I have wanted to blog about my wedding for a while. I kinda talked myself out of it because I feel like my wedding has been all over my Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pretty much since the day I got engaged. I didn’t want people to get sick of me! But then I thought to myself, you know, this was the most important day of my life. It only happens once and I put SO much work into it, I should at least get my first year of marriage to brag about it as much as possible.
Unfortunately, on the day of our wedding, there was a huge snowstorm. And although it made for GORGEOUS pictures (snow pics are seriously the greatest), it meant that a lot of people who had already RSVP’d “Yes” were unable to come at the last minute. So these blog posts are for them.
When I think back on wedding planning…I’m so glad it’s over. But when I see some of my newly engaged friends starting to plan their weddings I start to miss it! It’s so weird. Wedding planning was hands-down one of the most stressful and emotional things I’ve ever done. But the result was so amazing. Once we picked the final venues. I started to imagine what exactly I wanted everything to look like. What was so great about my reception venue was that it was literally a big empty room. A blank canvas that I could do absolutely anything with. My mom, mother-in-law, bridesmaids, and I put our heads together and thought up something truly beautiful that I loved. 2 days before the wedding, we were setting everything up, and I started to worry that the final product might not look exactly like what I had envisioned in my head. I started to tell myself that I had too many expectations and that they might not be realistic. After all we had done everything ourselves. I hardly hired anyone for my wedding! It was all my friends and family hanging things from the ceiling, setting up tables, and arranging the flowers. These people weren’t wedding planners or professional event coordinators! How could we all possibly pull off my vision without any professional help?
But then, about halfway through the set up day, I remember walking into the reception room with Kurtis and having tears spring to my eyes. It looked just like how I wanted it to. How I had been dreaming it would look. Kurtis and I and all our friends and family had been working so hard all day (and for months before that) to turn this regular old church sanctuary into an absolute fairytale setting for us. The reception set-up is an aspect of our wedding that I am extremely proud of. It was all done by hand, and it was all done by us and our friends and family. I couldn’t have been more grateful to everyone who helped make my fairytale a reality.
The lights and lanterns strung from the ceiling mixed with the dimmed lights really gave the room that “romantic night out” effect I was looking for. The tall floral centerpieces on the banquet tables added to this effect even more. I was in love with the globe lights
The lace curtains in the doorways made the room feel elegant and enclosed.
I made the photobooth myself with the help of two of my bridesmaids. I painted the wood boards a champange gold and a friend of mine brought in the pink balloons. This was located in the foyer outside our receptions space. In the foyer we also had an italian soda bar, pictures of Kurtis and I throughout the years on gold string hung up with pink clips, and “wedding fun facts” posted on the walls. (Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of these)
This is the best shot I have of the cake setup. It was the venue coordinator’s idea! Our cake (cupcakes) was sitting under an antique black metal arch with the same fabric from the doorways hanging above it and down the sides. It really helped draw your eyes straight to the cake when you first walked into the room.
For the room set up we had two long banquet tables on either side of the main doors with smaller, round tables behind them. The dance floor was smack in the middle of the two banquet tables. Up until the day it was delivered we weren’t sure it was going to fit, but it ended up being perfect!
These were the centerpieces for the round tables. Taken from my Beauty and the Beast inspiration! The bell jars were impossible to find but over the course of about 5 months we were able to collect just enough. The centerpieces for the banquet tables were the tall flower arrangements (see above).
Despite everything, the stressful planning, the snowstorm, the family members who’s flights got cancelled at the last minute, ALL of the setbacks, it was the best day of my life. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
xoxo.