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Hello sweet hive! Here is my favorite post I’ve ever written. It isn’t my favorite necessarily for the content, but for the response I’ve received from the post. When I bought white lace for my veil, I knew I would have to dye it ivory to match my wedding dress. I searched high and low for a step-by-step guide on tea dying (I was scared out of my mind and needed ridiculous specific steps to feel more confident). When the internet didn’t turn anything back, I decided to jump in, heels first, and write my own DIY.
Since writing this article I’ve received so many emails and comments from brides/mothers who used my guide and found success. I even had a cousin contact me after she found my article on Weddingbee and I got to see her perfectly ivory veil in action at her wedding last month.
You can see my finished ivory veil in action here. Enjoy!
~~~
Okay… so I searched all over Gainesville for someone to professionally dye my beautiful white lace to ivory (so it would match my dress). Can you believe that there is no place in Gainesville where you can get this done? Unbelievable!
But, there’s a ray of hope. One seamstress I asked mentioned tea-dying my lace. I had heard of this before but was slighting skeptical as to whether I could successfully do this myself. Searching the internet, I only found a handful of ’how-tos’ and no one really went into detail. They just skimmed over what they did to show you their beautifully dyed ivory lace. But, I’m a girl who needs directions. I ain’t gonna mess up my nice lace…
For all the other brides out there like me, who need some directions, here is, step-by-step, of how I got to the perfect shade of ivory for my beautiful Alencon lace for my veil:
8 years ago today, I went to “The Secret Garden” play held at our high school. My friends were running late (and I was early, as usual) and I saw Mr. Dolphin chilling outside the theater. I walked up to him, M&M McFlurry in hand, and started chatting. He finished the rest of my McFlurry (and now finishes most my meals today). When it was time for the show to start and my friends were still not there, Mr. Dolphin and I walked into the theater and sat together. We cuddled during the show and exchanged phone numbers at the end of the night. I guess you can say that the rest is history!
Mr. Dolphin and me before our Junior Prom, about 7.5 years ago. (Wow, I feel old!) Taken from Mrs Dolphin’s crazy old archives
Hello hive! Long time no talk?
I’ve been quite the little video editor this week, editing videos for two weddings Mr. Dolphin and I have been to in the past few months. When Mr. Dolphin and I first saw our highlights video it instantly took us back to that day, that special moment in our lives. We knew video was incredibly important to us and we were so happy the lovely Erika Rydell was able to be there to capture our day so beautifully.
Recently, Mr. Dolphin and I went to two weddings, one for my cousin up in Erie, PA (we drove, we are crazy) and one for his cousin in St. Augustine, FL. Both weddings were sans videographer. We wanted our cousins to have fun little videos from their weddings because a video shows emotion and the mood of a wedding so much better then any photo could ever show (we believe). Luckily, Mr. Dolphin and I are always equipped with a ridiculous amount of video/photo equipment everywhere we go (remember our honeymoon video?).
Read more…
I’m that person who arrives 30 minutes early for EVERYTHING. I have this fear of being late. Even when it looks like we will be a millisecond late for something, my stomach will start to turn and I will get uncomfortable and jittery. So, it came as a surprise to me that I was late for Mr Dolphin’s and my wedding ceremony. I blame Seminole Bridesmaid for making me take off my beloved Skagen watch.
Only kidding! I totally love Mrs. Seminole Bridesmaid, but it was seriously too much fun making this image. I think deep down I’m having Seminole Bridesmaid withdrawals.
photo by Starks Photography, culprit stamping by Mrs. Dolphin
Let me set the stage for a complete groom freak-out.
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
You probably think this article is about our wedding rings. Yeah, they’re pretty special, but this story is about another whole ring. It’s about Mr. Dolphin’s Great-Grandmother’s wedding ring.
(click the image for a better look)
The 3 rings: On my left hand, my engagement ring. On my right hand, a silver promise ring given to me by Mr. Dolphin on Christmas Day 2006, and Mr. Dolphin’s Great-Grandmother’s pink gold wedding ring stacked on top.
When I was trying to come up with my “something old,” as the tradition goes, I couldn’t figure out what it would be.
When I left off, Mr. Dolphin and I were being attacked by rogue bubbles. Next up? A little venture into the woods near Plantation Bay for another sweet photo op before our ceremony. 
Who knew a wooded area on the side of a parking lot could turn out such fabulous photos? Our photographers sure knew how to turn any situation into a good photo opportunity!
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Four months ago today I married the love of my life. I can still remember just about every moment of that day—and our wedding video helps when I start to forget.
I look like I’m attacking Mr. Dolphin. I went in for the kiss so quick he barely had time to wrap his arms around me! I like to be in charge of the situation. Haha.
photo by Starks Photography, hack crop job by yours truly
It would be easy to say that these last 4 months have been bliss—just perfection—but, in fact, we have been so busy we have barely had time to think. We are both exhausted.
