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Friday morning started out much like any other: I woke up to the familiar chime of my cell phone alarm at 7:15 am, which I promptly silenced by blindly smashing buttons until the offensive noise ceased. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked, adjusting to the sun that was streaming through the sheer bedroom curtains and listened to the sound of Mr. Tartlet gently snoring beside me. Not surprisingly, I had trouble falling asleep the night before after the whirlwind of activity at the rehearsal and welcoming dinner. Surprisingly, I felt oddly refreshed after only 4 hours of sleep. I proceeded with my typical morning routine, threw on a pair of grey velour pants and a white tank top with the word “bride” emblazoned across the chest in peach vintage typeface, zipped up my favorite purple jacket, and tip-toed downstairs to meander the halls that would soon be bustling with activity. For now, though, all was quiet.
I stared vacantly out the window of Mr. Tartlet’s car, watching the power lines hypnotically swoop by as I listened to the purr of the engine. The 21-minute drive over to his home was spent mostly in silence as we unwound after our emotionally charged rehearsal. Inside, a billion thoughts flew through our heads.
Me: “Holy crap, I hope everyone finds their way to the dinner OK. Should I call to check? Will traffic be that bad tomorrow? That person looked so. bored! at the rehearsal. What if everyone looks that disinterested? Will anyone make it (because of aforementioned traffic)? I should have worn different shoes. Global warming is a problem.”
Mr. Tartlet: “Mmm…food.”
…So perhaps I was the only one with a jumble of worries zinging around my cranium! Before long, though, there was no time for such thoughts: as one of the last to arrive, we found that the welcoming dinner was already buzzing with activity. Our stomachs made a beeline for the food (catered from Penna’s in Sterling Heights), served buffet-style in keeping with the casual and relaxed atmosphere:
If there’s one thing that’s utterly out of every bride-to-be’s control, it’s Mother Nature. That meant as soon as “Fri May 6″ made it onto the 10 day extended forecast display, I was habitually staring at my computer screen, trying to unleash my dormant Jedi powers to will those numbers up. It had not only been a rather squishy spring in Michigan—it had been downright cold. Tiny, lime green buds were warily emerging from winter-beaten branches while underneath people still hunkered down in their heavy coats. The temperatures were yo-yo’ing anywhere from a pleasant 72 down to a brisk 50, with an occasional frost advisory thrown in for good measure. In retrospect, perhaps I should have placed an order for my light saber, because this is what greeted us on Thursday as we caravanned to the Royal Park Hotel:
Oh, sweet Hive—how I’ve missed you! It’s hard to believe we’re creeping up on the two month mark since we tied the knot, and I’m elated to begin re-living that joyous day with you. Now, some of the newer members (hello!) might be giving me the eyebrow and saying “who is that Mrs. Tartlet, anyway?” Well, I’m the one who after five years of dating my honey had the surprise engagement on a cruise ship, and in the two years following went down the path that so many of you are traversing now: we hunted for the perfect venue for our romantic, garden-inspired wedding, I found “the” dress (and shoes, and veil), we tag-teamed a bunch of DIY projects (we cray-zay), pondered the flower situation, searched for bridesmaid dresses, tasted plenty of good food and so much more in order to celebrate our blessings with 60 of our closest family and friends. And, it. was. awesome!
Still with me? ’Cause you know I wouldn’t throw that block of text at you without a peek of what’s to come! The killer Epic Motion team created a wedding trailer for us that I admit I’ve watched daily for the past two weeks.
Holly + Peter Trailer from Epic Motion on Vimeo.
And, the brilliant Aruna B. Photography team captured the essence of our day filled to the brim with love…
Read more…
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
“Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear.”
-John Lennon
Hello my lovelies! I’m thrilled to be back here with all of you as a married woman! I can honestly say that our wedding was everything we wanted it to be and so, so much more. I’m still riding the high from the outpouring of love and support that we experienced, and every time I close my eyes and think about the day I can’t help but smile. There was laughter and happy tears in abundance, an adorable red wagon (that I even got to sit in for a bit), an impromptu horah, a gentleman in a kilt, and the wave even made an appearance to spice up our meal time. We left feeling like everyone had been brought closer together, which was our dream come true. Needless to say, I have so many stories to share with you! So as not to leave you totally hanging while we take Europe by storm and await our pro pics, here’s a couple more teasers courtesy of our adored photographer:
“I’m trying to keep my feet on the ground.
I’m getting to like this feeling I’ve found.
I’m getting to love
The thought of having you around.
And I will never let you down.”
- Never Let You Down by the Verve Pipe
This week has been a whirlwind of blissful emotions, as well as a time of reflection upon the events and people who have shaped our lives. It was when I took the time to browse through some childhood photos of Mr. Tartlet and myself that the weight of this moment really hit me, and I sat with silent tears streaming down my face, thanking whatever higher power is out there that we managed to find our way to each other. It’s a sobering thought to consider that Mr. Tartlet and I could have easily passed each other by had either of us made one decision differently, which only makes me more thankful for all the experiences we’ve had. There were a handful of photos that I was particularly drawn to that showcased our similarities and differences, even at a very young age.
