anniversary weekend

OneLovePhoto

This weekend Tommy and I celebrated our 2nd year anniversary (it's technically on Wednesday...but I'm oncall that night...boo!)   We had a marvelous time!  We enjoyed a mini date night by dropping Clara off at her little friends house for dinner and play time.  We hit our favorite little bistro for some serious yumminess and merriment.  I got all dolled up...wore my yellow wedding shoes and did my hair and everything.  It was fun to get fancy!

We reminisced about our wedding (see our ceremony pictures here!)...our lives...our future....all with huge smiles on our faces.   We decided that our wedding weekend was one of our favorite life moments.  Pure fun!  Pure bliss!  Also,  we confirmed, yet again, that our wedding photography was the best thing we spent money on...hands down (read why here).  We will always be One Love Photo's hugest fans.




note:  It's funny that I hate Facebook so much...because I uploaded like 50 more wedding pictures to our wedding album on my account.  Ugh.  Am I hooked or what!?

wedding weekend

Newport, Rhode Island is soooooooooooooooo dreamy!

Our family attended a family wedding this past weekend in picturesque Newport, Rhode Island.  Nothing like a wedding to make one remember the splendor of their own nuptials...Tommy and I reminisced about our nuptials a lot this weekend....*sigh*....we really enjoyed our sweet little wedding.  I could relive that day a zillion times!

This particular wedding was fun!  They had an open bar (two nights in a row!), the bride wore a killer dress, the sunset painted the whole sky pink and gold, and there was a candy buffet....plus our family was there...which was really the icing on the yummy cake.  I hope Eliza and Matt were able to soak up the specialness of those moments...they fly by so fast.

I just love weddings!!

for tommy

Happy Anniversary,  my love!

mywedding/Christmas gift for my hubby

This is what I gave Tommy for Christmas - I made him a quilt. 

Originally, this was my wedding gift to him...as I had worked on it during the year of our engagement.  However, I wasn't able to assemble all of the fabric squares into a cohesive quilt before our wedding...so I tied a string around all of the pieces and gave it to him in a big bundle of fabric squares.  I then intended on sewing the patches together as an assembled quilt for our 1st year anniversary gift.  Yet with baby on the way and a full time work schedule, I'm pretty sure I won't have much spare time to do such things...so I decided to complete it as a Christmas gift. 

It's a crazy quilt...and I love it (crazy quilts are my favorite!).  I am so proud of it!!  I had never made a quilt before, I didn't know what I was doing...I just went for it.  I also didn't measure anything while making it - which was awesome until I had  sew the edges of the thing together...but that's another story.  I used fabric from our old clothes, scraps of fabric from his mother, and a hodge podge collection of fabric scraps I would pick up cheap cheap from fabric stores.  Lots of different textures...lots of different patterns...lots of different colors (though a fall color scheme prevailed...and I like that...it's the time of year when things like extra quilts get busted out of storage and such.)  All of the individual squares were hand sewn...as I didn't have a sewing machine.  When Tommy gave me a sewing machine for my birthday gift this project got a lot easier :-)

Obviously, Tommy saw me working on this a lot.  It wasn't a secret...but it WAS a surprise to him when he opened it on Christmas morning...FINISHED.  It kindof seemed like one of those things that may never get finished...as I had been working on it for a year and a half!    

I'd been telling my mother in law about this quilt since I lived with them last winter - FINALLY they got to see it!

 Tommy all wrapped up in our love quilt.

Here you can see the edges, and the fabrics I picked for the back of the quilt...a pretty striped print, and a printed fabric that has birds in branches which reminded me a lot of our wedding motif. 

I used an organic 100% cotton batting between the front and back layers...this makes the quilt warm and cozy.   Oh...and it fits a queen bed - which is AWESOME on these frigid northeastern winter nights.  Were you particularly excited about a gift you gave this year?? 
 

See - there is velvet, tweed, corduroy, cotton, eyelet, etc...I love the array of textures all together.

6th month anniversary

all photos by OneLovePhoto

Dear Tommy,

6 months in...

the best, most exciting 6 months

of my life.

