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

GBR

as in Go Big Red!

The first Husker game is just 2 days away…and I am crazy excited!  This is by far my favorite time of year.  In fact our original plan was to get married in the fall…but we knew that if we wanted to have it in Nebraska…we would only be able to have it on a bye weekend…which was of course solidly booked up.  We Nebraskans love our Huskers!

It has become a tradition (3 years running!) that Lance and I head back to Nebraska for the first game each year.  In fact last year this weekend we took our engagement pics!  So I’ll be on a plane tomorrow headed toward the ‘sea of red’!  Coincidentally we will be staying in the same hotel this weekend as we did for our wedding.

But of course I couldn’t leave ya without a little wedding-recap-randomness right?!

(FYI:  it’s Husker related…obv)

Knowing that a lot of friends and family would be in town on Friday before the wedding…Lance wanted to do something fun…so he set up a tour of Memorial Stadium.

fun fact:  that tall building sticking up behind the bleachers (above) is Oldfather Hall… I spent many hours there during my undergrad days

I am super bummed I didn’t get to go with!  I was out getting my nails did with my girls…and it was the only time that it worked   Apparently the tour was awesome and everyone had a blast.

No worries…I got to fulfill my need for the stadium’s aura on our wedding day!

After we got ready and did our first look…(posts on those fun things to come)…Lance and I headed toward Memorial Stadium with Khara and rocked a few shots taking advantage of the neat arches on the outside of the stadium.

Then our fabulous wedding party showed up…and we took some killer group shots!

I think this one (above) is my fave wedding party pic!

then we did some walking…obv…arm in arm

I can’t figure out why but I love that last pic!  I mean it would be weird in a frame right?!  Maybe it’s the fact that you  see the stadium…but the random observer would have no idea that is what it is.  Regardless…I Like it!

So with that I leave you…have a great weekend!  Watch some football!

Go Big Red!

Random Wedding Pic Wednesday

That’s right…it’s Wednesday…and I don’t have a lot of time to blog so instead you get a random pic from the wedding.

Well actually it’s more like  a “before” and “after” picture adventure.

Remember this $2 birdcage I scored at an auction…like eons before the wedding??!!

yeah…pretty nasty…but oh the potential!!  I knew it would make a killer card holder.

Then a little while later I spotted this strikingly similar cage over on EAD…

{pic via EAD}

Which my step-dad used as “inspiration”…although I’m sure he wouldn’t refer to it as that…to repaint my lovely auction find into this!

{pic by Khara}

Ta-Da!!  Pretty crazy transformation right?  We toyed with adding some ribbon/signage…but decided it looked better au-natural!

So there ya go…a random pic from our wedding…with a little back story to it

P.S  I randomly decided to join the tweeting world last week…mostly because I was bored…but also so I can secretly stalk Justin Bieber.  You can find me here!

Our non-rehearsal rehearsal dinner

Our rehearsal dinner…in bullet form:

• The location: Lazlo’s Brewery (if you want to know why…go read this post)

• The Invite:

designed by KimsCustomGifts on Etsy printed via Vistaprint

• The Food

designed by yours truly

• Our Guestbook Poster (remember from this post!)

• The Happenings

So we didn’t have your typical ‘Rehearsal’

why?  because our venue was booked the night before…when rehearsals normally occur.

so what did we do?  we stood around in a circle about an hour before the dinner started and went over the ceremony logistics…

Based on these pics you might think it was all very confusing and I was a nervous wreck…but actually it worked out great!  We even had a few laughs!  I think the guys appreciated how quick and easy it was…no waiting around and walking up and down the aisle several times.  Instead they were able to spend more time here

The bar area we had all to ourselves.

• Then we ate…

the desserts were huge…

and delicious…well at least the few bites I actually had of mine were!

• Lance and I thanked everyone for being such amazing friends and family and for all their help in this long planning process

• Lance’s mom read a poem she had written about lance…and then how he met me and our life together thus far!  It was really neat

• We watched our slideshow

• My bridesmaids and I took some fun pics

Then we just spent the rest of the evening catching up with family and friends.  We had the upstairs reserved till close so we were able to invite our out-of-town guests to join us after dinner.  It worked out perfectly as we didn’t have to try and find another bar or restaurant to go meet everyone at.

It was a great dinner/evening to kick off our wedding weekend festivities.  I remember feeling like the night just flew by and suddenly it was time to head back to our hotel, say goodnight to Lance, and get some sleep before the big day!

