Weddingbee Blog

When I think back to our wedding (more than 8 months ago, if you can believe it), I don’t think about the food or the decorations or even about our picked-with-love vendors.

My mind immediately goes back to the ceremony, which was our favorite part of the whole day. When it came to setting the stage for our hand-written ceremony, we decided to keep it as simple as possible by focusing on the ancient trees and our beautiful guests and—of course—the Jams.

Now don’t get me wrong: I felt swayed every time I saw a pinwheel arbor or a wall of succulents, or even wooden letters strung up to make the world’s cutest saying, but less can really be more. (For the record, I would like to DIY all of those aforementioned things to decorate my house with, thankyouverymuch.)

Our total wedding ceremony decor cost $22, which was well within our budget because we only had to purchase two bunches of grocery store flowers and a dozen Dollar Tree shepherd’s hooks.
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Originally published on May 27, 2011

Mrs. Bacon nominates Mrs. Jam’s post on writing vows. Mrs. Bacon says, “I totally used it FIVE days before the wedding to write my own vows! Mrs. Jam: You are a LIFESAVER. For Realz.”

~~~

I am a writer. Mr. Jam is not. So when it came down to creating our ceremony, I lovingly forced the idea of writing our own vows because words are my bread and butter. Plus, I sincerely miss our long-distance IM sessions where we would do the whole, “OMG, I love you!” and “OMG, love you more!” thing for hours and hours until we virtually self-combusted. And let’s get real: Who doesn’t want to get goose bumps listening to two people spilling their guts using words they actually wrote?

Jacqueline+Brandon Wedding Trailer from NoBox Films & NoBox Productions on Vimeo.

The vows in my friend Jacki’s recent wedding video = part of the reason Mr. Jam finally agreed to write ours. WE JUST LOVE THEM.

But remember, Mr. Jam’s bread and butter is numbers, not words (unless they’re technical, though he was quite the essay-writer in college) so he suggested we write them together. I likened this to going Christmas shopping for each other together, meaning we’ll get exactly what we want but without the delicious surprise of, “OMG, darlin’, you know me SO WELL!”

So I created an easy-to-follow vow format, enabling our vows to be written in secret but still feel cohesive like they were written together:
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I may be a bit of a drama queen, but I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that our first look was one of the most intense moments of my entire life. Have you ever felt like your face was going to explode and you simultaneously couldn’t catch your breath or feel your extremities? That just about sums it up.

I cried and sniffled and smeared my freshly done makeup all over myself (and Mr. Jam’s white shirt) for longer than I care to admit. Nothing could have prepared me for the cry-fest that was about to go down. I’m omitting the hundreds of scary cry-face photos for now; you’re welcome.

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You know that feeling of getting ready for something really fun and important with your best friends? And everyone is running around borrowing makeup, getting help with their hair, laughing hysterically about who-knows-what, and dancing around to the best high school sing-alongs?

That was totally my wedding afternoon.

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Considering we’ve had our wedding pictures for months now, you may think I’m a lazy blogger for not posting recaps sooner. You know, being five whole months post-nuptials and all.

But the truth is, I’ve been waiting for a certain something to arrive in my inbox to start the recaps with a BANG! And that certain something would be our super fun, ultra-dancey wedding trailer:

Hollie & Dustin’s Wedding Day from Mark Davis on Vimeo.

HOLY CATS. Since I blacked out at the wedding rehearsal…

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Our $10,000 budget was a huge consideration when wedding planning, especially as our guest list ballooned from an anticipated 150 people to more than 220 invited guests (in the end, about 170 attended). To be honest, our strict budget was in the driver’s seat for every single wedding-related decision; it was more tiring than you can even imagine.

Of course there were things we wished we could have spent more money on, but we’re pretty happy with our spending decisions overall. The best compliment we received (other than the raging drunks coming up to us that night telling us it was the best wedding in history) was hearing that people thought our rumored “budget” was $20,000 or more. High five to the Jams!

So, as promised, here’s our (almost) $10K budget breakdown:

Rental Fees:

• Venue Rental: $500
• Ceremony chairs: $90
• Coffee pot rental: $15

Total $605
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Hive, I have oodles and mountains of exciting news for you. First and foremost…

I got MARRIED. (Insert screams and maniacal laughter that can be heard ’round the world.)

Our June 11 wedding was beautiful and stressful and chilly (albeit rain-free) and already feels like it was a thousand years ago. Believe everyone when they tell you the day will fly by, but don’t believe them when they tell you how sad you’ll be when it’s over. Between you and me, here’s a little secret: I am SO FREAKING GLAD it’s over. So is my new husband, our families, friends, pets, everyone we’ve ever met, etc.
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I am a writer. Mr. Jam is not. So when it came down to creating our ceremony, I lovingly forced the idea of writing our own vows because words are my bread and butter. Plus, I sincerely miss our long-distance IM sessions where we would do the whole, “OMG, I love you!” and “OMG, love you more!” thing for hours and hours until we virtually self-combusted. And let’s get real: Who doesn’t want to get goose bumps listening to two people spilling their guts using words they actually wrote?

