one year

Our wedding was one year ago today!  It's been a year of transition and adjustment, a year of sweet, simple bliss, a year of comfort and delight, it's the first year of forever.  I can look back fondly now on our wedding and not pick it apart with "if onlys."  My brain has washed out all the stress and only left the happy memories of that joyful day.  I figure this is the last time I get to gratuitously shove my wedding photos in your face, so here goes...

Because we had the ceremony on the deck in my father-in-law's backyard we had to rearrange the bridal party from the typical setup.  I really liked the asymmetry.  My favorite detail of the whole wedding was how nicely the bridal party pulled together.  The girls wore Amasale dresses in different colors with their choice of jewelry and metallic flat sandals.  The guys wore their own grey suits, cotton plaid ties, and classic Vans sneakers.  We used assorted vintage hankies as the guys pocket squares and wrapped around the girls bouquets.  I'm obsessed with the baby's breath and eucalyptus leaves as the bouquets and boutonnieres, they were so easy to make and it was like 20 bucks for all 8 of them!

  

I wanted the flowers to have that wildflower look, but didn't want to spend too much money.  The answer was filler flowers!  I went to Francos, the local flower mart, about a week before the wedding and ordered a ton of filler flowers (other than baby's breath, I have no clue what kinds I picked out).  My creative aunt and cousin worked hard the day before the wedding, delicately sculpting flowers in good ol' jam jars for that casual summer look.  They sat on the tables among succulents in tins and candles on mismatched teacup saucers.

 Francos did my bouquet, it took up half of my flower budget, but so worth it.

my rose gold engagement ring and our bands

his is engraved your hand in mine and mine says we walk the miles (props for anyone who knows what that's from)

popcorn bar for cocktail hour
I'm glad we finished our pictures before everything, we really enjoyed the whole evening without feeling rushed

 it's ridiculous to look back and think I sat there and glued flags onto straws, but it's all in the details

 all the desserts were homemade, pumpkin pie and rice crispy treats from grandma

maybe overdone, but balloons are so fun!

To my darling husband,
Here's to many more years and memories.
I love you,
Jordan

7.16.2011

It's been almost six months since our wedding.  Things haven't settled down since then but, oh boy, life's a lot sweeter not having to fret over little details for the big day that would soon become a memory and some gorgeous pictures.  I can't say the wedding planning went well.  Despite being a crafter and design enthusiast, I didn't take too well to insane planning and constant attention from family and friends about being a bride.  That said, I crafted away, unable to delegate, until everything was to my liking and the big day was more perfect than we could have imagined.

We had a backyard ceremony at my husband's childhood home, followed by a backyard reception at a very gracious neighbor's house. We took pictures before at a trail around Batiquitos Lagoon. 

I wanted the whole wedding to have a vintage, relaxed Southern California vibe.  It was important to me that everything had a personal, handmade touch that represented both my husband and I, mainly our love of succulents.  We planted the centerpieces months before, it was so easy and low maintenance (and has now given me a new business opportunity).

I had intended to start a blog while planning the wedding to share my projects, but it was too much.  Now that the year is coming to a close I'm ready to put the wedding behind me.  I look forward to 2012 filled with cooking, crafting, gardening succulents, and being happily married.