The Homesteady

One year of marriage (and saving our wedding photos)

On Sunday, Kristie and I celebrated one year of being married! We spent the day together -- making waffles for breakfast, wandering around the flea market, and going out to dinner at one of our new favorite restaurants. We talked a lot about our relationship and our marriage. It feels so good to continue choosing to be with her every day. (I posted a lot of photos of our day on Instagram if you'd like to see.)

We also pulled out our wedding photo album by Artifact Uprising. 

I used a gift card awhile back to make a cute little album of our wedding Instagrams, and I knew I wanted a nice hardcover book of our professional photos by Love + Perry Photography (see them all here!). It took us awhile, but we ended up with 100 pages featuring our favorite wedding pictures. I really liked being able to do the layout myself -- it made it special, and allowed me to do a little DIY to save handwritten mementos from our wedding day.

My sister (and gorgeous maid of honor) gave me the sweetest gift right before Kristie and I had our first look -- a bottle of my favorite perfume, Parisienne by Yves Saint Laurent, which I wear every day. She also gave me a little handwritten note that I still treasure. I wanted to make sure I'd never lose the note, so I decided to add it to our wedding album (along with a note from Kristie's sister later in the book!).

First, I made sure to leave blank space on one page when planning our layout.

Then, I put two strips of double-sided tape on the back of a glassine bag (which I trimmed to make a little shorter, and folded to create an envelope) and attached it to the page with the blank space.

I folded up Phoebe's note and tucked it into the envelope.

I sealed the envelope with washi tape. 

It's so nice to know that an item so meaningful is now right where it belongs -- with all of our other memories from our wedding day.

Our album reminds me of a storybook, a fairy tale. I can't wait to show it to our children someday -- a bedtime story about the day their mother and I became a family. 

PS - Our wedding photos, video, and a ton of other wedding-related goodness.

*Artifact Uprising provided some store credit to help make this album possible. Affiliate links are used throughout this post. All opinions are my own!

Delicate, stylish wedding dresses

It feels hard to believe sometimes, but it's been almost a year since I walked down the aisle in my dream wedding dress made by Whitney Deal. I'm still a big fan of her work, though, and when I saw photos of the new dresses in her 2014 collection, I couldn't help but share two of my favorites: Raye and Ella/Rachel (obviously I'm a fan of the skirt/top combo).

*This is NOT a sponsored post. The images here belong to Whitney Deal.

our wedding outtakes

While we're away on our honeymoon, check out some of my favorite photos from the wedding!

Our silly wedding photos and outtakes are some of my favorites. They remind me of how much laughter filled our day, and really feel like "us."

Kristie and her sister Raven

All photos by Love + Perry Photography. Check out the rest of our wedding photos and our wedding video, and read about my dress and our first look.

local love: nontraditional wedding gifts (guest post!)

Kristie and I are off on our honeymoon! Please welcome my dear friend Amanda from Salvaged Strawberry, who's here to share some inspired wedding gift ideas while we're drinking on the beach.

Two friends recently wed in the beautiful Minnesota sunshine. The birds were singing, the bride wore pink, and the smell of donuts was in the air for this festival-themed wedding. (Think: twinkly lights in a  big open barn, hay bales for lounging, festive lanterns, glass jars with wildflowers, barefoot kiddos, and a sing-along during the wedding ceremony.) It was one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever attended. Why? Because it was unique and special and so them. Now, this couple didn’t have a registry. They’ve been together a long time and didn’t really need anything. So, I decided to put together a package of local and personalized favorites for the couple (which they loved). Want to do something a little different for the happy couple? Here are some ideas to get you started.

A state map cutting board.

via Woodbob on Etsy

Love that you can put a heart for the couple’s hometown!

Your favorite local coffee, wine, or beer.

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I love the Minnesota-grown brands Peace Coffee and Crispin Cider. I would love either of these in a gift basket.

Framed art from a local favorite

Image; via Adam Turman

We love riding our bikes on adventures through our city. This would be perfect. 

A book of poems or novel from native authors?

If the couple were from the Twin Cities, I would suggest Louise Erdrich or Charles Baxter. (I loved both of these books!)

Hand-made bath goodies!

Via MN Lovely on Etsy

Who doesn’t love amazing-smelling, homemade bath products? These are by a local soapmaker – her soap rocks (use it and love it) and so does she. My top picks: the lavender and hippie love scents.

You can’t go wrong with honey or maple syrup from a farmer’s market close by.

Via The Beez Kneez

My local choice? The Beez Kneez – and they deliver – local, raw honey – by bicycle!

A gift certificate for a couple’s massage

After all the planning and stressing, who wouldn’t want to relax with their sweetheart and get massaged – together?! C and I did this and it was amazing – dimmed lights, candles, soft music, and we were next to each other. We’d love this.

Minnesota represent.

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I don’t know where you live, but what about showing some state-specific love? For example, did you know that the Minnesota state mushroom is the morel? You could gift the couple a basket of the local fungi paired with some recipes for incorporating it – of course, a local cookbook would be best!

And, last but not least, a cozy blanket for a picnic or to snuggle under the stars.