Jacqueline+Brandon Wedding Trailer from NoBox Films & NoBox Productions on Vimeo.

.

The vows in my friend Jacki’s recent wedding video = part of the reason Mr. Jam finally agreed to write ours. WE JUST LOVE THEM.

But remember, Mr. Jam’s bread and butter is numbers, not words (unless they’re technical, though he was quite the essay-writer in college) so he suggested we write them together. I likened this to going Christmas shopping for each other together, meaning we’ll get exactly what we want but without the delicious surprise of, “OMG, darlin’, you know me SO WELL!”

So I created an easy-to-follow vow format, enabling our vows to be written in secret but still feel cohesive like they were written together:
Read more…

Why a combined bachelor/bachelorette party is basically the best thing ever—and we know because we just had one:

Mr. Jam, bridesmaid Tana & me at the combined theme bachelor/bachelorette party. More pictures (and lots of gabbing about the freakishly amazing decorations) soon…AKA when everyone else uploads pictures. Who do you think forgot to bring her camera? Oy.

1. No embarrassing gifts or games. No lingerie that will reside in the back of my underwear drawer for all eternity; Nothing hanging around my neck that was A) phallic, or B) flashing, which would probably only make me feel drunk; No awkward bar games where I have to dance with a random man wearing a hat, or take whipped-cream-topped shots using only my mouth.
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…at least all of the time, anyway.

Don’t get me wrong: I am going to love the celebration, no matter what. And I have oodles of sugary love for Mr. Jam, which is the whole reason for this affair. But preparing for the big day? The love has sort of…fizzled (to say the very least).

We had an 18-month engagement, which was fantastic and laid-back and enabled us to do things at our own leisurely pace. But in those 18 months, everything changed. Our visions changed. Our taste in music and food and attire and guests changed. We lost loved ones, struggled with our $10k budget, and planned a century’s worth of DIY projects to tie the whole fiesta together.

And here we are, three sure-to-fly-by weeks away from the wedding with a ton of projects calling our names, begging to be done for the sake of our latest vision. And because Mr. Jam has officially been living out of state for four months (and counting), whose plate does that fall on?

Mine. Mine, mine, mine.
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It’s official: We finally have invited guests!

And most exciting of all: We get mail EVERY SINGLE DAY full of RSVPs! I scream and ignore all other mail (full of junk or bills, so who can really blame me?), scare the pets and run around the house maniacally with hands full of guest confirmations.

Thanks to the man of many titles (AKA the man of honor/best friend/graphic designer/adult ring bearer/party planner extraordinaire), we were able to make and send 100 invitations for about $175, which includes all postage, the perfect paper, sturdy envelopes in the most delightful shade of chartreuse, and—since everything was pretty much DIY—refill inkjet printer cartridges. These suckers use up a lot of ink, you know?

Enough of my blathering about the invitations of our dreams…take a peek for yourself (and be warned, all of these images were scanned from a contraption older than dinosaurs; they look so much stinkin’ better in real life):

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I think I’ve teased about my grandma’s killer jewelry collection and the necklace she’s loaning me for our wedding day, right?

So, here it is. I like to call it “The Wedding Necklace to End All Other Wedding Necklaces”:

It’s a fierce Native American squash blossom necklace!

My grandma picked it up in the ’60s on one of her many travels, and I’m honored she’s letting me borrow it for the wedding. Maybe now you can see why I was faced with the conundrum of finding the perfect dress based on this necklace, because HOW CAN I NOT WEAR THIS?!
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Mr. Jam and I consider ourselves very, very lucky in the wedding party department. Here we have 10 mind-bogglingly unique personalities that really make us better people and add a dose of fierceness to our lives. And you know what? We think it’s our duty to honor that…in our own way, of course.

Image via Burgon & Ball

*OK, our darling Weddingbee-obsessed bridesmaids: If you want to be surprised about your picked-with-love accessories for the big day, move on to celeb gossip blogs. If not…don’t say I didn’t warn you.*

You know how Mr. Jam and I love hitting up all sorts of sales and kitschy shops, right? And we go as often as humanly possibly? Well, we’ve been on a secret mission for the last few months: mismatched-yet-cohesive bridesmaid accessories.
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That’s right, hive, the honeymoon is officially planned and it couldn’t be more perfect if the heavens above planned it for us (unless the heavens above also paid for it, which would be pretty tough to beat). Remember our planning confusion and too many possible ideas in our heads? It’s all out the window in favor of…

…our ALL-AMERICAN ROAD TRIP! (Matching fanny packs and binoculars hanging around our necks are not optional; they’re necessary.)

The first stop on the Tuesday morning following the wedding will be Vegas:

Photo via Viewliner Ltd

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I was always the bride-to-be who didn’t want a shower for a million different reasons. Hate the games, hate the fuss, hate feeling awkward as I sit inside a circle of people and open gifts (not that it happens all that often, but still).

Keyword: WAS. I WAS that bride-to-be.

And ever since I received this ray of sunshine in my mail last week, I’ve been positively batty with excitement…

The front

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