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]

a corral ceremony and some rings...

...Matt and I before the wedding preping our vows...

So on our wedding day Matt surprised me with a new set of rings. I did not know this was coming and it was wonderful. And fit perfectly with the unbelievably perfect and emotional ceremony. Perhaps I should back up a bit... I was an emotional wreck at our ceremony in the best way possible. I thought I would be able to hold it together and not cry, that I would be the strong dry eyed type...not so. As Matt and I rehearsed our vows at the pond as to what we were going to say so that we wouldn't be overly nervous I started crying at the part... Matt, I love you because you are a phenomenal man. That was it...I was going to loose it. I was marrying a phenomenal man in front of all of our incredible friends and family who support and love us soo much....and that day was today. Unbelievable.

...us girls walking up to the stairs...

So all of my best girlfriends/bridesmaids and matt's best friends/groomsmen and I all gathered up at the stairs above the corral to walk down into the corral for the ceremony. As soon as we hit the gates into the hay-baled, friends and family laden, love filled corral, with logs covered in vines straight out of sunset magazine, and I heard our very special Andrew Bird song (one of our favorite musicians...and a non-traditional beautiful wedding song), and saw my future husband who I love more than anything...I started sobbing, not crying, sobbing. I literally couldn't see I had so many tears in my eyes.

...my sister-maid of honor, and ryan- best man, finding it hilarious that I was crying...

Once I was at the start of the hay bale rows, I picked up my mom and dad to walk me down the rest of the aisle. It was incredible. My mom has MS so the fact that she was able to walk with me down the aisle meant more to us then we could say... and I needed them by my side to clear the tears, and to be strong and present. Then they gave Matt and I an impromptu group hug, it was perfect. They both give me away to Matt...forever, for keeps. It was very sweet. Matt's uncle, Bud, married us...which was awesome. We asked him back at Christmas if he would do the honors...making our ceremony actually ours. We do not have god as a part of our lives, so we wanted a ceremony that bound us to reflect that...which is exactly what he did and it was powerful. We had a little bit of a quaker-feeling to it, where some friends and family said their blessings, then Matt and I read our vows. Thank goodness we wrote them down, because it was nerve wrecking to say something so personal in front of everyone...and loudly.

...in disbelief of the new rings...

Then Matt pulled out these new rings. I looked at them, and they sparkled soo much in the light...then I looked at him and said... those aren't my rings! We had planned on me just taking off my bands and he would place them back on my hand...because I loved my rings we designed. But these were sparkly! They were beautiful.... I was so excited I almost kissed him right then, Bud had to tell us to wait, it was funny that I completely forgot in that moment that we had a real wedding going on. As it turned out he had one of my grandma's (who isn't with us any longer) diamonds placed in the center, with two smaller ones on the side, which is so incredibly meaningful to me that she is with me all the time. Then the ring has my same textured bands but now everything was in white gold and pallidium (the pallidium makes it so it stays white, and you never have to rhodium-ize them...which we like the idea of low-hassle, and our rings were designed on Etsy, from a super talented artist, Justine, and we love her work. I bought Matt's ring from her...and both of my sets came from her). Before I had the same style rings with white sapphires and recycled argentium silver- for budget reasons, and I loved that it represented us and where we were in life...but now I feel like a wife, with these wonderfully sparkly rings from my husband... its quite simply great.

...my rings, with the lovely bouquets my mom made...

[all photos were from rob hart]

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.

the ceremony...

Matt and I would like to do some fun renovations to the corral that we plan to get married in... here is what the aisle could look like with buckets of flowers...

Ceremony seating of hay bales covered in quilts...