Weddingbee bios

We're just a couple of best friends who somewhat accidentally fell in love and decided to be together forever!

We met through the high school marching band. He played the French horn, I played the clarinet. He was a big, impressive junior. I was a little freshman. We became best friends, and he called himself my "big brother" through my first couple years of high school. Haha.

But then he went away to school in South Carolina, and it turns out absence does make the heart grow fonder. He decided he was in love with me and needed to be with me forever, and after I (finally!) broke up with the guy I was dating at the time, our friendship turned into something more, and three years later he proposed!

Make your Dad take them!

We had about a week to get our STDs sent out, and I decided at the last minute that they needed pictures. So we grabbed my dad and a camera and took these:

They're definitely not "professional" photos, but they got the job done (for a low price, and really quickly too!).

My dress was a Casablanca Couture gown that I finally found after trying on about 100 dresses at six different dress shops! It was champagne satin with an ivory lace overlay. I loved it.

I took my bridesmaids to David's Bridal and told them to pick anything that was 1) navy, 2) chiffon, and 3) floor-length. They ended up with six different dresses! I loved it.

I actually gave my aunt (the flower girls' mommy) free reign over what they wore, and she did great! My only requirement was that the dresses be ivory (not white). The girls look so cute all the time, so I was pretty confident in my aunt's ability to pick out something adorable. :)

And I just have to throw in this next photo because I think it's adorable...

We got all of our tuxes from Men's Wearhouse. My groom wore a black, lightweight tux with and ivory vest, tie, & pocketsquare to match my ivory dress. I think he looked pretty handsome!

Our groomsmen must really love us... they wore tuxedoes in Houston in July and didn't even complain about the heat! We got the tuxes from Men's Wearhouse, and the guys wore navy vests, ties, & pocketsquares to match the bridesmaid's dresses.

I created our inspiration board in MS PowerPoint. Our whole wedding color scheme was loosely inspired by my favorite pair of shoes, right there in the middle!

After our wedding, I created an inspiration board using real photos from the Big Day, just to see how close to my original plan it was. Here's the real deal:

I wanted my hair to be at least partially down and curled (I grew my hair out for a LONG time for the wedding!), but I also wanted something that would go with my birdcage veil. Here's what my hairstylist ended up doing:

Ignore the funny bridesmaid face in this next one... that's me on the left:

I borrowed a necklace and earrings from my Mom to wear at my wedding. I had borrowed the same necklace numerous times for high school dances and such, so it was kind of special.

I also wore a plain pearl bracelet. It was a gift from my husband for my college graduation. :)

Here's my pretty engagement ring. He picked it out all by himself!

And here it is on display for my sorority candle pass:

And here are all of our rings together... we had to have my wedding band custom-designed to fit flush against my e-ring.

My shoes were Nina heels from Zappos.com. I picked them almost entirely because they were comfortable, and had a heel I could dance in all night! 

Of course, I did a stupid thing and wore them for my bridal portraits (in the grass and mud...), so they were a little dirty for my actual wedding day! I don't think anyone noticed. :)

I wanted a birdcage veil so badly, but I couldn't seem to find one that fit my head just right. After numerous failed attempts to make my own, I found Angela Marie Veils of Cypress, TX, and Angie created one just for me! 

I absolutely loved our florist... I think she did an amazing job on these!

Mine was ivory ranunculus, lily of the valley, garden roses, mini calla lilies, and freesia.

The bridesmaid bouquets had maroon gerber daises, dahlias, calla lilies, and bear grass.

I made bouquet charms for the bridesmaids' bouquets with tiny pictures of me with each of them...

One of the smartest things we did was re-use the bride and bridesmaid bouquets as centerpieces for the head table. My florist found these pretty cobalt blue vases, and we just plopped our bouquets in them when we got there! 

All of the other tables had either a tall centerpiece (glass cylinder vase with submerged orchids, and blue sea glass pieces at the bottom over an LED light), or a short centerpiece (cobalt blue square vases with ivory hydragea, calla lilies, garden roses, and ranunculus. They were all on mirrors with tealight candles (the special kind that doesn't burn out in 2 hours! haha. I had to buy them online).

I SOOO wish I had photos of these once it got dark outside... the blue sea glass made the whole thing glow a blueish light and it was just lovely!

One of my favorite wedding projects was our candy buffet! I wanted it to match our navy & burgundy color scheme as much as possible, but candy only really comes in blue and red, so it ended up a little July-4th-ish, but people loved it!

Here it is all set up and ready to go the day before the wedding:

And here it is after a bunch of reception-goers had started to get their hands on it...

I found all of the glassware at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Hobby Lobby, and Pier 1's clearance aisle. The candy came from ACandyStore.com or HEB. I made all of the labels and attached them with navy satin ribbon. The big scoops came from scoopsscoops.com, and the tongs and little scoops came from Joanns Fabrics.

I bought cello bags and put Xyroned labels on them. We set them on the table with blue twistie ties.

We got these from etsy seller MoncherDesigns, and they were perfect! She even let me tweak the design as many times as I wanted before she printed them, and they turned out just right!

EDIT: Here are some pro photos of them that my photog took...

Pre-Ceremony Door Signs: I made these little signs one day when I had a little extra free time. Just scrapbooking supplies and a printer. :)

Unity Candle: Amazing what a little vellum and ribbon can do!

Place Card Board: Just fabric-covered foam board with pearl-headed pins. Each guest had a little envelope with an escort card inside, as well as our photo sharing card.

Dress Hangers: Simple scrapbooking supplies, ribbon, and Ikea hangers!

Table #s: Each one had me on one side and my husband on the other.

Family Wedding Photo Display: Includes photos of our parents and grandparents. It was set up by the guestbook and guestbook quilt.

Bathroom Baskets (2 womens restrooms and two mens restrooms)

Guestbook Quilt: