bridesmaids and groomsmen...

...the whole wedding party- bridemaids, groomsmen, matt and I, matt's uncle- our officiant, parents and siblings. After a whole week of BBQing, rafting, wedding prep we felt like one huge family, it was phenomenal...

We were soo thrilled that our friends were willing to trek all the way out to Idaho and be in our wedding. It meant the world to us to be able to spend some great quality time with them before the wedding too....BBQing, playing lawn games, drinking, rafting, and prepping for the week. We provided some cabins to stay in...cramped as it was... they did get to stay on the property...and then some camped along side our tent as well. It was awesome to have them so close and really be a part of the wedding week but also not put them out anymore money than they already spent in traveling. They helped immensely with all of the set-up and take-down, and had smiles on their faces...just awesome.

...some of our friends camped along with us...but our tent was romantically secluded...

...the lovely girls, and you'll notice the ONLY picture I have of the quilt covered haybales down the aisle for the corral ceremony...

...we decided that Haley, my neice, could hold a mini bouquet instead of flower petals and a basket. it was a little more natural and alot easier. She also had a flower in her hair- same as the fabric flowers on my dress, it was adorable...

...the girls cute boots, we had the bridemaids and groomsmen sit on haybales for the wedding, kind of nice...

...as part of our quaker-style wedding, Tracy said a sweet blurb about love and life during the ceremony...

...my sister trying to not be a wino drinking out of a rather large jar...

We asked the girls, as you know, to wear whatever green/turquoise cotton-esq-summer dresses they wanted, any jewelry, and cowboy boots. They could do their hair however....washed...unwashed... whatever made them feel pretty. The cowboy boots turned out amazingly well...all super cute, unique boots...the girls rocked them. So thank you fellow bloggers for all of your input...they were super adorable without being too country. They each looked like themselves...each with a unique personality...own style...and all of them super beautiful. We were all shocked that with what little guidelines I gave them for their clothing that they all coordinated so well. I was so proud that these beautiful, strong, unique women were my best friends and they could share such a huge day in my life with me. Not to mention all of the support the gave me.... oh my gosh...helping me to remember to eat or drink some sangria on my wedding day (I kept on putting down my drinks and forgetting and getting too busy to pick them up again), cooking for the fiesta-rehearsal-homemade-taco-night, making fresh guac from homegrown avocados, helping with decorating and arranging the tables, keeping the timeline going, helping with the floral bouquets, making the icing then icing the cupcakes...and much more that I am sure was soo behind the scenes I wasn't even aware of it.

...what guys do before a wedding...sit and drink...how nice..

...all great guys in the line-up, along with Emma who waltzed in as she wished...

And the guys all wore what Matt wore... a pair of khakis, brown leather shoes, and a white long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Casual, but crisp and clean...they all looked very handsome. The guys were a huge help also...helping with our playlists, man-ing the stereo (we didn't do the DJ thing, we did the IPOD thing), stringing lights, placing all of my decorations, cooking, or just being chill-no-drama-happy guys having a beer playing ladder ball- they were awesome. And these guys, bless their little hearts, kept on running back to me and asking me what I wanted. My dad helped with that early on so I heard after the fact...any question that someone would ask him... he said ask Lindsey...doesn't matter what you think she wants...just ask Lindsey.

...and whats the end of a party without shakey-face?!...

[all photos from rob hart, jessica harlin, kenny anderson, and kevin apparetti]

the cowgirl boots delima...

flickr

So my dear friends (& bridesmaids) Jamie and Jessica prompted me with an interesting idea...cowboy boots for the bridemaids. I have been struggling with bridemaids shoes, for I am not a "shoe person"... but this idea is intriguing...what do you think?! Of course adorable pictures, but we aren't cowboy-cowgirl people. It does go very well with our theme... married in a corral, hay bales to sit on, pastures/trees/mountains, rugged idaho.... i love it. Plus the nighttime could get a little cooler, and if not...they could change into flip flops at the reception?! So one more delima-what do the guys wear? I originally wanted white jack purcells....any ideas out there?! And who doesn't look good in cowboy boots anyways? Super flattering and I've always wanted an excuse to purchase some- that hopefully won't make me taller than Matt-that would be quite unacceptable to me.

bridesmaids cards

Here are my bridesmaids cards that I sent out to my 4 four bridesmaids (best friends) and 1 maid of honor (sister). I saw the idea on once wed, and decided to tackle it. Remember paper doll chains in 2nd grade?! Yeah, its even harder than I remembered. Did I ever sand each little arm and leg back then? I think not.... but for some reason I found it important this time around. Let me tell you.... this was a HUGE project. Not only did I spend a whole week on it and question even completing it more than once... I then took it to the post office and it was $1.22 to send each card! Just fine for 5 cards....but it made me wonder about wedding invites. What if I spend all my time and put lots of love into each and every wedding invite and the postage is so outrageous that I might as well have chosen to do letterpress invites?! Huge questions I will have to answer later...
So I chose to put each girl's information on the back of their paper doll, and then the wedding info also. That way even though everyone knows each other...they have each other's email and phone number for quick easy access for any plans that need to be made. Each girl also has their own green dress and flower in their hair, which is how I picture them at my wedding. They have the freedom to choose any shade/style of green summer dress that they'd like and I will be giving them a cute little white flower for their hair. Nice and simple. The part about this diy project that I loved the best was getting the phone calls after my friends/sister received them. They were so excited for the wedding, and loved that it really felt like me asking them to be in my very special and unique wedding and how much it clearly meant to me that they were there. It was fantastic. And I would do it again in a second. However....for 50 wedding invites...we shall see what we come up with...

bridesmaid's dresses

I got this idea from "a lovely morning's" wedding, she pulled it off so beautifully. Instead of choosing a dress for your bridesmaids let them choose! What a great idea. Our colors will be green, yellow, and white. So they can all choose a shade of a green dress and together it could look really sharp and lively.