My after the wedding journal :) long with pics

[dawnkyeknod]

Well, it is my turn. I wasn’t sure whether or not I was going to write a planning journal – especially since I am already back from the honeymoon – but I know how helpful these were to me and they are sooo fun to read. The pictures and stories helped me get through the last year of planning so I thought I should do one. If it just helps one person –or even provides a bit of a break while you are at work – then its worth it. As everyone does, I want to say thank you to all of you who unknowingly helped me. I have borrowed, copied , and just outright stole a lot of your ideas. I am sorry that I don’t know who they came from … if you see your ideas, THANKS! I didn’t even know there were such things as a DW or FI or OOT or TA or TTD before I joined the forum. I am so glad that I stumbled upon the site and became addicted. JMy wedding would have just been a “regular†wedding but thanks to you all, I was able to do so many fun things that were fun to do and were appreciated by all of my guests.

The engagement

 (a bit of background: My FI and I were together for over 5 years. We were both married before and have 3 kids between us. We lived together for a year before we got engaged. We had talked about getting married but there was no hurry…)   So, we went to Las Vegas for a 4 day trip with another couple. Through one of my hubby’s business connections, we ended up with a huge suite at Caesar’s Palace. When we checked into our room, the management surprised us and sent up some strawberries and whipped cream and a bottle of champagne. It turns out that DH had planned to ask me to marry him later that night but once the “goodies†arrived he thought that it would be a perfect time to pop the question. He got down on one knee (with a huge diamond ring) and asked me to marry him.  I was so shocked and thrilled!!  It was a perfect proposal. J

Here is the engagement ring with my wedding band. My hubby’s ring is here too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STD Cards- boarding passes

We made these using a template from this board. Thanks to whoever they came from – sorry, I cant remember L    We made them on the computer , then had them printed. We still had to fold, cut, round the corners and perforate the boarding passes. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. Everyone loved these ! We didn’t end up sending out invitations after these because it seemed a bit redundant. Everyone who wanted to come booked right away so there wasn’t any reason to send invitations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dress

Like most of you, I’m sure, I read magazines, looked on line and watched TV to see the style of the dress that I wanted. II surfed the net for hours and watched a million episodes of Say Yes to the Dress ….. who knew that there were so many styles and shapes and sizes of dresses?!?  So, once I narrowed it down to a few styles , I went out for an afternoon with my friend to see what  would actually look and feel good on me. . I thought  I wanted a light and flowing chiffon dress  but once I tried on a couple, I didn’t like them at all. They are really clingy and not forgiving to any body imperfections – which I have more than a few... J After trying on just a few dresses, I discovered the joys of ruching!!!  Wow!  This is amazing! So, once I discovered ruching I was able to narrow down my choices.  I only tried on a few more dresses and I found IT!  Just like on TV, I started to cry and I knew it was the one!  I had a corset back put in (it came with a plain zipper) and I also had pockets put in. I had seen pockets in pictures of dresses and I love the look! I was thrilled  - I got exactly what I wanted J  J  J(by the way, it was the best feeling in the world to wear my dress on my wedding day.  I felt so beautiful and comfortable and sexy and skinny…. I also got to wear it a few days later when we did our  TTD and it was still exciting. I want to wear it all the time and I would if I could. Hee hee)

 

 

This is right before the TTD shoot

 

 

 

 

 

 

Groom’s and Groomsman’s clothes, Bridesmaids’ dresses

 

We didn’t have a bridal party – our children were standing up with us at the wedding.  I had an idea of the colours that I wanted so we went shopping and found these dresses. Our 2 girls picked them out and they looked good on both of them – since  they are 14 and 20, we wanted to make sure that it wasn’t too girly or too old for them. I think it was a great choice and a great price ($60.00 at Macy’s) . Once the dresses were picked, I found a matching shirt for our son. His pants were the same as my husband’s so that was easy (from R.W. and Company). My FI ordered a shirt on line from Wedding Tropics. It was custom made according to his measurements. Very nice.

 

 

 

 

 

This is not a great picture but you can kinda see what we are wearing.

 

The Jewelry

My earrings are called Bella from Swarovski. I love them! I call them my friendship earrings because a bunch of my friends (and family and coworkers) have them.  One person gets them, then someone sees them and falls in love with them and they get them too. They are so pretty.  Nice and simple. My bracelet and my watch are from Vivah. I bought the bracelet and 2 matching ones for my girls (they also got earrings and necklaces to wear with the dresses) . My FI bought me the watch about a week before we left – he gave me a really nice card thanking me for all of the hard work in planning for the wedding. Awwww  JMy necklace is from another bride that didn’t end up using it.  We also bought a really nice watch for our son to wear for  the wedding. (the bracelet and the watch arent in the picture...sorry)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 More to come   

[dawnkyeknod]

Oh no, the pictures didnt work.. I will have to figure that out and I will try again later....

[murmel]

The pictures work when you click on them!

Looks like a beautiful wedding.

[AnnaBanana]

Beautiful colors!  And I love your dress

[ambularose]

Great  journal! Can't wait to actually see the pictures!

[janapana]

love your rings, and your dress.... and the bm dresses.... well, everything really ¡!

[AishaB]

Thanks for sharing.  The pics worked but had to be downloaded.  Your rings were beautiful, loved your STD's and the dress fabulous! Congratulations!

[Thomasjsgirl]

Congrats! You made a beautiful bride!

[KimmyD]

Beautiful!!! Love your colors!

[dawnkyeknod]

well, if the pics work, then I will finish  my journal in a little while. I have it all written in a Word document, I will just have to attach the pictures. If there is an easier way,  please let me know... sorry. I have posted on here before but I havent posted pics until now. Thanks everyone.