By now you’ve at least considered mixing up colors for your bridesmaids’ dresses. Would you be so daring with your wardrobe? A trend to try this fall is mixing prints. MadeByGirl put together this little crash course on how to mix with confidence:
All of us here at Wedding Essentials have been going gaga over this adorable surprise engagement the bride shared with us. It sounds like heaven: sweet proposal, sweet cupcakes and sweet surprise after the big ask. Here’s what Brittany said:
“My fiance and I are getting married in Omaha on September 15, 2012. We are both originally from Omaha, and we were high school sweethearts before we each departed to different cities for school and work. Our families still live locally, and thus we will return to Omaha for our upcoming wedding. I think we have quite the love story, but I may be slightly biased ;) We were engaged in April 2011 in New York City. I had always told my now fiance that when I got engaged I wanted it to be documented, so he hired a photographer who was present when he surprised me at my favorite NYC bakery, Magnolia’s. The photographer also joined us at a nearby restaurant where I was surprised to find out that my fiance had flown my parents into NYC to be with me on my special day!”
Thanks for sharing Brittany!
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In case you missed it:
Inclosed Studio is one step closer to world domination
Omaha had a Klingon invasion
Donuts are gaining points in the polls. Cupcakes might have a competitor in the race for cutest reception treat.
(Photo by Taura Horn, Lincoln, NE, featured on WeLoveWeddings here.)
Maybe in some distant corner of a galaxy that’s light years from earth, Klingons get married every day. But it’s rare that any marry on earth yet that’s what J’Sheel and O’Dwinn did Saturday evening in a ballroom at the Ramada Inn on S. 72nd. Although dressed in Klingon clothing and portraying fictional characters from the Star Trek TV series and motion pictures, J’Sheel and O’Dwinn–known as Julie Powell and Kevin Carroll by the earthly friends, were really getting married.
It didn’t hurt that the ceremony took place in the midst of OSFEST, the Omaha Science Fiction Festival which occurs annually, and that meant the hundred or so witnesses included a very young Anakin Skywalker, the Cheshire Cat, a couple of Dr. Who’s, officers from the United Federation of Planets, Speed Racer and several enthusiasts of the fictional world of steam punk (think of a way-over-the-top version of “The Wild Wild West”) not to mention a white rabbit and Alice in Wonderland. As one might imagine, Klingons dominated the wedding party although an admiral from the Federation’s Star Fleet was also in attendance. Even the minister, Janet Stiles, was in Klingon garb.
“The words for the ceremony came from a wedding on the TV show where two Klingons were married,” said Stiles, who really is a minister from Iowa and once married two people dressed as Japanese anime cartoon characters. Instead of hearing the usual vows spoken by earthlings, the witnesses heard phrases like, “Kevin, son of Edward, does your heart beat only for this woman?” and “If we join together, no forces can stop us,” although near the end was the more traditional statement, “Kevin, you may now kiss the bride.”
With their fellow Klingons holding curved sharp-edged bat’leth swords high to form an archway, J’Sheel and O’Dwinn, bride and groom, stepped down from the stage where the ceremony had been held and made their way into the well-wishers.
Julie said she and Kevin, both of Omaha, met years ago and shared a common love for the fictional world of the Star Trek characters. So when Kevin was involved in the planning of this year’s OSFEST, an idea occurred to him. “He thought, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to have a Klingon wedding ceremony during all of this?’” said Julie. It was clearly an out-of-this-world thought.
Story and photos by Mike Whye
From Miss Deco: Let’s just start with I am not a shoe girl. My usual rotation consists of Toms and flip flops. So when it came time to shop for wedding shoes I was a little worried that I wouldn’t find anything I liked. Our wedding is set on the more formal side so I was trying to stay away from something too causal. As I am not too graceful, heals were immediately out of the picture for safety reasons. I started out finding two sandal options at Von Maur that I thought had potential.
The first pair was a Grecian type and on sale! They fit great and would be excellent for an all day affair, but I was worried that then may seem too relaxed. Next, was a pair with some fun beading. These even included an ankle strap so that I wouldn’t walk out of them. $98 was a little steep for me, but I figured this was the one day to splurge. As soon as I talked myself into that reasoning, I found out that they didn’t have my size. Oh well, made that decision easy. Moving on, I soon found the perfect shoe! A simple black flat with some silver and gold on the back and they even had an ankle strap and only $55 from DSW. Once I put them on, I was sold. And bonus, I can even wear them after the wedding :) Mr. Deco even approved and liked the fact that they were a closed toe just in case he stepped on my feet while dancing.
Looking back, I have no idea why I was so worried. This decision has been one of the easier ones since saying YES!
Side Note: Good thing I didn’t by heals because I forgot to bring my shoes for my dress fitting out of town.
Is anyone else noticing America’s favorite breakfast indulgence is suddenly becoming an ever popular, incredibly trendy dessert option? Donuts are taking over traditional cakes and cupcakes at events (especially weddings) all over the country. And why shouldn’t they be offered for dessert?! They are DELICIOUS. Let’s be honest, they are pretty fitting for an after dinner treat, they are as sweet as cake and look adorable at the same time. You just can’t go wrong here– everyone loves a good pastry.
Donuts make a perfect option for a cake alternative. Since they come in all different colors they can easily be tailored to fit your wedding’s color palate. With the many different varieties available they are as good a crowd pleaser as wedding cake. Create a “Donut Bar” and suddenly you have an uber-creative, with-it dessert station. You could also leave take home boxes next to the desserts and send guests with breakfast for the morning (knowing very well almost NO one will wait until morning to eat them!).
People just can’t resist a good donut, plain and simple.
photo credits: chocolate and pastel donuts here, sweet treats and mini chocolate donut mug shots courtesy of kristin spencer photography.
With The Bachelorette on a different night, our week has been completely thrown off kilter. What day is it? Can it really be the end of July already? In case you missed it:
Tina Fineberg for The New York Times
The bride and her father; the groom and his mother.
-Cry when you read this wedding story by OWH columnist Mike Kelly. Then, watch Mike, his daughter and her new husband talk about their incredible story on ABC World News Tonight at 5:30 this evening.
-Drool over the birch wood details in this real Nebraska wedding.
-Grab your mom and your maids and check out the gorgeous Jenny Yoo trunk show running today and tomorrow at Ready or Knot.
From Miss Deco: Using our five wedding colors, we made pillows for our wedding reception. They will go on the wonderfulDurhamMuseumbenches in the main lobby where our reception will be held and to go on lounge furniture in the ballroom, to tie the rooms together. That puts the final pillow count at 50!
We chose 6 fabrics in one shopping trip here inOmaha. With coupons and in-store specials, the price wasn’t too bad. Next was the hard part: Pillow Fills. Local stores had 14×14 pillow fills for $5-$10 each. Totally bummed that this fun project was going to cost way too much, I turned to the internet. A blog mentioned there are pillow fills at IKEA for $1.99.
Since IKEA wouldn’t ship, my parents said they’d pick up all 50 fills from theMinneapolislocation on their long weekend there. The last step had turned out to be the easiest thanks to a co-worker who specializes in quilting. She had Mr. Deco and I set up on an assembly line cutting and ironing the fabric while she sewed the pillow covers together. We were able to make 26 in 3 hours!! They are turning out better than I had hoped!!
These directions are for a 13” pillow form. Adjust size of pieces accordingly.
We are only 3 months til the BIG DAY and everything is starting to come together!!! All our crazy ideas, personal touches and hard work is really going to make our wedding unforgettable!
From Wedding Essentials Bride Blogger, Miss Heartland: By the Monday before our wedding, I was checking the 10 day forecast every hour and it was looking like a 30% chance of rain and 85 degrees, not too bad for an outdoor wedding. Our final projects were punching holes in 350 lemon leaves,rolling 350 napkins, finalizing flowers, getting final numbers to the caterers, contacting all of the vendors to make certain everything was on as planned, etc. On Wednesday I had a relaxing lunch with my fiance and one of his best friends from England, then went on to all my appointments: waxing, spray tanning, hair, and teeth cleaning. I wanted to make sure I was in tip top shape for the most important day of my life!
On Thursday the butterflies began. By then a few things had to be changed with the “wedding plans,” but I promise you it didn’t do any good getting mad, it just made everyone else stressed out too. We quickly learned that the most important thing was still going to happen, Mike and I were going to be married in 2 days. My mother and our wedding planner, Juli, tackled all of the changes that were taking place in the background! Every bride needs a mom, a friend, and a wedding planner to help with any of the stressors that inevitably come up, no matter how much you’ve planned.
