Hey Eleanor accidentally turned into a wedding blog over the past few months, but that's just because I got married.
Marriage is no joke.
I don't think I need to explain why it's scary. However, I'm feeling very confident that Josh & I are a good match. We're not expecting perfection, but I think we've got a solid foundation. We really, really, really like each other. Plus, he's so handsome.
In the months leading up to the wedding, I maybe got six hours of sleep total. I stressed out over the amount of money spent on one party, the fact that our venue didn't have air conditioning, the weather (we were to have an outdoor cocktail hour), not to mention that whole part where I needed to spill my guts out to the man I love in front of 250 people. No pressure.
Everything I feared might go wrong did go wrong.
It not only poured rain, but so much so that the shuttle bringing our guests to the hotel had to pull over on I-94 because the driver couldn't see the road. We postponed the ceremony until those guests arrived, which was about an hour late.
The heat? Brutal. The humidity? Even worse. They could've held a hot yoga class in the there. I've never been so sweaty in my life.
Other highlights?
The kitchen equipment showed up three hours late, the decorations we made fell apart en route to the gym, a wedding guest had to leave directly from the ceremony to the ER (they're fine, btw), and by the end of the night, the bottom eight inches of my dress looked the color of a chalkboard.
Guess what.
It was the greatest party ever. Could not have cared less about my destroyed dress, the rain actually seemed to unify the crowd, the food was great and that whole starting the wedding an hour late business? We just opened the bar early and everyone was thrilled.
Conclusion: If you're focused on all the things not going as planned during your wedding, you are doing it wrong! Let it go, it'll be fine, focus on having fun...
It's just a party.
(Albeit the most expensive one you've probably ever thrown.)
Confession: I love stalking wedding photos on the internet.
Sometimes I'm all, "awwwww....", and other times I'm all "ahahahahahahahawkward!" At any rate, I figured I should share a sampling of pics for my fellow wedding photo stalkers. You know who you are. Enjoy.
Huge thanks to Jonny Edwin & his beautiful wife Liz for the kickass photos. If you're getting married, you should hire them. Srsly.
A big shout out to The Bash Collective, who planned & styled our wedding. It was worth every penny! I did not worry about a thing the day of the wedding, thanks in huge part to Alyson & her team. They did a fabulous job.
Other amazin' vendors:
Excellent grub by Andrew Zimmern's Canteen. Pulled pork & chicken, watermelon salad, a smattering of different BBQ sauces, corn bread, plus an appetizer spread to die for (Thai chili shrimp, chicken satay, homemade hummus & pita chips... dude!). Their cucumber-mint lemonade, spiked with vodka, disappeared faster under-agers at a cop-busted house party. Brian & his team from Liquid Motion were a delight to work with & seemed genuinely happy to be there. One of our guests that's a veteran bartender even commented what a great job they did.
Matt Kotefka: wedding DJ. I've known Matt since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. He's one of the greatest guys ever & his DJing skills are second to none. Do you want people to mill about your wedding and not dance? Great! Make a playlist on your iPod! Do you want people to dance at your wedding? Hire Matt.
Our last minute decision to hire the Traveling Photo Booth was a total WIN! So fun & a great alternative to a guestbook. Videographer? Mariah Harrison all the way. Just saw our highlight reel today & it's so great.
I got my Justin Alexander dress at Bridal Accents Couture (not to be confused with Jason Alexander), but the ladies at A Stitch Above the Rest are the ones who really made it special. There alterations were perfect, they were so nice to work with. I had zero reservations leaving my dress in their hands. And the shoes? Clark's. I know. I know! Friggin' Clarks!
My coworker Madeleine did our gorgeous flowers. Though she only does a few weddings a year, the girl knows her stuff! Marissa Rasmusson, my hair stylist and friend, made my hair look like a million bucks; makeup by Alison Schlak (nailed it!).
If you've always wanted to get married in a boxing gym, check out Uppercut.
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Have a wedding "disaster" that turned out to be not so bad after all? Share in the comments. And if the disaster actually was that bad? Share in the comments!