midwest wedding, Middle of the Map Weddings

My husband and I are celebrating our three year wedding anniversary on August 30th, so I thought it would be fun to share our wedding on the blog to celebrate.  I did a lot of DIY projects, and it was also my very first experience doing flower arranging for a wedding.  When I was planning things I hadn’t gotten into blogs yet, reading them, writing them, etc. so most of my inspiration came from magazines like Martha Stewart Weddings.  I have to say that since I now work in the industry I could’ve planned our wedding about a million times over using different projects, and decor, as I am constantly being inspired by all the resources out there.  However we had an amazing day, filled with family and friends, and everything turned out just how we wanted, festive and fun for all our guests!

Who, What, Where ~ Ceremony: St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church. Reception and Catering: The Hobbs Building/Feasts of Fancy. Photography: Matt Nichols. Dress: Jocelyn Himes.  Flowers: emmy-ray. Cake: Creative Cakes. Videography: Carson Swisher.

Matt and I met right at a friends house the summer before we were heading off to college in 2000.  We started dating that summer, and didn’t know where it would go.  Once the school year rolled around we decided to keep dating long distance, he was in Nashville, and I was in Springfield, MO.  It was tough, but we were still getting to know each other through our hour (or sometimes longer) phone chats.  He eventually transferred to school in Rolla, MO and we were only an hour away.  We dated all through college and then once I moved back to Kansas City as well.  In 2007 he proposed and of course I said yes.  By the time we got married, we’d been together for 8 years!

Before Matt proposed to me I had never given all that much thought to my wedding dress, but I knew I wanted something that was unique.  I tried on a few gowns, all of which were lovely, but none really spoke to me.  I decided to have my dress made by Kansas City designer Jocelyn Himes.  I was so happy with the way it turned out, and especially loved the light blue flowers and sash detailing she added.

My earrings and necklace were a gift from my parents, and the flower I wore in my hair was a vintage brooch I bought on eBay and painted a soft pearl white to match my dress.  My grandmother made my garters (she used to design wedding dresses, veils, and accessories), one to keep and one to toss.

The very first bridal bouquet I ever designed was my own.  I wanted the colors of the flowers to be bright and cheerful, so we used a red, orange, and pink color palette.  The butterfly brooch was my something old, and borrowed, since it used to belong to my late grandmother, and was borrowed from my cousin (and bridesmaid).

I screen and relief printed all of our invitations.  I wanted the feel of something hand made, and since I graduated with a BFA in Printmaking it made sense for us to do our own invites.  I took the design from the invites and also made programs for the ceremony.

Our ceremony took place in the church I’d attended every Sunday since I was born, and also where my parents were married.

All of the bridesmaids wore different color dresses in magenta, dark and bright red, and poppy orange, with a royal blue sash to accent (and both mothers wore blue dresses to coordinate) and silver shoes, with jewelry I designed and made for them.  We also had a groomsmaid and a bridsman in our wedding party.

For the reception I collected milk glass and clear vintage glass containers for the centerpieces, which were a mix of the warm colors with a little blue delphinium mixed in.  I also sewed table runners for all the tables, and made a canopy of fabric and lights to drape over the dance floor, thanks so some specs provided by Blue Bouquet. We hung bright red chinese lanterns throughout the room to add a little bit of a festive feeling.

Our cake design was inspired by Martha Stewart Weddings.  It was hot pink with white cherry blossom fondant flowers cascading all the way down it.  We toasted with vintage glasses that belonged to my late grandmother.  Strawberry cake is my absolute favorite, but I know some people don’t like it, so we had strawberry cupcakes made to serve as well as our cake.

For favors we gave our guests fans so they could be cool in the warm summer evening, and also had a photo booth, which was incredibly popular.  We also got a guest book with pictures from the booth and messages they wrote inside.  I love going back and looking at it, probably even more than our wedding album.

We loved so many parts of our day, but one of our favorites had to be the speeches.  My dads was so heartfelt, Matt’s brothers/best man’s was short, but so sweet, and my sisters both stole the show.  My sister Lainey cried the entire time, and there probably wasn’t a dry eye in the house, and then my youngest sister Tara livened things back up with her speech full of jokes.  Everyone was roaring with laughter, and can you believe she was only nine years old at the time?  Also my favorite photo from our day was a shot we took in the middle of Main Street.  Matt Nichols had us jump out of the trolley on the way to the reception and we took pictures right there in the median.  Our moms were freaking out, but it’s a great memory for sure, and a beautiful shot of the city we love in the background.

Thanks so much for letting us share our day with you guys.  I’m so lucky to be married to such a kind, generous, and intelligent guy.  So happy anniversary Matt, I can’t wait to see what adventures the coming years have in store for us.

Thursday, August 25th, 2011, 12:18 pm   |   DIY Projects, Missouri, Real Weddings  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback