Another CP Wedding

Let’s face it…I’m terrible at blogging…but I know you all pry want to see some pics from Shelley’s wedding 2 weeks ago!  So that’s what I got for ya…just some of my favorites from the weekend…and if you want to get her play-by-play…stop over and read her take!  She actually might finish her recaps…unlike some people…um me.

Getting the decor ready on Friday inside at Country Pines…due to the hurricane-esq winds outside.

Shelley…master of pom-making!

Rehearsal dinner at Old Chicago

BM Becky getting her hair done!

Shelley put me in charge of taking pics while she got ready…talk about stress-inducing!  Ha ha j/k Shelley…although I’m sure the other girls were annoyed with my constant rolling around on the floor and standing on the bed/chair/desk/window trying to get good shots!  I think I managed to get a few good ones…Shelley seems happy so that’s all that matters to me!

Love the lace detailing of her Maggie Sottero gown!

Hair is all set to go!

Shoe Shot

Shelley getting the update on the decorating at CP

Dress Time!

Ring Shot! (my attempt at being artsy)

Full view in the dress!

Checking the goods one last time before heading out to CP!

Off to get hitched!!

Shelley and all of us BMs…looking hot!

So obviously I was too busy doing my bridesmaid duties to take any pictures of the actual ceremony…and even though I gave my camera to Lance (who is notorious for taking really bad-shaky pics) he was apparently too preoccupied with the NFL draft via my phone to take any…so we continue post ceremony

Me and this cute guy I hang out with…a lot.

We went on an awesome hay-rack ride around the grounds with the wedding party after the ceremony

The new Mr & Mrs!!  Hooray!!

It was beautiful and sunny out…and luckily the hurricane-esq winds were no where to be found!

one of the guys helping me feed my need to tap the rockies

We stopped at this little cabin by the lake..and of course champagne had to be involved.

Headed back to the reception! Oh and see our fun clutches?  We carried those instead of bouquets..and notice the cute matching cardigans?  Shelley gave those to us along with the fun homemade flower pins!  She is a crafty one!

Instead of a head table the bride and groom sat with us common folk..so of course I had to make her some chairs signs…i mean really…it’s not always obvious who the bride is…

Food!

First Dance as Husband and Wife!

The End!  ….or should I say The Beginning of a wonderful and happy life together!

recaps!

I realize I’ve been lacking in the wedding recap department…but for good reason!  I’ve been busy writing up some good ones for Elizabeth Anne Designs…a couple have already been posted:

Our Nebraska Wedding:  The Day Begins

&

Our Nebraska Wedding:  Getting Pretty!

Go check them out!  …and stay tuned for more that will go up in the following weeks!

just a pic that didn’t make the recap-cut…I love that it shows off my headband!

pic by Khara…obv

Help!

Which one would you get a giant canvas print of??  (thinking 20×30)

A)

B)

C)

A, B, or C??  Let me know your thoughts!

Location of said canvas print TBD…most likely living room or bedroom. Sadly we don’t have a fireplace mantle for displaying it…so we will have to get creative!

*all pics by Khara

I’ll do one!

Married!

{pic by Khara}

UPS

the UPS man left a package on my doorstop today…this is what I found inside…

That’s right my friends…our wedding album and pics!!  Woot-woot!

Get yourself ready for some killer re-caps…

…starting next week!

This weekend I’ll be off in the mountains celebrating a wedding of one of my dear friends

Don’t worry…I plan to share pics from that shin-dig as well!!  Stay Tuned!

That’s mine!

So while I was trying to get caught up with the bajillion posts in my google reader…I came across this post from almost a month ago over on Brenda’s Wedding Blog…

hmmm…that bouquet in the middle sure looks familiar no?!

It’s mine!!

I loved my bouquet…it was my idea to wrap it in burlap and then lace…I think it turned out pretty darn cute too!

Thanks to Brenda’s Wedding Blog for showing off my beautiful bouquet! 

(oh and Lance’s fun bout too!!)

The Dress!

So before I get started on my wedding recaps (aka…wait for our pro pics!)…I figure I should back up a bit and fill you in on all that stuff I didn’t have time to before the Big Day!

Like say…MY DRESS!

Here she is hanging up…minutes before I put her on!  Notice the ugly plastic hanger…yeah just one of those things I forgot to do…wish I had ordered one of these!

If you’ve been following along with me since the beginning of my planning stages…then you are well aware I was dead set on getting a lace dress.  No bling and no poof…Just lace, lace, and more lace!  While I had fallen in love with Monique’s Scarlet…

I was not so much in love with the price.  (Paying for the wedding on our own + buying a house = no Scarlet for Steph)

Nor was I as patient smart as Abbie to scour the web to find a pre-owned one.

So on the hunt I went…to find something similar but within my budget.

I tried on several.  I think I ended up going to a total of 3 different bridal shops!  But…they just didn’t measure up….sure they were pretty…and I felt pretty in them!  …but none of them had the “look” I was really going for.

Sorry…not the best pics…what is it with bridal stores and horrible lighting?!?

I actually was very close to just giving in and buying this gorgeous silk gown that was fitted down through the hips with a sweetheart neckline…we weren’t allowed to take pics in that particular store but it looked similar to this one…

I of course was not ready to commit way back in Feb of 09 when I found said dress….so I decided against it.

Fast forward to June 09…when I decided it was about time to get back out there and see what Utah had to offer.  My fabulous friend Abby came along for moral support and we hit our first (and only!) stop…Mary’s Bridal in SLC.

After trying on several dresses…much of the same as I had tried on before…I was ready to pack it up and move on to the next place.  Oh but then…THEN…one of the lovely workers suggested I try on just one more…one she had in mind and thought would look great on me.

Well you can pry tell where this is going…the dress she brought out was it!  I pretty much knew it once I unzipped that bag and saw the thinness of it, the all over lace, and of course…the gorgeous open back.  Being the money-conscience shopper that I am I quickly eyed the price tag…and my heart sank.  It was about $800 more than I could spend.  I knew everyone was waiting for me to come out…(somehow I was the only person in there on a Saturday) so I threw it on…and I sorta slumped out hoping it looked awful on me and that I would hate it.

Of course i didn’t…I loved it.

So did Abby…and the 3 ladies working.  When they asked me what I thought…I said I loved it…but it was out of my price range.  Then one of the sales girls said something amazing, “I’ll give you %40 off that dress…if you buy it off the rack”.   Uh what?!  Being a nerd…I quickly did the math in my head…and holy bananas…it was suddenly within my budget!  Abby and I did a full inspection of the dress searching for any small imperfection, rip, tear…anything that would make buying the dress a mistake.  We couldn’t find anything…so I bought it.

So who the heck makes this fabulous dress anyways?!  St Pucchi.

Yep I had no clue who that was either….it took some digging but I eventually found it online.  Under the ‘Sposa by St Pucchi’ line…page 7…style z206.  Yeah the model looks a bit…odd.

Now if you are super observant you’ll notice the sash on the original dress has bling all the way around it…and some weird jewel thing on the back.  I was not a fan of this…so we took it off…and replaced it with a brand new sash tied in a bow.

this pic was from my final fitting…all ready to go!

Much better!

Phew ok that was one long post!  Thanks to those of you that made it to the end!

Before I go I just want to give my ’2 cents’ to those that are currently out there looking for the perfect dress…ahem…Shelley

1)  Don’t settle…the right dress is out there…you just may have to dig a little to find it.

2)  If you have your sights set on a dress you know you shouldn’t buy can’t afford…channel your inner Abbie and check  sites like PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com and OnceWed.com.  Or like in my case…it never hurts to ask for a discount/buy it off the rack!

3)  If you love everything about a dress but one tiny thing..chances are that tiny thing can be removed/cut/changed…just ask.

4)  HAVE FUN!!  Buying your wedding dress is not supposed to be stressful or annyoing…if you aren’t feeling it at one store…move onto the next one!  Take a friend/cousin/sister/mom/cat…just someone you know that will smile and make you feel good in each dress you try on.

one month

Today marks one month exactly since Lance & I said our ‘I Do’s'!   Crazy!  I really have no clue where this past month went…oh wait yes I do

It started off with a week in Nebraska (and the wedding!)…followed by a week of moving… then it was off to Jamaica for our Honeymoon!  …and now here we are…July 5th…with things finally starting to slow down a tad as we unpack our life in our new house and make it our home

So to celebrate…I’ve got some non-pro pics from our ceremony for ya!

I love this pic taken by my friend Christy… one of my amazing personal attendants.  As you can see I had a pretty long walk up the aisle to get to Lance!

Saying our vows!

This is my favorite pic of our “hand ceremony”…as you can see I was really studying Lance’s hands.

MARRIED!!

Walking back down the aisle as Husband & Wife!

( I LOVED my bouquet!)

I love love love this pic of Lance and I after we reached the end of the asile…with the back of my dress and the sash blowing in the wind..beautiful!

Alright well thats all you get for now

I hope to start the pre-wedding re-caps soon…and then once I get all the pics from our photographer I will continue with the wedding day itself!!  woot woot!!  So stay tuned…fun times ahead!

* all pics taken by our friends and family

Hitched!!

WE DID IT!!!!  We’re MARRIED!!

Simply put…the day was absolutely AMAZING!!  No hiccups…no issues…just, plain, perfect!  I loved everything about it!!  I may be biased…but I think it was the best wedding ever

More to come…but for now I’ll point you in the direction of our FABULOUS photographer Khara’s blog!!  She gave us a super mega sneak-peek!!  Check it out here!!

Oh and our Shoot Shack action too!!

more of that craziness here!

*All pics by Kabloom Studios

one week

So it is…we are one week away from being Mr. & Mrs.

Where in the world did the time go?!?  I had all these super fun posts planned…well at least “thought” about….and now we are a week away and Lance and I are currentlly sitting in a Hampton Inn halfway between Utah and Nebraska…on our way to get married!!!

I really hope I find time in the upcoming week to at least post bits and pieces of what’s happening…but please forgive me if I don’t!

For now I’ll leave you with a few pics of some last minute projects I was working on this past week!

some lace wrapped votive holders….

and a little bunting-flag action!

I wish you all a safe and fun holiday weekend!!