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September 2, 2015

Wedding Wednesday: The Post that Never Made it Live

Until now. This post was originally created for a wedding series on another blog, but the week after I submitted it [last year] the girl randomly stopped posting. I forgot I still had it in my drafts until I was perusing earlier this week and thought I should share it here since it is almost anniversary time. Yeah, I know, my 2nd anniversary is next week too crazy, right? Anyway, I hope you enjoy my wedding nostalgia.

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Hey, y'all! My name is Pinky and I blog over at PinkPersistence. We threw our wedding together in seven short months, so it was quick but a ton of fun, too. Our wedding day was perfectly us and I totally would do it all over again if I could. :)!

When did you get married?
September 7, 2013. Best.Day.Ever!

How did you meet your husband?
We met playing KICKBALL on the National Mall. Yes, kickball, haha. We were both recruited by different people to join a DC team. I was recruited by a guy I didn't even know in my league, but something told me to say YES when he called to join his team. Obviously, God wanted me to meet Le Husband, but I just went into the new team hoping to make a few new friends. Le Husband and I didn't really talk too much the first few games, but one Thursday I met up with teammates before the game and had a couple glasses of wine [with no dinner]. He had some sick play at the plate that caught my attention so [using my liquid courage] I chatted him up at the bar that night. We started talking and hanging out and the rest is history. Crazy how a random kickball team brought me to the love of my life!

Engagement story?
Le Husband super surprised when he asked me to marry him. You can find the whole story *here* but here's the short version. We had talked about the next step, but he kept asking me WHAT kind of ring I wanted so I figured we weren't close to engagement. Little did I know, he had secretly talked to my sisters, had one of my grandmother's rings sent to a jeweler and asked my dad for my hand in marriage {swoon}. I had a soccer game on a Sunday, as my routine, and when I came home I stopped by his place because he had left a rose at my place. I walked in and the whole place was lit up with candles and decorated, but I still wasn't getting what was about to happen. It wasn't until he came over and kissed me and I smelled the whiskey on his breath that I KNEW, THIS WAS THE MOMENT. I remember everything from the night and was so thankful Le Husband allowed my sisters to wait downstairs so I could celebrate with them immediately after the proposal. They had a camera/video set up so I have the entire thing recorded for my memories. Everything about that night was perfect, I was so surprised and over the moon excited.

How many bridesmaids did you have and how did you go about choosing them?
I had four ladies in my wedding party. I knew I didn't want a big wedding party and just wanted the most important ladies in my life by my side. My two sisters were my Maids of Honor and my two best friends were the other two bridesmaids. I asked them all with a cute gift box. I bought them tanks, champagne and decorated a champagne flute, all wrapped up in a pretty package. I couldn't have asked for a better group of ladies to stand beside me on my special day. They were all amazing throughout the whole process and I'm so thankful to have them all in my life.


What was the one thing you were most passionate about?( Flowers, DJ, Cake, etc)
Both Le Husband and I were on the same page with the understanding that getting married was MORE important than the wedding or the party. Period. But, we both wanted to have a fun celebration that everyone would enjoy. We both wanted a delicious cake/cupcakes [bad cake is the worst, suffered through one at a wedding last year, blech], delicious food and a fun atmosphere for all our guests. We didn't worry about the little things, but my mom did a lot of work to ensure everyone had the right rooms at the hotel and their welcome bags were received as soon as they checked into their rooms. Having a shuttle from the reception to the hotel was amazing, too. Guests didn't have to worry about driving or walking which was nice. People still tell us about how much fun they had at our wedding and that makes me so happy!

 How long did it take you to find your wedding dress?
Honestly, it didn't really take me too long to find my dress. I booked my first wedding dress appointment the week we got engaged and went to David's Bridal to get a feel for what I wanted and what I looked like in certain styles. I originally wanted a Kate Middleton style dress with sleeves but couldn't find it in any stores. I tried on every other style at DB and actually tried on THE DRESS at my first appointment. Everyone agreed it was my dress [and a few cried when I came out, however I didn't] but I wanted to keep looking [silly girl]. I went to one more boutique found a dress that I thought might be it, but kept thinking about the DB dress. I made an appointment at both places on a Saturday and when I tried on the DB dress with a veil I cried, so boom, we had the dress!!!! I loved wearing it and how beautiful it made me feel!
 


