A year ago I married the most wonderful person in the world. Happy Anniversary Richard!
Dinner was immediately served after the cocktail hour. We chose the following menu: roast round of beef, grilled apricot chicken, scalloped potatoes (soooo good!), saut
Rich and I wanted to take advantage of our small guest count and use a cocktail hour to welcome our guests in lieu of a receiving line. After we signed our marriage certificate, we took some photos with Em outside as our guests grabbed a drink from the bar and made their way to the spacious patio at 1316 Jones Street. Maggie and Brett, my bridesmaids, handed each guest a packet of biodegradable heart-shaped confetti at the patio door.
Rich and I made our grand entrance to the cocktail hour as our energetic guests showered us with confetti. The pictures perfectly capture the fun and excitement of that moment.
John Hansen and Steven Gregory, two of my good friends, entertained everyone with a variety of our favorite songs. They even surprised me with a few of their choices and brought tears to my eyes. Their music added so much to the atmosphere.
Rich and I have many great memories of eating at nice restaurants. We have our local favorites, and we always center our trips around well-known and innovative eateries. As self-proclaimed foodies, we spent a lot of time picking out the following canap
I spent many sleepless nights worrying that I would be anxious and stressed on our wedding day. I had accounted for every last detail, but I knew unexpected road blocks could easily arise. I climbed into bed the night before our wedding, watched some random TV and drifted to sleep. I woke up ready to take on whatever the day would bring. After Lindsay and I began preparing the bridal suite for hair and makeup, I got a call from my dad asking about the venue set up. I knew it would be easier to answer his questions in person, so I left my bridesmaids at the hotel and drove over to our venue, 1316 Jones Street, in downtown Omaha.
What happened next was unforgettable. I encountered our venue swarming with friends and family members actively decorating for our wedding. I literally ran from the ceremony room to the front entrance to the dance floor and back answering questions. I was amazed at how everyone wanted to make sure the decor was placed according to my plans. It was finally all coming together right in front of me, and it was exactly as I had sketched it up and envisioned it in my head months prior. I was surrounded by an overwhelming feeling of warmth and love, and it is a memory I will cherish forever.
Once I got back to the bridal suite at the Magnolia Hotel, I drank some champagne and chatted with the girls as we had our makeup applied and our hair done. I didn’t notice how calm and relaxed I was until we stood in our “holding cell” (the liquor closet at 1316 Jones Street) waiting for the ceremony to begin . I noticed my bridesmaids were shifting their feet and bouncing around as their nerves took over, but I was calm, serene and present. I listened to my talented Uncle John play The Luckiest by Ben Folds on the piano. I remember listening to all of the chords and soaking in the music. After the wedding, I jokingly questioned all of my bridesmaids about whether they had drugged me. Everyone around me thought I was strangely calm, but I was ready for what was next. Marrying Rich was a natural progression in our relationship. Every part of me knew it was just right.
My Uncle Brad, who graciously coordinated/conducted our ceremony, lined up the wedding party at the back of the ceremony room, and the Processional started as John played Clair de Lune. My dad and I waited for the wedding party to walk up the aisle and John transitioned to Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros. I told my dad I wanted to wait at the back of the ceremony room for 20-30 seconds, so I could hear as much of the song as possible.
Rich and I went to a Sigur Ros concert together at the Orpheum a few years ago. A huge stormed moved in just before the concert started, and they moved all the guests to the dressing rooms in the basement of the Theater. It was hot and muggy as everyone crowded into the tiny rooms, but the band surprised everyone with an impromptu concert as they marched around the winding hallways between dressing rooms. It was honestly one of the coolest things I’ve ever expereince, and I was so happy to share that memory with Rich. There was never a doubt we would incorporate Sigur Ros into our wedding.
Our ceremony was short and sweet. My dad’s brother, Mike, agreed to become ordained so he could officiate our wedding. His big heart and larger-than-life personality brought so much love and meaning to our ceremony. Rich and I each picked a reading to be recited. I asked my aunt Michelle to read I carry your heart with me by EE Cummings. Michelle is one of my role models. She is the most patient and loving mother, and as having children is important to Rich and me, I wanted to have her influence in our ceremony.
