our [2009] wedding

I shared our proposal story (it can be found here alongside the story of our first kiss), KC's version, a while back. With today being Valentine's Day I figured I should share some more of our story. Today you get the chapter of our wedding, in pictures...

I got ready with my girls at the Huntley in Santa Monica. The hotel is gorgeous and the staff helpful. The second you walk into the lobby and smell the amazing gardenia & white lily candles you know you are in for a treat. The morning of our wedding my girls and I got up and went for a walk through Santa Monica to have brunch at Jack & Jill's. Then we walked back to the hotel for champagne, hair, and makeup... 

[the garter that my grandmother made and my mother wore as well...my something blue]

[all ready to go...just need to put the dress on]

[mom, me and carly; maid of honor, sister, most importantly...friend]

My grandpa, who I was extremely close to, passed away unexpectedly two weeks before my wedding. It was very important to me that he be incorporated into my wedding in every way possible. 

[my grandpa's wedding ring worn as a bracelet]

In my opinion having family and close friends stand alongside you on your wedding day is almost as important as the vows you make. It has proven beneficial to have had the people in my life who know me, support me and love me as we took  the leap of faith that marriage is. Without these people in my life to share the last few years of extreme joy with my husband, I would not have been as happy as I am. Joy is multiplied when it is shared.  

[my three closest friends from college at UCLA...left to right; deb, christy, christine]

My closest girlfriends from the first stages of life through college...

[left to right; christine, katharine, tawni, christy, ME, carly, deb, dana]

[my HOT husband]

 For multiple reasons we did A LOT of our wedding on our own. One reason was the obvious, that it is more budget friendly. Another is that when you get two highly creative people together that is just what happens. And yet another is that as creative as the two of us are we also have a lot of creative people in our lives who were able to help in ways that made us realize we could not have done it alone. 

[after seeing an adorable pair of little girls flat in J.Crew I made this pair of sparkly flats with vintage buttons and velvet ribbon for my now niece and our flower girl...Luli]

I am beyond blessed to have great men in my life! I am convinced that without the great dad I had I would not have had my heart as set on finding the perfect man for me. My dad is everything I girl wants in a dad and more. He told me stories and had me laughing the whole way down the aisle.

Then there is this adorable man. What can I say...he loves love and I love him!

And the two of them together...

I will never forget this moment and I have told every woman I know whose gotten married after me that this is the moment you should live for. After so much planning, and things that were unplanned as well, this is when everything slips away and you realize that the man standing at the end of the aisle is all that matters. Pure JOY!

There were lots of laughs along the way of our pastor retelling our love story.

[along with all the things that we'd made for our big day were these
floral arches that I made with my parents...manzanita branches, peonies and orchids galore!]

After our vows and the "you may now kiss the bride" we walked away to Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered...

Me and my grandma (my namesake)! I will never forget going through these weeks with her. Standing with her alongside the hospital bed while we took her husband of almost 60 years of life support and then walking down the aisle two weeks later. As my dad and I got to the front of the aisle there she was, the first person on my left. The moment she saw me she had tears in her eyes and she said to me, "You look so beautiful!" Being able to share that moment with her was priceless to me. 

Me with my perfect man as the sun set. 

We were driven to the reception by my dad in my parents' 1963 Dodge Dart.

When we arrived at the reception site we had a few moments alone to take it all in. We toasted to us in the back seat of the car while we waited to be introduced as man and wife. 

The tables we set ourselves...centerpieces we made and bottles of wine that were also the table numbers that KC designed and we labeled.

Another thing that we were so happy to have as part of our day was the cake topper that my grandparents used on their wedding cake. When my mom was a young adult my grandma gave it to her in hopes that she would use it on her wedding cake one day. She did have it on her cake when she married my dad and we were so happy to have it on our cake too! (Our classic cake from Vanilla in Santa Monica alongside a photo of my grandparents cutting their wedding cake.) 

A great toast from my dad...I love this photo!

My sister and Luli getting down on the dance floor. As soon as we got to the reception site Luli changed into the terry cloth hooded robe I got her...the tulle was driving her nuts. It was too cute have photos of her running around in it. 

After months of KC taunting me that he was going to smash cake in my face and me pleading with him to promise not to he politely gave me a taste of cake, no smashing involved and all he ended up with was a dollop of icing on the tip of his nose. The last thing I wanted was to be in the restroom getting cake out of my hair and off my face after all the time spent getting ready. 

My favorite wedding expense for sure was a classic photo booth.  There was nothing digital about this booth. It was a refurbished, mini-darkroom enclosed, long back and white photos produced, booth of fun for us and our guests. We asked guests to "take one, leave one", a favor for them, and one for us. We now have a triptych on the wall of our living room with all our photos together. The best money we've spent...original, personalized, one-of-a-kind artwork. 

It was the best beginning to the greatest life together!