The Big Day

I thought that I would put up a post with some pictures of my wedding. I love sharing the experience of my wedding with anyone who wants to hear about it. Plus, it may help you get a better idea of who I am. I may be biased, but I think my wedding was absolutely beautiful. If you are getting married soon, maybe it will give you some good ideas! Of course, I have to thank our photographers at Irish Artistry for doing such a wonderful job with the pictures. My husband and I were SO blessed to have them at our wedding. If you want to see more of their work, check out their site at http://www.irishartistry.com/. They are worth a second look!

Here are some photos!

I bought a personalized hanger online. I'm so glad I did because it made the pictures so cute!

A friend of mine gave me this sweatshirt. It was from her mother's bridal boutique. It was perfect for getting ready on the big day!

Coming down the aisle and the groom's first look at the bride!

I love my bridesmaids bouquets. They turned out so well. The colors of the wedding were teal and dark purple with yellow accents, so the flowers really popped.

Since I chose matching dresses for the girls, I decided to give them some guidelines and let them pick their own shoes and jewelry. That way each girl could express some of her own taste in fashion. Plus, they would actually wear the shoes and jewelry again!

THE KISS!!

We had two ring bearers in the wedding. One an older boy and the other was a baby. In order to accommodate the baby, we had the older boy pull him in a wagon. We also placed the rings on a Bible instead of a pillow. Then we put the Bible in the baby's lap. It worked out perfectly and all the guests thought it was adorable.

In order to save some money, I decorated the unity candle myself. We bought some white candles on sale at Hobby Lobby. Then I traced our monogram on paper, cut out the letters, and then glued it on the candle with Modge Podge. I also bought the jewels from the scrapbook aisle, and they stayed on just fine.

Here is a picture we took with our parents - all the married couples kissing together.

I love these photos that our photographers got of us in the garden. They are so sweet. Each of the pictures really captures the natural light and the sweetness of the day.

  

The "I Do" on the bottom of my shoes was used as my something blue. It was a great detail that made for adorable pictures. I bought the "I Do" stickers at Hobby Lobby in the wedding aisle.

I really loved the boutonnieres that we had that day. We had a fantastic florist. For the groom we chose a purple dendrobium orchid, heather, and a little greenery wrapped in white ribbon. The heather flower was chosen of course because that's my name!

My husband really wanted to use his sunglasses in some of our pictures. I'm glad that we did because it added a bit of color and personality in our photos.

For pictures of the groomsmen, we took pictures at the capital building. It added a different feel for the pictures of the men. They all turned out really well. We also used fedoras in the photos for some fun.

Instead of the traditional tux, we chose gray suits for the men. We didn't want to do anything super traditional or formal, but we also didn't want the groomsmen to look overly casual. The gray suits made a happy medium. It ended up creating a more modern and relaxed look.

For the bridesmaids, I made these pretty parasols. They were so much fun to use. They definitely added a pop of color in the pictures! I bought the white parasols from Oriental Trading. I was able to get 12 of them for only $30. Once I got the parasols, I cut tissue paper in different sizes and put them on the parasols with Modge Podge.

For my parasol, I used silver tissue paper and some tissue paper with silver designs. That way I could have a parasol that was different then the others and still matched what I was wearing.

  

At the reception, my grandpa gave a toast with toast!

I love the centerpieces that we chose. We put them together ourselves and were able to do it for an affordable price. For the main piece, we used cylindrical vases and place clear stones on the bottom. Then we filled the vase with silk purple orchids and water and placed a floating candle on top. Underneath the vase, we put down two pieces of scrapbook paper, one a solid color and the other with a pattern. This added more color to the table. Then we sprinkled some flower petals and small gems on the paper and added some votives around the vase. The final product turned out beautiful!

I was so happy how all the flowers turned out for the wedding. The florist we chose did such a great job and was so helpful. In my bouquet, the main flowers I chose were casablanca lilies, purple iris, yellow freesia, and white heather. The stems were wrapped in white sheer ribbon, with silver braiding and small jewels on the braids. In the bridesmaids bouquets the main flowers were yellow Asiatic lilies, purple iris, and purple heather. Their bouquets were wrapped in white sheer ribbon. The style of the bouquets was different, modern, and really popped with color. 

Beside the gift table, we had old wedding photos of our immediate family. It added a personal touch to the reception decor.

Outside the reception, we had several lumanaires leading up to the entrance of the reception. We used mason jars and wrapped lace around them using Modge Podge.

For the guestbook, I made a book on Shutterfly using our engagement pictures. I am so glad I did this. It made the guest book much more personal. This is actually something that I want to keep and show friends when they come over.

This was one of the best decisions we made. We bought hundreds of glow sticks to use during the reception. It turned out to be such a great idea. Everyone LOVED it! The glow sticks really added to the party moved and were a fun way to get people on to the dance floor.