Weddingbee Blog

After all the picture taking, we made our way back to the pavilion and waited for the magic signal. The event coordinator gave it to us (okay, she just told us to go) and we entered our reception to this.

(Cue that video to 55 seconds in and that’ll be exactly what we walked into.)

And it was a beautiful day indeed as we entered our reception.
Read more…

(New year, new goals… I may not make resolutions, but I AM going to finish these recaps. Scroll down to the bottom for some links if you need a refresher. )

After the ceremony, Mr. Lox and I were kind of in a daze. We went back through the mansion, out onto the porch, and then down to the little ill-fated gazebo where our ceremony wasn’t. But not before catching one sweet moment between the two of us.

Then to the gazebo for formal portraits! Do you remember why we had our we our wedding in the pavilion after planning all along to have it out by the gazebo? (Hint: It was the threat of rain.) Please to enjoy the irony while you view the next two pictures I pulled from our formal portraits.
Read more…

When we left off, Mr. Lox and I had just been presented for the first time in public, and I was making a crazy face because something awesome was about to happen and most people had no idea. The most planned moment in our wedding, even. And one of my very favorite things about our day. So here’s where it starts.

Just after the officiant presented us for the first time in public, something happened that met people didn’t even notice. A single note rang out softly from somewhere in the crowd. Like a pitch pipe, if you will.

Meanwhile, everyone else was waiting for the recessional music to start, including Mr. Lox. I was trying to act cool. Then a bunch of people stood up. Some folks took that as a cue to stand for our trip out of the ceremony space. Some people were confused. The guests who stood up with this bunch quickly sat down… when the bunch started to sing.

Read more…

We took a lot of love and care in crafting our ceremony. So rather than describe it word by word, I would rather post it here for you in its entirety. It is a work of art we’ve already made and I love it as is. Nothing I could write here could improve upon these moments. What I can tell you is that I cried the entire time. I don’t remember the faces of my guests, or their reactions. I remember Mr. Lox, the officiant, and me. I remember fishing tissues out of the pockets in my dress. And I remember thinking that this ceremony, the one we lovingly handcrafted, was easily the best thing we made for the entire day. So here it is my dears, so that you too can share in what I’m still sure is the best thing we made for this day.

Convocation

Ladies and gentlemen, we have come together this afternoon to celebrate with Mr. and Mrs. Lox who have fallen in love and chosen to marry.

In honor of this great purpose, let us pray.

Read more…

Dear Hive, it’s fitting I stopped where I did. Because right after the waiting, everything seemed to zoom into fast forward for me. As if it weren’t going fast enough already. In the next few moments, I wanted desperately to slow everything down and hit pause. Not because I didn’t want to proceed, but because I wanted to hold on to every moment of what was about to happen. Apparently I hit pause in my recaps to compensate. Sorry about that.

And so, with your permission (and my apologies) I’d like to hit play on the proceedings.

You see, eventually the waiting ended. Those few precious moments with my girls were over. The event coordinator came to pick me up and walked me to the main house where I met up with our very small processional party. There were hugs and tears. Mr. Lox’s father said something unbearably sweet. And in just another moment, we were lined up and ready to proceed. Everyone was waiting and one final song played for them before the processional.

Read more…

So our first look was over, and our couple pictures were taken. Now all we could do was wait.

I have to tell you, everything was still so surreal at this point. I felt like my brain was kind of packed in cotton. Everything was light and fuzzy around the edges, and I was just kind of flitting around, doing whatever I was told to do. At this point. someone must have told me to go back to the room, so I did.

When I got there, I found a few of my girls, still hanging out and eating snacks. When I came back in it was great to see them.

The girls helped me re-secure and straighten out my dress again. We also sprayed my errant hair back into place. What an operation! After that was all done, someone asked if I wanted to see Mr. Lox again before the ceremony. But I turned it down… I figured we had already had our first look, but we could at least build a little bit of anticipation. And so, we waited alone.

I took the opportunity to show off what a giant dork I am.

Read more…

This next set of pictures is very near and dear to my heart. Ever since the first time we visited the Vandiver, I had dreams of pictures down by the lighthouse and the water. And when the weather forecast turned on us and threatened a 70% chance of severe thunderstorms, I was sure even my boots and my umbrella weren’t going to be enough to protect my dress. And since it was 100% silk, I had considerable fear of water stains.

But the morning came and the rain did not. In fact, as the day went on, the sun got stronger. Before it was too strong, though, Mr. Lox and I piled into the photographer’s van and jetted down to the water.