Spill some deets that went on. We wanna hear drama.
I'm not a dramatic girl, so the drama was kept to a minimum. We had a bit of number shock when we realized we were sending out invitations to 250 people. YES, 250. Both Le Husband and I come from big families and of course EVERYONE had to be invited at the start. But, as usual, people weren't able to make it [no big deal] and the numbers weren't as crazy in the end. We were even able to invite some extra kickball friends at the end, which was so awesome. The only other drama was a exfriend that brought her wedding drama to both my bridal shower AND MY bachelorette party. #classyright. I'm all about supporting a friend, but when you're demanding attention at your friend's party your true colors become a bit obvious. Both episodes helped me realized I needed to end the friendship because it was just too much drama from one person. It was very apparent she wasn't interested in the advice people gave her [same thing EVERY-TIME she told the story], but rather enjoyed the attention she received re-telling her drama. If it you walk like drama and talk like drama, you're drama and I don't need it in my life. #peaceout

What was them most awkward thing about wedding planning?
I didn't really find anything awkward about wedding planning. I will say that having people tell you they are coming to your wedding to your face and then send an RSVP as no is kind of weird. A 40 year old coworker of mine [who was a friend at the time] told me she and her husband and kid would be there but then RSVPed no and never responded to my inquires via our work IM system. Needless to say, we aren't friends anymore because that's just rude. Two weeks before the wedding we realized we were going to be cutting it close to the minimum so I physically called a few friends that we weren't able to invite in the beginning. I felt alil awkward since we were so close to the wedding, but everyone was so incredibly gracious that it ended up not being that awkward. My friends are quite amazing.

What was your color scheme and what made you choose it?
Even though our wedding was in a fall month, we wanted to have a brightly colored wedding. I'm obviously a pink girl, but wanted to let Le Husband have some say in the wedding color scheme. I found different pink wedding schemes on Pinterest and then asked him which combination he liked the most. He chose the bright, light green as our complementary color. We decided the rest of the colors using *this* pin and brought in some oranges and yellows, too. Le Husband is NOT a tux guy so we went with grey suits which were purchased at Men's Warehouse. As the groom's gift, Le Husband paid for half of the suits which the guys really appreciated. I loved our color combination and our florist did an amazing job with the different colors in the bouquets. The bright colors looked amazing the day of and I love how happy our pictures turned out.


If you don't mind sharing what was your budget and did you stay on track?
My parents were incredible and substantially helped us out for our wedding. They gave us a budget and anything over we had to pay for ourselves. I was under budget on my dress, right at budget on my flowers, and way under budget on our cake/cupcakes. I will admit that I DIDN'T keep track of small incidentals so I can't 100% exactly where we stood with the complete budget, but I know we were pretty close to it.

If you could do it all over again, would you do anything differently?
I don't think I would do much differently if I had to live the day over again. I think I would have tried to get more formal family pictures, but I'm not sure that would have been possible given our timeline. Instead of pictures at the church, the wedding party headed into DC to get pictures at the Jefferson Monument. Since the mall was a significant piece of how we met, we both felt it was important to have pictures taken there. Plus, the background was AMAZING!


What was your favorite thing about your wedding day?
Feeling surrounded in LOVE all day long. Seriously, from the moment I woke up I was surrounded in love. There were text messages from family, everyone was so excited getting ready in the morning and walking into the church I caught a glimpse of all our guests seated to watch us get married. I was so happy and smiling all day and I LOVED that feeling. I also loved the five minutes after the ceremony because Le Husband and I hid from everyone and had a quiet moment to ourselves. We just chatted about everyday things and just reveled in the fact we were married. Those five minutes are five of my favorite moments of the day and I highly suggest every bride does the same thing, you'll love it!

What was the most stressful thing about your wedding day?
I'm not a details person, at all.  I like planning, but all the itty, bitty details and phone calls are so not my forte. I'm good at the big picture and the big list, so I hired a wedding planner for the last two months of planning. Best decision, EVER! It was so nice NOT having to worry about ANYTHING the day off and our planners did such an amazing job. I highly, highly recommended getting a wedding planner, even just the day of the wedding.

What is the best piece of advice for future brides out there?
Enjoy E V E R Y T H I N G! Wedding planning is stressful, but it's also so much fun. I loved everything about being engaged and counted down the days till I married the man of my dreams. The week before my wedding was the best week, ever and it was so full of love and fun. Remember that your wedding isn't a performance and it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks/wants. Your wedding and reception is about YOU and your GROOM, so remember to take the time to enjoy the special moments. Also, remember something will go wrong on your day, so handle it and move on without freaking out too much. We had a few you can read about *here* and I just rolled with them. You can also find my "Dos & Don'ts" post *here*. Remember the reason you're getting married, and how much you love your soon to be spouse. < 3

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36 comments:

  1. Your pictures around DC are stunning!! I actually had no idea you guys planned the wedding in 7 months!! Wowza!! Also side note - but I was reading your blog before I actually started mine so I remember seeing your photos from your wedding :) Creey?! I hope not lol! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  2. We have the same anniversary - well one day apart - ours is September 6th. Our wedding In NY and a typical Indian Summer day. I LOVED reading this Pinky. Le Husband did quite well on the engagement! Wow, and how he had your family to help celebrate. Yeah, I'd say he is a keeper. So glad you shared it afterall.

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  3. OH MY!! Gorgeous wedding party - stunning bride. Loved all of these. Sometimes I wish we could have another wedding just b/c it was so much fun the first time! And EEEK almost anniversary time! :)

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  4. i love this!! such a fabulous post; too bad that girl stopped posting #rage.

    we paid for the wedding ourselves in order to keep parents from inviting everyone and their dog. i have a giant family and if i let my parents contribute to the wedding, i'd have close to 1000 people because if aunt so-and-so were invited, then other aunt-so-and-so would have to be invited and it'd be a rolling snowball, NO THANK YOU.

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  5. So sweet! And I am obsessed with all of your pics around DC! How gorgeous! Love your dress too, so pretty!
    <3, Pamela
    Sequins & Sea Breezes

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  6. Happy almost anniversary! I've said it before and I'll say it again I LOVE your photos!

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  7. Cannot believe its almost 2 years! I still wish I had been there to share in the day with you, but know I was there in spirit and we have enjoyed so many more times together over the past 2 years. Love you more than shoes and cake BOFF and I love C too.

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  8. Aaaaahhh! Your anniversary is SO CLOSE! I just love you and your hubs love! And I always love your wedding recaps! Your pictures are stunning and ummmm, I'm obsessed with the pink bridesmaid dresses, ha ha! That shade of pink is the best and totally makes your gorgeous wedding dress pop!!

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  9. Aww, I love this! I didn't realize before that you guys MET playing kickball - so fun! Your dress is amazing and I love love love the pictures. Hard to believe how fast two years goes by, right?!

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  10. Your pictures are amazing. Your wedding dress was gorgeous! I love that your bridesmaids wore pink. So many brides hate that color. hahah but you know I love it. Happy Almost Anniversary.

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  11. Your photos are stunning and it sounds like you had such a fun wedding. I did the same thing when looking for a dress, I found it at DB and then went elsewhere, eventually making it back to the dress I loved from DB.

    Thanks for linking up with us!

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  12. BEAUTIFUL!!! and the pink dresses, right on :) you look gorgeous! Glad that you found this post, I love reading about other's weddings!

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  13. I love that he was sneaky and was able to surprise you!

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  14. I love that he was sneaky and was able to surprise you!

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  15. Oh haaay anniversary buddy! I still can't believe that! Lovin' these pics and especially all the pinks! xoxo

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  16. Loved reading this post! Made me so happy for you and your now husband! Congratulations and thanks for sharing your story! - Svetlana @Life with a Side of Wine

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  17. LOVE that you met playing kickball and how gorgeous were you on your wedding day! <3

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  18. Haha I totally submitted one of these posts, as well. Isn't kickball the best?! I know a few couples who have gotten together because of it down here, too :)

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  19. Your pictures are so gorgeous! I loved hearing all the details of your big day. And it's adorable you met playing kickball!

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  20. Yes girl it's all about the marriage that is number one, I am totally with you on that! Your pictures are so stunning I could seriously look at them all day long!

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  21. Love the pictures that you got and the bright pink bridesmaids dresses, so cute! And I agree, marriage is number 1 and everything is just a party when it comes down to it. We focused on every little detail for the actual marriage ceremony and then my mom and sister pretty much handled everything else. I am SO glad that I didn't get married while pinterst was around, i would have wanted to do EVERYTHING, haha.

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  22. You got a good man, lady! Love all your stunning wedding photos and the one of you two in the church definitely made me a little teary. Cheers to y'all :)

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  23. awww love your engagement story!! so sweet. i love that you all met through kickball.
    if i did this post.. the drama section would be far too long ;)
    your dress is gorgeous, and i love the bridesmaids dresses as well. so fun!

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  24. Love your responses! I just had to grin in the beginning, when you wrote "[w]e threw our wedding together in seven short months" :-) I remember the call from our registrar's office a good 9 years ago that hubby's paperwork indeed had finally gone through and the big day would be the 7th of April; at that point, we had about 5 weeks to go! But we handeled it a lot like you, planned the big parts and did not stress out on the little details. We had a very small wedding, but even in hindsight, I wouldn't have wanted it any differently.

    And yes, I cannot belief it's been two years. I still remember your posts leading up to your wedding.. But that was before I even was pregnant with the little guy, and he's one year old now..

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  25. Your ex-friend was being very self-centered and inappropriate. Definitely not someone who you need to have in your life. I can't stand when people complain and talk about the same problems repeatedly, but reject any shred of advice that anyone offers.

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  26. Your pictures are beautiful and I just love your proposal story! So sweet!!

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  27. Your photos are absolutely stunning!!!!

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  28. I love this b/c I'm obsessed with everything wedding right now! :)
    "It wasn't until he came over and kissed me and I smelled the whiskey on his breath that I KNEW, THIS WAS THE MOMENT." Seriously... this line needs to be in a novel!!!!!!! <3
    We're inviting about the same amount... expecting around 200 to come. Yowza. Just... yowza.

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  29. Love your professional photos and the bridesmaids gifts! Love reading about the story of how you met. It's awesome you two share the love for sports!

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  30. Happy almost anniversary!! I love how y'all met.

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  31. This is the sweetest post! Your wedding pictures are absolutely gorgeous. Its so cool you took them on the monuments...the contrast between the neutral colors of the monuments with the white of the wedding dress and the pink of the bridesmaids dresses is so cool! Also, its so funny that you guys met playing kickball...my boyfriend and I met because we were on the same swim team. I guess sports make a great first connection!

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  32. Love all the pictures! We had a big wedding too... Sent about about 300 invites, and had about 220 in attendance.

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  33. Your wedding pictures are gorgeous! We played tourist in DC this summer and I can't imagine how hard it was to get pictures without all kinds of other people in them! Love the colour of the bridesmaids' dresses too. So fun.

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  34. Oh I love this type of post! I love hear all the details about weddings. Your photos are beautiful.

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  35. Okay, I know you linked up another post on Tuesday Talk this week, but would you link this one up too? Why, because I'm doing an anniversary theme on our Tuesday Talk this coming Tuesday and I want to feature this post. Your photos, your advice and especially your engagement story will be a joy to read for others. Especially with upcoming fall weddings. Plus, it's your anniversary. Still time to link up. Thanks Pinky.

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  36. I love, love, love your engagement story! So sweet. Your wedding was beautiful and I know I've said it before but those pictures at the monument are just amazing. You were a beautiful bride!

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