Image; Via Faribault Woolen Mill Company

Lucky for us, Faribault is a local (and amazing!) company.

What do you think? Do you always stick to the registry?

Thanks for having me, Hannah! 

Thanks Amanda! Head over to Salvaged Strawberry to say hi and follow along as Amanda plans her gorgeous vintage wedding.

our thank-you cards

We'd had enough of wedding DIY projects when it came time to do our thank-you cards, so we ordered almost a hundred of the beautiful Glitter Wedding Thank You Cards from Mostaza Seed Graphics (check out Stephanie's blog!). The card's message was simple but meaningful, and one of our wedding photos by Love + Perry Photography made the card perfect. It didn't hurt that they were crazy affordable.

I spent this weekend writing out the thank-yous and got almost halfway done. I topped off the cards with a little pink washi tape and our customized address stamp. Just 40 more to go...

*Etsy is an affiliate sponsor of the Homesteady

All my wedding dress details (& the amazing story behind it)

Let me start with a confession: I watch a lot of "Say Yes to the Dress." Like...probably too much. Even now, even after my wedding is over, I'm catching up on "Atlanta" on Netflix. My favorite iteration of the series is "Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids" because A) the girls are typically nuts; and B) it never fails to lead me to gratitude about how incredible all my bridesmaids were! 

My penchant for wedding dresses is not contained by reality TV, however. I've been maintaining a Pinterest board for more than a year featuring exclusively non-strapless wedding dresses (I mean, strapless dresses are gorgeous, but I refuse to believe I was the only bride-to-be who wanted a little more coverage and a vintage feel). 

I thought that choosing my wedding dress would be nearly impossible. I loved all the trends: lace, sleeves, tea length. How was I supposed to pull the trigger and commit? (Good thing falling in love wasn't this hard!) 

But then (thanks to Pinterest) I stumbled across Whitney Deal. She's a wedding dress designer based in North Carolina (and half of a wedding photography duo with her husband Dustin), and I immediately fell in love with the Glea Blouse and Ruby Skirt on her website. They just felt so...classic. Timeless. I was enamored with the simplicity, the loveliness. And that Peter Pan collar? Come on! I knew this was my dress, and I emailed Whitney right away -- but with an extra request. 

My grandfather (yup, that handsome guy above) operated airplane radios during World War II. He flew all over the world, and while in India, bought fifty yards of ivory parachute silk (at just 50 cents a yard), hoping that his future bride would use the material for her wedding gown. After he returned to the States, he met my grandmother and they fell in love. She had her wedding dress made from the silk. They got married on July 2, 1949.

Thirty-six years later, my mother wore the very same dress when she married my dad.

Luckily, there was more than enough of the saved silk leftover from the original dress that they both wore, and Whitney was happy to use the antique fabric to make the blouse portion of my dress. (Did I mention she also had her first baby during the time she was creating this beautiful ensemble? Superwoman.) 

My grandmother passed away four years ago. I looked up to her so much throughout every stage of my life, and losing her was very difficult for everyone in our family. She was our matriarch; our fountainhead. I miss her. (It's still hard to write about her without tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.) Having the silk around my shoulders all day made me feel like she was with me. I'm so grateful to Whitney for creating this treasured memory.

There's still enough leftover silk for my sister to incorporate into her wedding dress someday, too, and the tradition will keep moving forward, from grandmother to mother to daughters. I don't know if my potential future daughters will be interested in wearing the blouse when/if they decide to get married; it very well may not be their style (although it would make me happy if it were). But hopefully they'll be able to find a dressmaker like Whitney to incorporate our family history into their dream gown.

It meant a lot to my grandfather, too, to know that his wife was with us that day. Thank you, Whitney!

Now here's the best part. I emailed my Aunt Carol (my mom's sister) to see if she had a photo of my grandmother in her wedding dress that I could use for this post. Not only did she send the one above, but she also made a quick movie interviewing my grandpa about the silk (you can hear my Aunt Sarah in the background too)! I loved hearing the details about how the silk parachutes would release. And the very end has me in tears every time. I hope you enjoy it!

My wedding photos by Love & Perry Photography. See more here, and our video here!

how to save your wedding instagrams

A lot of couples -- present company included -- decide to create custom hashtags on their wedding day, which guests can use to tag Instagram photos taken during the ceremony and reception. That way, the newlyweds can look back in the days following and gather all different kinds of perspectives of their celebration. We used the hashtag #hkwedding (which is also used to tag weddings that take place in Hong Kong, so going through them after the fact was pretty amusing). 

After all was said and done, about 40 photos had been tagged to #hkwedding. They were awesome, and it was so great to see that everybody else had been having as much fun as we were. But what to do with them? I didn't want to abandon them in the ether, but then I remembered a special treat in the goodie bags at Blogshop Boston: a gift certificate to use at Artifact Uprising, an online photo printing service. That description doesn't really do it justice, though. Artifact Uprising allows users to create custom hardcover and softcover photo books, boxes, calendars, blocks, and prints. I took advantage of their Instagram-friendly products and created a book of all the photos that had been tagged with our custom hashtag. 

