Wedding Blog

Believe me when I tell you I can’t wait to start breaking down my wedding with recaps and photos, but I feel that waiting for the pro pics is only fair. The guest pics that have been pouring onto Facebook, however, are even dreamier and more wonderfully evocative of the whimsy and ferocious fun than I remember. It makes me even more drunk with gleeful anticipation to see them reflected through Dan’s glorious lens! But, I must wait. And so shall you.

In the meantime, it’s time for a long overdue dose of wedding porn… MAPO’S WEDDING - what what!?!? For you newbs, MaPo is my bestie back in the Windy City. She was responsible for helping Mr. M and me get together, and I later set her up with her (now) husband, Feta. We planned our weddings alongside each other and each stood up as each other’s Maid of Honor/Best Lady. I threw her a raucous bachelorette party in LA, and she threw me a sick hen night in Chicago. She got married in January, and I’m excited to share her enchanting, fairie tale winter wedding with you!

She got married at the Barn of Barrington - a medieval castle crossed with a barn in the very best of ways - which sadly closed last month (RIP). We all got ready in a room there, singing and laughing all day long. I made her a sweatshirt with a $10 kit from Target, for her to wear while getting ready…

MaPo enjoying her last homemade Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke of singledom, while Feta’s cousin styles her hair.

I had the great honor of helping her into her beautiful gown. She found this Nicole Miller dress at JCPenney, when she wasn’t even looking for one, and it was on sale for $90, people! It looked like a million angelic, sumptuous dollars, and she says it was as comfortable as a nightgown. She was a vision of flowy goddess-like ethereal beauty.

And then, as if by magic, my bestie was a bride!

Her bouquet is DIY, from artificial flowers that she got at Michaels. Her MIL helped her and it turned out gorgeously. We dabbed a bit of her wedding perfume onto it - it was perfect!

But she couldn’t walk down the aisle without reenacting the Shelby meltdown scene from Steel Magnolias with her college friend, Bex. (I must note that they are from Texas, and also that Bex later helped with our wedding, even though I only just met her then.)

“Don’t worry Shelby, we’ll fix it!”

I was very emotional that day, and the Shelby thing got me criggling - you know, crying/giggling at the same time?

We took a few fun formals with our faerie wands that she found at Jo-Ann’s and her MIL added some tulle and ribbon to. (Teaser: these inspired something in our wedding, too!)

She let us all pick our own black, knee-length-ish A-line dresses - mine was from White House Black Market and I’ve already worn it again. We all wore silver shoes, which I got at Famous Footwear for $19.95 and I adore them.

Then, it was time to go! I had a moment alone to hug my girl before I entered to Leona Lewis’ cover of Johnny Cash’s “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” - le sob.

Good God the expression on their faces just sums it all up!

The ceremony was really lovely. They found their minister, Jim, online, at rentarev.com, and I was blown away by his personal, charismatic and touching service. You’d have thought he knew MaPo and Feta as long as I have.

They each picked a surprise reading for each other and asked a dear friend to read it. MaPo asked Mr. M to read hers. It was a gifted performance, if I do say so myself!

I ain’t gonna lie: at this point I was all, “this is gonna be us in just a few months, yo!” in my head.

The ceremony was held in the barn-like structure for which the place is named. It was decorated with twinkle lights and candles and felt like an old church in a rustic and warm way.

Who could be cuter than MaPo?

She started her vows to Feta, a die-hard superhero fan, by stating, “Feta, you are my hero.” She made me cry like a schoolgirl.

And the photographer, amazingly, caught my collapse, blow by blow:

It’s like a flip book, son!

They had the most tender and sexy, yet still quite appropriate, first kiss, evah.

And then they were MARRIED!

It was so heartwarming, and many aspects of MaPo’s ceremony definitely influenced our ceremony construct later, because it was so tailored to MaPo and Feta’s story, and it was so uplifting. It truly was a fairie tale.

Stay tuned for Part 2: The PARTYTIMES!

all pro-photos from George Street Photography in Chicago