You are my sunshine.

I love you.

Here's to a million more anniversaries.

- Jes

something new...old...borrowed...& blue...

I wasn't going to follow that classic tradition of being the bride with something new, something old, something borrowed and something blue.  Until the day before the wedding.  Literally.

I wasn't procrastinating or anything.  I just didn't think about it.  And after blogging about our wedding for over a year before our actual celebration, it kindof blows my mind that there were still so many things that I never gave thought to!

However - this tradition sparked interest in my little sisters...who proceeded to ENSURE that I would have all of these NECESSARY elements for my walk down the aisle.  :-)  I'm lucky!  My sisters were so on top of things.

OneLovePhoto

Something New.
Obviously...my dress was brand spanking new - have bought it a couple short weeks before the wedding itself!  This was FABULOUS.  Ya'll know I ended up loving that dress.  Glad I went for it.

OneLovePhoto

Something Old.
My bouquet was wrapped in a hankerchief that belonged to my Great-Grandmother.  It was embroidered with the initial of her married name:  "K".  It was subtle, and I'm sure many people didn't know it was there...but it was a special touch.

OneLovePhoto

Something Borrowed & Blue.
My sister was a doll and let me borrow one of her pretty rings.  Now, my baby sister has QUITE a lovely jewelry collection - full of rubies and gems and diamonds and Tiffany's.  But I knew IMMEDIATELY which piece I wanted to wear.  A big beautiful blue topaz ring....my birthstone.  Looked perfect.  And yes, after the wedding I asked my sister if I could keep it.  Ha....denied!

Did you take part in this tradition?  What did you use!?

one RAD way to rehearsal dinner

literally - the only picture taken of Tommy and I at the dinner!  thanks a heap Polly!

Tommy and I bargain hunted like crazies when it came to our wedding...the venue...the DJ...the rehearsal dinner...the hotels...EVERYTHING.  But boy did we hit the freaking jackpot when it came to that rehearsal dinner!  We FEASTED at Big Foot BBQ in downtown Flagstaff - fab location, quirky rad atmosphere...DE-LISH-CIOUS eats.  Holy God.

meeting Heather and Jon of OneLove for the first time - I pretty sure I squealed and hugged them within the first second.

This really was the meeting ground for most of our family members.  It's where we introduced our aunts and uncles to eachother - it's where some of our friends starting becoming friends with eachother - and it's where we met our photogs...yay!  Haha!

We didn't have anything really planned for this occassion - we wanted to treat all these fab folks who spent their holiday weekend to celebrate with us to some seriously southwestern fair.  The cost ended up being roughly $10 per person - which is pretty sweet - and everyone ate themselves stupid.  Except me - for some reason I just couldn't keep my ass in my seat long enough to chow DOWN.  Granted...I ate...but usually in those situations I stuff my face until my belly hurts.  Anyway...

Tommy and I got up and said some "thank yous" for those of us that came from so far to celebrate with us.  I got all choked up...like a ninny...but eh.

with my baby sister! 

So guys...my words of wisdom on this little topic...HAVE A REHEARSAL DINNER or WELCOME DINNER or WHATEVAYOUWANNACALLIT!  I loved our super low key and relaxed atmosphere...nothing stuffy...rad space...plenty of alcohol that people could purchase themselves...simple food that was delish...and checkered tablecloths.  Even if we ended up doing hot dogs and hamburgers it would have been fun.  This was just a great way to welcome all the folks...and spend a lil bit of time with all these special someones.  The day of the wedding doesn't always leave lots of time to spend with each guest!  Make this time count!

stuff that went wrong

One Love Photo

There were a few snafu's at our wedding...none were biggies...and all breezed over rather nicely.  But I feel like I need to include these little imperfections because they were a part of our journey.