I really enjoyed the process of customizing the book, mostly because I had complete creative control. I hand-picked the photos, chose the layout, and tested (and re-tested) endless combinations and pairings. It's also easy to add text, so I created two pages that include selections read during our ceremony (a Pablo Neruda poem and lyrics from a Patsy Cline song, naturally).

We plan to create a formal wedding album with our professional photos, of course, but in the meantime, I love this little keepsake.

*Artifact Uprising is an affiliate sponsor of the Homesteady. This is not a sponsored post.

why have a first look?

Our first look is very high in my favorite moments from our wedding day. I can't recommend it enough for anybody else planning a wedding! Here's why...

Prior to our first look (held in an apple orchard behind the barn), I was getting ready in a farmhouse room with all my bridesmaids, my maid of honor, my mom, and a few other friends. It was an absolute blast, and the energy was really high. I'm pretty sure they could hear us in the room next door! But my butterflies were going nuts, and my nerves were starting to fray. 

As soon as I left the farmhouse, all I could hear were the birds singing. I felt beautiful, having just finished getting ready. I followed Brittney, one of our photographers, to the orchard, where Kristie was waiting with Shana. 

That's when it really hit me: I was about to get married to the woman I love! The details -- like having forgotten to bring deoderant (don't worry, that's what bridesmaids are for), wondering whether or not the guests would find their way to the ceremony, if everyone else would be ready in time -- just...fell away. We were together, and that's what mattered. Both of us calmed down immediately, and just spent time talking about how GREAT the other looked!

The photos we got from that time together in the orchard still take my breath away. We look fresh-faced, relaxed, and so happy. The butterflies were gone. It felt like a tiny oasis in a stressful (but happy) day. 

Here's where an important recommendation comes in: find photographers you feel really comfortable around. Over the year and a half that we've known them, we've become so close with Brittney and Shana. Having them there with us in the orchard felt completely natural, and our comfort level showed in the photographs.

It took none of the magic away from seeing Kristie waiting for me at the end of the aisle. It was almost better -- I already knew what she'd be wearing, how she'd look. That helped with my anxiety, and Kristie's too. It was still a wonderful moment (Kristie cried when she saw me!) because it was in front of all of our family and friends, and felt very, very real.

Until we got back to the hotel that night, our first look was the only time Kristie and I spent together, the closest we got to being alone. It was a treasure. Having family members and friends from around the world celebrating with us all day and night was amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it was really nice to be with my bride for a little while! 

 

All photos in this post by Love & Perry Photography. See more of our wedding photos here, and our video here!

how to thank people for helping with your wedding

I joke a lot about our wedding being "grassroots" or "crowd-funded." Family members, friends, and friends of friends came out of the woodwork to arrange our flowers, transport 90 bottles of wine from the house to the farm, lend me their shoes the night of the rehearsal dinner, allow us to borrow their stepladders for our backdrop, learn brand new songs to play during our ceremony, and go through the process to obtain a one-day solemnization so they could marry us. The list goes on and on.

Formal thank-you notes will be going out in due time, but Kristie and I wanted to show our gratitude to local friends who'd gone above and beyond for us with a backyard "thank-you" party. She broke out the grill; I hit Pinterest for recipes and inspiration.

Kristie made white wine sangria in mason jars, which we stored in a cooler outside.

The bunting says "WE LOVE YOU." Check out the DIY here! (The napkins are from Anthropologie -- and they're on sale!)

We had sorbet in lemon cups and listened to one of Kristie's vintage radios. Dinner was all kinds of grilled treasures, watermelon, and veggies, and for dessert I made banana bread and peanut butter cookies -- all gluten-free!

Samson hung with us outside for awhile. The day before, I'd frozen a mixture of chicken stock, water, treats, and carrots in a Tupperware container. It kept him busy and hydrated, and we could enjoy our food in peace.

Clearly we need a bigger picnic table!

I don't know how it's possible, but Kristie and I felt even luckier after the dinner party to have such awesome people in our lives. Our wedding went off without a hitch because of their help, and it was so nice to have a night celebrating them.

our wedding video

In case I haven't written enough good things about our wedding photographers Love + Perry, here's more. Even though it's not part of any package they offer, Brittney and Shana agreed to make a short video of our wedding, and it's fantastic. It really captured everything I felt that day, even more so than our fabulous pictures. Watching Kristie and I in the film (over and over, because I obviously can't stop watching it) brings back the butterflies I felt while getting ready, the quiet of the barn before it was filled with all our guests but seemed to be buzzing with energy and anticipation, the moment I showed my sister Phoebe her flower crown (which had been a surprise), seeing all of our friends and family at the ceremony, those stolen moments during our first look that calmed me more than anything, and dancing the night away. That second where Kristie had her hand on my back? I hate to think I would have forgotten something so sweet and meaningful without having it filmed. Even better, I got a chance to see our guests before the ceremony, laughing and talking together. I got a glimpse into the room where Kristie and her attendants got ready. This video is something I can say with no exaggeration that I'll treasure for the rest of my life. It brings me back to that day and those emotions immediately. Kristie and I are so lucky to have this, and I hope you like it, too.

The song is "We Bought a Zoo" by Jonsi.