the details

so it seems in the passed few months i've gotten a lot of questions about my wedding, i suppose since it is the summer and also peak wedding season. i will talk about my wedding all day long, i loved it!

i am also happy to go through the details of that day and prove once and for all that you don't need $100,000 dollars, a wedding planner, a ferris wheel, and Vera Wang to make a wedding happen.

you don't even need $10,000 dollars. don't believe me? i'll prove it.

the story goes like this...
being the first girl in my family to get married, my parents had no clue what they were doing.
they said that they would give us a wedding budget and anything we didn't use they would give us in cash. russ and i were ALL over that... having a combined savings of $12.67... so we set out to plan the most inexpensive wedding possible, but still hold true to aspects of our dream wedding.

engagements:

taken by my dad and his Nikon D20. proof that you really only need a good camera and good lighting. FREE!

bridals:

done by my good friend matt clayton.
i can't tell you how much he charged but it was not a lot.

the dress:

now, don't judge, but this dress was 1/7th of our total wedding costs.
my four HAVE-TO-HAVES for the dress were:

1. V-neck
2. lace
3. mermaid
4. cream color

when i looked far and wide, met with seamstresses, and heard it would be more like $10,000 for my dress i gave up. my mom and i went to one more store... the bride's shop on west temple in SLC... and there it was. it wasn't mermaid, but it was PERFECT.

the shoes:

blue and cream snakeskin kitten heels:--Via Spiga, about 100$. i didn't even end up wearing them cause they hurt. i bought some flats at american eagle for $9.99 and never looked back.

a word on "bridezillas"... there are many kinds. some demand luxury and the best, and some are the opposite. i asked "who says?" to everything.
"who says we need a cake?"
"who says you have to have awkward dancing?"
"who says you have to have a line?"
it drove my very traditional mother CRAZY!!!!
she won on a lot of points, but i won on the cake...
cream puffs from costco -- $50?

sure it's ghetto, but I DON'T EVEN LIKE CAKE. i wasn't about to spend $400 dollars on one.

the party:

we got married at 4 p.m., we took pictures for 2 hours, met back at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building at 6 p.m., had a ring ceremony, ate at 7 p.m. and were outta there by 9p.m.

because of the nature of our wedding, and the very specific stipulations, a large number of family on my side, and russ' side weren't at our ceremony. we wanted them to feel a part of the day, most of them traveling from other states, so we had a ring ceremony and a very intimate dinner. we had toasting, surf & turf dinner, and plenty of music.

my biggest hope was that the 100 guests would feel our gratitude for having them in our lives. hopefully it worked?

***********
in blog land i would let you believe that this wedding was perfect, went off with absolutely no problems, and we lived happily ever after.

WRONG. but, to the future brides that read this... the hiccups are the best part! they are what we look back on and laugh. they are what make our wedding OURS.

1. i wanted a nautical theme. this was 2005, nautical theme didn't exist yet.
the only thing that worked out was my nephew Adam's sailor suit... which he hated.
my advice: don't do a theme unless you can execute it in all areas,
otherwise it just confuses people.
so the colors were navy, cream, and light blue.

girls wore:
navy crocheted shrug $20
cream 3/4 tissue tee $19.50
handmade polka dot cocktail skirt $3

boys wore:
navy suits FREE
blue ties $15

2. my french anemones came in the mail green and wilted.
saddest day ever. we had to rethink my bouquet, boutonnieres, corsages in a days notice.
my mom found a lady who does the wholesale ordering for costco... she got us what we needed in roses ($200.00) and my mom's floral arranging friend did it all for, you guessed it, FREE!



3. my family left for the wedding from Provo to Salt Lake City without my 12 year-old brother Casey. i didn't even know this happened until after the wedding. thankfully-- nicole hadn't left yet and picked him up!

04. my mom forgot her temple recommend.
russ and i were sealed in the SLC temple. that means that to enter the temple at all you have an interview with a bishop and a stake president. they give you a signed card that lets the temple workers know you are worthy to be there. if you forget your card, you're not going in.

again... THANKFULLY my mom's bishop came to the sealing and vouched for her.
i only sat alone in the dressing room for 20 minutes crying... not too much damage done.

05. my dad forgot his song lyrics.
russ and i live for music, it is one of our biggest commonalities.
we had to have lots of music at our wedding.
my brother collin sang "fix you" by coldplay
russ' brother mitch sang "i hope tomorrow is like today" by ben kweller & guster
my dad sang "have you ever been in love" by peter cetera
but forgot his lyrics... for 10 minutes.
then he remembered and kept playing. he was so nervous but so determined to finish his song.
i loved it!

06. the "Ann" or "Nancy" fiasco.
i know now that it is Nancy Stewart. not Ann Stewart.

07. i hit a guest in the head with my bouquet.
i go to toss my bouquet, got a group of girls behind me. i throw the bouquet, it has a little too much arc on it, i hit demarie anderson in the face. she's not even standing up to catch it. she's just sitting in her seat watching.

in conclusion...

you don't need money, you don't need the perfect family, the perfect groom, the perfect location, weather, dress, make up, or relationship to have your perfect wedding.

your big day is about love and union and joy. nothing else matters.