go here for my married bio

We tried to keep it casual, since Jake was planning to move to 
Florida in five months, and I assumed that would be 
the end of our relationship.

and I couldn't imagine settling for a long distance relationship.  
So after knowing Jake for only three months, I made the crazy 
decision to leave my family and friends and the place 
I'd spent my entire life and move to Florida with him.

Looking back, I still can't believe I found the courage to move to Florida,

but I'm grateful every day that I did.


On March 30th, 2007, while on vacation in Marco Island, FL,
Jake made me the happiest woman in the world.

Completely oblivious to the fact that I was about to become engaged,
we shared a relaxed lunch on the beach, and afterwards I agreed
to go for a walk along the Gulf of Mexico when Jake suggested it.

I was so shocked and surprised when Jake asked me to be his wife,
I couldn't speak at first.  After a moment of awkward silence,
 I finally managed to say "yes", much to Jake's relief.

. . . Not that there was really any question as to what my answer would be.
 










   





Casablanca Bridal Fall 2007 Collection
Style number 1886
Diamond White with Ivory Sash
Purchased from Greta's Bridal in South Bend, Indiana






From the final fitting after my hair and make-up trial.






With my seamstress, Carol, and the bustle (it looks kind of strange in this pic, I think they were still adjusting).



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I'm borrowing this veil from a friend that got married last summer.
It's exactly what I was looking for, so when she offered to let me use it,
I was extremely grateful.  One less thing to worry about!
 


Dress label (something blue) and garter from The Garter Maker.
Ring Pillow and Flower Basket from Hobby Lobby.
My "something old", the handkerchief my mom carried at her wedding.









pictures from knottie jacque85

*Edit: jacque85's account was deactivated, so I'm adding the instructions from her bio that I saved.
If anyone knows how to get a hold of her, please e-mail me (strawberrijam30 at yahoo dot com)

 

(C&P from jacque85's bio) The Much-Requested Bridal Hair! TONS of ladies have requested instructions on how I did my bridal hair, so I am putting it in my bio so that all who are interested can try it at home, if you have any questions e-mail me! Instructions: Ok, so first of all you have to start with straight hair. (if you have curly, you need to straighten it first), then you will use a 1" curling iron.You take a small section of your hair, put some Matrix Flix Trix(sp)  or any other pomade that is not gooey, one or two spritzes of Paul Mitchell Freeze and shine super spray.  Now you are ready to actually curl the piece. DO NOT clamp your hair and roll it up.  Take the curling iron and place it at the root of the section and wind the hair with your other hand from  root to tip around the barrel, this is the KEY to getting the waves. After all of it was curled I put a little more pomade in my hands and tousled a little bit. Then I back-combed  the crown so that It lifted up a little in the back. Then take small bobby pins and pin pieces back till you are satisfied.  Finish with some shine spray and a brooch and VIOLA!!! Hope this helps!!!

I took the pictures and directions above to my hairdresser. It turned out great and stayed that way
the entire day, even after trying on my dress, clothes, and going to the bar.







Some ideas for make-up



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I have five bridesmaids with very different personalities and body types,
so I chose the color (wine) and let them know they could choose the dress.

Here's what they've decided.

(please ignore the creepy David's Bridal models, I don't have any pics of my bridesmaids in their dresses)









Necklaces for the bridesmaids







 

All the guys will be wearing the tux style shown.

Jake's vest and tie will be white, and all the groomsmen will have black vests and ties.  





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After pricing local florist, I decided to go with silk flowers and DIY the bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres.

I found these roses and calla lilies at Hobby Lobby during one of their half price sales, and got all the
flowers and supplies for under $200.



The finished products . . .

   


Pew Decorations



Since my mom didn't like the fact I wasn't carrying real flowers, she insisted on ordering fresh roses and calla lilies
for the altar decorations and arranged them herself.




Our ceremony will be at the same church my parents were married at 25 years ago.



Inside of the church
(picture from my parents wedding)



 



Our reception is going to be at Whittaker Woods, a golf course/country club, in New Buffalo, MI.

The hall has great character on its own, so I'll be able to get away without a lot of decorating
(which is one of the reason we picked this location)








Reception Inspiration Pictures




Table centerpiece mock-up



Cocktail table centerpieces



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I just would like something simple with little decoration
 that tastes great.  Other than that, I don't care about the cake.

I've always loved Precious Moments, so when
I found this cake topper it was the perfect choice.





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Invitations are done and in the mail!






 
My stamps from Zazzle




Outer envelope, size A7, in Ruby Stardreams Metallics from Anchor Papers

Address Label Wrap, (idea stolen from Martha Stewart) designed in PaintshopPro by me

      To make the pocket folder, I used a 5x7 folded invitation in Poison Ivory from cutcardstock.com,

The card stock for the pockets and monogram were purchased online from Anchor Papers. I highly recommend them. Tom Peterson was a pleasure to work with, and answered all my e-mails promptly (some within an hour) which is surprising for such a large company. Anchor Papers has great customer service, great prices, and fast shipping. They even sent me the scraps left over from cutting the 12x12 and 8 1/2x11 sheets, and I will be using them for place cards and table number cards.

The real invitation text and insert cards will be printed in thermography by My Gatsby
on Poison Ivory and should be similar to these pictures.





**edited to add:

I was a little disappointed when I received my inserts from mygatsby.
The quality of the printing was great and so was the turn around time
(about 1 week, even though they said it could be up to six weeks).
But I wasn't thrilled with the way the color of the text turned out.

On the left is the digital proof, and on the right a scan of the actual invites I received.  
The text color turned out a lot brighter than I was led to believe from the proof.

Mygatsby offered to reprint the entire order for half price, but refused refund the cost or discount the original order,
even though they acknowledged that the colors didn't match and that their online proofing (currently their only
way to see the printing colors for thermography) needs work.

In the end, no one but me will know the difference, so it really isn't that big of a deal.
However, I wouldn't recommend using Mygatsby for printing (unless they fix their proofing system) for any colored ink.






Mock-up of the rehearsal dinner invite







Mock-up of the cover




A few pages from the finished program.