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!

A motivated helper

A friend reminded me this morning that my blogging has been severely lacking lately. Not only have I been trying to figure out how to up the monthly self-employed income -- a fairly simple formula called, work harder? -- but we've been house shopping in our spare time. I've probably seen over 30 houses in the last few weeks. Most of them are pretty nasty, but there's one in particular that we like a lot. The only issue is that it's really tiny. But the upside is, we wouldn't have to buy a lot of new furniture! Stay tuned.

We've also been trying to work our way through our wedding thank you's. It took me a few months to muster up enough gumption to even tackle this project...I was so sick of wedding things by the end! But luckily I've found a motivated helper in our cat, Pulgasari:

Wedding biz

Tonight commenced the first "Seattle women in biz" meeting. Currently the club's members include myself, Cori Ready, and Aviva Palmer - but soon I'm sure we'll be adding other women creatives and b-list celebrities.

I came to the meeting woefully unprepared. They had their notebooks open, and were poised and ready to jot. I showed up 15 minutes late with nothing. But Aviva graciously gave me a piece of paper, and I had a Wet & Wild lip pencil in the bottom of my purse. Perfect.

My meeting induced many biz revelations, but ultimately, it made me realize that I need to get back to the wedding planning advice that I promised all my many, many readers. Here it goes - my first installment of wedding planning advice.

1.) Hire a wedding planner
2.) Hire a wedding planner
3.) Hire Cori and Aviva to be your wedding planners

Seriously... I've already briefly called attention to my wedding planner, Steve Moore, for being the wedding dynamo. But I really need to drive home this point again. You may think, like I did, that you can plan a wedding by yourself -- but ladies, you need a reality check. You are a Bride. I will always hate that word...HOWEVER, unless you are having 35 people in your backyard for fruit punch and Safeway cake, you need to hire an expert. I don't mean to be snobby, but listen to me: you don't have time to plan the details that most guests have come to expect in this day and age.

I didn't even have time to refresh my lipstick, and I hate most of my pictures because of it! It's one day - and it's a pretty important one - so I highly recommend coughing up some cash to hire someone who will ensure your wedding day goes off without a hitch.

Cori and Aviva are my new favorite event planners; they began The Adventure School a little less than a year ago. Their ideas and collective fun-having are out of this world. I went to a party/fundraiser that they organized at the Crawl Space art gallery awhile back. The concepts behind the event, themed 'Winner's Circle', were beyond fresh and unique. In bride language, they weren't no bulbous-brightly colored-tightly arranged-1997-rose arrangements. In fact, it was the complete opposite. I loved the brilliant monochrome theme of white - I LOVE love that horseshoe cake - and could that girl Anne be any hotter in that mini dress?






Stay tuned for more sage advice from a girl who has gone through the wedding fiasco, and also, perhaps an invitation to an end of the summer JUMPSUIT PARTY on my deck. Yeah!

some of my favorite wedding gifts

We haven't opened all of our gifts yet (there's still some up north) but I wanted to showcase the Top 10 wedding gifts. They made the rankings either because they are the most thoughtful, the most beautiful, or the most necessary. Here's why.


Lindsay & David's vintage sea urchin print
This was hands down, one of my favorite wedding gifts. I absolutely love this rose gold colored mirror frame. I'm so into rose gold anything right now! Apparently she found both the print and the frame in Lynden, WA, which totally and completely blows my mind. I didn't think anything good came out of Lynden!






Cameron's 'Ready Position' framed "painting"
My friend Cameron Jennings, one of Bellingham's weirdest and awesomest persons, is an artist who creates interesting, stylie, stuff. I forget what he made this out of but it looks like colored pencil mostly. And that blue box is paint. (Note to self: I should never be an art critic.) Anyway, I like this piece. He made it because now I'm a wife. I like the dishes part the best.





He gave it to us alongside a book called "Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique," which has been very helpful for us so far. It contains creepy chapters like this:

I also think the Ovarian function chart (above) will come in handy when we start trying to conceive. Thanks for looking out for us, Cam!


Rachael's framed wedding invitation
I have to put a disclaimer here. We were very confused when we opened this gift, because it had a card attached from our friends Amy and Aaron. We were like, "Oh, Amy and Aaron, that's so sweet of them!" but then we looked on the back and it has a Michael's sticker that says "Framed by Rachael". My cousin Rachael works at Michael's in Bellingham as an art framer - and Amy and Aaron live in Seattle. So, I really think this is from Rachael, and we need to get in touch with Amy and Aaron to figure out their mystery gift. Anyway, this is an extremely thoughtful gift. We wanted to frame our wedding invitation but it would definitely be one of those things we'd never ever get around to doing... it's so fun to have it on our wall already.




