A New Series: My Wedding

(photo by Jules Bianchi)

Jeff and I got married last August so I thought it’d be fitting to devote this month to a series about our wedding.  I can’t believe it’s been almost a full year since we got married!  Our wedding was probably my biggest undertaking yet, so it seemed appropriate to write about it on this blog.  I spent over a year planning the event and it was full of DIY projects and custom details.  Since this month is a little crazy for us (I’m currently traveling in Italy as I write this! And all my craft supplies have been packed away because we are moving cross country in a few weeks, eek!), I thought I’d share with you guys all that went into planning the wedding of our dreams.   I threw myself into making lots of fun details including letterpressed invitations,  all the signage, the icecream cookie bar, crossword puzzles, trivia cards, giant word search, my veil, bunting, table runners, napkin rings, escort cards and straws- I even sewed my bridesmaid’s gifts!   This new series will show you all the details that made our wedding day so special for us.

Jeff and I felt that it was really important to throw a wedding that was unique, fun and memorable for our guests.  An astounding 85% of our guests flew in from out of town so we really wanted to throw a giant party for them.  We were touched that so many friends and family came (235 guests total), we really wanted to go all out for them!  We also wanted our wedding to be very personal and special to us.  We threw out a lot of conventional ideas and chose to do things that were meaningful to us as a couple.   We are known to be fun-loving and little bit quirky and our wedding definitely reflected this: we served bubble tea (my favorite) during cocktail hour and had a ice cream cookie bar (Jeff’s favorite) during the reception. The two flower girls also carried my two favorite carebears down the aisle. (I’ve had these carebears for over 25 years and they sat in special chairs that I made at the front row of the ceremony!)  The most memorable thing that we did, and our guests still talk about it to this day, is that we rode into our outdoor reception on a tandem bike!

I’m happy to say that our wedding truly was everything we hoped for.   I’m still surprised at how we were able to pull it all off, too!  We encountered all sorts of the challenges along the way, the biggest being we were planning this wedding from across the country.  We got married near my Southern CA hometown in Orange County, CA while we were living in Boston at the time.  Adding to the complexity, Jeff was working a summer internship in San Francisco the 3 months right before we got married, so he wasn’t even in either areas either!  Being away from each other during the hectic months right before the wedding didn’t make the planning any easier. I was also juggling two jobs at the time so I don’t know how I was able to get so many things done.  Without the help of our friends and family, I don’t think we could have pulled off such a magnificent event.  To our bridal party and friends who helped and supported us through it all – THANK YOU!  We owe you big time!

I have to give a huge shout out to my parents who, without their generous support, this wedding would not have been possible. Thanks, mom and dad, for giving me the wedding of my dreams. It was everything I wanted since I was a little girl!

Lastly, I’m not writing this series show off my wedding.  The purpose of this series is twofold: One, to provide wedding ideas to future brides and two, to help me document my wedding. Even though its only been 11 months, I’m starting to forget all the details!  Even if you are not planning a wedding yourself, I hope you enjoy this nostalgic journey through a magical day with me.  Stay tuned this month for more detailed posts about August 21, 2010: the day I married my best friend Jeff!

(photo by Jules Bianchi)

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