Our Wedding // Part 3

Welcome to part 3 of our wedding story! Part 2 ended with: "When the guys arrived to the house, I was promptly whisked away so Tim wouldn't see me before our "first look," a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life."

Our first look was so, so special - something that I thought you could only see in movies, truly. We debated whether or not to do it, but we ultimately decided to move forward with it because we wanted to look back on this special moment between the two of us for the rest of our lives.

Our photographer asked Tim to wait outside for me and then had him cover his eyes while I walked around the corner of the house. I'm not sure how Tim felt, but it had to be similar to the butterflies I was experiencing. It's such a surreal moment in time - after a year and a half of planning, we're finally here on the morning of our wedding and we're about to see each other all dolled up. It's one of those moments that takes your breath away. I'd say the photos do a wonderful job capturing the feeling:

I love that we get to relive this moment every time we open our wedding album. <3 Pretty quickly after our first look we jumped in our cars and drove a few minutes down the road to the cathedral. We were going to stop by a park for some pictures, but with the unexpected rain, we didn't want to risk all the mud and we were running somewhat low on time. So to the church we went!

When we arrived, we didn't know how to get in. It seemed that all entrances were locked, so we made the most of it and decided to come to the front of the cathedral in front of these big, beautiful pillars and intricate doors and start taking bridal party portraits!

Here are some of my favorites from before the ceremony:

We were able to take so many great photos with the bridal party at the cathedral, so it's hard to narrow them down to just those few above. One of my favorite little "surprises" was the guys' PDX carpet socks. If you're from Portland or have visited Portland, you likely know the reference - the PDX airport had this uniquely patterned carpet for a very long time and you can now find prints of it on almost anything your heart desires - socks, chairs, mugs, magnets, door mats, etc. We thought it was a playful touch ;)

Some of my favorite photos of Tim and I before the ceremony were taken in the courtyard of the church. I mean, just look at how magical these are <3

Next up in part 4: details and photos from the most perfect ceremony where we officially became man and wife. <3

Photography: Gregory Bartning | Hair & Makeup: Chrystal Koivisto | Flowers: Mary Beth Bartel | Dress: Pronovias

DIY // Wedding Album

It's no secret that I love a good DIY photo book. I'm not a photographer, but I live for taking pictures. I love capturing all of the precious moments life has to offer and am usually the one asking Tim for "just one more" or "a couple more angles." ;)

So when it came time to deciding on our wedding photography package, we opted for the full 8 hours of photography, plus two more hours after our reception to get some golden hour photos of just the two of us. Even though we were so exhausted at the end of the day, it was totally worth it. When else are you going to be dressed in your wedding attire with perfect makeup and hair?

The best advice I received about wedding albums was from my sister and brother. They both used Costco's Photo Center to create and print theirs. I've always been a huge fan of Shutterfly, but wasn't sure I wanted to print my wedding album through them since I had never seen any examples in person. On the flip side, I saw both my sister's and brother's albums and they were gorgeous. I ultimately decided to go with Costco and I do not regret it! Not only did they do a fantastic job, but they did it all for $34! $34, people! What a steal.

PS: We absolutely loved our photographer, Gregory Bartning, and highly recommend him! He photographed both mine and my brother's wedding.

Our Wedding // Part 2

In honor of our one-year wedding anniversary this year, I thought it would be the perfect time to finally get our whole wedding story written down and shared with all of you!

In Part 1 of our wedding story, I tell you about the week before our wedding, all the fun we had, and all the celebrations that occurred before we said "I do." Part 2 is all about the morning of - getting ready! 

First of all, how adorable is this rental house we were blessed to be able to get ready in before the ceremony? It was such a steal that my family was able to rent it; it just so happens someone had canceled their reservation only a day or two before we saw it available online and, luckily, they snapped it up right away. 

Part 1 ended with "I went to bed that night with butterflies because I knew in less than 12 hours, I would be married to the man of my dreams. The next morning I woke up and the fairytale, most-perfect wedding day I could have ever asked for began." Now, let's get to the details ;)

Planning the wedding, Tim and I decided to go with a brunch-timed wedding. It was not only so unique, but also quite a bit cheaper than serving a full dinner. That being said, we knew we'd have to sacrifice a bit on the time we would need to wake up to be ready for 9 a.m. bridal party pictures and an 11 a.m. ceremony start time. I thought, "oh, I'll probably have to wake up around 6 a.m." Nope. I had no idea hair and makeup could take so long, haha.

It was just my mom and I who wanted to get our hair and makeup done so my hair dresser, Chrystal (so recommended, by the way!), decided she would do my mom's first and then mine. My mom woke up at 4 a.m. (yep, you read that right) to start getting her hair and makeup done. By that point of the morning I couldn't continue to sleep (way too excited!), so I got up, went downstairs, had a bagel and some tea and chatted with Chrystal, Chantelle (her assistant and sister), and my mom. While the butterflies in my stomach were definitely still there, I was as calm as ever and sitting down there in the peace and quiet of the early morning was actually the most perfect way to start our wedding day.

I honestly can't tell you what else was going on while I was having my hair and makeup done. I was just so in the moment chatting with everyone in the room, while at the same time thinking "this is so surreal! Is the day we've been waiting for for what seems like forever really finally here?" 

I was sitting in front of this beautiful, big bay window looking out on the drizzly morning sky with a sense that all was right in the world - that in just a couple of hours I would be walking down the aisle to marry the love of my life.

There were a few very special items I had with me on my wedding day. One was a gold heart, attached to my garter, that belonged to my late grandmother (my mom's mom). I also had my late grandmother's rosary on my bouquet. The last item was a blue ring that my mom gave to my sister for her "something blue" on her wedding day and my sister gave to me for my "something blue" on my wedding day. So happy I could incorporate all three into our special day.

I truly felt like a princess. Everyone kept asking me if they could do anything for me and telling me how gorgeous I looked (I thought, "I could get used to this!") ;) But in all seriousness, the love and support we felt that entire week, not to mention the day of, was overwhelming and humbling. We are so, so lucky to have all of the people in our lives that we do. Special thanks to my mom, Tim's mom, and my amazing bridesmaids for helping make the morning quite spectacular.

When the guys arrived to the house, I was promptly whisked away so Tim wouldn't see me before our "first look," a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life. More on that in part 3.

(Photography credit: Gregory Bartning of BelleImages)