the tables...

...the tables all set to go...

I literally had dreams (multiple dreams) about how our wedding tables would look...I really wanted to convey a peaceful, whimsical, simple feeling to our outdoor-idaho-homemade-rustic-wedding. We rented 8' long banquet tables...and put them side to side to make five 16' long tables for our 75 guests. Then we rented the cheapest chairs possible... white plastic. We love wood, glass, ceramic, cotton, shells... all pure, natural elements...so I have a thing with plastic... not a big fan of it. It goes back to my montessori teaching days. But alas, wood chairs were outrageously priced! So it was not perfect, but it was just ok. You may have read about my table cloth situation from earlier... but it turned out just great- very outdoorsy. Natural colored canvas table cloth/painting drop cloths, that hit the ground and then some. Then I cut 24' long white muslin table runners, and ironed them. I wanted to hem them... but it just took too long, and it was too overwhelming so late in the game. And this was one of those details where you know you will be the one to notice the small details (it turned out to be valid also). We had all of the antique clear mason jars with flowers, little mason jars for water, and wine bottles we had collected and removed all the stickers on to put drinking water with sliced lemons in it for our guests to help themselves to.

...my friends Stephanie and Bryna doing an awesome job setting up the tables...

...me trying to describe "the look" I wanted...

...everyone, minus Colby the big yellow guy, working so hard to fold napkins with the silverware...

...drinking jars, with the wine bottles...

We had cute napkins and our off-white plates, and little antique aluminum jello molds for the tea light candles to sit in. I loved the "idea" of having the tea lights in the jello molds to cast light on the table in little cute scallops and ridges.... yeah. That didn't work out. All of our table mock-ups and trials... we forgot about the possibility for wind. Even most of the mason jars hanging with wire from the log fence wouldn't hold a flame to the wind. It was sad. We also made adorable wood floating candles for the pond... not so. It wasn't so incredibly windy that things were blowing over, but the candles were still affected. So my wonderful friends knew how much whimsical lighting meant to me and literally ran around trying to re-light candles and improvise with taller mason jars... they were awesome. I didn't even have to ask for their help.

...alternating amy butler pattern napkins on the plates...

So the napkins... this is one thing I really loved and it brought in my amy butler prints that I love in life and the inspiration throughout the wedding. As you may know from other posts we had an amy butler print fabric on the invite...so I did the same thing for the napkins. I just cut them though with pinking sheers-olfa cutter. 12"x12" zig zag cut fabric. I chose about 9 fabrics that I loved that were turquoise and greens- some amy butler fun ones...but that gets pricey, so then I bought some coordinating light greens and teal ones that were our colors. Then cut them, starched and pressed them...then rolled them up with twine and our rental silverware. I wanted to hem them at first...but gosh...I sew and I HATE hemming. Plus with all the wedding projects-that just got moved down on the list. Also my mother-in-law who sewed my dress, who is a quilter, offered to take all of the napkins and make a quilt for us- the double ring design. It will be a fantastic way to remember our wedding day...and really the exciting year leading up to it.

...me, admiring the finished product with so many smiling loved ones around me...

...dinner time...
[all photos from rob hart, kenny anderson, and kevin apparetti]

the cotton wedding dress...and first look...

...me feeling incredibly comfy in my dress, while others play ladder ball in the background...

As soon as I got engaged I started looking at wedding dresses....my first stop of course was David's Bridal for my budget friendly wedding. Well, I HATED the process. The dresses looked awful on me...and very few actually come long enough for my height (I'm 5'11)...so I would have to struggle with that if I actually liked one. Next I went to a bridal gown boutique, the price tags were ridiculous and I just couldn't picture myself eating ribs and playing croquet in these huge dresses. So I wasn't sure what to do next. I just really wanted to wear a long cotton white dress. I had endless searches for cotton dresses, and found nothing feasible.

During this process I had been delegating out tasks of the wedding to my family members who wanted to help. My mom- the flowers, Matt- the music, dads- BBQ-ing.... then I asked Matt's mom if she would like to help me make the wedding cupcakes.... she said no way, that sounds awful... I'd rather make your wedding dress. WHAT?! Seriously. She offered to make my wedding dress? The cake was a challenge but sewing a huge white dress was do-able?! I was elated. **side note... Matt's mom is a phenomenal quilter with impeccable attention to details, she is a perfectionist with sewing...so I knew her wedding dress creation would be perfect**

...how adorable are those little flowers on the dress?! Great choice, Janice...

It was funny that when I would tell people about my wedding dress that my mother-in-law would be sewing, they'd always cringe...."ooo...are you sure you're going to like it? What if you don't? Do you have a back-up? Aren't you nervous?" And surprisingly I wasn't, I felt more at ease knowing I'd be wearing a comfy dress and that I'd look like myself in then trying to fool all of my friends and family that I was someone else. Janice even gave me multiple opportunities to chuck the dress and buy a new one if I wasn't happy...that she promised her feelings wouldn't be hurt. Ridiculous. I couldn't even express how special I felt that she would put so much time into my wedding dress... it was soo touching.

...janice spending hours on the dress altering and hemming...

...dress alteration with the boots...

So she offered to take me to a fabric store, to choose the pattern, and choose the fabric of my dreams. I had dreamed up swiss-dot fabric to add a little bit of texture to the dress but then enough layers for me to be comfortable wearing white on a sunny day. I also wanted something simple. Janice, Matt's mom, made a mock-up dress in yellow... its adorable. Then from there we made a few tweaks...and voila. I had asked for a fabric flower out of swiss-dot for my messy side ponytail (which obviously I changed my mind on) but she then made a few extra fabric flowers and pinned them to my dress just to add some girly-ness... absolutely perfect!! As soon as I put it on I felt like those brides in movies where they put on the dress thats "the one" and they just know.... this was the one. I loved wearing my cotton hand-made dress. Totally DIY... as it turned out and I felt soo beautiful. I felt like me on my wedding day.

Janice came up from Colorado to do a dress fitting, a month before the wedding but I really didn't want Matt to see the final wedding dress until the day of the wedding. It was a silly little thing, but I really wanted him to be amazed on the day of the wedding... that gosh, this is really happening...and even with all of our prepping we still couldn't picture how great that day would be. So, we managed to pull it off... Matt hadn't seen the dress or the pictures circulating to my family and friends...and about 30 minutes before the wedding ceremony Matt and I had our "first look." That moment was great. It was right above the ceremony as guests were going to sit at the hay bales... our dogs had joined us by chance on the bridge. It was a nice little time for us to connect with each other before Matt went down to the corral. We centered ourselves. Just to stop and try to take it all in. This was really happening... how sensational.

...you'll notice the bruise on my elbow... yeah, rafting the day before the wedding...that'll do it apparently...

...me fixing matt's shirt, 3/4 sleeves is a tricky one for guys...

[pictures by rob hart]