Ideas I Shamelessly 'Borrowed' From Other Brides... #3

So now that we have got back into the "detail" section of the recaps, I am ready for the third installment of my Reference List. In case you missed the previous entries, I first gave a shout out to Mrs. Lighting of weddingbee, for the great grooms-socks-wrapping-idea. And of course, I had to mention Jess of Budget Savvy Bride and Jess Lehry Designs for her awesome idea for blinging out my wedding shoes!

But now, it is time for a shout out to Nicole from Our Little Life... who's GORGEOUS wedding was one that gave me muchos inspiration. The main thing that I shamelessly borrowed from her wedding was the aisle decoration. I thought they were simple, but perfect, and knew they would be great at our mountain wedding.

How do you think I did in 'borrowing'... ok, who am I kidding, it was more like a full-on copy! Heh, I don't apologize for this blatant flattery... the girl had a great idea, and I thought it would be great for us too!!

Their aisle decorations:


Our aisle decorations:

Their 'sticks' behind the bride:

Our sticks behind the bride:

Their sticks behind the groom:

Our sticks behind the groom:

As much as I tried to get the same effect as Nicole's, it didn't quite work out. Here are a couple of reasons: I deligated this task. Let's face it ladies, the night before our wedding I had a choice: 1) stay at the lodge and work on the little details like a detail-oriented freak that I can very easily become... OR, 2) Go out for amazing Thai food with my ladies and have the BEST-NIGHT-EVER... ya, you can guess what I did!! But, the girls that were back at the house executing the details did a fantastic job, and although I pictured the "sticks" (as the hubs referred to them) being closer together, my wedding-elves (love you cousins!!) really did get it better. The simple fact was that our ceremony space was cramped... the sticks being off to the side a bit made it more visually open, with really only the mountains and sky as a backdrop. So we might ask... were the sticks really even necessary?! Well, with photos like this one...

I think they were a great addition!!

All photos from our wedding courtesy of [6:8] Photography, and those from Nicole and Grants were borrowed from Lauren Brooks Photography.

Our Montaintop Wedding - Confident

The time was finally here... the day had been a blast so far. We had spent an amazing morning/afternoon with each other, and with our bridal party, but the moment had arrived. Our family had assembled, we could hear the music playing and the chatter of our guests. My girls and I gathered in a small room on the main floor of the lodge where we were met by our Jordy, our make-up and hair guru, for last minute hair curling, dress steaming, and make-up touch-ups! We shared a quick glass of champagne, and my great friend Cindy came in to let us know it was time.

And the one emotion that was overriding all others was CONFIDENCE.

Of course their was a mixture of all the days emotions... anticipation, gratefulness, pride, familiar love, even a bit of feeling torn, but above all else, I was confident in the vows I was about to make, and those that I would receive. I was confident in the man I was marrying. I was confident in our foundation, our hopes and vision, and in our love for each other that would provide the framework for our future.

And so, I nodded to my mom, accepted my dad's arm, and started up the stairs...

I was surrounded by the people I loved the most, and who supported, guided, and protected me. I was confident, with my mom by my side, that this walk was a purposeful one. One that was well thought out. A walk that lead me to the man I was meant to spend the rest of my life with.

I was confident in walking towards my husband... and it was like there was no other place I was meant to be. Inspite of chaos, emotion, trials, tribulations, successes and failures, that inevitably form any bride's foundation, everything seemed to fall away, making space only for this walk as a woman about to become a wife...

And then we stood together. Bride and groom, friends, lovers, confidantes, cheerleaders and critics

And nearly... husband and wife.

I made sure to soak it all up... and especially tried to connect with our friends and families in the 'audience'.

And before we knew it, it was time to say our vows. We chose to include a somewhat typical "do you promise to...", complete with "I Do's", after which we exchanged our personal vows. As it turned out, we both finalized our vows that morning, and it was hilarious (proof in the pudding... check out my laugh) that we had both written our vows in coil notebooks which we proceeded to read them from :) Seriously... it took some of the nerves away, and was soooo US! Dorky, goofy, note takers!

