Although I’ve written a lot of posts lately on DIY projects and small frivolous details, Mr. Wallaby and I also spent a lot of time preparing for our life together. After all, it’s ultimately about the marriage, not the wedding, right?! Whenever we’re with married couples we seek out their advice for maintaining a healthy relationship that lasts. We look up to both of our sets of parents who are happily married after around 30 years. (Even more rare—my grandparents were married almost 60 years before my grandpa passed away! How sweet is that?!) And when we found out that my church offers pre-marriage classes and counseling, we gladly signed up.
I attend a Presbyterian church, and the church offers a “Looking Toward Marriage” class twice a year. The class lasts six weeks, and it is designed to help engaged couples prepare for the hurdles of marriage: family-of-origin differences, finances, intimacy, the spiritual covenant, parenting, etc. Even though Mr. Wallaby and I felt like we had discussed everything (joint finances! three kids someday! retire early! Christmas traditions!) we learned so much from those six classes. Each week a different couple from the church spoke about a particular topic, so we heard from a pretty varied sample of couples with totally different experiences and advice. We even had a binder with “homework assignments,” which kept the discussions flowing at home too. The last week, the couple that coordinated the whole class hosted a dinner party at their house, and we met several married couples who are graduates from the “Looking Toward Marriage” class. I thought it was awesome to hear how the class helped them work out some of their issues and prepare for some of the challenges that would arise in their first few years of marriage.
I’m so freaking excited for this particular post! This has always been one of my favorite recap posts of other bees, so I’m so ecstatic to finally be sharing mine!
So let’s start with the ceremony details:
This is the backdrop that I created out of coffee filters, poster board, bamboo skewers, and ribbon. It only took me about two hours start to finish creating them, and I love the texture they gave the black curtains.
For me, having a bouquet toss was always a must; my girlfriends have been talking about my wedding’s bouquet toss (and other wedding details) since way before I got engaged. Once I joked about not having one and they flipped out at me—are you out of your mind?
The bouquet toss tradition supposedly started from the 14th century European idea that brides and all that they touched were lucky. So, trying to avoid guests from tearing off parts of her gown (!), the bride tossed her bouquet. Meaning, the bouquet is supposed to be good luck, rather than an indication that the catcher is the next in line to get married.
For my friends it’s just fun—it’s a competition (and we are competitive), so they’ve been looking forward to it.
Since I’m having a wooden bouquet that I wouldn’t toss in a million years, I made a paper-flower bouquet to toss.
Be good with the paper flowers—the petals are not shaped yet. I’ll do it the day before the wedding.
Paper flower bouquet, Shania Twain’s “I Feel Like a Woman,” and eager friends—BAM! We have a bouquet toss.
The garter toss was a bit more complicated. The tradition comes from the concept of consummation of the marriage. The groom tossed the bride’s garter (meant to hold up the bride’s stockings) to the bridal party, to show them that he scored. (Pretty sure they didn’t refer to it this way back then.)
Before I move on from our honeymoon recaps to our wedding recaps (yay!), I want to share the story of one detail of the wedding I didn’t reveal in advance: the dress.
I’ve already written about our whirlwind two day shopping experience in NYC. I loved every minute of it and had blast trying on so many gorgeous gowns.
But it all came down to just one gorgeous gown for me—Amsale’s Penelope. (Lots of photos ahead!)
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| After walking out for the first time in Penelope. |
Ah, hive! The day has finally arrived where I can reveal (most) of the mismatched BM dresses! You see, I have had most of the photos for a while, but then I forgot to save BM Blondesquared’s photos, so I had to get them again. Oops. 
Remember, this is the idea of what we were going for:
Image via Style Me Pretty / Photography by Jessica Lorren Organic Photograph
While I never wrote a full post about it, I talked a little on the boards about how I really wanted dresses the girls would want to wear again. I know it’s cliche to say, but I really didn’t want them to hate their dresses, I didn’t want them to spend a ton on them, and I wanted it to be something they could wear to work or another event. My only request was that they stay in the champagne/tan family, and to keep them short and affordable!
Thankfully, affordability wasn’t a problem at all—all of the girls got their dresses for $40 or less! In fact, MOH Cubbie got her dress at Forever 21, so she even got a second option! I’m a little in love with all of them, especially the first two, so let’s just say if they don’t end up wanting to wear them again, I won’t mind taking them off their hands. 
And here they are!
If you recall my invitation formatting post, construction is where I had the most trouble. We ended up picking something pretty similar to this:
(Invitation via Oh So Beautiful Paper / by Christa Alexandra)
…using inspiration from these as well:
Guys, I’m feeling crafty. I feel like starting a DIY project (or two) so that I can cross some decor items off our wedding to-do list. Let me share a few things I’d like to make.