Craig & Lindsey's mega cutting board
Is it art, or a cutting board? That's what's so cool about this cutting board. It's totally wall-worthy. We love it, and I doubt that my knives will ever touch it.




Nicky's magnetic knife holder
Speaking of knives, I have to give a big up to my friend Nicky who bit the bullet and bought us one of those "boring" registry items that nobody else would purchase. My tiny kitchen needed this sooooo badly! Whoever invented the magnetic knife holder should win the Albert Einstein World Award of Science for bringing true benefit and wellbeing to mankind. (I think Nicky did win the Albert Einstein Award, in high school!)



Dyan's panini grill inside-barbecue pan thing!
This is by far the nicest gift that we didn't register for. I made grilled teriyaki chicken on this two nights ago. It was really good.




Brian and Mechelle's "Tribute to America" ash tray
Words cannot express how we felt when we unveiled all the glamour of this gift. Brian and Mechelle carefully chose this ashtray (artfully crafted in China), which I believe signifies freedom, Imperialism, the frailty of life, and pot. Truly magificant, and something we'll cherish forever.




Kenny & Joey's canine self portraits
Continuing the long tradition of giving pictures of ourselves to each other for birthdays, showers, and housewarmings, Kenny and Joey topped off their wedding gift with intimate photos of themselves and (some stranger's?) dogs. Very nautical, very Northwest, these snapshots are here to stay. I love the acrylic frames, too!




Christa and Amber's pop art painting by Andrea Heimer
My friends Christa and Amber really pulled out all stops when they commissioned a painting of me and Brian. I never thought I'd be one to hang an original piece of art - of myself - in my home, but I have to admit, this painting is pretty fun, and it really captures Brian at his best: behind the bottle.





Mystery ponies
And last but not least, somebody gave us PONIES IN A FIELD OF GRASS! Who knew that I've always wanted a farm, and Brian has always wanted a pony!?!? Speak up, person who gave this to us. Because your gift was sorely lacking a card.

Our wedding day

It's been nearly two weeks since our wedding, but the plethora of crazy emotions is just starting to die down. I think Brian and I are starting to settle down into married life (although it's still weird to think of myself as a WIFE - does that ever become normal?).

When people ask, How was your wedding? Well, it's just really hard to describe. And I'm kind of a realist who doesn't like to give fake answers like, It was absolutely perfect!!!! Kind of like how I grew to hate the expression, It's YOUR day. Give me a break! It's probably the least "my day" that I've ever had in my life!

Anyway, here are some words/phrases describing how I feel about our wedding, in no particular order:

• Intensely beautiful, modern yet classic, and very, very wet
• Expensive, frustrating, overwhelming, and in some ways, disappointing
• Surreal, magical, and extremely emotional
  

Essentially, how I feel about it is this: in some ways it was way better than imagined, and in some ways, it was not how I imagined it would be at all. It took me about a week to swallow the fact that it's over, and in many ways it wasn't how I imagined it would be at all (mostly, the rain part).

The better than imagined part had all to do with my wedding planner, Steve Moore of Steven Moore Designs. In the beginning of our wedding planning process, I questioned whether or not we should hire a wedding planner (I plan events for a living, after all), but he was honestly the best decision we made.

I learned something about myself through this process: that I'm not very good at rolling with the punches, when things go wrong. It started raining - a torrential rain storm brought on by a monsoon in South Asia - just 20 minutes before the ceremony. I flipped my lid - I'm still embarrassed at how I handled myself! But Steve Moore was my saving grace. Initially we gave him some vague ideas of our style and how we envisioned our wedding. Things like, orchids, modern but not cold, fancy gold accents mixed with organic details like wood and leaves. He took what we said and transformed it into something even more amazing than what we could imagine. The part that I am most happy and content with is how stunningly beautiful -- magical -- Steve made our wedding.

I've also been incredibly impressed with our photographer, Michele Waite. We haven't gotten all the photos back yet but the few that I've seen have been stunning:











Some of my regrets are, not spending enough time with certain people, especially those who travelled from out of town. Not getting more pictures with my family - especially grandmas.

All in all, though, our wedding day was kind of a metaphor for life. Some parts (days) are better than others, and it's not always going to go exactly how you planned. Somebody told me this before our wedding day and I wish I would have taken it to heart, but there was a certain part of me that still held out for the lame, perfect, sunny, fairy tale wedding day.

I'm sure I'll have more to post about the wedding soon - including advice for those planning their own weddings - and hopefully more fun photos of the party.