Weddingbee bios

One of us is a big dork, and the other is practically perfect.

 

The answers vary depending on which one of us you're talking to.

 

 

 

We met at a bar.

 

Well, actually, it was a "Tavern".

 

Ughhh...There's no use in dancing around it, we met at a bar.  He made me laugh, and we became friends. 6 months later, we began seeing each other. 4 years, and a few moves and states later, we got married. Babies to follow...

David:  "So we're engaged now, right?"

 

Carmen: "No, I think theres a ring envolved."

photo by brandon harrington

 

 

All of the girls in the wedding were my best friends, and that's how it should be.  No obligatory bridesmaids, and all awesomeness.

Most of the groomsmen were with beard, and exactly none of them were face-hairless.

What can we say? We're Southern.

My mother is a Saint. Catherine Pugh, patron Saint of saving her daughter's ass. She and my step-father (also a Saint) drove for days in a camper from Texas. They tied bows. They ran around. They drove back and forth from store to store. Avoiding potential wedding catastrophe after potential wedding catastrophe, they finalized every little detail that I was too exhausted to remember. It was amazing, and we wouldn't have pulled it off without either of them.  My mom also said she'll kill me if I ever get married again.

 

My grandfather performed our wedding ceremony. He did a wonderful job, and I can't imagine anyone else in the world I would've wanted to marry us. It was so personal and comfortable, and created an even stronger bond between us.

 

My father is by no means a traditional man, so I was hesitant to ask him to "give me away", fearing that he'd laugh and say something to the effect of 'you don't need my damn permission to marry someone'. But, in the end, I never did ask him. He just did it.  He also played the hammered dulcimer after the ceremony as we were running back down the aisle.  At my request, the song was "Whiskey Before Breakfast".

 

Oh, I should probably also mention my in-laws. They are good people with huge hearts. They were so very proud of their son, and so very welcoming to their new step-grandchild.  My mother-in-law, shown here in the white blouse, took on the task of pinning everyone's respective flowers on their respective clothing items, and I don't think she jabbed anyone with any corsage pins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of a bazillion of my awesome bridal portraits taken by my good friend, Shannon Lawhon.

 

dress made by: www.dollycouture.com

Purchased on clearance at Target, and embellished with my own fabric flowers. They looked awesome. 

My maid of honor's little sister has down syndrome and is obsessed with weddings and especially brides. I instantly thought of her when I was choosing my flowergirl, because she would get to wear a 'bride' dress. She refused to be called a flowergirl, and demanded that we call her a "flower big-girl".  She looked so so beautiful

With his grandfather's yarmulke securely fastened to his head, my cute bearded groom waited for us to make the trek down to the arbor.

 

I put this charm together to tie onto David's boutonniere. Its a tiny glass frame containing a single petal from a rose we saved from his biological mother's funeral. She passed away some months before, and we wanted to do something to remember her on our wedding day.

 

Well, I don't like colored vests, and Express happened to be selling shirts that were the exact same color as the bridesmaid dresses, so...we figured...what the hay? It was a nice contrast with David's ivory shirt, and they'll always have something to wear on St. Patricks day from now on.

A friend's mother did our hair as a gift.  We all wanted simple and comfortable hairstyles, and she was perfect.

 

We forgot to get a "ring photo" at the wedding, so I took this at David's grandmother's house, scattered amidst old family photos.

David had his ring made while visiting Israel last fall, and it says "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" in hebrew. My ring was handmade by an artisan named James Meyer. He used a family diamond given to me by my mother-in-law. Our rings are very special to us.  

 

After a terrifying trip to a bridal shop, I decided to make my own veil. It cost me about two dollars. I think I did a good job.

Thank God for fake orchids:

 

We just bought a case of corked bottles from Ikea and stuck some orchid sprigs in them. No fuss. Maybe it was just laziness. Who cares. It was cute.

 

Plus, they're versatile, and I could decorate with them at home too.

 

Shown here with a wedding gift we recieved. Cigar box uke! So cute.

When I sat down and priced personalized shot glasses, or even just tiny bags of candy...I was literally disgusted at what people spend on wedding favors. I thought to myself 'I could just donate all this money, and tell my guests that I'm just not impractical enough to waste money on crap they're going to throw away.'

 

And...that's basically what I did.

 

I took the money I'd alotted for favors, and I donated it to a national foodbank.

 

We purchased inexpensive wooden spoons to serve as a symbol of the donation, and attached tiny notes explaining the sentiment.

 

and...Voila! I felt good, they felt good, and the people getting the food will feel good. No mints, no personalized junk... Just humanity at it's finest, caring about others.

 

 

Sometime around January, my friend Stephen and I decided we'd get together to make cyanotypes of flowers and leaves and whatnot to use for my invitation design.

It was about 29 degrees, but the sun was shining, so we were able to turn this:

 

 

into this:

 

Luckily, David and I have always been pretty good with a camera, so we used our own photo here for our save the date magnets: