy dishes, and about 100 more little umbrellas)
-~~Finishing etching our toasting glasses & sand vase~~
-~~Contact our reception venue to see about setting up the day before the wedding~~
-~~Plan our rehearsal dinner~~
-~~Get our engagement announcement into the local newspaper~~
-Check on insurances
-Buy a card box
-Get marriage license
-Get our music selections to the person that will be doing the sound for the ceremony
-Finish buying our dessert plates and napkins (I was able to get everything else at Costco)
-Order our food
-Finishing gathering supplies for our photo guestbook
-Buy yellow roses for Grandpa's memorial table
-Finish buying our favors (still need the Multiple Sclerosis bracelets and M&Ms)
-Get our music list to the DJ
-Pay for our videographer
-Pick out our engagements pictures we want printed to put on the tables
-Finalize and print our programs
-Finalize the day of schedule and send to everyone involved in the wedding
-Call non-RSVPers
-Confirm that everyone in the wedding has what they need
-Gifts to the girls
-Honeymoon itinerary to our parents
-Pack for our honeymoon

So, a lot to do in the next month, but it will get done.

26 days! So exciting!

My sister is engaged!!

2010-02-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

She came running in to my room last name at 1:00 AM saying her (now) fiance proposed at their midnight picnic! Yay! I'm so excited for them both and now I get to plan another wedding!!!

The happy couple :-)

Her ring is gorgeous!

My sweetie is wonderful!!

2010-02-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

Nick brought me flowers at my work today!! They are gorgeous red roses and Stargazer Lilies (as if you couldn't tell)!!

29 days!!

Yippee! Another giveaway!

2010-02-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

Are you changing your name after you get married? Head over to Miss Pug's Pawfect Wedding and check out the name change kit giveaway from Name Chance Express! This would be an awesome addition, making changing your name SUPER easy!

Even if you are not changing your name, check out the blog anyway!

36 days!

Mail time!!

2010-02-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

I've received a bunch of stuff in the mail the last few days, but today I finally got our cake topper!! It is so pretty and will really add to the tropical theme we're going with for the reception. :-)

38 days!!

Awesome giveway!!

2010-01-31T14:50:00.001-08:00

Looking for a Valentine's Day present for your SO? Head over to With this ring, I thee blog and enter the "Spreading the Valentine Love" giveaway. You have 13 chances to win!

These cards are so cute and an awesome way to show your love. Giveaway ends February 5th at 8pm PST so hurry over!

I'd have to say that I wouldn't be looking forward to the "Anything" card because I know that Nick would use it to make me drive his manual transmission car to the beach. I know I need to learn (I've gotten that lecture many times), but I'd prefer to learn in my own neighborhood.

45 Day Update

2010-01-27T10:37:00.000-08:00

I posted this list at the beginning of this month, now let’s see what I’ve done (updates are in bold):
-~~Write Pampered Chef shower thank yous~~
-~~Nick needs to finalize and reserve the guys’ tuxes~~
-~~Assemble, address, and mail invitations~~
-~~Finalize what decorations and how many flowers we'll need~~
-Finish buying decorations
-~~Contact the seamstress that one of my friends recommended~~ - My first fitting is in two weeks!
-~~Get my other shower guest list to my aunt~~
-Finishing etching our toasting glasses & sand vase
-~~Order ring dish from Paloma's Nest on Etsy~~
-~~Order orange tablecloths and table runners~~ (since we couldn't rent them)
-Contact our reception venue to see about setting up the day before the wedding
-Plan our rehearsal dinner
-~~Decide for sure which crinoline I am using and send it out to be dyed~~ (if it can be) - Chose the crinoline I can’t dye. Oh well, can’t win them all.
-Get our engagement announcement into the local newspaper
-~~Start looking for a place to live~~ - We found a cute little house and get the keys tomorrow!!
-Check on insurances
-Make a mock up of one of our centerpieces
-Figure out what we’re using for a card box – I originally wanted to make one, but that may not happen
-We can get our marriage license anytime now, but will probably wait until the end of February
-Get our music selections to the person that will be doing the sound for the ceremony

Still a lot to do, but we're getting there!

Our house!

2010-01-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

Nick and I have a house!! Well, we have found one to rent anyway. It is so cute and has two bedroom, a fenced backyard (for my dog), and a garage! We sign the papers tomorrow and then get the keys on Thursday. I can't believe how fast we got it too! I found it in the newspaper on Monday, Nick and I went and saw it on Thursday, and they called yesterday and told us it was ours! Yay!! Thank you Lord for letting this happen so quickly.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can. :-)

49 days!!

I have to tell you the joke Dad & I played!!!

2010-01-20T20:55:00.000-08:00

Dad and I went to Mr. Formal to pick out his tux and get him fitted.

Oh, here's some background: Dad does NOT where pants (only shorts) and even worse is anything resembling dress clothing. He has been in a tux about four times in his life and had to be forced every time. He wears shorts everyday, even in snow, and his only nice pants are jeans which get worn at funerals and weddings ONLY.

Okay, so back to the story, we went to Mr. Formal (his 5th time wearing a tux) and when we were getting ready to leave, we thought it would be funny if we told Mom that we ordered him tuxedo shorts. The gal who helped us was AWESOME and printed us a fake receipt with tuxedo shorts on it!!

The look on my mom's face was PRICELESS when she saw that receipt. It was hilarious!! We had to pull out the real receipt pretty quick or she would have went into hysterics, but it was great!!

I LOVE Etsy!!

2010-01-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

More specifically, Paloma's Nest and the lovely ring dishes they make!!

I was about 90% sure about using a dish instead of a pillow, but seeing mine with our date on it? Now I am 190% sure!!

Seriously, if any of you are considering using a ring dish, I highly recommend Paloma's Nest on Etsy. Amazing!

And They're Off!!!

2010-01-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

No, I didn’t go to a race track (although that does sound like fun). I finally finished our wedding invitations and mailed them off! They are officially out of my hands and into the ones of our trusty (I hope) post office.

We did the WHOLE invitation process by hand and what an experience that was! Not one that I think I’d want to do again, but at least I’ve done it once. Let me walk you through it, shall I?

Step One: Gather supplies
Here is what we used:

-Invitation backing: red/white two-sided card stock (super cute red hearts on the white side)
-Printed: ivory shimmery paper
-Ivory envelopes
-Envelope labels: full page labels (these worked awesome, I’ll talk about them further down)
-Three different paper cutters (one would have worked, but I tried two others first)
-Tape stick (found on the scrapbooking aisle of Wal-Mart)

Step Two: Print invitation, RSVP, & direction wording on shimmery paper

Once I had all of the wording the way I wanted it, I took all of the shimmery paper and my flash drive with the files on it to my mom’s work and printed everything on their giant printer. It was awesome and you wouldn’t know it wasn’t done professionally!

Step Three: Cut paper

One piece of red paper made the backing of one whole invitation. I cut the paper in half and then cut one half in half again (confused yet?) so make three pieces.

The shimmery paper was easier because I had printed lines showing where to cut. All I had to do was cut on the lines and trim the edges a little bit. Piece of cake!

Step Four: Assemble pieces

Pretty straight forward, use tape stick on the back of the shimmery paper and then stick it to the red side of the backing. I did the same with the RSVPs (leaving the white/heart side blank so guests could write us a note) and then the direction cards were double sided.

Step Five: Place invitation in envelope and seal

Voila! You have assembled your invitation! Now you just need to paste the label on the front of the envelope and…hmm, I mentioned full page labels didn’t I? I found the template for our wrap-around labels online (love the Internet), but couldn’t figure out how to get them on the envelope without messy glue. So I went to my local Office Max and found full page mailing labels. Great! They were super easy to print the labels onto and then I just cut them down to size!

Step Six: Place label and stamp on front of envelope.

Yes, I am sending an invitation to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, I couldn’t resist. :-D

I made sure to assemble one invitation beforehand and took it to the post office. I wanted to know exactly how much postage I would need before I started this whole endeavour. What luck! Our invitations were only going to need one $.44 stamp. I couldn’t help but buy the king and queen of hearts! They are so gosh darn cute!!

Step Seven: Place in hands of post office.

On another note, WE'RE GETTING MARRIED IN TWO MONTHS!!! I am so excited, I really wish it would come faster, but good things come to those who wait right?

Gotta Love a Guy in a Suit

2010-01-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

Or tux as the case may be. I FINALLY got Nick into the local tux rental shop to pick out tuxes and get them reserved for the wedding. It was really fun to watch and my does he look handsome in a tux!

These lovely pictures were taken with my phone so bear with me.

I don't have any pictures of Nick in the tux he picked out, but here are pictures I found online at Mr. Formal (where we are renting them from). Nick will be wearing Andrew Fezza "Cannes" in white and the other guys will be in black. Then they will all be wearing white shirts and red vests and pocket squares.

So sexy!! (I mean Nick, not the guy in these pictures)

Heigh-ho heigh-ho...

2010-01-11T15:40:00.004-08:00

It's off to working on invitations I go. *whistle whistle whistle*

I've been hard working on the invitations for about a week now and they are almost done! I can't wait to show them to you, but that won't happen until they have been sent off. I'm so excited!!

61 days to go!!!!

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm a few days late, but it has been a BUSY few days!

Nick and I had our first bridal shower on Sunday, a wonderful Pampered Chef shower, and it was a lot of fun! We had a cooking contest against one of the great couples from my church and they won. Now I just need to write out my thank you cards!

I was looking at my to do list yesterday and here is what I'd like to get done this month:

-Write Pampered Chef shower thank yous
-~~Nick needs to finalize and reserve the guys’ tuxes~~
-Assemble, address, and mail invitations
-Finalize what decorations and how many flowers we'll need
-Contact the seamstress that one of my friends recommended
-Get my other shower guest list to my aunt
-Finishing etching our toasting glasses & sand vase
-~~Order ring dish from Paloma's Nest on Etsy~~
-~~Order orange tablecloths and table runners~~ (since we couldn't rent them)
-Contact our reception venue to see about setting up the day before the wedding
-Plan our rehearsal dinner
-Decide for sure which crinoline I am using and send it out to be dyed (if it can be)
-Get our engagement announcement into the local newspaper
-Start looking for a place to live
-Check on insurances

Whew! What a list!! This is going to be a busy month and I'm glad that some of those will be really quick.

My Christmas Epiphany (or Nick's Christmas Present)

2009-12-14T16:16:00.001-08:00

I truly had an epiphany in November regarding Nick's gift. I'm not sure if I've talked about this before, but one of Nick's main hobbies is tabletop gaming. He plays one game called Blood Bowl, which is fantasy football in board game form. And when I say fantasy football, I mean it. His team is made up of dwarfs and there are also elves, orcs, giant rats, etc. (Hence "fantasy") Get it?

So I was watching football one Sunday (yes I watch football) and saw a commercial for NFLshop.com where you can customize any teams jersey. Nick's team is called Da Beards (dwarfs have long beards, get it?) and is Chicago Bears colours. I decided to get him a Bears jersey with his teams name on it.

Isn't it great!!?

I was so excited that I already gave it to him and he LOVED it!!! Yay!!

All right people, we now have 99 days, let's hustle!

2009-12-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

That’s right, as of today we’re into double digits and there is so much left to do!!!

This month my goals are:
-Print, assemble, and address the invitations
-Reserve our tablecloths & candelabras
-Finishing etching our toasting pilsners (started months ago and I kept putting it off)
-Etch our sand vase
-Get the guys’ attire finalized and reserved
-Start planning our rehearsal dinner
-Confirm the cake design
-Figure out how we're getting to the ceremony, reception, and back home
*Finish Christmas shopping!!

There is so much to do and I am blessed with a wonderful fiance who doesn't mind helping and great MOH and bridesmaids to help too! I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas! Nick and I have been engaged for almost a year and it has FLOWN by!!

What have I done since the last time?
-We have finalized our invitation design, but you don't get to see it until they are all done and in the mail.
-We had our first counseling session last night. It was really interesting find out our strengths and weaknesses and now we know what to work on.
-Got together with my DOC and planned out the ceremony and reception layouts.
-I put in for time off from work.
-Our honeymoon is finally booked! Our we are officially going to (I know, there has been lots of discussion on where we're going) the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii.

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I am very excited, having never been to Hawaii, and this island looks absolutely gorgeous. *sigh* I'm so glad we only have 99 days left! I can't wait!!!

Have a happy weekend!

Getting pretty

2009-11-13T13:55:00.001-08:00

Wednesday I had the day off for Veteran's Day so I had my hair and makeup trial and my sister (maid of honor) was gracious enough to come with me to take pictures to show you!

It took 1 1/2 hours to curl my hair and then about ten minutes to finish putting it up. Ha ha!! But it turned out absolutely gorgeous!!!

My makeup was interesting to do. It turned out great, but my eyes are sensitive so they watered a lot and didn't like the fake eyelashes, but I got used to them. The picture kind of looks funny, but I looked like a vixen (sister's words) with the hair and makeup.

It was so much fun and I can't wait for Nick to see me in hair, makeup, and dress on our wedding day!!!!

Hair today

2009-10-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

After trying on my dress a couple of weeks ago (check out that post, the dress is AMAZING!!) Mom and I decided on a whim to go to Vancouver to lunch and the mall.

Let me just say that Golden Tent is the best Mongolian restaurant around and I would gladly drive the 35-45 minutes everyday for it's goodies (if you've never had Mongolian, you MUST try it!!! That is your homework). After lunch, we walked the Vancouver Mall (I'm sorry, Westfield Shopping Center) and I found my girls' hair accessories.

MOH and bridesmaids will be wearing these lovelies in their hair. They are not perfectly white, but very cute and I couldn't resist the feathers.

My two junior bridesmaids will be wearing these headbands that tie in to the others with the flowers.

And my adorable flower girl will be wearing this headband. There is not flower on it, but her dress will have red bows on it, so I think it will be a good match.

I haven't decided what to do with my hair yet. I'm going for a half-up do like these:

I will have a waltz length veil for the ceremony and pictures, but I want some sort of red flower for my hair for the reception. We'll see what I can find.

I love costumes!!

2009-10-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last night was my mom's work Halloween party and I went all out on my costume. I was originally going to be a Victorian era vampire, with Christopher's outfit from Project Runway.

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But ended up looking like a saloon girl because my teeth weren't working for me, so I didn't wear them. So this is me and let me know which you think I am.

This is my mom (on the right) and her friend. They went as Evil Things 1 & 2 (my idea).

My sister and her boyfriend went to the party as professional thieves.

We also had a dead Billy Mayes at the party. It was a lot of fun, I love dressing up and I even won best costume!! Yay me!

Now I just have to decide what to wear on Halloween to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Hmm....

Save our date!!!

2009-10-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well we officially mailed (most of) our save the dates last saturday and I can't wait to hear what people think of them!! We have a few stragglers that haven't gone out because of lack of address, but hopefully they will be going out soon. I am really pleased with how they turned out!! I made them through Zazzle and it was super easy and a great price (so if you are looking to make postcards, T-shirts, etc. check them out).

The only problem I have is that I have 400 of them!! I ordered 200 (and only really needed to order 150), but Zazzle sent me two orders of 200 so I got to keep the extra without being billed for it. Now I just have to figure out what to do with 250 extra save the dates. Wallpaper maybe? :)

149 days from today!! Whoopee!!!!

Registry fun

2009-10-14T14:24:00.001-07:00

Nick and I spent last Sunday registering at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. We had already pre-registered at a bridal expo back in January so all we needed to do was go in and scan items. They were very helpful, explaining everything, providing bottles of water, and giving us a new gun when ours ran out of batteries. They also provided us with those lovely registry cards that we can include with the bridal shower invitations (and only the bridal shower invitations).

Registering was actually a lot of fun. I kind of felt overwhelmed at the beginning because we don't have a place to live so we didn't really know what we would need. Bed, Bath, and Beyond provides a great checklist, which really helped (even if it did have a lot of stuff we don't need).

Being a naughty blogger (and not having a charged battery for my camera) I didn't take any pictures, but I do have to show you what Nick was most excited to register for.

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That, my friends, is a motion sensing soap dispenser. Haha!! Nick was so excited to put that on the registry and it's really funny because when we got home and I checked out the registry online, it hadn't scanned! So I had to add it in, but I thought that was rather ironic.

Did anyone else have as good of an experience registering as we did?

On a side note: I have 28 followers!!! How exciting! Thank you all and I hope you enjoy reading because I enjoy writing. :)

I just got the call part II...she fits!!

2009-10-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

She fits! She fits! She fits!! I can't tell you how relieved I was when my dress zipped up all the way. Not that I had put on any weight or anything, but it's been four months since I ordered her and even longer since I had tried her on. Another thing I was so happy about was that she isn't yellow. I ordered ivory because white made me look like a ghost, but since I hadn't seen my dress in months (I think I tried her on in March) I couldn't remember what the ivory looked like. It's very subtle, but still looks amazing.

So without further ado...

I brought an ivory veil with me that I bought on eBay for $15, but it was too yellow and too long we decided. So I tried on a few different lengths and styles and we decided on a waltz length (54") with red trim to match the red in my dress (isn't she gorgeous!!).

Here is a shot of the beautiful detail on the bodice and the cute sleeves.

Showing off my beautiful shoes that I am not going to wear. They were a tad high and made me look like a floating bell. So I ordered a pair of shoes that were surprisingly comfortable and could be dyed to match my dress. The fun part about the shoes is that they will be two-toned like my dress with the ankle strap being white (since no one will notice that it isn't ivory).

Ah, the reason I fell in love with her in the first place. Look how gorgeous that train is. I spent most of my appointment trying to turn around to look at it. :D I love the detail and the shape of the red going down to the train.

There you have it, my lovely, lovely dress that I can't wait to wear.

On Tuesday it will be five months to go!!

I just got the call...

2009-10-07T15:21:00.001-07:00

My dress is in!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!

Table mock up

2009-09-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

Friday night my bridesmaid, MOH, & I had a party to celebrate the wedding being in six months (I know, we’ll do anything for a party). And by party, I mean we went to dinner and then made a guest table mock up to see how it will look. Here is the diagram I made in Excel:

And here is how our table turned out.

(Note: These pictures were taken with my cell phone because I STILL have not bought a charger for my camera battery.)

Now before you go dogging on my table, that is NOT going to be the centerpiece. That was a random vase and plastic flowers I had lying around to simulate our fruit centerpiece. Also, I would like to note that the two lilies in the vases will be orange, not white (and they won't look ridiculous staring straight up in the air). Let’s see, what else? Our candy dishes will have M&Ms in them, not Dove’s chocolates; and I think we will have red and clear marbles in the votive holders instead of only red. An LED candle (or throwie, haven’t decided) will be buried in the marbles so it will glow through the marbles.

So here is what is going on our tables:
-Red or orange table cloths (alternating)
-White table runners
-fruit and chocolate centerpiece
-Under centerpiece will be a piece of glass with our engagement pictures underneath
-2 bud vases with a single, orange Asiatic lily in each
-4 votive holders with red and clear marbles and an LED candle/throwie
-2 candy dishes with red, orange, and white M&Ms
-Information cards with a website where people can upload their pictures

What do you all think of our table? Any suggestions?

Oh, before I forget SIX MONTHS UNTIL THE WEDDING!!! I couldn't help but throw that in here. :)

And another little note, we received our save the dates in the mail and they are beautiful if I do say so myself (and I do). I will show you when they have been sent out. I'm so excited!!!

Friday fun

2009-08-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

I figured as a friday special, I would post the wedding dress I wanted when I was in high school. I don't remember where I found it or who the designer is, but I doubt it's still in production.

So without further ado:

17 followers!!

2009-08-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to say!

I love reading other bride's blogs, but I didn't imagine mine would be interesting to anyone else. I feel so loved, thank you all!! :D

What another giveaway!?

2009-08-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

You got that right! Geezees is celebrating its one year anniversary with a giveaway! Check it out here!

The winner will receive a 9x12 Geezees or 10x10 canvas of your choice. You have until September 15th to enter so chop chop!!

Postcard giveaway!!

2009-08-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Head on over to Sweets and Life and check out their giveaway!

200 postcards to two people from My Postcard Printing! That sounds like an awesome deal to me!!! I would totally use them for my save the dates that I've designed, but they could be used for anything.

Wedding website!!

2009-08-24T13:41:00.001-07:00

So we're six 1/2 months out, according to The Knot ticker.

And we finally have our wedding website up!!! So go check it out!!

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/NicholasThompson&SamanthaPedersen/

Tomorrow is 200 days to go!!!!!!!!!! Whoopee!

What have we done in the last few weeks?
-Designed STDs (save the dates) - they will be ordered with my next paycheck and after sent out, you get to see them.
-Decided we're not going to Fiji for our honeymoon, so now it is a surprise to me. But I am totally fine with that decision. All I require for a honeymoon is Nick (and a little sun would be nice).
-And we booked our DJ, but I already told you that.

What needs done soon:
-Get the Preparedness survey from our officiant so we can start counseling
-Order, address, & mail STDs (already said that)
-Nick needs to design our invitations
-Buy a pattern and fabric so Granny can take it with her to Arkansas to make the flower girl dress.

I love planning my wedding!!

I can't wait to show you!!

2009-08-04T18:35:00.001-07:00

I received our engagement pictures today from our photographer, Jessica Lemmons!! Yay!!!! I am so excited to be able to show them to you all!

The shoot was so much fun even if it was a little windy and cold. Jessica found some really amazing places to shoot that I would have never even thought of.

Warning: There are a lot of them. :)

And this one is my absolute favorite:

Hope you all enjoyed them as much as I do. I love Love LOVE them all!!!

The check is in the mail!!

2009-07-28T13:42:00.001-07:00

The deposit for the reception DJ that is, since Nick finally chose one. His excuse for waiting so long? He was waiting for me to have a meltdown and demand that we elope. Ha!! Like that's going to happen! As romantic as eloping would be, I want my family to be in attendance when I get married. Sure I may have the occasional meltdown (what bride doesn't?), but I'm not going to call off the wedding.

ANYWAY, so he decided on Kelcema Productions out of Portland and Seattle (two branches). The head of the company (I think?) has been in contact with me since January so I forwarded all of the information to Nick. I guess persistence pays off huh? They have all sorts of music and seem very reliable and prepared for big events. Still looking for your DJ? Check them out!!

So that is one more checkmark I can make on my to do list!! One down and I don't know how many more to go.

I love our engagement pictures!!

2009-07-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Nick and I had out engagement pictures taken last sunday with the photographer that will be doing our wedding, Jessica Lemmons. Well today she posted her favorites on her blog and they are amazing!!!! Go check them out now!!!

http://jessicalemmonsphotography.com/blog/2009/07/weddings-and-engagements/promised/

If you are a bride in southwest Washington, I highly highly HIGHLY recommend her!

When I receive the pictures, I'll post them, but for now GO CHECK OUT HER SITE!!!!

Ring A Ding Ding

2009-07-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

I'm ordering Nick's ring this weekend! Yay!! I know it's early, but he will wear it as an engagement ring until the wedding. I'll get it engraved at some point before then with the wedding date, but that doesn't need to be done right away.

The ring he has picked out is tungsten and blue carbon fiber. He and I really like the style of it, very modern and very affordable. Wanna see?

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Two awards! I don't know what to say!!

2009-06-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you very much, I feel loved!!

My first came from august15bride, whom I am an avid reader of.

Let's see, who will I nominate?

1. Kiss the Groom
2. Polka Dot Bride
3. Two Kids and a Wedding
4. A Boardwalk to Remember
5. Bridal Bliss
6. Boots & Lace

And the other one is from The Snowflake Wedding and I love, love, LOVE that blog as well!!

Another six? Oh dear.

1. The World Around Her
2. Sweet Lorraine
3. We Shall Wed!
4. The Roddy Bride
5. A Practical Wedding
6. Marrying the Navy

There are so many blogs I could name and I'd love to name all 190 (yes really) that I am subscribed too!

Thank you both for the lovely awards. Have a happy weekend!

30 Day Shred?

2009-06-23T16:02:00.001-07:00

More Like 20 minutes in hell for me.

That's right, I've jumped on the Jillian bandwagon and I have the 30 Day Shred DVD at home that I am agonizing over. The first two days were absolute torture and I could barely move afterwards (I am not fit at all). The third day wasn't as bad, but I know it will get better (at least I hope so).

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After doing it for three days (with a break in between two and three) I actually feel good and I'm getting used to it (read: less sore). I'm kind of excited to see the difference at the end of the 30 days.

Now before you lecture me for taking a day off, I'll have you know I walked three sections of the lake with Nick that day so it wasn't a total break.

Anyone use this video and notice a difference in how you look and feel?

What does my dress look like?

2009-06-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well I'll show you!!!

Here's me in the dress:

And here's the detail:

And this isn't me, but I don't have a good picture of the back:

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I am getting the color that I am wearing, ivory and cherry and then the bridesmaid dresses are cherry.

Yay for checking it off the list!!

2009-06-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Ordering my dress that is! I am so excited that I got to order my dress this weekend and on the 13th too, which means nine months until the wedding!!!

Side note (but not a small one): My dress was about $200 less than I thought it was going to be and that is just awesome! And my two girls that ordered their dresses were also less expensive than we were figuring. I am so glad I stayed local and bought at the boutique in town and she honored my coupon which came from the dealer and not her shop. Now I just have to wait the six months to get my dress in. *sigh*

I was naughty and only took one picture with my phone (sorry if it's blurry or grainy) because I was not going to take a picture while we were being measured.

Here are my MOH and one of my bridesmaids paying for their dresses, Shannon & Kristen (is behind Shannon and kinda hard to see).

My third bridesmaid, Megan, was there for a while, but wasn't buying a dress because her crafty mother is making it!! Wish I was that talented, but oh well. :)

What a week

2009-06-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

So let me give you the run down. Tuesday I took my car into the shop because one of the rear brakes was grinding. I got a call later that day telling me I needed new brakes on all four wheels. Yikes!! There goes my savings account, but it needed to be done. Then yesterday I got my tattoo and it's AMAZING (as well as expensive, so my funds have depleted even farther!!!! But...

I get to order my dress tomorrow and am SO excited!!! I can hardly wait even though I know I won't get it for about six months. And my cousin is coming tonight that I haven't seen since March (I think, maybe February)!

Happy weekend! I know mine will be :-)

Friday fun

2009-06-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Happy friday yet again. I thought I'd post pictures of animal weddings since I love dressed up animals (yeah, I'm one of those, but my dog doesn't wear clothes very often).

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Happy friday!!

Ugh!!

2009-06-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

I just want to say that I hate the myth that the wedding day is all about the bride. Ah!!!! I want my wedding to be about both me and my groom.

That's all I have to say about the matter.

Friday fun

2009-05-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

So a couple weeks ago I did this and thought I'd do it again in honor of the 3-day weekend. This time with the ever popular, bridesmaids dresses! Everyone loves to make fun of bridesmaids dresses and I'm no different!

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And here are some really cute bridesmaids:

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That's really tempting, but I'm just not the type of person to include my dog in the wedding. Maybe I'll get her something special to wear that day while she's home alone. Happy weekend!!

10 months to go!!

2009-05-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

I've made an appointment to order my dress and a couple bridesmaid dresses. The date is exactly 9 months from the wedding so what better day for it!!

Note: I have 5 followers? That's awesome. When I first started, I figured this would be just to get my thoughts on "paper" and out of my head. This is fun now!!

What would you do with an unlimited budget?

2009-05-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

I thought about this yesterday and I wouldn't change the majority of what I'm doing. I would definitely still buy the dress that I am going to buy and I would still get married at my church.

Things I would change:
1. Bigger reception venue
2. Buy my grandfather a 1957 Chevy so he could drive us to the reception from the ceremony
3. Buy all of the wedding party's attire
4. Fly my friend here from Colorado so she could be a bridesmaid
5. For sure go to Fiji for our honeymoon
6. Bigger photo package (or at least more locations, might see if I can get more locations anyway)
7. Dance lessons
8. Invite every guest from my original list (I took about 100 off the list)

What would you do with an unlimited wedding budget?

First DIY project

2009-05-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

So I've been looking into getting engraved toasting glasses for the party, an engraved vase for the sand ceremony, and an engraved memory vase for Grandpa Nye. All that added up is expensive!! So I decided to do my own glass etching and hopefully save some money (we'll see if I actually save money).

Will need:
-8 glasses - found box of 10 pilsners for $11.00 and will use those (for the record, I don't recommend using pilsners because the one I bought were tapered and the stencil doesn't really like it, but I did get it to work). The extra two glasses will probably be used in the sand ceremony for our separate colors
-2 vases - $1.00 each at Dollar Tree
-Glass etching kit - this was the expensive part. I got the starter kit, a wedding stencil kit, and two alphabet kits for a total of about $50.00. Starter kit includes: Cream, stencils, paintbrush, Popsicle stick
-Masking tape - about $2.00
-Gloves - $1.00 for a whole bunch
Total spent: about $65.00. So far Bridesmaid Megan and I have done 3 of the pilsners so there may be more costs later

I took pictures to show how easy the process was (and it was super easy if I could do it).

Step 1: Wash the glass to make sure there are no fingerprints. Cut out and position stencil on the glass. Tape down with masking tape.

This process was a tad difficult because the glasses were tapered and we had to measure a couple times to get all of the stencils in (roughly, I hope) the same spot.

Step 2: Use a Popsicle stick (or fingernail, or back of a butter knife, etc.) to transfer stencil from plastic to glass.

(Yes I switched glasses between pictures. I forgot to takes pictures of the first glass I did.)

The stencil bubbled slightly again because of the tapering of the glass. On something that is the same width from top to bottom, it won't be an issue. The bubbles are pretty easy to rub out anyway.

Step 3: Make sure there are no holes in the stencil that aren't supposed to be there and cover the edges with tape.

Taping down the edges of the stencil insures that you won't get any of the edging cream where you don't want it. You will also want to put tape over any holes that got put in the stencil.

Step 4: Spread a generous amount of etching cream over the stencil.

Make sure you can't see any of the lettering or design and let it sit for 60 seconds, that was all the time that was required for this cream. (I left the cream on for about 15-30 seconds longer and it looked just fine.)

Step 5: Rinse off all of the cream and remove the tape and stencil.

Run the glass under water to remove the rest of the stencil that didn't come off with the tape.

Step 6: Wash the glass and check out your handiwork!

You can kind of see the etching, but it was really hard to get a good picture, so I will try again later.

The process doesn't take very long. Megan and I had an assembly line at the beginning so all of the stencils are on and positioned and that part takes the longest. I really like how they turned out!

Friday fun

2009-05-01T11:49:00.001-07:00

Don't know what to do with your dress after the wedding? Check out these suggestions:

Fix the car

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Compete in track events

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Go swimming

Source: Mark Garnder Photography

Take a trip

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Dress up your dog

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And last, but not least, knock off the crasher that ruined your wedding ;)

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Happy weekend!!

Piece of cake

2009-04-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at cakes and I don't want the traditional tiered cake. I want separate cakes at different heights like these:

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Source: Desert Designs

Anyway, you get the idea; I want separate cakes on different heights of cake stands. And I also want orange lilies on the cakes. Now I just need to find a baker to bake my cakes!

Now here's some fun cakes I found:

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Check out this giveaway!!

2009-04-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hop on over to Misadventures of a Newlywed and check out the monogram towel giveaway! They are so cute!

They would be perfect for a tropical honeymoon or just a day at the beach!!!

New color added!

2009-04-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

I've talked to Nick, Mom, and bridesmaids and we've decided to add another color to the palette, but only for the reception. So, without further ado (I love that word, I never really knew what it meant until I watched 'Much Ado About Nothing')
Ceremony: Red & white (just like before)
Reception: Red, white, and...orange!

That's right, orange. I was trying to find an Asiatic lily, or similar type, in true red, but was only finding burgundy and pink. I ran across this picture and really liked how the color popped.

I really love this picture, taken at Matangi Resort in Fiji. It has been the inspiration for the new color scheme:

Here is a collage that I made, hopefully it doesn't look like a bunch of totally random pictures, but makes sense regarding my scheme.

So now our flowers have slightly changed regarding the reception; the ceremony will be the same as before, colors and everything. So here I go again:

Ceremony:
My bouquet-red & white long stemmed calla lilies wrapped w/ red & white ribbon & Nanna's pearls
MOH bouquet-red long stemmed calla lilies wrapped w/ white (or red) ribbon
BMs bouquets-white long stemmed calla lilies wrapped w/red ribbon
JBs bouquets-white short stemmed bouquets wrapped w/ red ribbon
Boutonnieres & corsages-white & red mini calla lilies, going to depend on what the guys wear as to which color of flower they wear

Reception:
Cake-decorated with orange Asiatic lilies
Centerpieces-red & orange fruit & white (silk probably) mini calla lilies

Does any of that make sense? Be honest now, what do you think?

Picture sources: Orange lilies, Sunset, Bridal party posing: Victoria Souza Photography, Bride hair: Project Wedding, Red wedding dress: , Heart in hands: , Hands in Sand: , Matangi treehouse, Calla lily bouquet: , Card box, Cake topper, Cake, Ring dish

I'm a bad blogger

2009-04-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just have to start with something funny, when I first typed the title, is said, "I'm a bag blooger". Oops, my bad :)

Anyway, I haven't posted in a while because nothing is really happening right now. I have got a few smaller things checked off the list:
1. I signed the contract and paid the deposit for the photographer (I'm so excited, I LOVE her work).
2. One of my junior bridesmaids has been asked, one to go (which is Nick's job when he talks to his brother about being a groomsman and kids being in the wedding).

And that's all I've done in the last few weeks, besides having a tooth removed, but that's not really relevant.

I have made a few decisions that I wasn't sure about (did I mention I love lists?):
1. I am going to dye my crinoline to match the red on my dress, so there is an extra pop of color for pictures
2. The junior bridesmaids are going to be just that, not candle lighters like originally planned. The candles will be lit before the ceremony and the two girls will carry bouquets down the aisle after the bridesmaids and stay up there for the ceremony.
3. We are going to do a lei ceremony during the wedding. Nick is part Hawaiian on his mother's side and I wanted to do something traditional to a Hawaiian wedding.
4. I am going to wear two veils for pictures before the ceremony, a fingertip and a cathedral. I am having problems with one decision though, which veil to wear during the ceremony? I love the look of the longer veil, but if I wore that one, I would have to switch veils before the reception. What do you think?

I'm really beginning to hate the phrase "only a year"

Quick update

2009-03-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

So I bought a Polaroid PoGo off eBay (I already said that but anyway) and got an awesome deal. I tried it out and the pictures are so cute and they are on peel and stick paper so for the reception I can just stick them on scrapbook paper and have guests sign away!

Another quick little (okay not little, HUGE) thing, I toured and booked the reception site yesterday. The reception will officially be and the McClelland Arts Center. If anyone actually reads this blog, I need input. Check out the layout below and read on.

(Sorry if the picture is kind of small.) This is the layout of the reception site. I was thinking it might be fun to have the little meeting room on the left side (see it?) be a "club" and we'd put the DJ and dancing in there. Problem with that is then there will be no music during dinner or anything else unless we put a speaker in there or something. Also, not everyone would be able to see the dancing unless they crowded at the entrance (since the two rooms are not connected to each other). I'm not even sure if that's possible.

The other option is to do the DJ and dancing in the main room where everybody is. That will take up space where tables could be set up for people to sit and eat, but I know (and have been told NUMEROUS times) that not everyone will come to the wedding and even less will come to the reception. So those are my two choices, what do you think?

Photo guestbook

2009-03-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

I won this great little tool on eBay called a Polaroid PoGo. It hooks directly to your digital camera and prints 2"x3" pictures. I thought it would be a great way to do the guestbook, just take pictures of the table, print the picture and tape it to a piece of scrapbook paper, and have the guests sign around the picture. Wa-la, instant photo guestbook and I will have faces to put with names of the guests that came to the wedding.

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One year from friday...

2009-03-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

is the date. Um, that still seems like a long ways away, but I have a rather long to-do list and it doesn't seem to be getting any shorter. I have so much I want to do, but I feel silly starting so early. Does any of this make sense? I want to do all of the crafty stuff and I wish the bigger stuff (such as venues, DJ, catering, etc.) was done, but the wedding seems too far away to do the little things. And I don't have the big things done yet, which I can do right now, but don't want to.

Did I mention I don't like talking on the phone? And that's pretty much what I have been doing trying to get a reception venue lined up. I narrowed my choices down according to what we need and don't need. For example: we don't need expensive food, I'd prefer something easy and fun, like deli sandwiches or something like that. I really don't want to spend $20+ per person for food when I can get less expensive food and I'll feel more comfortable anyway.

I can just about check one item off the list though. Nick and I met with a photographer last Thursday and we have decided to use her. Check out http://www.jessicalemmonsphotography.com/ to check her out. She did my sister's senior pictures and my friend's engagement pictures and they are both awesome! I love when things go easy and you can't really get much easier than that. I can breathe a little easier now knowing that I am going to get the pictures I want done by an excellent photographer. She does the fun artsy pictures as well as the formals and I really like that. Hopefully we'll also be doing our engagement pictures through her. We'll have to wait and see.

One more side not, Mom and I went to our local Dollar Tree on Saturday and I bought 13 boxes of bubbles for a dollar each. One hundred fifty-six bubbles for $12.00 plus tax! I also got silk rose petals for like $3.00 and some other stuff, so they can all be checked off the list too. :)

I found the dress! (No Nick again)

2009-02-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

Mom, Shannon, and I went up to my aunt's house near Seattle this last weekend for the soul purpose of trying on THE dress (see the end of last blog). We were referred to the Alfred Angelo store in Tukwila by the bridal shop in town since that is the designer of the dress, they'd be sure to have one for me to try on.

I'll skip most of the weekend since it was mostly shopping and none of it wedding related.

My appointment at Alfred Angelo was on Sunday and one of my cousins (also a bridesmaid) met us at the shop. We didn't waste any time finding the dress and grabbed a dressing room. As soon as I put the dress on I knew it was the one, even before I saw myself in the mirror (it helped that it fit like a glove and didn't have to be clipped at all). I was so excited to finally get to try on THE dress that I squealed (quite a lot) and couldn't stop smiling.

So here are some pictures we took (don't worry, we were allowed)

I was VERY happy with the way the dress looked and fit on me. Can't you tell? :)

Kinda hard to see the back, but you get the idea.

I am going to get the optional capped-sleeves because I think it looks better on me and will give me a bit of peace of mind. I also really liked this veil. It's finger-tip in length and has beading around the edge that matched the beading on the dress really well.

We put my young cousin (who is going to be flower girl) in a dress too and she loved it! She kept sitting down in front of me on the riser and Mom took the opportunity to snap this picture.

Pirate Wife

Inspiration board comparison

Day of details

We had uninvited guests!!

Two down, one to go

Just had to share

Goodbye!

Let's dance the night away!

I love surprises!

I could have danced all night!

Happy Father's Day

“In Hollywood, brides keep the bouquets and throw away the groom.”

Speech! Speech!

Here we come!

Nick's gift

The part everyone really goes to a wedding to see...

Vows, leis, and sand oh my!!

Our ceremony

Look at me! Look at me!

Dum dum dum dum (think wedding march)

Final formals

Just the two of us

Our first look

We interrupt these recaps with an important announcement...

When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

Getting ready-macho style

Getting ready - girly style

Preparing for a wedding (reception)

READ THIS BLOG!! Seriously!

Time to rehearse

Bachelorette finale!

Bachelorette scavenging!

Back to the beginning

Final honeymoon pictures

Honeymoon part two

Happy one month anniversary to us!!

The time has come!!

DIY win and fail...

Time to party!!

Thanking my parents

Weather update

Single digits!! *happy dance*

15 days!!!

Music makes the people come together!!

Newsflash!! We have centerpieces!!

Boy did I get showered!!

I bring this sort of thing on myself

Taking a trip to Build a Bear Workshop

Where has the time gone!?

My sister is engaged!!

My sweetie is wonderful!!

Yippee! Another giveaway!

Mail time!!

Awesome giveway!!

45 Day Update

Our house!

I have to tell you the joke Dad & I played!!!

I LOVE Etsy!!

And They're Off!!!

Gotta Love a Guy in a Suit

Heigh-ho heigh-ho...

Happy New Year!!

My Christmas Epiphany (or Nick's Christmas Present)

All right people, we now have 99 days, let's hustle!

Getting pretty

Hair today

I love costumes!!

Save our date!!!

Registry fun

I just got the call part II...she fits!!

I just got the call...

Table mock up

Friday fun

17 followers!!

What another giveaway!?

Postcard giveaway!!

Wedding website!!

I can't wait to show you!!

The check is in the mail!!

I love our engagement pictures!!

Single digits!! happy dance