Category Archives: wedding

For Jason, One Year Later

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 10 Comments

I blame it all on him. The fact that I can’t look at a love quote or watch a sappy commercial without crying. It’s all his fault.

I open up my Pinterest and the waterworks just start up. It doesn’t matter if I’m at my work desk or if I’m at home in my bedroom or if I’m in the middle of class. I read something beautiful and think of him. And it just opens up this part of me I didn’t even know existed. This depth of feeling I don’t even understand.

Not everyone gets to celebrate a one year engagement–I guess we’re just lucky like that. So this is my one year ago he asked me to marry him and I said yes post. It’s probably kind of sappy, but how many times in your life do you get to be truly sappy?

Source: betterthanfine.tumblr.com via Cecilia on Pinterest

More than four years ago I took a chance and opened up to someone. I told Jason I liked him and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But the rewards have been great, and I look at that moment as a turning point in my life. A moment where I decided to stop being afraid of what I wanted and follow my heart.

Sure, there have been times where I’ve faltered, but it was that moment when my life changed.

We’ve had our ups and downs. Our times apart. We know that love is hard work, but we like hard work. Working hard just means you really care about something. If we didn’t have to work at it then the times that are truly beautiful wouldn’t feel like such a pay-off.

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And to think that we grew up on the same street, went to the same grocery store, saw the same snows. I always say I never thought I’d be the one to marry my high school boyfriend, but then again, why not? Maybe the problem with relationships now is everyone just expects so much. Everyone wants to have this grand love story but they want it on their terms and they don’t want to work for it. Sometimes the best things are the unexpected ones.

So, to Jason, one year ago you asked me to marry you and I said yes. And I say yes today, tomorrow, and forever. I love your past, future, and present. Thank you for always pushing me to be the person I want to, helping me achieve my dreams, making every night a slumber party, and every day something to celebrate.

I have always known it was you.

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Posted in personal, wedding

Wedding: Save-the-dates

Posted on November 22, 2011 | 6 Comments

I finished our save-the-dates this weekend. It was glorious. I felt like jumping in the air because I finally got something wedding related done. Everyone says I’ve gotten a lot done already (the location booked, caterer booked, officiant and photographer well underway), but it just doesn’t feel like anything is done. So here is something concrete. Something I can send out to people to say, “Look, I’m serious about this.”

They’re vintage handkerchiefs stamped with a custom stamp from Antiquaria. I wanted something that really set the tone of our wedding, which is in a barn with lots of good Iowa food, and something that showed my craftiness. When I saw this tutorial I knew these were perfect for me. I wanted an object, not just a piece of paper everyone would throw away. I sincerely hope people don’t throw these handkerchiefs away. My hope is that they’ll bring them to my wedding and use them to wipe away any tears they have.

No two handkerchiefs are exactly alike. I bought two lots of them from Etsy and ended up with over one hundred handkerchiefs. I couldn’t use some of them because the stamp wouldn’t show up or they had rips or stains. I only needed 75 in the end and I managed to pull that many out.

The ink didn’t disperse evenly across the stamp, but I actually think it looks a little better this way. More rustic and old. The only important information is the date, which will also be stamped on the outside of the envelope.

I did find that stamping on a softer surface, like a stack of papers instead of a table, helped create a crisper stamp.

Now they just need to be folded and placed in envelopes and this will be one thing crossed off my list!

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Posted in crafts, wedding

Tagged diy, save the dates, wedding

Sunday Salon: A Bookish Wedding

Posted on August 7, 2011 | 26 Comments

Over the last week I’ve spent a lot more time wedding planning and a lot less time reading. Even so, I’ve had my mind on incorporating some bookish ideas into my wedding.

These wedding invitations are super cute, and for save the dates they had bookmarks. I found this at Oh So Beautiful Paper.

I love, love, love these vintage book centerpieces I found on The Knot. I have a few books like this from when I was a kid already and they’re pretty easy to find.

And I love this adorable cake topper I found on Pinterest, but the link to the Etsy page doesn’t work. I assume someone bought it so it’s no longer there!

I like the idea of incorporating books or reading into my wedding in small, subtle ways. Do any of you have ideas for bookish wedding ideas?

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Posted in sunday salon, wedding

Engagement Pictures

Posted on April 24, 2011 | 23 Comments

During the readathon I had to spend a couple hours getting my engagement pictures taken. A few of you expressed interest in seeing the results of these pictures. I’ve only seen about six of them so far but I’m really happy with the results. My best friend from high school took them. She has a great photography business called Katharyne Dunn Photography– so you should check her out if you are so inclined.