Friday started off as a day of pampering for the girls and a fun day of golf for the guys and then came the rehearsal dinner at Firethorn Golf Course, hosted by my fiance’s parents. Once the (delicious!) food was served and everyone had a few drinks, the night turned a bit emotional … Both sets of parents got up and said a few words and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Their words were so encouraging and touching, neither of us had ever been happier than we were that moment. Then our friends said such kind things, we realized how lucky we both were to have such a huge support system around us!
The Big Day
At 6:30 a.m. I jumped out of bed with a grin on my face which lasted nearly 48 hours. I ate breakfast with all my best friends and we were off to W Hair Studio to get dolled up for the day. We caravanned out to the wedding site inMalcolm,NEand everything looked magnificent — like straight out of a movie, I was speechless. The tent was set up, the decorators were perfecting every detail, the caters getting final numbers squared away, Juli was running around like crazy, and me … I was surprisingly calm, to be honest.
One of my bridesmaids said, “I mean this out of love, but I totally imagined you would be bridezilla, but you are not.” There was nothing to be bridezilla about, ohhh well nothing except the 50% chance of rain and some severe storms, that were set to come through at or around 6:00. Did I mention that our ceremony was outdoors and that it started at 5:30 p.m.?
The last thing I said to my father before beginning our trek down the isle was, ” Please make sureto not let me fall okay?” The guests were all smiles while watching, the music was beautifully playing and I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in all my life, this very moment while all eyes are on you, you realize how unbelievabl yblessed you are and that life always happens for a reason. As we said our I Do’s, two geese (which are said to “mate for life”) flew by in the background. It was quite the omen and everyone at the ceremony was awestruck. I think someone asked, “Didthey plan to have those geese fly by?”
The Rain
As soon as we were pronounced husband and wife, we ran down the isle, and not a second after we got inside, the rain came a pouring!!!! All of our guests sprinted down into the reception tent. Yes, the storms were coming, Yes it was going to rain on our wedding day, but guess what… it held out for the ceremony and hey, a little rain is good luck (I could havegone without the 60 MPH winds that nearly knocked the tent over, but hey, what can you do).
Ever After
We all ran down to the tent, trying not to get soaked in the process. I took a moment before entering to “take it all in.” It was another one of those moments of, awe that I wanted to push pause, to see that this many people came here for us, to watch us get married was such a beautiful moment. We spent the rest of the evening soaking it all in as husband and wife, we danced to our amazing band, DFUNK, talked to all our guests, laughed, cried, and most importantly we loved every minute of it together. We knew that this was the beginning of an absolutely amazing life together!!!!!!!!
From Miss Behavin: What did I learn from being a maid of honor? A lot …What did I learn when I was the maid of honor for two weddings in a three week time span? No words can describe it! I was so honored to be in my friend and sister’s weddings this summer. Throughout these weddings I most definitely made a long note of the things to remember on my phone. So these are a FEW things the bride, maid of honor, bridesmaids, or personal attendants might want to remember.
1. Ask the bride what she needs/wants. You are there for her right? If the bride is shy or simply indecisive… make an “Uh Oh” bag with the supplies you think she’ll need. Items you may want to include: Extra bobby pins, Ibuprofen (bobby pins are a killer), Tide Stick, Sewing Kit, feminine products, deodorant, water, Kleenexes, baby powder (slick feet in high heels are not fun), A & D ointment (Yes, this diaper rash ointment is great for us ladies with curves who might have irritation on legs from rubbing together), nail glue, lip gloss, chap stick, hair spray, band-aids… and anything else you would like.
2. Be the calm. It has been proven (by me) that mimosas calm a bride down instantly. It’s classy and a VERY fun picture opportunity for the bride and her bridesmaids as they are getting ready.
3. Be resourceful. Make sure someone has a phone to download their first song… just in case the DJ didn’t.
4. Don’t forget your speech in your hotel room.
5. Eat some cake. You’ve earned it!
6. Laugh. Have a ton of fun and don’t forget to tell the bride how honored you were to be a part of her day. (Love you Amberle and Darcy!)
Photos from Tree Snap Images (top) and Urban Safari Photography. Read more real stories from the Bride Bloggers here.
