{wedding photos} First glimpse of wedding photos!

Well, now that the holidays have passed, I suppose it's time to start posting some wedding photos! I've been so excited about sharing these, but the daunting task of going through them and deciding how to share them is another matter.
I think I will just start with the morning of the wedding, share some of my favorites, and we will see how it goes!

The morning of our wedding I got ready at my friend Darby's house. She has it furnished with great art and really cool antique/vintage furniture which made for some great photos! Also, I would like to again thank our photographer, Angela Cox who did an amazing job with our photos.

Oh goodness- fabric flower bouquets. If you are reading this, and you are considering doing fabric flower bouquets for your wedding. Be prepared. They are a LOT of work. Well, I had 6 bridesmaids so I had to make a total of 7 bouquets so that meant a TON of flowers had to be made. I will post about the actual making of the flowers and bouquets at another time. I'd like to give a run-down on how to make them and some tips that I found helpful, but don't want to take that time now. Thank you so much to my friends who own Crafting Mommies, and also my friend Angel over at TheyMightBeHobbits for helping with making those flowers! I would have never been able to do them without you!!! 

I looked around FOREVER for the perfect color shoes. I wanted them to be the same color as the bridesmaids dresses, but I didn't want dyed shoes. I was at the mall with one of my Maids of Honor looking for her shoes, and we walked into a shoe store and there were my shoes. ON THE CLEARANCE RACK! Now, we were on a steep budget for our wedding so I didn't have a lot of money to spend on shoes. And I am not one who cares about high priced clothing or accessories, and I don't care about brand names. My shoes were $12 and I got them at Rack Room Shoes. Go ahead... have a good laugh. But I loved my shoes and they were perfect for me. :) 

Anyway, I loved the stitching on the tops, and I loved that they are a soft fabric, similar to suede. 

Here is a little explanation for the next photo. Those who know me well know that I have a lot of anxiety issues. The entire length of my engagement I had no fear, no worry, no anxiety. I was completely at ease about the decision that we had made. I was going to marry my best friend. Cliche as it is, it is the truth. I had perfect peace about marriage. 

But...

The morning of the wedding I woke up in a panic. I was having a full on anxiety attack- complete with shortness of breath, faintness, and nausea. I decided to take some time to pray- I needed to center myself. I took a long shower, and turned on some music. Enter Waterdeep. I don't know if you've ever listened to Waterdeep or not, but I have loved them for years. They are no longer making albums, but I have a lot of their old music. I put Enter the Worship Circle on my iPhone. My anxiety went away. This photo is a reminder to stop and take a deep breath, pray, and focus on not letting my anxiety get the best of me. 

Ah, the dress.

When I first was looking around for a dress, I had a specific idea in mind (as most girls do, I'm sure). The more I shopped, however, the more disheartened I became. Nothing was fitting my style. I love the handmade, vintage, hippy, bohemian looks, but there wasn't anything that really caught my eye (within my very small budget, that is). It seems that most dresses (in our area and price-range, anyway) were all the same. 

Finally one day I was out with my mom looking for fabric for the bridesmaids dresses and we decided to go by the bridal shop and look again. She walked around with me and helped choose some options. This particular one she pointed out on the hanger and I said no. Ha! I didn't even want to try it on. It had pin tucks, which I did not want... It was an A-line, which I did not want... It had ruching, which, you guessed it, I didn't want that either. But what did I love about it was the fabric. It was made from Organza and it had a very earthy, hand-made feel to it. So I tried it on. That did it. It fit perfectly, and the shape of the dress fit my body type perfectly... I was sold. I tried on about four other dresses just to be sure,  but didn't even think twice about any of them. I left without buying the dress so I could think about it that evening, but the next day I was back at the store purchasing my dress. 

Well, there you have it :) The first of my wedding photo posts!