Details of our wedding

Way back when I promised to post more photos of our wedding, which I haven't done yet. Partly because I can still hardly think about our wedding day - I still get too freaked out because it was such a traumatizingly stressful occasion - but also because it takes a long time to post photos and I'm not very good at formatting on this blog yet.

Anyway, this week we got a call from the Knot wedding magazine and they wanted to post a photo of our wedding in their "Best of" edition. (Brian's response? "Sweet. Now I can cross off 'being featured in a bridal magazine' off my list.) This got me all excited so I have been perusing my photos again, and decided to post some goodies.

Here is the one they are using:




I think my favorite part of that photo is Gina's adorable leopard print sweater. I also love this photo because it makes our wedding look really dramatic, and cozy. Here's some other details of the wedding.

The boutonnières:



The boutonnières coordinated well with the guys ties, which were all different, and in the colors of brown, gold, beige, etc.




The bridesmaids also wore different variations of gold and brown. I got their dresses different places, from eBay to Nordstrom. Just in case you're wondering, the lowest price dress was the light gold Shoshanna dress that Christa (tall, in the middle) is wearing. It was originally priced at over $350.00 but I got it for $85.00 on eBay! The most expensive dress, worn by Meghan (black hair), was also a Shoshanna dress but alas, we got it on a time crunch . Luckily it did cost less than retail because Meghan is still friends with her old boss at a high end boutique, Fahrenheit 451, in the Hamptons - she ordered it up for wholesale for us.


My sister's dress (brown, on the very left of this 2nd photo) was made by Steve Moore two days before the wedding, after he made the executive decision that the one we ordered from Cicada in downtown Seattle was hideous (note: never go there). To their credit, after phoning Cicada, they agreed that it was unwearable and gave us our money back.

The dresses averaged out to be about $170 per dress which I feel is fairly reasonable, and the best part is that they were all designer cocktail dresses -- totally wearable again.

My dress was a Monique Lhuillier and it was a simple A-line with a feminine drop waist lace detail.



I had my necklace custom made by a woman named Carolyn Attal in Scottsdale, AZ. I loved it and thought that it really made my dress (sans bow jacket) more interesting.



Before the reception started, I took off my necklace and put on a fun Monique bolero jacket with a GIANT BOW. It was a hit! The woman I am talking to is my adorable Grandma Kenner.



We had a seating arrangement for the tables, and instead of having name cards at each place setting, we created a big poster and framed it in a gilded gold frame. It turned out really pretty, I think.

The menu paid homage to Brian's heritage --Greek-infused dishes such as grilled flatbreads with kalamata fig and white bean garlic spreads, and ouzo-spiked halibut with fennel cream sauce. The food was catered by J. Russell Catering in Bellingham, WA - and it was fantastic - hands down the most amazing wedding food I've ever had (added bonus that it was at my own!).

We wanted the wedding to be romantic and classic but we also wanted both modern and natural elements to it. This came out well in things like: the curly willow & lanterns, the tables the programs sat on, and the woodsy yet elegant chandelier that hung above the head table.





The classic and romantic parts really came through in the 500 stems of phallenopsis orchids that Steve Moore arranged in huge "trees"!!!

These were Steve's idea. I was a bit skeptical at first that I'd like them, but they were big and fancy, and turned out to be pretty photogenic.




We really wanted to infuse some beachy sea-elements to the theme as well. This mostly was carried out through sand and sea shells placed on all of the tables.

I think way back when, I also said I'd post more advice. My best advice is to hire a wedding planner, because it's hard to anticipate how stressful a wedding can be, and if you have a good wedding planner, he/she will minimize that element. If you are having a wedding at an establishment that does everything for you, that might be a different story. But if you are trying to create a wedding from scratch in any way shape or form, I strongly recommend hiring someone to help you think of every single detail.

I also suggest trusting your gut while you begin the planning process. If your heart tells you that you want a small wedding, go with a small wedding, and don't let anyone change your mind.