1. No on-sight coordinator, like we were promised.  The girl was there, and she was nice and gave me hug when she saw me.  Except, she didn't fulfill her promise to "help us."  She assured me time and time again that she would be the one to tell us when to walk down the aisle, when to cut the cake, to do the dollar dances, appropriate times for toasts....etc.  But no.  She was behind the bar the whole night...never told us anything.  In hindsight I get frustrated with that.  However, on the day of the wedding, I was oblivious to it all - and the One Love Photo team actually saved the day and got the ball rolling.  (our ceremony started 10 minutes late - NOT because we weren't ready...simply because the "coordinator" never came to get us!!!  Kinda lame.)  So the beginning of the reception was a little, or a lot, unorganized but it ironed itself out.

2. I forgot one of the family photos for the Love Table at the hotel.  Now, it sucked...it was the wedding photo of my god-parents...so it was a bummer....but I got over it...especially when we realized everyone was already at Snowbowl....pro pictures were being taken....and there really wasn't anything I could do.  So I shrugged my shoulders, apologized and moved on.  Well, my poor mother was freaking out about it...she wanted something done...she wanted that picture.  She got my Dad on it and they  made it their personal mission to get it and they went to extreme lengths (it all seemed kindof silly to me...but it all worked out and nobody was left out.).  One of my second cousins convinced the hotel manager to open our hotel suite to her and she went rummaging through my bags and bags of "wedding stuff."  But she found it (I didn't even know where it was!)...and she rushed it to the wedding.  Hallelujah.

3. The guest book never made it.  Now, this may sound like a big bummer but it wasn'rt!  Things happen...and there were so many boxes of decorations it just got lost in the shuffle.  No biggie.

4. The DJ played the Macarena.  But like I've already said, that affected me for like 4 minutes total.

5. I forgot lipgloss.  Doy.

6. The "dollar dance" was fun but we didn't exactly have it "organized" before hand.  We just sorta went for it - which was me running around for a few moments between my sisters (the clock keepers/ money collectors) and the DJ....I was probably a lil too focused and should have just let someone else deal with it.  But hey, that even turned out rad...so I'm not complaining.

7. We had to improvise our choreographed first dance because my stinkin' beautiful dress was too long!  But even that turned out OK!

8.  The tuxes were uncomfy, itchy, and the shirts were the wrong shade of white.  But it's possible that nobody noticed...I forgot so it clearly wasn't all THAT apparent.  It was a bummer that Tommy didn't like his outfit - I wish he would have felt as lovely as I felt.  

As you can see, a handful of minor minor inconveniences stumbled into our wedding...but nothing was ruined, and nobody was disturbed.  It was life, and life happens.  Beautiful life.

the wedding keeps on coming!

Whereas this past week as been a personal nightmare for me at the hospital (the longest days I've ever consecutavly worked in my LIFE!) we did get a couple goodies in the mail.  We waited until Sunday, when I finally had a day off (after 16 days of sometimes 14+ hours per day!) to open our little bundles.

And OHMYGOD!

Not only did we get our prints from One Love, but we got our wedding video from Ben Cornelious!

Now - I've properly framed over a dozen wedding photos in our little one bedroom apartment.  Basically every where you look you'll see images of our beautiful day. A picture of my sisters giving a speech over there, dancing with my dad over here, then the one of Tommy and his fellas, and loads of Tommy and I just busy being in love on our wedding day.  *sigh*

And we finally got to watch the full wedding video - and I watched it twice - and I cried - both times - because it is our day... and it's all there.  All of it.  All of the smiles, and tears, and twirls on the dance floor.  All of the laughs and speeches and high fives.  Even my psuedo-grinding moves that I apparently busted out. It brought alllllll of that magic back for us...made it real again...put me in that place where I said 'I do' and I felt it all again.

Isn't that wonderful?  Three months after the wedding we can still celebrate the joy of that day?

It's been a great day off.

a toast and a speech

OneLovePhoto

Speeches and I have a funny relationship.  I hate giving them.  Public speaking isn't my thang.  Furthermore, when someone I know is about to give a speech, I get instantly nervous for them....sick to my stomach nervous.  Fortunately, my sisters and Tommy's best men spoke awesome words in our favor. 