Read more…
I had this great idea to use bubbles as a ’prop’ to get Mr. Dolphin and me comfy during our couple’s pictures. It was a fabulous idea until…the bubbles fought back.
The bubbles went in our eyes, and our mouths. They were not cooperating!
By the way, Mr. Dolphin makes some of the BEST faces. Love him.
In the beginning, Mr. Dolphin wasn’t completely on board with the first look idea. The first look seems to be a relatively new wedding trend. My parents had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it, and many of my friends who were married only a few years ago hadn’t heard of it when they were planning their weddings. I searched the Internet for some great examples to show to Mr. Dolphin and even made a little pros-and-cons list for him to look at. In the end, Mr. Dolphin was on board (anything to keep his stressed-out bride happy). After it was all said and done, Mr. Dolphin says that this set of pictures are some of his favorites from our wedding. Bride: 1, groom: 0.
I believe that the first look is such an important moment on your wedding day. Many brides and grooms are hell-bent on not seeing each other until the ceremony (which is tradition), but, having a first look and seeing each other alone is so much more intimate (in our eyes). We both were so excited to see each other and get a moment to take in everything that was happening that day…we were getting married!
Enough of my jibber-jabbering—the pictures truly say it all.
I’m trying to contain my excitement, but failing at it. I had never been so excited to see him in my life!
In the “honeymoon recap” area, I’ve been quite lazy. It’s not like we didn’t have the most amazing time of our lives in Maui; it is just the MASSIVE amount of photos Mr. Dolphin took on our honeymoon are making this task quite daunting. (Massive amount = 1,500+ photos = out of control husband.)
The view from our condo in Maui…just breathtaking
photo by Mr Dolphin
It was the best view on the island, and we’re not just saying that—we checked! Waking up to THIS every morning was heaven!
Read more…
Okay, so this post isn’t really about marrying your dad, but the title caught your attention, right?
I’ve been told many times that little girls grow up and find someone like their dad, then marry them. This probably explains why Mr. Dolphin and Dolphin Dad get along so well; they are so much alike. They both hatch up crazy ideas (that often are really incredible), can fix any electronic/mechanical device, can whip up yummy food in the kitchen, are super smart and have an entrepreneurial spirit, and can strike up a conversation with ANYONE about ANYTHING. Both are excellent at public speaking, both are the first ones to purchase that hot new gadget on the market, and both can talk websites/media devices/gators/inventions for hours. I love them both with all my heart.
All this makes these next two pictures extra special to me. My two most anticipated moments on our wedding day were Mr. Dolphin seeing me for the first time (our first look is coming up in an entry soon!) and my dad seeing me in all my bride-ness.
I’ve mentioned before how much I love pictures of iPhones in wedding pictures, and since Mr. Dolphin and I are avid iPhone users, we couldn’t be apart from our little iPhones on our wedding day, either.
So now, I present to you our coveted iPhone wedding photo:
I love it
Okay, so I loved EVERYTHING about our wedding. Well, just about everything except for our darn Florist. He was ’the suck.’
Poor Happy Bridesmaid had to carry such an offending bouquet.
photo by Starks Photography
I don’t understand how a florist can get my bride’s bouquet mostly right but completely mess up the bridesmaid bouquets. Yes, those are rogue daisy leaves left by our florist. You can see more pictures of these bouquets in my beautiful bridesmaids post.
Every time I think back to our wedding, I think about all the beautiful people and details… then I get to those dang bridesmaid bouquets and I just about want to cry.
Read more…
I love my bridesmaids. Not only are they incredibly beautiful, but they are the sweetest gals a girl could have as friends. Not to mention, they look FABULOUS in light blue. Fabulous. I swear I’m not shallow, I just can’t get over how good they all look in those dresses and hair flowers. Amaze-balls.
Hello, hardest picture to pose for EVER. You wouldn’t think so. I was seriously cranking my neck around as hard as I could so I could see the camera, but it was sooo worth it. I needed at least ONE picture with my little “Bride” hoodie. BTW, I was totally rockin’ the Southern bump. You know you love it.
EPIC
That is the only word I have to describe the amazingness of our wedding video. I love every second of it, every frame, every moment… everything. Watching it takes me right back to our wedding day. Since y’all weren’t invited to the wedding (I’m sorry, but it just wasn’t in the budget), here’s a taste of what you missed.
Kim + Kyle // Wedding Highlights from Erika Rydell on Vimeo.
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Mrs. Dolphin, Gainesville, FL Age and Occupation: 24, Graduate Architecture Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Interactive Interface Developer Engagement Date: February 14, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2010 Venue: Plantation Bay Country Club About Me: I’m currently a Graduate Student at the University of Florida studying Architecture. I enjoy playing Scrabble with my Fiance, rooting for the Florida Gators, making any drink that involves a blender, cleaning (yes... I’m crazy), design... GOOD design that is, the new Pepsi with natural sugar, taking pictures, discovering new places in the U.S., and obsessing over doing (and designing) everything myself for our upcoming wedding!
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