More.

My grandparent's wedding picture - we had pictures of relatives all around our cake table.


A nice birds eye view of the backyard. It was beautiful!


I don't remember what we were looking at, but I love this picture.


The kids in our wedding party, including my new step-kids who served as bridesmaid and best man.


Our cake was so lovely. Made by my cousin and decorated with the cutest little toppers that I bought on Etsy.


The buffet line. I was adamant about having good food so we catered in my favorite Italian restaurant, Frugatti's.


We had eight different varieties of cupcakes with cute little signs to direct guests to the cupcake of their choice.


I found a template online for these cupcake flags. They were a nice addition to the cake table.


Another shot of our cake. Can I mention again how beautiful it was?


Our toasts were classic - I couldn't stop smiling!

Back.

It's been awhile, but in my defense, I did move to a different state, unpack an entire house, find a new job, finish planning a wedding, get married and become a step-mom. Not necessarily in that order.

Here are some of our beautiful, beautiful wedding pics courtesy of the fabulous Ellie Grover:

Brushing my teeth, with our lovely bouquets in the foreground.


My shoes! I was completely in love with my shoes and thankfully, my photographer was too...I have tons of shoe shots.


Lots of sibling shots. My sister was my maid of honor and my brothers were ushers.


Hubs' cuff links - another nod to our airplane theme.


Our photo mat guest book, which now hangs in our home. A really great keepsake.


Our centerpieces were fairly simple, which is what I was going for. Gerber daisies, books, table name card (all tables were named after airports we've flown into together) and some ivy thrown in for good measure.

Our fan programs. Pretty and practical ... and for a not-so-crafty girl like myself, fairly impressive looking!


My cousin and brother manning the escort card table. Our escort cards were hand-folded mini paper airplanes (of course!)


The party favors ... chews from Dewars, a hometown institution.


About three minutes before I walked down the aisle. I don't even know how to describe how I was feeling ... just completely filled with joy.

Black tie not optional

Remember my compromise on ring dog? Well, I found the perfect attire for the pre-ceremony picture session:

How cute is that? My pups will be tres chic in black and white (white fur, black tie).

[from Terrier Tie Company on Etsy]

DIY: Guest Book

I always knew I wanted have a unique guest book. At first, I was thinking something like this:

[find it here]

I made FH a book on Blurb for Christmas. It was easy, fun, and he loved it. And I really adore the idea of having a guest book that becomes a bit more of a keepsake than the average sign-your-name-here-on-the-line type of book.

But then I had my bridal shower, and my brother's girlfriend got me the best present of all - she took something off my to do list! We now have a gorgeous silver picture frame with a nice, big, white mat, perfect for signatures, a la:

[find it here]

I heart shoes

Someone, please remind me to have my photographer take tons of pictures of my wedding shoes.

Then I can get them framed and hang it up on my side of the closet and laugh at FH when he asks me why I have so many shoes.

[from the always fabulous Meg Perotti Photography]

Problem Solved: Photographer

continued from yesterday...

One of the things I noticed during my search is that photographers I liked all seemed to have blogs alongside their "regular" website. The blogs were a little more personal and showcased a wider variety of photo shoots.

On a whim, I went to Google Blog Search and typed in "Bakersfield", "photography" and "wedding". Which eventually led me to this amazing videography site where I found, on the blogroll, the fantastic Ellie Grover.

In looking through Ellie's pictures, I recognized a ton of familiar faces. People I had gone to school and church with my entire life. And I later came to find out that Ellie and I had gone to the same church growing up, although our paths had never crossed. It was meant to be!

I contacted her and booked her right away for our wedding date. We had our engagement session just this past weekend and it was AH. MAY. ZING. Ellie is such a sweet and talented person and a very soothing presence to be around, which will be a major plus on our wedding day.

I can't wait to see how our engagement pictures turn out and I know we will treasure our wedding pictures for the rest of our lives. Problem solved!

Stressful Wedding Things: The Photographer

From the very beginning, I knew photography would be something that was super important for me, despite our budget. When I mentioned to FH that it was a top priority, he said - and I quote - "we don't need a photographer, we can just have people take pictures for us!"

Men.

Um, NO. I'm not Bridezilla about too many things, but photography was one thing I just couldn't compromise or cut corners on. Those pictures are the one thing that we are going to have for the rest of our lives. The flowers are going to die, the food will be consumed, but the pictures are forever. Plus, I really want a gorgeous wedding picture to hang in our house.

I started searching and sent off emails to a bunch of photographers I liked. I tried staying local to our venue location, but just like everything else in Bakersfield, there didn't seem to be much beyond the typical fare. I got back quotes from LA photographers that were way out of my price range.

I started to despair. And then... the blogosphere saved me once again.

To be continued...

Happy Friday

[Wyoming, May 2008. Taken by moi. A little moody for a "happy friday" post, but oh well.]

Happy Weekend: An L.A. Landmark

[taken December 2008 by moi, on the L.A. Conservancy Theatre District walking tour]