the juicy bits

i started to run, thinking, what have i gotten myself into?!? i could never capture in words all the joy and creativity and generosity we experienced. and life kinda got busy...which, is, real life, isn't it? and something scary happened to someone i love, and then it wasn't so scary, and then we were grateful for everything and each other and life's lessons. but as soon as i started to run, i realized i was running for the wrong reasons. so what if this is the most disorganized recap of a wedding celebration ever, it is mine, i will write it. even if my words don't do justice to my experience, if i can somehow, someway, capture the sheer color and delight of paul's blue eyes, our confetti system wavering in the wind, the brassy notes of the trumpet floating in the crisp october air, i would be glad. my crooked smile, and oh-my-god my bouquet (it was GORGEOUS). these are the memories i don't want to forget. 

succulents, orange dahlia's, cream garden roses, and more. gush

so the weekend overview, once again:

thursday: errands all day with mom and sister

friday: special deliveries, last minute preparations, family dinner (aka: chili cookoff!)
saturday: rehearsal at whitehall and "rehearsal dinner" (or what PW and i called "cheers to you" dinner)
sunday: bridal shower (not your average bridal shower! stay tuned for many deets), followed by the wedding and reception.

let's start with the beginning, shall we? caroline and mom and eleanor were scheduled to arrive on wednesday evening at 7p.m.  i had a gift certificate to joseph's salon and spa that inspired me to schedule a massage and waxing appt after work that day... and let's be honest, my stress levels are used to red-lining much of the time, so this was the relaxing, peaceful, soak-it-up kickoff to our imaginative and festive wedding weekend. note to future brides: you have my full hearted recommendation to go this route. so worth it. even the armpit wax. didn't shave my armpits for two weeks! hollar.

this photo was taken the day before eleanor arrived. imagine how excited i was! my life would be complete if i looked this cute in my saturday morning lounge wear.

e.b.r. love

 also arriving and bringing a big smile to my face, our confetti system, with customized amounts of gold, magenta and turquoise. can i get a hell yes? this is the real deal, folks. we dreamed of this baby for so long, and one night, while attempting to convince veronica, our lovely 'day of coordinator,' friend extraordinaire, and creative, amazing soul, that the 15 hours DIY project might be worth it, paul ordered it. he walked in and said he'd done so, and i was shocked and i've no doubt veronica was relieved. she would've done anything for us, even a 15 hour DIY project, but this beauty was worth every penny (and keeping your dear friends sane!)!!!

welcome to louisville, Confetti Systems!

i had a whole list of to do's to tackle on thursday, and knowing mom and caroline would be here made them truly fun. we ran around town, picked up my dress, dropped off the ribbon at the florist, delivered batches of wedding decor to the venue, picked up beer, etc.etc.etc. about half-way through the day, i vividly remember saying: i have this much stress, GOOSE EGG, nada, zilch. we all smiled and vrooommmed along our little way. what a great start to the weekend.

at the end of our long day of errands, we made one last trip to pickup a special delivery: two custom, (confetti system's inspired) piñatas. my friend paula has a friend carolina who can work MAGIC with paper, cardboard and glue.  the piñata conversation consisted of a few emails, one phone call, and meeting in a parking lot to pick up the goods. this is just a GLIMMER of these beauties. carolina did an AMAZING job making this dream come true. yes we had piñatas at our wedding, didn't you?!?! if you can't tell from the photo, they were about 3.5' ft. tall. gold. and blue. um yes. amazing.

look at caroline's face! that about sums it up! amazing!

then when we got home that evening, we started in on a wedding craft i'd been planning for a long time... 

welcome boxes!

one of my favorite parts about a wedding is checking in at a hotel room and getting a little welcome gift. it's one of the special little things i wanted to do for our traveling guests, and because paul works in the wine business, i got inspired to use fancy wine boxes as the carrier of these little treats :)  we stuffed the boxes full of colorful tissue paper, yummy snacks (sweet and salty), beverages (locally brewed beer, half bottles of wine, and san pellegrino soda), fresh fruit, local publications, and a welcome note. wrapped them with assorted colors of ribbon, and voila! what a collaboration of all things good!

momma making good progress

attendant of honor in action

ready to go!

our mini helper

bridal delivery to the hotel, how fun is that!!

and talk about reduce, reuse, recycle! i loved this project, it was perfectly paul and perfectly me. we even saw my grandma and uncle dave in the parking lot when we were dropping these puppies off---so i got to hand deliver a few boxes! i was told that they were delivered by a bellhop to each guest's room (how fun it that! like christmas morning)...though i have no clue if that actually happened. :) as it goes being the bride.


how's that for a healthy dose of wedding fun and inspiration. more soon!
xoxoxoxxx S