* all pics courtesy of our family and friends

He’s Back

Yes…I am referring to THEE Brett Favre…aka my future second husband.

{pic via associated press}

Lance’s life pretty much revolves around football…obviously it played a huge part in us becoming a couple (our mutual love for the Huskers).  I’ll admit when we first started dating I was not a huge fan of the NFL…College Football was my first pigskin love.  But…I also quickly learned that if I ever wanted to see Lance on a Sunday (and/or Monday evening) I better throw on some purple and tag along as he watched every game.

It didn’t take long before I was hooked…I think it was Fat Pat that did it for me…because the Vikes really didn’t win too many games the first season of my fanhood.  Somehow…slowly but surely …I found myself becoming a hard-core fan…yelling/cursing/throwing stuff included.  Then last year Brett threw on the purple and pretty much became my favorite Viking over night (sorry Adrian…i still love you!)  Heck I even drafted the guy for my fantasy team…much to Lance’s amusement.  What can I say…I was a believer early on.

And now he’s back…and this redhead couldn’t be more excited for 09/09.

Now how can I make this wedding related…ah yes.

Lance’s cuff links…my gift to him.

It took a little shirt surgery to get these suckers on…

…removing of buttons and hole-cutting was involved…I guess thats what you get for wearing a normal dress shirt and not a tux one.

So if when the Vikes win the Super Bowl this year you can thank me…cause I’m pretty sure it’s good luck to wear your team’s logo on your wedding day

*last 3 pics by Khara

shoes & a knitted garter

If you recall…these were the shoes I decided to wear on my wedding day…

{so pretty-ly photographed by Khara}

I loved them!  …and I was determined to keep these suckers on till after our first dance…which I successfully did!  I don’t actually remember them hurting my feet much…but I must have been blissed-out and numb to pain because I had zero feeling in the majority of my toes for three days after the wedding.

Didn’t they look great with my freshly pedicured purple toes??  Talk about going the non-traditional route!

I love this pic Khara secretly snapped of them when I was heading upstairs at some point during the reception…most likely headed to the shoot shack!

And of course…they looked fabulous paired with my beautiful purple garter

Hand knit by my dear friend C…

She has mad knitting skills…seriously…isn’t it just amazing!?!?  Oh and the yarn* is a knitter’s dream…100% lamb’s wool yumminess!

It was definately one of my favorite details from the entire day.

If you’re thinking of knitting up your own garter…check out C’s pattern on Ravelry!

*yarn is Jade Sapphire – Lacey Lamb

** all photos by Khara

Recap Rewind

Here is where I re-start our recaps…because quite frankly…that last post bored me.

and if it is boring to me…then it must be a giant snore to everyone else.  I mean sure…I get the idea of recaping a day as it happens…but lordy those long posts just take it right out of me!  If I continue on this path you will either

a) not see pics from our first dance till late February

or

b) I will get super bored, never post, and just throw down a bunch of photos without any explination or true emotion.

I mean all you really want are the pretty pictures and the unique/funny/crazy moments right?!

So here’s how things will roll from now on…I’ve been loving A Mountain Bride’s “recap” style…very whatever-is-on-the-mind-at-the-moment-esq.  I’m thinking of going at it this way if it’s cool witch ya’ll.

If I’m feeling it…you will see it.

And if I forget to mention something you’ve been dying to know about…speak up!  Chances are I will be excited to tell/show ya all about it!

However…if you dig the traditional recapping style don’t worry…I’ll be laying it all down over on Elizabeth Anne Designs that way and I’ll let you know whenever posts go live!  Like for instance…check out my latest post on the rad gifts I got/made for my BMs!

Phew I feel like a weight has been lifted!

So in that case I bring you random photo #1 from our wedding…

That’s right…I’m showing you a picture of beer.

Why you ask?  Well for those of you that don’t know me…I love microbrews.  Our non-rehearsal-rehearsal-dinner was at a brewery in downtown Lincoln…nuff said.

Living in Utah “full-strength” beer (as we locals refer to it) is not easily obtained…you have to by it by the bottle at ‘State Liquor Stores’…and most brewers just say F-it and don’t even bother sending their stuff here.  Giant Sad Face

In fact…we can’t get any of the beers pictured above in Utah (here’s where you offer to bring/ship me lots of yummy beers because my life is so rough…).  Due to this…Nebraska has quickly become a beer oasis for Lance and I…and when we set out to pick some for our wedding we I was like a kid in a candy store!!  Big Happy Smiley Eyes!!!