My little sisters are so much like me.  HATE public speaking...but do a pretty good job in delivery, so nobody ever knows the crazy anxiety we go through.  I asked my sisters weeks in advance if they would give a little toast for us, but I also told them it wasn't a big deal and they certainly didn't have to do it if they didn't want to.  The day of the wedding came, my sisters were nervous...I could tell...but nobody else could!  They were up there holding those mics like a couple of natural Toast Masters!  They gave a touching toast that brought tears to my eyes AND made me laugh!

Tommy's two best friends were his best men.  They gave a speech together where they played off each other....it was long as it highlighted where there friendships began, through jr. high school, high school, and college... including hilarious stories along the way ...totally entertaining!  Again, these two made me laugh and made me cry.  They talked about how amazing Tommy is...which he is...so it was perfect.

Memorable.  Indeed.

*note:  neither of our fathers (or mother's for that matter) gave speeches at the wedding.  I didn't think about that until I sat down to write to this post.  We didn't ask our parents to do the speech thing, but we didn't tell them not to either.  Didn't think about this detail.

into the woods: our pictures

all of these gorgeous images are clearly OneLovePhoto

We stepped into the woods immediately after our ceremony.  So these are the first few shots of us as husband and wife - that's why we are glowing a little bit - we were on cloud nine.  Before we got married, I never anticipated decorating our every square inch of our home with our wedding pictures...I figured we would select one image that we loved the most.  Except...I think all of the images have to find their way into our home.  Right!?  They are so magical.

our ceremony...in pictures

all photos by One Love

I'm busy this week.  Like -  INCREDIBLY busy.   So instead of words I figured I would share our ceremony photos.  Those were beautiful moments for us.  I must admit, if I haven't already, that I wasn't nervous AT ALL once I got to the alter with Tommy....I was relaxed, excited, so happy...a few tears fell...but they were smiley tears.  (Between you and me, I think Tommy ended up being the nervous one - which neither of us anticipated as he is so rarely nervous! Makes me giggle to think about now!) 

(my personal faves are the last two!!!  you can tell how ecstatic we were!!)

allllllll of these photos are OneLovePhoto....obvs.

handsome fellas

all pictures by One Love Photo

Tommy's best friends were his groomsmen.  All of them were high school buds - four of them were in a band together...my Tommy played the guitar and did vocals...so hot.  Anyway...I love these guys.  They are hysterical... smart... successful... and totally down to Earth.  Tommy's little bro was also one of his groomsmen...he busted the best dance moves....honestly.  None of these men live anywhere close to Arizona....they all live on the east coast (and one lives in Norway!).  This was a huge deal to have these guys be a part of our big day.

I thought my groom and his buddies looked wonderfully dashing in their tuxedos.  However, the tuxedos were not without their own drama.  When we placed our order at the Men's Warehouse, we requested off-white colored shirts as my dress was ivory and bright white shirts would have made my dress look dirty.  After we made that shirt request, I confirmed it with the sales associate before we left the store - you know, just to make sure - he kindof rolled his eyes at me and said, "yes ma'am...you made the request....we already put in the order."

Fast forward to when the boys picked up their tuxes in Las Vegas.  Sure enough...they were all the wrong color.  ALL were bright white, except Tommy's...which was the correct color.  AND...they didn't quite fit all the guys right, despite the boys getting measured prior!  The poor dudes hated the itchy jackets....and the pants were itchy....and the shoes were incredibly uncomfortable too.  The icing on the cake was the fact that the sales people were douche bags in Vegas.  Unfriendly. Unaccommodating.  Unhelpful.  Just a bunch of sh*t heads.  I felt bad.

Whereas I thought the boys looked really nice, Tommy was less than thrilled.  He was bummed about the awkward fit, the awkward pleating, and he just didn't like how they looked.  How heartbreaking is that?  

If we had it to do over, we would have had them wear their own suits...any color (which was what Tommy wanted to do in the first place!)  We went with the Mens Warehouse because we thought it would be easiest, the most convenient, and the cheapest route (as a couple of the guys don't own suits).  Here's one of those things where you get what you pay for.