What else. Oh! I also suggest doing your own makeup (that is, if you have any skills) -or at least having a practice run through (and take photos of yourself to see how everything photographs).

And last but not least, if you are having a big wedding, you should have someone designated to be your personal assistant. I always thought that sounded so bizarre -- to all of the sudden have a personal assistant just because it's your wedding day -- but I found it insanely difficult to get myself a beverage or remember to reapply my lipstick. Having someone there who checks in on you every once in awhile would make the night easier for you, I think.

I have a few friends planning weddings of their own right now so I hope they read this and get inspired, while taking my advice to heart! And look for our wedding in the Knot magazine next year!

All my friends are getting famous

Today was a good jewelry day. In the morning, a pair of my earrings were featured on the homepage of Etsy (my secret dream). I had a few sales and a lot of great compliments from nice people on Etsy. One of my Etsy friends, Rachel (Adorned By Morgan) who lives in NYC and makes similarly cute gems out of vintage and recycled materials (which is why we became Etsy friends in the first place) congratulated me...and less than an hour later, when Etsy did the theme switch, a pair of her earrings were featured on the home page. What are the odds? Here's a few of my favorite things by Rachel:




Framed Owl Earrings, $22.00




Purple Stone, Purple Stone necklace, $45.00


And then, my day o' jewelry concluded with a good metal work class. At first I was so not in the mood to be there. I don't know what the deal was but I was on the verge of tears when I first got there, simply from exhaustion, I think (I've been running a million miles a minute trying to prepare for "secret things"). My bad attitude told me to leave. But I stuck it out, and in the end it was totally worth it because I made my first real metal piece -- a ring! Making rings is actually not that difficult, I learned. That is, as long as you have the right equipment and tools....which literally could set you back thousands of dollars if you did it up right.

This ring is made out of sterling silver. I hammered those lines into it before I shaped it into a ring and soldered it all up. I'm pretty happy with it, especially for my first project.




Apparently we are going to bezel stones on top of our rings next week. This blows my mind but okay!

Also, my good friends Cori and Aviva of The Adventure School were written up in Seattle's Daily Candy today. I thought it was a pretty good write up. Especially for DailyCandy, which usually drives me batty. Yay for them!!! (Cori reminded me tonight that world domination really isn't that far off. )





P.S. My husband has only 38 minutes left in his twenties!!!!

Late fall

Late fall is such a busy time of year. The holidays contribute, of course. And it just seems like even though everyone is ramping up to the holidays, work etc. just seems to escalate because everyone wants to get everything done before Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Our -- or at least MY -- hectic schedule can really be contributed to a few different things. 1.) Brian's 30th birthday (Thursday!), 2.) An important biz meeting on Friday, and 3.) Our impending move.

The following picture sort of encapsulates my busy life right now:




That photo might just represent the REAL (non blog) post nuptial life....at least home-life. I feel like I have no time to keep up my home! I thought that once I worked for myself, that I'd have this lazy schedule where I could vacuum and organize all day. Perhaps if my priorities were different, I could do that. But I seem to fill my entire day from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed, with entrepreneurial adventures.

Even though our house is out of order (ehem, disgustingly dirty), I have a good feeling that things will start to flourish soon. And even if they don't... WOW, I've learned a ton over the past 5 months. More than I've learned in the last 5 years of my 9-5 jobs, I would venture to say. But I still have so much to learn. I am busy setting up meetings with biz people who are smarter than I am, and I can't wait to glean tidbits of their invaluable information.

Also, our move is coming up very quickly. One month from yesterday, in fact. My head is full of move-related thoughts. Like, I have to get my drapes dry cleaned! And, my goodness I don't want to spend actual dollars on something like cardboard boxes. Or, how ridiculous is our furniture going to look in this new house? I am mostly just super super excited. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe I will have an actual, real office. I can't wait to have the luxury of a dishwasher. I can't wait!