Flashback Friday: Wedding details

While I could reminisce about how delicious this yogurt bowl was (organic peaches, organic vanilla bean greek yogurt and anahola tropical granola from Kauai) I decided that Fridays should be dedicated to something entirely different indeed.



Pluots might just be my favorite fruit. They are the perfect hybrid of juicy and firm. (TWSS!)

I also feel the need to tell you that it is 3am. We just got back from a short weekend in Vegas. Yes again. I had another comped room and some free time before we have to go back to school so I decided to go.

I like Vegas and all but with my asthma/allergies, it can be pretty rough on my body. I woke up every hour in the hotel completely stuffed up and unable to breathe. Now I'm home and still unable to breathe normally. It sucks. So instead of a normal food post, you are getting a post about my wedding details.



One thing I really wanted was a cute wooden sign outside of our wedding venue letting guests know where the wedding would be held. We got married at a gorgeous botanical garden in farm country and the venue looks like nothing from the outside. In fact, I used to drive right past it all the time. I never knew it was there.

I bought a wooden sign on Etsy that simply said, "Amanda & Andy's Wedding July 5th, 2009." I had crazy notions of all sorts of shabby chic wooden signs but luckily that didn't pan out. The wedding coordinator didn't end up hanging the sign. It chilled out at the welcome table with our programs, photo corkboard, card birdcage and letter-pressed coasters.



That birdcage/card box broke immediately. Luckily I only spent $10 on it. I bought the basket, corkboard and birdcage from Michaels.



Our wedding cake was almost exactly how I wanted it. The bakery we ordered our cake from had a huge book full of cake designs to choose from but I had to be difficult and combine three ideas. I was worried that it wouldn't come together but it totally did. I bought the purple ribbon myself from Michaels and asked our florist to put a mix of purple flowers cascading down.



I hesitated on fondant simply because I don't like how it tastes but it was July. Buttercream would have melted and it would have been an epic disaster.



For dinner, we decided to go with a buffet option. I have never personally loved buffets so I was nervous. Extremely nervous. Can I just say that it was the BEST buffet I have ever had in my life? THE BEST! No one had to wait long for food, there were plenty of servings (some people had thirds!) and the food was crazy delicious. I cannot rave enough about the company who catered our wedding.



The table settings were difficult for me to execute. I planned a wedding while working and going to school full-time and I just let the table settings slide. The catering company provided chocolate brown tablecloths, the lavender napkins and I created the table numbers with my maid of honor one night before the wedding. We were up so late.



Andy and I bought 50 various shapes and sizes of off-white candles from IKEA and decided that would have to do for the table setting. At the last minute I decided that we needed glass plates for underneath as well so candle wax wouldn't go everywhere. Smart decision. Our florist added in the rose petals.



We didn't upgrade to Chiavari chairs because the price was out of this world. I lost sleep over it for a few nights because wedding blogs tortured my brain and I am a snob but I got over it and I am glad I did. No one commented on the chairs good or bad. And please, if you are planning a wedding please take my advice and do not lose sleep over petty things like chairs. No one will care.



I bought this signs off etsy for our parents and grandparents. They were $6 and so cute. It was one of those things where I was probably the only person who cared but whatever. $6!



The flower arrangements on the head table made me want to die they were so perfect. When I had my consultation with my florist, I was so clueless. I knew nothing about flowers. Nothing. She simply showed me a few pictures, asked what colors I liked and then came up with magic.



My maid of honor, Tiffany helped me make 150 seating cards. I am forever in her debt.



I'm obsessed with monograms. I was thrilled when I realized that Andy and I would have the same initials once we got married. (I realized this on our first date, don't judge.) My middle name is Marie and his is Michael in case you were wondering. I had my middle name legally changed to my maiden name (which has an M) because I love my maiden name and didn't want to completely ditch it. I also didn't want to hyphenate or have a different last name than my future children.

Wow. I ramble a lot at 4am. Anywho, the monogram wasn't exactly what I wanted. It's supposed to go FIRST, LAST, MIDDLE but they did first, middle, last. No one cared but me of course.



That's the thing people. We could have easily spent major cash on our wedding if I indulged all of my weird thoughts about people needing to sit in chiavari chairs or needing table settings that were huge and elaborate. I swear, if I was left to my own devices I would have had a wedding that rivaled Stanley's in SATC 2.



And that's really not the point. Having a wedding for us was an excuse to party with our loved ones and get dolled up. We were two crazy kids who were madly in love with each other. We could have gotten married in a bathroom by a hobo named Bob and I would have been happy. I just wanted to be married to Andy already. Having a celebration like a wedding was more of a way to party, drink and be merry with the people who brought me into this world. And I had a HUGE family and I wanted to share my happiness with them.





I totally cried on multiple occasions because I was overwhelmed with how much love was in the air that night. Family and friends came from all over just to celebrate with us. It was a feeling I'll never forget.



Happy flashback friday! I'm going to do a few more wedding detail posts this month because it makes me happy. Hope you enjoy!

Did you flashback friday? Let me know and I'll ch-ch-ch check it out!