Mr. Tartlet apparently had an attachment to this stuffed bear. Not to be outdone, I was particularly fond of two: Read more…
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
One of the first deadlines I set for myself when we started planning our wedding was to have everything done by the Tuesday before. And, if it wasn’t done by then—then by golly, it just wasn’t going to happen. Period. It’s been a steady pace to the finish line, but thanks to the help of our amazing friends we made it! All of the little details that we wanted to incorporate to make our guests feel even more special are complete, such as the out-of-town bags:
I purchased some medium kraft bags from our local Michaels and jazzed them up with the same stamp and ink pad that we used for our wedding programs. We stuffed these babies with the following goodies: Read more…
Continuing on the train of thankfulness and having far too much time on my hands during our long engagement, I’ve also been continually on the prowl for bits and bobbles I could include in my bridesmaids’ gift bags. Although I gifted them the jewelry they’ll be wearing for the wedding day (thanks to a killer deal on Ideeli), I really wanted to go above-and-beyond for the ladies who have been there every step of the way, and who are currently keeping me sane.
Images via Ideeli (no longer available) / Jewelry by M. Grazia Musi
I adore buying presents for people, but generally have an incredibly hard time buying gifts for Mr. Tartlet. He’ll probably say the same thing about me, which is why the majority of our “gift” giving typically revolves around grabbing a bite to eat. I’ve had two full years to concoct the ultimate gift package for him, though, and I’m wickedly anticipating his reaction when he sees what’s in store for him. I’ll give you one, evil sneak peek Mr. Tartlet:
We’ve seen the outside–now it’s time explore the contents of our wedding programs! I mollified some of my guilt over Mr. Tartlet doing the brunt of the work by designing the panels and printing them onto text weight speckletone kraft paper. They were cut to the final dimensions of 3-9/16″ x 4-13/16″, which left a small border all around. Aaaaaaand, there’s where my hand in this stops, because Mr. Tartlet promptly took over to stick them onto the accordion panel backing using 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive.
The first panel is a relationship timeline. I gobbled up inspiration from a number of ladies here at Weddingbee, as well as this timeline from 100 Layer Cake.
Read more…
Remember these babies from way back when? Hive, I can’t even begin to express how elated I am that Mr. Tartlet finished these over the weekend. Our wedding programs evolved from being a couple pieces of cardboard covered in fabric to something incredibly precious that I’m so in love with—and Mr. Tartlet is pretty proud of, too.
I have a fondness for tchotchkes that dates back to my elementary school years: my enthusiasm for carnival and cake walk prizes was unsurpassed (I was also quite a competitive little bugger). It’s no surprise then that I look forward to seeing what the bride and groom’s wedding favors are! Double happiness candles? Score. A pair of porcelain love birds? Awesome. A bookmark with the bride and groom’s photo on it? Still use it to this day. However, when it came to our own wedding, I was conscious that a good percentage of our guests are of the “WTF do I do with this?” persuasion. I started researching alternatives to traditional wedding favors and quickly gravitated towards a slew of edible alternatives. S’mores, anyone?
Image via Twig & Thistle
These “cowgirl cookie” kits make for some mouthwatering gifts. I received a variation of one for Christmas a couple years ago, and it was de-lish:
In addition to the three bombshells that glam up my side of the wedding party, Mr. Tartlet will have four handsome gents standing beside him as we say our I dos. All of our guys are incredibly laid-back, which led us to be inspired by this less formal, retro-chic look that seemed to compliment their personalities better than matching tuxes or suits would:
Image via Green Wedding Shoes / Photo by Jeff Wallace
It was a trying learning experience tackling the world of menswear because Mr. Tartlet can be very particular about his threads. After months of fruitless shopping, we went the made-to-measure route and purchased his slim-fit, three-piece, charcoal gray suit from a company called Indochino (the same one that the Cinnamon Buns used):
Guest list? Check. Table arrangements? Check. Seating assignments? Oh, how we wanted to leave people to work things out for themselves! Without getting into the murky details, let’s just say there are enough delicate relationships amongst one of our families that motivated us not only to have assigned tables, but assigned seating as well. We’re hoping the extra effort will prevent explosive combinations from coming together while simultaneously taking some pressure off our guests: couples are guaranteed to be seated next to one another, friends will be clustered together, buffers will be placed in between conflicting personalities, and hopefully no one will be the wiser. In between the ceremony and the cocktail hour, an easel with our framed seating chart will be placed in the room for our guests to peruse at their leisure over strawberry lemonade and hors d’oeuvres:
Our seating chart: still a work in progress!
Each of the rectangular tables we’re putting end-on-end to create the long, banquet-style tables will have a number assigned to it:
Now that we have a firm hold of our guest numbers, our next step is to tackle the seating arrangements. We’ve had a somewhat unique wedding setup from the get-go because our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all take place in the same room. Long story short, a misunderstanding occurred where I was under the impression that our room could be “flipped” during the cocktail hour. I was gravely mistaken and learned fairly late in the game that our venue has a regulation where decor items must be in place and ready to go prior to the start of the ceremony. This means tables, chairs, centerpieces–the whole nine yards. That enlightening phone call left my palms clammy and the games began to work within the boundaries of our venue.
There’s something timeless and elegant about classic rounds. Case and point:
Photo by chocostudio (10 points if you recognize whose venue this is!)
And, here’s an example of how they would look in our venue *drool*:
Read more…
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