Weddingbee

And yet, so uncomfortable. I do feel a little bit bad, having subjected my husband-to-be to a photo session, which he’s so vocal about hating…but really, consider the alternative. No pictures? Not an option!

…and finally, our photographers’ favorite. Capturing the cab in the background was great!

All pictures by 35Atlanta.
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Our mothers lighting the candles.

My brother surprised me with a HUGE bear hug as he was giving me away.

[The Ceremony]

We were nice and shady while all our guests baked. oops.

We did it!

[1] The Details: Hair + Makeup
[2] The Details: Bride’s Attire
[3] The Details: Bridal Party Attire
[4] The Details: The Venue
[5] The Details: Paper
[6] The Details: Decor
[7] The Details: Food
[8] The Details: Ring Shots!
[9] Events: First Look
[10] Events: Pre-Ceremony Photo Shoot
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And our favorite of the bunch…

FAMILY FORMALS:

I wish we had been a bit more organized with which formals we wanted. In the end, I’m happy with what we got, but I wish I had been clear about who we wanted in each photo.

What can I say, we got a bit goofy!

WEDDING PARTY FORMALS:

Pretty self-explanatory…

Here we are with our ringbearers & flowergirl:

And then some with our groomsmen & bridesmaids…

(All photos credited to Michael Graham)

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Ray and Erica, our photographers, told us to link arms, start walking, and laugh hysterically. Hey, nobody ever said that we couldn’t follow directions!

Hey now, you guys are too slow!

Our moms (who had been peeking out the window for the last twenty minutes) decided that they may as well just come downstairs and witness the photo session up close…

Mama Magnolia on the left, MIL Magnolia on the right.

And now for the big finish! Ray suggested the ever-popular jumping picture, but we decided to kick it up a notch. My bridesmaids kicked off their shoes and we all climbed up on the short stone wall in the middle of the courtyard.

Should we?

Hells yeah, we should! The girls pretty much just stepped off the wall, but not me! I jumped straight up in the air!

(What you don’t see in this picture is our landing on the slate courtyard. OUCH!!!)

All photos by 35Atlanta.
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I’m thrilled that Sarah took a lot of shots where we weren’t exactly the “main focus” of the picture, because I see myself putting these types of pictures in our home moreso than the pictures of us in center frame, smiling. It’s fun to consider what kind of pictures you have decorating your home when thinking about Engagement picture locales…these architectural shots will fit in just nicely with our loft decor, should we ever decide to display a few in our house!

So, now that you’ve got 8.2 billion new cute pictures of you and your Fiance, what are you going to do with them? Any creative ideas?
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But as it turned out (and perhaps not surprisingly), our ceremony was the most memorable and meaningful part of our day.

My father served as officiant. I ran out of time at the end of our planning process and never got to make programs, so not everyone knew our officiant’s secret identity. But a few guests mentioned that they suspected as much, from the proud way Dad looked at me….

I have a health condition that makes it difficult to stand for more than a few minutes (POTS — postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), so I was worried about making it through the ceremony. Just in case, our attendants pulled up a couple of chairs and we sat through Dad’s short speech.

In his speech, he told the story of an Ojibwa wedding tradition. According to Dad (and paraphrased badly by me), at the start of the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom paddled their canoes from opposite sides of a lake to meet in the middle. The separate shores represented the separate lives they led before, and the two families from which they came.

After the wedding ceremony, the newly married couple paddled off together side by side. Significantly, the bride did not leave her canoe to join his canoe, nor he to join hers. Because when you marry, you do not give up your individual identity, nor the family and personal heritage that came before. Rather, you join up together as partners and companions, traveling life’s journey side by side….

After the ceremony and ring exchange, it was time for the first kiss. This photo always gives me the giggles because of the way I’m grabbing Mr. T’s head. “C’mon, handsome, and give me a SMOOCH!”

And finally, my favorite moment of the day. After the smooch, my father presented us as the newly married couple. The crowd stood and applauded. And the applause was THUNDEROUS! There was hooting and whistling. It seemed to go on and on. The joy in the room was overwhelming.

This photo cracks me up too, because the expression on my face shows so exactly how I felt at the moment: “OMG, we really pulled this wedding thing off!!!”

Greatest feeling in the world, my friends.

(photos by Punam Bean)
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Mr. Magnolia and his Best Man, BIL Magnolia:

(In these pictures, BIL Magnolia looks IDENTICAL to his father on his wedding day…right down to the haircut. It’s kind of scary.)

My handsome guy:

Hey, hey, the gang’s all here… since the boys got ready at the Four Seasons in Midtown Atlanta, they literally just stepped outside the front doors of the hotel to take pictures.

One of my favorites…even though Mr. Mags hates having his picture taken, clearly he had a little bit of fun that day!

Normally, I’m not a big fan of the fisheye lens, but to capture the Midtown highrises (Symphony Tower on the left, Four Seasons on the right), it totally worked!

This one was taken a little later, at the church…I like to call it “STRONG LIKE BULL!”

All pictures by 35Atlanta.
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The cards send our guests to our wedding website, which contains all the info needed to log onto Flickr and upload pictures. (click to view full screen)

Then, to make sure the guests took the cards home, I slipped them into our coaster favors.

..and now we sit back and wait for the photos to roll in!
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Mr. Peppermint and I both asked a special friend to pass out programs and petal cones to guests as they arrived:

I won’t bore you with our processional (set to Canadian Brass’s instrumental version of “All You Need Is Love”). The music changed to “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” to cue my entrance…

Mr. Peppermint waits…

It’s really happening….

For much of the ceremony, Mr. Peppermint and I held hands (at the minister’s suggestion). It was so nice to feel his comforting touch:

You may now kiss the bride…

(All photos credited to Michael Graham)

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When we visited a week before the wedding, the gallery was highlighting huge black-and-white paintings that were graphically striking but not at all in harmony with our wedding style. Luckily, the day before our wedding, they switched to charming, slightly-vintage-y botanical paintings.

I was in love with our aisle runner, an “art-silk” sari I purchased through eBay for $25 (after shipping from India). The ends were unfinished, but I just folded them under and stuck them down with double-sided carpet tape. The sari fabric was attached to the floor at each end with the same tape.

(Now, to figure out what to do with all that beautiful fabric! Tablecloth? Throw pillows? Any suggestions?)

I’m a wedding cryer, so I have a fascination with the whole Tears of Joy concept. But Kleenex = eh. And these handkerchiefs have a vintage feel that went beautifully with our wedding style. I wasn’t sure how to word the accompanying sign, but Mr. T provided a winner: “In the event of tears….”

Next to the hankies: a photo celebrating the memory of my father’s parents (at their own “vintage” wedding).

(All photos by Punam Bean.)
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