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it
Do you remember the good news I was talking about last week…? I am so excited to announce that our wedding was featured on Snippet and Ink today. Kathryn’s blog is my favorite wedding blog (and I read A LOT of wedding blogs), so you can imagine how honored I was to be showcased among her other beautiful real wedding posts.
And now for the icing on the cake: We were also asked to be featured on Martha Stewart Weddings! I’ve been obsessed with Martha since I was a little girl, and it has always been my goal for Lovestru.ck to produce events that would make Martha proud.
We had to pick which blog would exclusively feature our wedding, and I immediate knew Snippet and Ink was the right choice. If you’re a bride, you need to follow Kathryn’s blog. She has the most amazing wedding features, and her inspiration boards will make you drool.
My in-laws graciously hosted our rehearsal dinner at their home in Omaha. We ate delicious chicken, brisket and honey cornbread muffins (my special request).
It was really important to us to thank the numerous people involved in our wedding. We were so fortunate to have so many talented friends and family members act as the officiant, florist and musicians for our big day. We wrote a little toast for each person in attendance. We were so overwhelmed with the joy and love around us that Rich and I couldn’t even get through the first thank you without sobbing.
Luke Holoubek, the videographer that captured our wedding, made a slideshow that we debuted at the rehearsal dinner. I didn’t want the presentation to have slides featuring only pictures of Rich or only pictures of me because then it would look like something you’d see at a graduation reception, so I had Luke group our pictures side-by-side. We ended up having a lot of similar pictures. Luke also weaved in footage he shot during our engagement session with Brighten. Check out the video below (my favorite part is the last 5 seconds):
Shopping for a wedding dress is often one of the most anticipated events in a women’s life. It can be exhilarating if you embrace “the hunt” for your perfect gown, and with some patience, you’ll find the dress you’ll never want to take off. Luckily for me, my dress search proved to be short and effortless. I purchased the fourth dress I tried on…
Last summer my bridesmaids and I traveled up to Minneapolis to shop for bridesmaid dresses at Monique Lhuillier. I decided to take advantage of our time up in Minnesota and try on wedding gowns at Priscilla of Boston which was right next door. When I came across my dress hanging in the store, I was immediately attracted to it’s Swarovski crystal bow belt. When I tried it on, I loved how the Silk and Cotton Faille was light and comfortable. When I turned around in the multi-way mirror, I noticed the elegant detail of fabric-covered buttons that ran all the way down the back of the dress, but once my hands found the disguised pockets on either side of the skirt, I knew I had a winner. And those pockets came in handy the day of the wedding – they provided just enough room for some touch-up makeup and a hanky to wipe away tears. I accessorized my dress with metallic pink shoes with a bow embellishment, crystal earrings from Bloomingdales and the Michael Kors lucite watch that Rich gave me last Christmas. I felt it was important to wear every piece of jewelry he had ever given me considering I was going to add the most important piece to my collection later that day.
Our wedding was too casual for black-tie, so tuxes weren’t an option for our groomsmen and ushers. We found matching gray Kenneth Cole suits at Younkers (for $100 each!), and somehow the store carried all of the various sizes we needed to fit Rich’s groomsmen that ranged from 5’5″ to 6’7″. Rich accessorized with the skeleton watch I gave to him three Christmases ago.
Shopping for true-red dresses for my bridesmaids proved to be a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. After searching for many months, we finally settled on red chiffon dresses from Priscilla of Boston. Lindsay and Brett wore the strapless style, and Maggie wore the one-shoulder strap to ensure her dress would stay up while she danced like a maniac. I purchased lavender crystal bracelets and gray shoes in the same style as mine as a gift for my wonderful friends. I let the girls pick out their additional accessories. I will never forget helping Maggie pick out which rings she wanted wear. She sat on the floor below me as I was having my makeup applied, and we went through endless combinations of rings and ring placements for about twenty minutes. Reason number 8,768 why I love Maggie Hansen.
The flower girls wore gray cotton dresses from Crew Cuts and studded bow headbands from H&M. Aren’t they just adorable?
