I'll Never Desert You: Wedding Day Details

Details post! Details post! Oh how I love wedding day details posts here on Weddingbee. I hope you guys enjoy mine as much as I have enjoyed others! Like other bloggers before me (namely Mrs. Turtle and Mrs. Perfume) I was largely inspired by Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette. I love all things Marie Antoinette and 18th century France -- but something a little more relaxed and without the gilded gold details. I had Versailles dreams and a Georgia backyard wedding budget. Yikes! But somehow, with some patience, planning, and DIY savvy, I think we managed to pull off my vision!

The "LOVE" sign was placed on our unused sweetheart table. Making similar letters with scrapbook paper is super easy and inexpensive! I even made a tutorial for it last year. Now these cute letters grace the top of our bookshelf and they always bring a smile to my face when I see them.

The first taste of our wedding day style came from our ceremony site. We rented a fabulous glass chandelier from a local antique store in order to give our countryside wedding a little refined flair. It was an amazing detail and I love the way it looked on our big day!

The guest tables were arranged with an assortment of milk glass vases and flowers in our wedding colors (soft pastels: pink, cream, orange, and blue). For some reason, every table seemed to have one vase with nothing in it, but I have no idea how or why this happened. I made the table numbers in Adobe Illustrator using the same wreath design seen on our silhouettes from our save-the-dates.

All of the milk glass, tarnished silver vessels, mirrored vanity trays, and silver platters were collected throughout the year before our wedding. Mr. C and I gathered them from a variety of locations, but mostly from thrift stores, antique shops, and flea markets. I wrote about my quest for milk glass early in my blogging days last year. It's one of the things I miss most about wedding planning, as we spent many a Saturday scouring antique shops and thrift stores for items to add to our wedding decor. I still have boxes and boxes of milk glass I would like to sell, so if you are in the Atlanta area and interested in buying it from me (no way am I packing this stuff up and shipping it), shoot me a message!

Our sweetheart table that was barely used for the entire night!

For our seating chart, we bought some thin plywood from the hardware store and had them cut it down to this size. We then painted it with two layers of chalk board paint. I had bridesmaid SK draw it out with chalk pens from the craft store the night before the wedding (talk about last minute!) She's an artist, so I gave her a rough sketch of what I wanted and in a few minutes she had this whipped up! There are lots of other ideas I would liked to have tried for seating, but since we were seated outside (with limited tables) it was hard to think of something we could have easily displayed for our guests. 

Here is our photo guest book table. Including a picture of the instructions I created for it. 

Our dessert table with macarons and our wedding cake. The cake was later moved outside for the cake cutting. 

I found our cake topper at a local thrift shop. I thought it was perfect for our theme! 

French macarons! Glorious macarons! Having macarons at our wedding was a big deal for me. You can read about my obsession with macarons here. We also had some prepackaged with little thank you tags (hand stamped by me) that were passed out as wedding favors at the end of the night. I collected the silver trays and domed cake stands from thrift stores and antique shops. 

All of our paper goods were designed by me. I would have loved to do something more complex or use pocket folds, but honestly we were already over-budget everywhere else so I kept the stationary to a minimum. Our save-the-dates were printed by Moo and I loved the quality, but they were a bit pricey. We used Catprint for the invitation suite and thank you cards. 

I also designed our fan programs (inspired by the amazing fan programs by Mrs. Bunting) and had them printed at a local print shop. 

I also hand-stamped these muslin bags and filled them with dried lavender. One was placed on each seat during the ceremony so that it could be tossed as Mr. C and I made our way back down the aisle during the recessional. 

What were your favorite details from you wedding day?

I'll Never Desert You: The Accessories

Oh how I love wedding day details posts! I hope you enjoy mine as much as I've enjoyed other bee bloggers' posts! I definitely took the minimalist approach to my wedding day accessories. I knew that I was going to have a "statement" gown, especially with the blue sash, so I wanted all of my other details to remain subdued to allow the dress to take center stage.

I also never took too much thought about the "somethings" (i.e. something old, something new) as part of my wedding day accessories. But I think I inadvertently managed to hit all of them except "something borrowed" -- oh well!

All photographs are by Christopher Helm Photography. 

Perhaps my favorite wedding day accessory was my beautiful bouquet created by Gardenia Floral Design. It was packed with pink roses, giant peach-colored garden roses, and pops of blue delphinium. The colors were inspired by the gowns and sets of the Sophia Coppola film Marie Antoinette. The stems were wrapped in lace from my mother's wedding dress and secured with a blue ribbon which I bought to match my blue sash. The brooch, while I wish was a cherished family heirloom, was actually purchased at Michael's craft store! 

Another shot of the bouquet. It turned out more beautiful than I ever imagined! We were originally going to DIY our flowers and I'm so glad we didn't, even if it did end up costing us more in the end. 

The signature blue sash was handmade by my own mother. I bought the fabric at my local JoAnne's Fabric store and mailed it to her in Illinois. A week later she mailed the completed sash back to me. It was absolutely perfect! Unfortunately my bridesmaids had to steam out some wrinkles at the venue. 

And what would an accessories post be without the lady of the hour: my ivory silk chiffon Jim Hjelm gown. I wrote an entire post about my dress which you can read here. I am still so in love with this dress! I need another wedding just so I can wear it all over again. 

I wore VIKTOR & ROLF's Flower Bomb as my wedding day signature scent. I carried a vintage lace handkerchief with me (wrapped around my bouquet) to catch any emotional ceremony tears. I wore an art deco inspired bracelet I purchased on sale from Macy's. My ivory lace garter with blue ribbon and crystal was purchased from Etsy seller JLWeddings. 

I had no desire to wear heels on my wedding day, especially since our entire ceremony and reception were being held outdoors, mostly in a field. I saw a wedding blog post with a woman wearing these shoes (in brown) on her wedding day and I ended up finding them in gray on Amazon for $55! You can read more about my reluctant hunt for wedding day shoes here. 

I made my hair accessory two days before the wedding and burned myself with a glue gun in the process. I bought an almost identical accessory from Etsy seller TopWedding, but somehow in the weeks leading to the wedding it went missing. I'm convinced that either Mr. C or I accidentally threw it away, as it was inside a bag and went missing soon after an apartment clean-up. Since the Etsy seller is located in Hong Kong, there was no way I could get another one in time for the wedding. I was thankfully able to order similar feathers from a shop in the U.S. so I had them priority mailed to me and I completed the replica hair accessory just in time! The internet to the rescue! Incidentally, I now have a lot of leftover feathers. 

Here's a good shot of two accessories at work: my bracelet and the beautiful pearl necklace from Tiffany & Co. that Mr. C gifted me that same afternoon! Originally I did not plan on wearing a necklace, but his choice was the perfect complement to my wedding day look. I still can't believe he picked it out on his own. 

And finally, to top it all off, an ivory lace parasol. I found this at an antique store on one of the many weekends we spent collecting milk glass. It's not actually an antique, but at $25 I couldn't help but buy it for a few photos after the ceremony. It seemed decidedly Marie Antoinette to me and I think the photos with it turned out great.

What was your favorite wedding day accessory? 

I'll Never Desert You: Getting Down & Getting Out

Right after getting engaged, I asked my brother if he would be the DJ for our wedding. He was thrilled to help out and immediately started investing in a new sound system and lights in order to meet the demands of DJing for a large crowd. We worked out a killer playlist in the weeks before the wedding. All of his hard work was well worth it -- the dance party wouldn't stop! He kept the party going until we were practically pushed out by our venue. It was a great time, and my brother being somewhat anti-social, really enjoyed being out of reach of talkative family members. This was his grand wedding gift, and it saved us a lot of money in the process! 

When I envisioned our wedding reception, I saw all of my friends having a blast. I saw glow sticks, crazy sunglasses. I saw my dad and stepmother dancing. I saw laughing. And guess what? It really happened. It came together perfectly. It truly was an AWESOME time. The only problem? It went by in a flash. Before we knew it, the night was over.

All photographs are by Christopher Helm Photography. 

One of my favorite pictures from the night - with a bunch of my oldest, dearest friends! 

Daft Punk's most recent album Random Access Memories had just been released, so you know we were blasting some Daft Punk! We also played a lot of Phoenix, Empire of the Sun, and Two Door Cinema Club. I can't even remember what else we played, but everyone seemed really happy. Even now, I always think of our wedding when I hear Daft Punk's summer hit, "Get Lucky." 

If this song doesn't make you want to dance, I don't know what will!

The dance floor was so enticing that we even got my 87-year-old grandmother showing off her moves! She's absolutely my hero. She even does Zumba!

My stepbrothers (seen above) did a great job of keeping everyone moving on the dance floor. Here they are with my stepsister, bridesmaid J, and my Matron of Honor K.

The glow sticks and sunglasses were a big hit! I would definitely recommend getting some for your reception if you think it would fit the vibe and feel of your wedding!

Mr. C with one of his dear family friends.

As the night progressed, shoes came off. People were flushed with intoxication and bad dance moves. I remember being overwhelmed with joy. I couldn't stop smiling. I wanted to stop time, to keep dancing all night. I felt like a lantern emitting the warm glow of love and friendship that I had felt all night long. Mr. C and I danced and danced. Even though I wore flats, I eventually tossed them to the side and felt the cool, gritty stones of our makeshift dance floor beneath my feet. 

Suddenly it was past 11 o'clock and it was time to start wrapping up the party. Our magical night was coming to a close. The catering and venue staff were nervously buzzing around trying to shut down the bar and insisting that my brother play our final song. Our final song was one that totally characterizes Mr. C and I and our group of friends: Journey's classic "Don't Stop Believing." Cliche, I realize, but absolutely perfect. 

We all joined arms and swayed to the song. Everyone knew the words. It was perfection. I could not have asked for a better ending to our amazing night. 

There also might have been some epic air guitar playing.

After the song was over, it was time to get organized for our grand departure. But something was missing. 

Guys, I did something stupid. It's my biggest wedding day regret. I left the extra long sparklers I bought in the trunk of my car. Sadly my car was parked 30 minutes away in downtown Athens outside the hotel Mr. C and I would be staying at that night. It would have been possible to send someone over to grab them, but at the time we weren't sure where they could be. I feel so sorry for my family members and catering staff who spent ages looking through our boxes of decor at the venue in search of the sparklers. Luckily, we had a last minute improvisation -- glow sticks! Thank goodness for the glow sticks! Sure, they aren't the amazing magical images I always imagined, but they worked. And you might even say they are were a little more "us" than the sparklers would have been. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

I also did something else stupid. Right as the coordinators were lining our guests up outside, a member of the catering staff scurried up to me with a giant slice of Linda's Fudge Cake (as described in my previous post). It drifted towards me as if in a dream. Cake, glorious chocolate cake. "You've hardly touched any cake!" she smiled. My god, she was right. I started to scarf down cake like there was no tomorrow. I wasn't going to let that delicious ambrosia of the gods go to waste, not on my wedding day! What I failed to realize is that I was about to step out in front of 80 guests and a photographer after stuffing my face with chocolate cake. And that is why you see photos like this:

Whatever. I have no regrets! None! I do what I want! I do wish we'd stopped at the end of the line and gave a big kiss for the camera, but I was in post-wedding shock and everything was feeling very surreal.

And like that it was over. Fourteen months of planning, thousands of dollars, hours upon hours of planning time, appointments, DIY crafts, all over in just a few short hours. But it was worth it because after all the flowers wilted, the milk glass was put away, the guests headed back to their homes -- at the end of it all, I was left holding the hand of my very best friend, the love of my life, my husband. 

And they had a lifetime of adventures! And lived happily ever after! And never fought about who was going to unload the dishwasher! 

Previously on The Camel Wedding Recaps: 

1) Getting Dressed & Exchanging Gifts

2) Putting on the White Dress

3) Our First Look

4) The Ceremony Begins

5) The Reading 

6) The Vows

7) The Kiss and Recessional 

8) The Bridal Party

9) Wedding Portraits

10) Food & Dances

11) Speeches & Cake

I'll Never Desert You: The Food & Dances

After Mr. C and I had our post-ceremony portraits taken, we were taken back to the house so that we could have a quick dinner in private and share our first moments alone together as husband and wife. The venue set up a small sweetheart table in the bridal suite and had our food waiting for us when we arrived. They made sure we had drinks and anything else that we needed! 

Like many brides before me, I could barely touch my food. What I did manage to eat was amazing though! Our venue is owned by an Atlanta/Athens catering company called A Divine Event. When we booked the venue, we knew that we were going to have amazing food, regardless of what we chose for the menu. After the wedding we had lots of guests gush about the delicious buffet-style dinner. We had cheeseburger sliders and buffalo chicken spring rolls as passed hors d'oeuvres during the cocktail hour. For dinner we had bistro beef with a merlot demi-glace and parmesan crusted chicken with artichokes, wild mushrooms, and a lemon cream sauce. Our sides included a mixed green salad with oranges, strawberries, and sweet and spicy pecans, macaroni and cheese with panko bread crumbs, and sauteed seasonal vegetables. These were some of the most economical options available through A Divine Event and everything was great! I can only imagine what it would have been like if we had extra room in the budget to splurge on the food.  

After dinner I snapped a few quick photos with my phone to preserve the memories. We were newlyweds at last!

Just married!

Another reason I barely touched my food was that I was incredibly anxious to get back downstairs and see our guests. It had already been over an hour since the ceremony and it was time for us to be introduced to our guests as husband and wife. I didn't change my last name, so I had my brother (the DJ) introduce us simply as newlyweds. Then it was time for our first dances. 

All photographs are by Christopher Helm Photography.

Mr. C and I did not sign up for dance lessons before the wedding. Not only did we forgo the dance lessons, but we never even set aside time to practice our first dance! I think somehow in all the insanity and hustle before the wedding, it was simply forgotten. We ended up swaying awkwardly for several minutes in front of our intensely attentive guests. We passed the time by joking and laughing, hence all the photos of us smiling. I love these photos and I don't regret not taking lessons or practicing. It worked for us -- but a warning to future brides: it can be awkward! 

We danced to Adele's cover of The Cure's "Lovesong." I think it's a really romantic and beautiful song, and I love the lyrics. I've always loved the original song by The Cure, but Adele definitely adds an extra element of romance with her beautiful, haunting voice. 

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am home again

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am whole again

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am young again

Whenever I'm alone with you

You make me feel like I am fun again

However far away, I will always love you

However long I stay, I will always love you

Whatever words I say, I will always love you

I will always love you

And then, the moment I was silently dreading: the father/daughter dance. Why was I dreading it? Because I knew I was going to cry my eyes out! I wrote about this months ago, about how I'm such a daddy's girl and I knew this was going to be a very emotional moment for me. I was cruel to my father and never told him which song I chose. It was "I Will" by The Beatles -- the song he used to sing me as a little girl. I still can't listen to this song without my eyes welling with tears.

As predicted, I cried the entire two minutes. Thankfully, it's a rather short song! I settled for covering my face with my bangs to avoid looking like a hot bawling mess in front of 80 guests.

Who knows how long I've loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to, I will.

For if I ever saw you
I didn't catch your name
But it never really mattered
I will always feel the same.

Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart.

And when at last I find you
Your song will fill the air
Sing it loud so I can hear you
Make it easy to be near you
For the things you do endear you to me
Oh, you know, I will
I will.

Luckily Mr. C and his mom were able to lighten the mood a little after the emotionally charged father/daughter dance. Mr. C's mother chose the song for the mother/son dance: Sarah McLachlan's "Ordinary Miracle." Their dance was a lot less emotional, more sweet and lighthearted. It also gave me a moment to finally sit down at our official sweetheart table (which was barely used throughout the night).

It's not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It's just another ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when it's time to snow
Don't need to teach a seed to grow
It's just another ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn't it remarkable
Like every time a raindrop falls
It's just another ordinary miracle today

Birds in winter have their fling
Will always make it home by spring
It's just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don't throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
'Cause we're all a part of the ordinary miracle

Do you want to see a miracle?
It seems so exceptional
The things just work out after all
It's just another ordinary miracle today

Sun comes up and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It's just another ordinary miracle today

At this point I think our guests were eager for the dance floor to officially open. My brother, the epic DJ, set the night alight with some awesome music. Up next, the guests get down and the lovely speeches. 

Previously on The Camel Wedding Recaps: 

1) Getting Dressed & Exchanging Gifts

2) Putting on the White Dress

3) Our First Look

4) The Ceremony Begins

5) The Reading 

6) The Vows

7) The Kiss and Recessional 

8) The Bridal Party

9) Wedding Portraits

I'll Never Desert You: Mr. C & Me

I will spare you guys our family photos, but I will share our post-wedding portraits. This was a great time to relax and pose out in the warm rays of the setting sun with our high-spirited photographer, Chris Helm. I highly recommend that you have your engagement photos taken with your wedding photographer, as Mr. C and I had already spent hours with Chris the previous fall working on our engagement session. This meant that we were a lot more comfortable and less awkward on our wedding day than we had been during our first session together. 

All photographs are by Christopher Helm Photography.

I love this photo because it shows how beautiful the dress looks in motion. It shifts like the feathers on a swan. 

I collected some "must have" poses from other weddings on a Pinterest board which I shared with our photographer before the wedding. This gave Chris some inspiration to work with and gave him an idea of my ultimate photography vision for our wedding. 

I found a picture of a couple posing like this online somewhere and knew I wanted to replicate it. A little cheeky! 

This photo of Mr. C and I beneath the leaves of this pecan tree is absolutely one one of my favorites.

BLUE STEEL. 

A great shot of my beautiful bouquet. I wish I could have this bouquet in a vase on my dining room table every day of the year. It makes me so happy to see photos of it and remember how lovely it was. Even now, the smell of roses reminds me of our wedding day. 

And finally, after taking what seemed like a thousand photos, we rejoined our friends and family at the reception. I was excited to be introduced and to finally taste the food that had been so carefully planned months in advance. Oh, and grab a delicious cocktail to celebrate our newlywed status! 

Previously on The Camel Wedding Recaps: 

1) Getting Dressed & Exchanging Gifts

2) Putting on the White Dress

3) Our First Look

4) The Ceremony Begins

5) The Reading 

6) The Vows

7) The Kiss and Recessional 

8) The Bridal Party