Now, before we get to the pictures, let me share one thing with you. I know we all realize getting into a vehicle in an enormous dress won’t be simple. But getting into that van was more of a feat than I had really imagined it would be. There was a lot of grabbing and gathering and arms full of silk. Then I kind of had to strategically throw myself into the passenger seat. It was…interesting.

But we made it. When we got there the lighthouse was all set up for another wedding. No matter, though—they weren’t there yet, so we skirted around their setup and started taking my much coveted lighthouse pictures.

All pictures by Chad Lippiatt Photo

Read more…

One of the things that was important to me right from the start were the details of our day. Now, don’t get too excited… this is not the infamous detail post. (Although I do promise to do one!) But I do want to pause to look at the details that were actually on Mr. Lox and me. We (okay, I) spent a lot of time thinking about these and our photographer understood how important they were to me. So after my dress catastrophe was properly resolved, we paused to take pictures of the little things that made up our attire for the day.

First up was Mr. Lox… isn’t he handsome?

And, in case you couldn’t properly appreciate it from afar, a close up of Mr/ Lox’s details.
Read more…

With our first look complete, it was time to take the couples shots I had been dreaming of. There were some spots offsite that I had in my own sights, but I let the photographers choose the rest. First off we took some shots on the front porch of the main mansion.

Okay, I seriously love the front of this mansion. I mean, how perfect is this? It looks like something out of a storybook to me.
Read more…

After the dress was on, the girls and I just chilled for a few minutes. I drank some water. And some prosecco sangria. And we all kind of just enjoyed the moment. As with the rest of the morning, no one was feeling particularly rushed or nervous. We were just hanging out and looking especially pretty, you know? We were having a blast and enjoying each other.

Then the event coordinator came back into the room to get me. It was time for our first look.

That’s when things got real. All of a sudden, everything seemed so fast. The year I’d spent planning was nothing. The awful week leading up to the wedding was forgotten. The hours we had just spent getting ready were just a blink of the eye. This was really happening.

We walked along the sidewalk to the main house. Then up the stairs. Then inside. The parlor doors were closed and I knew Mr. Lox was waiting behind them. Waiting for me.
Read more…

With Mr. Lox all dressed up and ready to go, it was finally time. Time to put on the most expensive garment I’ve ever owned, that is! With my mother out of the room, all that was left were my four dearest friends, the event coordinator from our venue, two photographers, and a videographer. I mean, you know, almost no one!

But seriously, all of the sudden the entire deal felt very real.

All pictures by Chad Lippiatt Photo.

It’s kind of a weird feeling having about five pairs of hands making sure you look just right. But still exciting!
Read more…

While my makeup was getting finished up, obviously other things were happening too. Vendors were showing up on the scene and doing their thing… most notably my fantastic photographers. The snuck out of the room with my dress and me calling after them “Just don’t get it wet!” You see, there was a 70% chance of severe thunderstorms on our wedding day. So while you may think that is a random declaration, I assure you it made sense at the time.

They laughed and went off to get fantastic pictures like these.

All pictures by Chad Lippiatt Photo.

Read more…

I don’t have pictures of the days before the wedding. Which is actually not such a big deal, because we didn’t have a rehearsal or a rehearsal dinner. So we’re going to fast forward through that and land right on the morning of the wedding. It’s time to get ready!

The night before the wedding, Mr. Lox stayed in his father’s room, and in our suite I stayed with one of my oldest and dearest friends. We stayed together the night before my first wedding. We stayed together the night before her wedding three years ago. And that night we stayed together one last time. It was really sweet.

We got enough sleep and got up in time to grab breakfast before the troops arrived. When they did, I was totally ready for them. I had prosecco sangria in the fridge and one of my friends brought the perfect cups. We were on our way!

Photo by Chad Lippiatt Photo

My dress was moved into the corner to avoid the clouds of hairspray that would soon be invading the room.
Read more…

Read more…

Yes, it’s true. My recaps are really starting. But before I talk about the days leading up to the wedding, before we dive into chaos and joy… I want to set the mood for you all.

I have a face like a muppet. Yeah, I’m just putting it right out there. And it is impossible to follow me around all day with a camera and not get some muppety goodness on film. But my muppet faces tell what I am choosing to believe is a charming story about our wedding day. So here are a few glimpses to help set the mood as the Lox recaps kick off.

All pictures in this post are courtesy of Chad Lippiatt Photo

Read more…