I wanted the boys’ attire to be clean and simple. They wore white Egyptian cotton shirts from Nordstroms, red chambray ties from Jcrew, and patterned Happy Socks. I liked the idea of having our groomsmen wear pocket squares instead of boutonnieres, but I couldn’t find chambray pocket squares to match the fabric of the ties. I ended up buying lavender chambray pillow cases from Pottery Barn Kids and sewing four pocket squares from the fabric. I know I’m a little crazy, but if I have a vision, I find a way to execute it.
Rich proposed to me on March 7, 2010 with a ring from Brilliant Earth to ensure my diamonds were conflict-free. We purchased Rich’s rose gold and black wedding band from Etsy. I had found the most amazing jewelry designer in Australia, but when I lost contact with her, I decided to purchase a similar ring from Borsheims. I think the pink sapphires perfectly compliment the rose gold, and the band lines up flush with my engagement ring.
I changed into a short sequined dress from ASOS after the father-daughter dance. Rich and I love to dance, and I knew I needed to wear something lightweight and fun to show off our moves. I “accessorized” my dress with a Lionel Richie pin given to me by my dear friend and our cocktail-hour musician, John Hansen.
If you have any questions about what we wore on our wedding day, send me an email or leave a comment below!
Before I dive into more wedding posts, I wanted to show you the inspiration behind a lot of the design elements for our wedding. Pinterest is my favorite tool to collect and organize inspiration for event design, cooking, interior decorating, fashion and crafts. I currently have 20 boards in my account that compile inspiration for my client’s weddings and side projects as well as keep track of my favorite products and clothing obsessions. Follow my pinterest to see what fun inspiration I find next!
Like I mentioned yesterday, we sent out all of our wedding communications via email and our website. We decided to use MailChimp to create email campaigns for our save-the-dates, invitations, and wedding reminder emails. By using this service, we could track who opened our emails and which links they clicked on. Unlike regular mail, we were able to make sure all of our communication pieces were being sent to the right place and were being opened. This paperless approach does not work for all weddings. We had a very small guest list, and over 60% of our guests were under the age of thirty and tech-savvy.
I have nothing against paper stationary. In fact, I’m a little obsessed with it. When I have meetings with Lesley from Inclosed, I explore her shop like a museum. All of the colors, patterns and textures are so remarkable. This art form/traditional wedding correspondence is the way to go for the majority of weddings.
I included the invitation and save the date I designed for our wedding. You can see the invitation has the same cohesive design elements as the wedsite.
Wedding Invitation designed by me
And here is our save the date animation for those of you who didn’t see it during the Gem Photo Competition.
Wedding Save the Date
In attempts to be environmentally-conscious, we chose to distribute all of our wedding communications via email and our website. Furthermore, not a lot of couples have careers as an interactive developer and software engineer, so we felt we had to take advantage or our technical skills to create a fun wedding website (or “WEDsite” as Lovestru.ck likes to call them).
I incorporated our wedding color scheme, typography and design elements into the wedsite to make it cohesive with our other wedding stationary and decor. I designed the wedsite to give our guests a sneak peak of what to expect from our wedding and provide them with any pertinent wedding information.
Home Page
Once I had finished the design, I developed the website’s functionality. Our wedsite doesn’t have a traditional layout. The navigation links direct the user to the different sections of the website on one giant “page” rather than a bunch of separate pages.
One of the coolest features of our wedsite is the RSVP widget. We created a database of all of our wedding guests and assigned them a unique ID that was emailed to them with their save the dates. Our guests used their ID to login and RSVP for our wedding. You can view the RSVP widget by clicking on the “Guest Info” link on the home section.
RSVP Page
You can use my sister’s ID (6712) to see how the widget works. Once our guests filled out the form, their information was saved in our database, so we could easily see who could attend and how many people would need special meals from our caterer.
RSVP Results
Wedsite design and development is included in Lovestru.ck’s a la carte services (the Lovestru.ck website will be up this weekend for you to view all of our design and planning services). I look forward to sharing more personalized client wedsites with you.
