Hey Guys!
I wanted to finally share my wedding with you guys. Just in time for my 2nd wedding anniversary! We waiting a while for our wedding photos and then life got in the way but I am finally sharing the details!
My husband and I had been together for 8 years at the time of being married. We will be celebrating 10 years together this year as well! We are high school sweethearts and have been together since we were 15 and 16 years old. We are best friends and our families love both of us so much and our friend group is also full of high school sweethearts! Check out their weddings HERE and HERE. This year we bought our first house and moved to England (temporarily, check it out HERE) We are truly so blessed!
When I first got engaged I , like most women, had my whole wedding planned out on Pinterest. Check out my wedding inspiration board and follow HERE. I honestly think Pinterest helped me plan my wedding so much as well as my shower. It is full of so many ideas and inspiration posts. I was immediately drawn to jewel tones for a fall wedding and wanted a peacock theme. I didn't want feathers everywhere so I wanted the theme to be inspired by the teals, purples, and greens of a feather. I added an accent of chrome for a more glam touch.
As someone who comes from a merchandising/ design background I found the process of picking out décor, lighting, flowers, and outfits so much fun! I bought a wedding planner from Walmart (Watch my Review HERE) and it honestly was the best $20 I have ever spent! It kept me so organized and had questions to ask each vendor as well as folders and check lists. I love it! Did I mention it was only $20?!?!
The first step in planning a wedding is finding a venue. Once you have the venue then you have your date which is needed to book everything else. We already knew we would get married at my church so we wanted to find a venue in close proximity. I was looking for a hall with medium high ceilings so the room didn't feel too small or too big, a large dance floor, because my family and I love to dance, good food, and a nice bar. We finally found a place that was PERFECT! It had a great package and was beautiful! So we settled on the date 10/10/15. Our dating anniversary is 10/16/07 so we wanted an October date for that reason and because October is so beautiful!
Once we decided on the venue it was time to go dress shopping! I knew I wanted a strapless mermaid style for me and a long chiffon type dress for my girls. After trying on a handful of dresses at David's Bridal I found the perfect one! It was ivory satin with a sweetheart top, beautiful crystal detail at the hip and a little train. It fit me perfectly and was very comfortable. It made me feel confident and my husband loved it! For my girls we decided on strapless Grecian style gowns in a beautiful teal color. These gowns hugged their frames without being overly tight. They looked stunning!
After dress selection we moved on to accessories and veils. I decided to make my veil with my Grandma. We went to JoAnn's and choose a beautiful Ivory mesh with tiny crystals all over. We also purchased a tiny metal hair comb. We basically just spread it out on the floor, cut it into a circular shape then draped it how we wanted and sewed it to the metal comb. It was super fast and easy and I loved that I made it with her. Plus it saved me a ton of money!
For my jewelry I wanted to wear a crystal necklace that hit around my collarbone. I found a beautiful one at Claire's in their wedding jewelry department. It fit perfectly and was super beautiful. Since I wore my hair down I wore simple diamond studs. I also wore an antique gold and blue ring from my Grandma as my "Something Blue." My garter on my leg was from Icing by Claire's and my shoes were beautiful silver kitten heels with crystals. I highly recommend not wearing high uncomfortable shoes especially since no one will see them. I only wore mine for the ceremony and then when my husband removed my garter, since they would show in the pictures. After that I wore white flip flops. Some people might thing that is tacky but I was happy and comfortable all night! I have also seen brides were white converse, or toms and I think that is so cute!
As for my girl's accessories, I chose beautiful peacock feather hair clips to go into their updos since the groomsmen were wearing peacock feathers as their boutonnieres. I also found gorgeous Australian Crystal necklaces for them to wear. I wanted them in iridescent crystals since they are stunning and would add visual interest to their looks.
As for hair and makeup, I got mine professionally done and my girls just got their hair done. I wanted my hair down in curls with a thick textured braid on one side. It was perfect. My makeup was glam but still natural since my husband likes natural. I had my signature cat eye with a smoky brown lid and neutral pink lips. My girls were in a similar look. Their hair was curled and put into an updo with a French braid on one side. I love how braids just add visual texture to any look.
As for my husband and his groomsmen , they wore dark gray suits, with vests under that matched the girl's dresses. My husband wore an off white vest and tie.
The ceremony was set to start at 2:30. The aisles and alter were covered in beautiful flowers and one of my Bridesmaids played our wedding song on the piano before we walked down the aisle. Right when I put on my dress I realized I had forgotten my slip that puffs out the skirt a bit at the bottom. No one could tell so I didn't stress and just went on with the show. Also right before I went down the aisle I took a big breath and my zipper popped. We were able to easily and quickly repair it though. Finally it was time for my Dad to walk me down. My husband looked so handsome and I of course cried the whole time.
We wrote our own vows which everyone loved and exchanged our rings through smiles and tears. It was a great ceremony surrounded by our loved ones.
After the ceremony we exited the church into a limo while our guests blew bubbles. The bubbles looked great in the pictures! I just picked up a box of 50 bubbles at Michaels! They were inexpensive and everyone loved them. We then drove around and came back to the church for pictures. We moved onto another location to take more pictures that included a gray barn and a field.
Finally it was reception time! We made our entrance to Countdown by Beyoncé and our first dance was You and I by One Direction.
Our reception hall was more beautiful than I could have imagined! My florist took the flowers from the ceremony and decorated the hall with them. I had purple and teal up lights around the perimeter and a chrome tree with a peacock near the guestbook. I used a vintage brass birdcage as my cardholder as well. I found awesome peacock wreathes at Michael's which I layed down under some vases. The tables had chrome charger plates and the table runners and table sashes were teal with crystal accents. The head table had a silver sequins runner and backdrop. I highly recommend checking out stores like Michael's to add some unique decor pieces to your reception. Plus they always have great coupons! The wreaths I bought were less than $25 each with coupons and I kept one and have it currently hanging on my front door!
I also surprised my husband by getting a neon green, his favorite color, lit ice sculpture our guests could pour their drinks through! Everyone loved it! It was a nice added bonus and looked great on the bar.
Our cake was so beautiful I didn't want to eat it! It was a tiered cake with flavors of chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate peanut butter. Since that is our favorite flavor, even though we didn't have time to eat it. It was covered in a waterfall of beautiful orchids and had a chrome "H" on top. It was perfect!
Then it was onto my favorite part of the night, Dancing! Our dance floor was full the entire evening as I asked the DJ to play the perfect mix of 80's, 90's, and Top 20! I didn't have time to drink, socialize or really eat any cake because I was having too much fun dancing. It was definitely a night to remember.