I saw this styled photo shoot on Green Wedding Shoes recently and I fell in love with the ombré dyed fabric chandelier. The theme for this inspiration shoot was “underwater garden,” and I love the watercolor-like softness created by the whimsical strands of dyed fabric. A few years ago I made a costume that required the use of ombré-dyed fabric, so I think I have an idea of how to recreate this look. Actually, I think there are two different methods. I guess I will just have to see which is the easiest and most successful!
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Image via: Green Wedding Shoes / Photography by: Dallas Curow / Event design by: Elyse Cragg
And what would I do with an ombré-dyed fabric chandelier, you might ask? Actually, I’d like to tie the fabric strips onto a rope to use for our ceremony. Afterward we could use it as decoration behind the dessert table. I’m not quite sure yet. But I do know that it would look fabulous in our engagement photos! I’m thinking something like the last photo from the inspiration shoot above. If that’s not enough to tickle your fancy, here is some more inspiration for you. Imagine the possibilities!
kate9854 and her new husband pose after their ceremony.
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…our DIY drink stand. Out of all of our DIY projects, the drink stand is definitely the most offbeat and hipster-esque.
Here’s the back story. Soon after we got engaged, while Mama Wallaby was visiting us in Houston, she and I picked up a bottle of wine at the grocery store to drink with dinner. When we returned to my apartment, she was surprised to find that I don’t own a single wine glass. Neither does Mr. Wallaby. When we enjoy a glass of wine, we keep it classy and drink out of either A) coffee mugs or B) water glasses. We don’t drink too often—and we both prefer beer over wine—so I had always had this thought at the back of my head that we would pick up a case of wine glasses the next time we’re at Ikea. Or that we would register for proper barware. We love to entertain, so it’s probably time we stocked up on glassware.
Later that weekend, Mama Wallaby and I were reviewing the wedding budget, and we reached the section for drinks and bar essentials. Since our venue doesn’t have a liquor license, we hired our own bartenders and we had to bring everything alcohol related—even the glassware. So I had made a line item in the budget for renting beer, wine, and martini glasses. Mama Wallaby was shocked at how expensive glass rental is in this area—wine and champagne glasses are running at around 90 cents a glass!
Warning: This is a text-heavy post! Suggested reading times include while sipping your favorite morning beverage, on your lunch break, or at home on the couch.
So last Thursday we hit the big milestone of 100 days until our wedding and it got me thinking about all the things left to do on my list, my relationship with Mr. Sword, my sanity and my future. Does anyone get affected by milestones in this way?
It also made me think about our invitations, but that’s probably because I mailed them out that same day, yay! A bit early yes, but I’m trying to beat the holiday gifts/cards scramble and while some Chicago friends have already received theirs, I know the Scottish folk won’t get theirs for a week or so.
For those of you in the last few months or even weeks (eee!) of wedding planning, here is a mental health check list to assess how things are going. For those of you already married, how did you feel around the 100 day mark?
First up, Logistics:
Do you have all major vendors booked and reserved for the big day?
As a bride-to-be who hates procrastinating and has been told multiple times that I’m way ahead on everything (why is that a bad thing?), yes, I have all my vendors booked. I should probably check in with some of them though!
Do you have time set aside or scheduled to finish up DIY projects and things that can’t be done until the RSVP’s come back?
Yes, I’m spending a week and a half in Minnesota over Christmas and I plan to check a lot of things off my list then! I also plan on tackling our seating chart in mid February.
Are you starting to think about gifts for your bridal party, parents, and other important people?
Once Papi Boa left me at the altar, I passed my bouquet to Lil Boa, leaving me free to hold hands with the FI/Hubby throughout the ceremony. I kind of wish I could tell you that our wedding ceremony was emotional and romantic and that I cried uncontrollably though most of it. Unexpected for a regular crybaby like me, I maintained a calm demeanor all throughout the ceremony—not one tear was shed. To tell you the truth, the amount of happiness I felt was so overwhelming that there was no space to even think about crying. Feeling overwhelmingly blessed and happy was a recurrent theme during the day!
I frickin’ love shoes. My closet is completely filled to the brim with beautiful shoes. The thing that pushes it over the edge is that I tend to be a bargain shopper. So if I find a super-cute pair of flats for $12 and they come in three different colors, I end up saying, “They’re so cheap! I can buy all three!” And as a result…my closet is completely full.
Naturally, wedding shoes have been on my mind since the very beginning of my engagement. My dream pair?
Kate Spade’s “Charm” / Photos by Ryan Phillips