So first up was the hubs... his vows were sweet, direct, and calming. They were him... he's not really a man of words, so they were short and too the point... but they were perfect!

And then it was my turn. I also think mine were "me"... long winded and thoughtful! Yep, sometimes I can ramble. What can I say... this was the reason I was here! I followed the "I love you because..." and "Because I love you..." that I first saw here. I don't know why, but as soon as I saw this style, I knew it was how I wanted to share my love and promises with my man.

Of course there were many details to the ceremony, but at the end, and most importantly, we sealed the deal with a kiss...

And we confidently entered the world of MARRIAGE!! We were FINALLY husband and wife!

all photos credited, as always, to [6:8] Photography

And PS... don't you just love that I FINALLY figured out how to post with larger images?!

Guest Post on another mountain peak...

And by 'Mountain Peak', I mean blog written by mountain-loving bride... Yep, that's right, I am over at A Mountain Bride today, sharing a glimpse of our mountaintop wedding!


Jess was recently married in Arizona, and has kept a thoughtful, inspiring, and gorgeous account of her wedding planning over at her blog... seriously, I can NOT wait to see her pics! I gained MUCH inspiration from her blog over the months leading up to our wedding, and we have become blog-buds which really has been one of the best parts of writing this blog. The ladies that we all get to meet through the planning (and remembering!) stages of weddings really bring a whole new level of camaraderie to brides. So Jess, thanks for having me over there at your FAB site... and hurry up and come home so you can share your wedding pics with us all!! No seriously, I hope you are having a blast on your honeymoon!! Can't wait to hear all about your wedding in the mountains!!

Our Mountaintop Wedding - Anticipation

Wow... you are here... to the end of the formals! This has been a long journey of recaps, and more importantly, of emotion. As you have travelled with us chronologically the morning of the wedding, you have seen the amazing work of our photogs, [6:8] Photography, but I hope you have also felt the emotion of the day. The good, the bad, the ugly... and the amazing!! For those of you who have missed it and want to catch up, prepare yourself for an emotional roller coaster...

• The day started off calm as hair and make up got under way.
• But with the reality that my wedding day had finally arrived, so too came some family issues that had been unresolved, and let's be honest, I was torn.
• After making the best decision I knew how to at the time, I started to get excited to see my husband, and my heart went crazy pitter-patter
• And seeing my husband for the first time brought everything to a stop... and it really was pure bliss
• A bit of frustration with rain and transportation resulted in some flask-ing
• and let's face it peeps, a bit of booze and umbrellas seems to calm things down... ahhhh-relaxed
• My man was the coolest groom ever, and I couldn't have been more proud
• And when we were reminded of a turning point in our relationship, we realized just how blessed we were to be marrying eachother
• As the morning turned in to afternoon, we were surrounded by the most comforting emotion yet... familiar love

And if you're still with me, the journey brought us to our little trek in the trees. And at this time, their was really only one emotion in the air... anticipation. We had only a couple shots left before we drove back to the lodge to say our "I Do's". Admittedly, I kinda didn't want to go. Not because I didn't want to exchange vows, but because I was so LOVING hanging out with my groom...

It felt like it was the first time we had been together in MONTHS (*which was kinda true considering the lock-down I had been in prior to the wedding finishing my thesis and defending it), and I was kinda lovin it!

I knew, though, that sharing our vows with our friends and family would be such a special experience, and so we savored the last few moments alone in the forest...

And before heading back, I prepared myself to step into the wide world of WIFE... but let me be straight up here guys, I was also kinda thinking about the fact that in a few short minutes my dad would be walking me down the aisle with my mom, despite my mixed emotions on the topic, and I was preparing myself to be in the moment (sorry to bust up the picturesque dreaming of wedding bliss with harsh reality, but that's the way it went down). The anticipation of having my dad there was trying to take over, but it DIDN'T... it was present, but more importantly, the confident love that was streaming between my groom and I gave me all the confidence in the world to face my dad...

Because with him by side, want couldn't we take on??

Ya, we were ready... let's get this party started!!

All photo credits to Kevan and Duane of [6:8] Photography