Our Wedding Part Three: The Photos and Attire

Hi, everyone! This last post about our wedding is focused on our photos and what I wore! I hope you like them and if you're interested, check out the places I got my clothes and accessories! Enjoy!

(My husband is so attractive, not gonna lie.)
Okay, so I made Sean's boutonniere out of my leftover bouquet pieces and twine. It was super easy and as long as you have a flower and maybe some accent pieces (like the leaf I put in the back) and some twine or other material and a hot glue gun, you'll be golden. Just be creative!

My dress came from an Etsy store called L'Amei. She's from Canada and she handmakes all of her dresses. My was absolutely perfect and I received so many compliments from people.
Check her store out here for similar vintage/unique wedding dresses!

My necklace and pin were given to me by my grandmother. They came from my great-great-grandmother's jewelry box and I got to hand pick them.

My flowers were fake and I am glad because it allowed me to choose the colors and flowers I wanted despite whether or not they were in season. I bought mine from Hobby Lobby and used burlap and lace ribbon to tie them together.

Lastly, my shoes were from Modcloth and you can find them here.
They were really comfy and I honestly had no problems at all with them. They come with two different kinds of laces so you can choose and they can easily be worn with other outfits later on.

Our Wedding Part Two: The Ceremony

Hi, guys! Here are some more photos about our wedding! This installment focuses on our ceremony.

Sean and I said goodbye to each other on Thursday morning as we each went to stay with our own families for the days leading up to the wedding. We would talk here and there but we didn't see each other again until I was literally walking down the aisle.

As I mentioned, the wedding was very DIY so my family and I spent our days getting things done. By Saturday, we still had a lot to do and because the ceremony didn't actually start until 4 in the afternoon, all day it felt like the wedding wasn't even going to happen! I kept saying to everyone that it felt like "the wedding is tomorrow." But it wasn't so by the time 2 o'clock rolled around and I started getting ready, it just seemed like I couldn't get my mind to understand what was happening.

I was very nervous. Not at all about the whole marrying Sean part. I was really nervous about how everything was going to go, so I was drinking a lot of water and trying to remember to breathe and not throw up. It didn't help that it literally felt like one moment they were saying I had two hours and the next moment I had ten minutes.The whole thing went by very quickly. 

I kept asking, "Is Sean out there?" so that I could safely talk to people. But that door was opened and closed so often from people coming in and out that it probably would've made more sense to just keep it open the whole time!

This is my beautiful younger/prettier sister/maid-of-honor. I was pretty composed until they told me I had five minutes and then this girl came and started crying and then of course I started crying. 

It was a hot mess. 

This my younger/28-year-old-looking brother (he's actually 17...I know, right?). He walked me down the aisle and I am so happy and grateful that he did. I'm pretty lucky to have had both my siblings be with me during my ceremony!

Here is Sean's first look! As you can see, he was very nervous, but very happy. I remember the moment he saw me I kind of suddenly came to this realization that, "Oh my god...this is actually happening right now...How did this happen?! When did I get here?!" It wasn't scary, it was just startling and happy, if that makes sense? 

I imagine that that is how it felt to be Lucy on 50 First Dates when she wakes up at the end and finds out that she's on a boat in Alaska with her husband and daughter and her whole family is there. The whole experience was just surreal.

Oh, that guy with the book...that's my dad! And he married us! Once again, I am so thankful to have had my family be part of the ceremony!

This is what happened as soon as I got up there. We hadn't seen each other since Thursday morning and not only that but I think we both kind of had the same thought that we couldn't believe what was happening. I don't think much could have prepared me to go through how startling and emotional the whole ceremony was. 

We wrote our own vows and even though I had read them before he wrote them, I still enjoyed hearing them again. Sean is such a beautiful writer. His were very poetic whereas mine were very straight-forward and specific.

"You may kiss your bride!" 

Check back tomorrow for some more details on our wedding! 

Our Wedding Part One: Decorations and Food

Hi! As you have maybe guessed, I haven't written in a while because I've been so busy with the wedding. There were many times when I thought to write something after my last post on marriage but I didn't because I hadn't time or I couldn't think of anything. So here I am!
I wanted to share our wedding with everyone! I couldn't tell you much past what happened and how I felt because we are in a very transitional time right now. I do plan to write a little more in the future about how it feels to be married now but at the moment, I couldn't really tell you! Everything is so new and I'd like to take some time to gain perspective before I express thoughts.

Anywho, the wedding was really perfect. I mean, I don't think we could have asked for anything better. Sean and I spent the days leading up the wedding with our own families. We said goodbye on Thursday morning and although we texted and talked on the phone a couple times, we never saw each other again until I was walking down the aisle!
The wedding was very DIY. The theme was rustic/fall/vintage and pretty much everything was either handmade or borrowed. My grandma made all the food herself and everyone in my family took turns to put things together. My brother, sister, and I put up all the decorations, the lights, tables and chairs, centerpieces, everything. I was so happy to do it because it made it feel extra special and it was fun to see the space change as the weekend progressed.

Anyway, see for yourself! Here some photos of our big day!

The wedding took place at my grandparents' home on Truman Lake. They have a big yard on the side of the house that we took advantage of. The house sits on a hill that overlooks the lake in the back. It's very pretty and was a great view to have through the trees.

Everyone sat at tables instead of rows of chairs, which I am really happy we decided to do as it worked out perfectly. We created an aisle with vine branches my grandpa found and pumpkins.

A lot of the altar decorations were borrowed, although my grandpas made the altar itself out of trees from the forest behind the house. The lace drapes actually were curtains that my mom found on sale at Target, which ended up being much cheaper than buying fabric from JoAnns. It turns out that they were much easier to put as well since they were already sewn and ready to go.

Here are the centerpieces. Looking at them now, I think we could have done something else but I really don't think it matters. The tables looked great and most of the night was spent in the dark so would've been silly to make them more elaborate anyway.
My grandpa cut the wood slabs to make centerpieces and coasters for the table. We even bought a wood-burner and carved our initials and the date into some of them!

I made our guest book myself. I wanted something that could double as a photo album and a guest book so I had our engagement photos printed and put them in for people to look at and sign around.

My grandma made all of this food by herself. We had pork stew as our main dish and because Sean is a vegetarian, she made him Black Bean and Squash Stew. Needless to say, that stew went real quick. I was happy that Sean was able to get at least one bowl since it went so fast!

Our friend's plate. He was very excited about the caramel apple bar, as you can see.

(!!!) If you're in need of a large amount of mason jar glasses for your wedding, definitely check here. It was about $65 for 75 glasses and they worked perfectly. What we did so people didn't lose their glass is we just took pieces of kraft paper and tied them with twine to the glass. We left out a marker for people to write their names and voila!

Lastly, I was so happy with how the lights turned out. The atmosphere they created, along with candles and the music, just made the night feel like a dream. There were so many moments throughout the night that I just found myself so happy with where I was and what I was seeing and hearing and who I was with and talking to.

The night was so beautiful and I am so grateful for everyone who helped make it possible. I remember thinking in the days and moments leading up to the wedding, "I can't imagine how this is going to turn out to be the best day of my life." I stressed about it and hoped it would be everything I envisioned and hoped. But it turned out to be that and so much more. The entire experience was beautiful, fun, relaxing, and all-around wonderful. I can honestly say it was the best day of my life.

I have a lot of pictures so I wanted to break these wedding posts up into parts.
Check back tomorrow for more!