Lance questioned whether our guests would actually drink microbrews fearing we would have left overs (gasp!) and might have to take a couple cases back with us (oh the horror!!!!)

…well I was quickly able to say “I told you so” when they went like hot cakes that day!

Utah friend C (picutred to my left in hat): “Dang Steph…these full strength beers are making me tipsy!”

me:  “I know C!  I’m not used to anything above 4%…woohoo I’m married!“

So there ya have it…beer was one of the things that made our wedding awesome.

Till next time!

** both pics by Kabloom Studios…2nd pic from our rockin’ shoot shack!

Hitched! : Pre-Wedding Week

Woo-Hoo…let the recaps begin!

No better place to start then the week leading up to the wedding right?!

We set off for Neb from SLC the Saturday before with our little Honda Civ stuffed to the max in wedding goodness.

{Lance loves cruising along I-80!}

We spent the night in Cheyenne to break up the 12+hr trip and made it into Nebraska on Sunday.

{yes there is an arch on I-80 outside of Grand Island…very touristy…gotta love Neb!}

With it being a holiday on Monday (Memorial Day), and feeling pretty exhausted from our long car trip…we spent Sunday night relaxing with a little fire pit action in my parents’ backyard.

Monday was our designated “Decorate Mason Jar Day”…my Aunt, my older sister, and a friend of my mom’s all came over to participate in the fun.  I didn’t really have any specific guidelines…just threw down some twine, purple & grey ribbon, a little lace, and everyone got to work!

My mom collected jars from various auctions around town throughout the year…we ended up with quite the variety as you can see.

{My older siser loves decorating jars!}

Just before we left I came across these cute little ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’ tree ring signs on Etsy.

{pic via LittleWeeShop on Etsy}

Love Them!  I knew they would never arrive in time so instead I put my super-talented sister to work on making something similar.   We already had a ton of tree slices (thanks to my step-dad) that we were planning to use as table decor for the reception…so I picked two…drilled a couple holes…and presto we were set!  Instead of using a wood burner my sister just painted on the Mr. & Mrs.

They turned out super cute!

{signs in action…pics by Khara}

By the end of Monday we had all our jars decorated and ready for the florist, I had completed our programs (thanks to this easy to modify template via A Mountain Bride), and finalized our numbers for the reception.  I remember feeling overwhelmed with the little things I still had to complete (make signs for the cake table, finish our slideshow for the rehearsal dinner, get the flip-flop basket set up, print off/fold the ceremony programs, etc, etc, etc) it seemed like I would never have time to just relax and have fun!

Tuesday was full of last minute tasks for Lance & I.  First up was getting our marriage lisence!

After that we dropped off all the jars at our florist** in Fremont and finalized our flowers.

Then it was off to Lincoln for my hair trial!  Yes you read that right…I had my hair trial a mere 4 days before the wedding.  I wasn’t worried though because I knew I was in good hands!**  The trial went great and was crazy quick!  All I did was show her a couple inspiration pics and bam she went to work!  I was happy with it and felt completely confident that I would have rockin’ hair come Saturday.

After the hair trial Lance and I headed to Omaha for a meet-up with my Aunt and our string quartet** to hear the music for our ceremony that I had them working on (more to come! eeee!).  It went great and my nerves started to settle as I finally got to see all the details slowly coming together.

Wednesday was another full day of tasks…first up was finding the perfect ‘Love Tree’…aka the tree we would ‘plant’ as part of our ceremony.

We finally decided on a Fur tree.  Mostly because it was small enough to fit in the car for the ride back to Utah…and also because it was Charlie-Brown-Christmas-Tree esq.

{Us with the Love Tree…giant Starbucks was a must throughout the week}

So then it was a mad rush to finish up the flip-flop basket, throw together all our stuff back into the car…and head to Lincoln before a meet-up with our DJ**.  We were staying at the Embassy Suites so it was vital we got there in time for the Free Happy Hour in order to have a Happy Lance

So here is where I admit that Lance and I threw together our ‘Do-Not-Play’ and ‘Must-Play’ lists about 10mins before we met with our DJ.  It was one of those things we just kept putting off…and in the end didn’t matter what so ever…our DJ rocked it!  With the final meeting/appointment checked off we were set to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend!  Well at least Lance was…I still had a list of things to do!

Next up…our friends and family come to town!

** I’ll do a post with all our vendors in more detail after the recaps…so I can tell you all how awesome they were!