Our Wedding Reception!

Luvies, I can't believe I never posted our wedding reception! But I'm thrilled to share them with you now.  As our first anniversary {rapidly!} approaches it's so fun to look back through the images and remember the absolutely electric feeling of that night.

Key statistics: I never sat down, I never ate, I only managed to grab one drink and I never used the restroom - for six hours. And I loved every second of it!

As you probably remember - we held our wedding ceremony on a remote beach in Mexico. But still wanted to involve our entire circle of family and friends. So when we returned we threw a big ole' hometown party.









A bit about the details:
We held our reception in a fantastic urban space - a former brewery in Seattle that had amazing high ceilings, cathedral windows and concrete floors. The perfect blanks slate for me to go bananas with!

The highlight for me, and really for everyone there that night, was a looping black & white video of our wedding ceremony that we projected, movie screen size, onto one of the blank walls. The fact that could see it from the street totally rocked.

We also had a welcome table decorated with Polaroids taken from the Mexico wedding ceremony so guests could see more of the special day. Vintage postcards from all over the world served as our guest book. Fans, sombreros and chalkboard signs for available for guests to play with in our photo booth. The rest of the room was adorned with cafe tables, benches, fresh farmers market flowers and candles candles and more candles. Our guests feasted on Mexican themed treats, noshed on a dessert bar of cookies and mini cream pies and enjoyed local beer and wine, all done DIY style.

All in all, it was a fantastic party with everyone we love and care about. And there's nothing better than that!

You can check out details of our wedding ceremony in Mexico on Style Me Pretty and my tips for planning a destination wedding on Green Wedding Shoes!


Our Vendors
Photography {Visions of Romance}
Event design {me, myself and I!}
Invitations {Brown Sugar Design}
Catering {Herban Feast}
Rentals {Rented Elegance}
Flowers {me, myself and I}
Photo booth {David Ryder Photography}
Wedding dress{Robert Bullock}

For the Destination Bride

I'm so honored that Jen invited me to share our wedding along with my top tips for destination wedding planning on her blog, my longtime fave, Green Wedding Shoes today!

Are you planning a wedding or special event? I'm now sharing the wedding planning knowledge I've gained, both from my own wedding experience and from my life as a professional event planner, with the masses. I'd love to help you clarify your vision, set a creative direction or manage the details of your special event.

Please check out my event styling services, Aparmtent 34 Creative, for more information!

And be sure to check out Jen's entire feature at Green Wedding Shoes.

Our Wedding {A Few of My Favorite Things}

It was so fun to share a sampling of our wedding photos last week! Flipping through them again brought me right back to that beach and the amazing feeling of that day.

As my mother recently told me, 'you were positively beaming the entire time.' And I was, both inside and out, despite being sick the night before. Despite waking up to no running water. Despite it being the windiest day of the entire year!

Yet it was all perfect. Here are a few more of the reasons why:

The surroundings.



All of our DIY flowers, especially my bouquet.



Our Polaroid guestbook.



Candlelight everywhere.



The local wildlife.



Our DIY decor (that all had to be moved inside at the very last second. I didn't even know. It was brilliant.)




The fashion. Wearing the dress lived up to the hype.



A proper cocktail. We called this one the 'Happily Ever After.'



Family.



And, most importantly, my husband.


all photography by jose villa

Nearly 9 months later and I'm still not quite used to saying that. The honeymoon period isn't over yet!

Next up, a peak into our hometown reception.

Our Wedding Photos Debut!

It's official. I"m finally able to share our wedding photos! Thanks so much for being patient with me. It's actually fun to get to show them to you now since at this exact time last year we were in the thick of planning!



Head to Style Me Pretty, where the darlings Abby adn Erin have posted a great sampling of Jose Villa's beautiful work. You can also read a bit more detail about how we pulled everything together.

I also want to say a formal thank you to all of my fabulous vendors!

I got so much help from incredibly talented people including  Brown Sugar Design, Grace Edmands Caligraphy, Primele, Party Poms, Country Life Naturals and Paloma’s Nest. Our day would not have come together so beautifully without them.

Also, be sure to check back - I'm so excited to share even more photos and stories of some of my favorite moments from that amazing day!

Wedding Wednesday {Going On Our Honeymoon!}

Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking. Wasn't a destination wedding enough? Or maybe we'd be done after our hometown reception? It would have been easy to just stop there, but I decided to head my father's advice and take a full fledged honeymoon while I had the chance.

So very soon we depart, yet again, this time for a trek through Europe and I could not be more excited. Our first stop: Amsterdam!

all images by pia jane bjerk via here

It's a homecoming of sorts, as my grandmother immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands in 1932. I cannot wait to go on a bike ride, take a boat down the canals, visit the Van Gogh museum, and people watch in sidewalk cafes, browse through local shops and discover local hidden gems.

I'm banking all the insider info I can right now, so if you have a favorite spot in Amsterdam, please let me know!

Wedding Wednesday {A Teaser}

Our wedding photos are {finally!} trickling in and I am so so so excited to share them with you. 

I promise all the glorious details will be revealed very very soon. 

In the meantime here's a tiny sneak peak from our hometown reception to tide you over...

photography by visions of romance

Much much more to come luvies, I promise!

Wedding Wednesday {We Did It!}

Even though the wedding is over (I can't believe it!) I've decided Wedding Wednesdays need to live on. There is just too much wonderful inspiration and creativity in the wedding world to walk away from it all.

While I'm dying to share all the amazingly fun details of our our big day, we're not even done yet. We're throwing a big hometown reception in just over a week so I'm still party planning!  

I can share snapshots of our stay in Cabo San Lucas. The couple nights of rest and relaxation as newlyweds were truly divine.

I cannot wait to thank all of my amazing wedding vendors, but I have to be patient and wait until all the pictures are in. 

For now, I thought I'd thank all of you for your kind words, well-wishes and constant inspirations with a Wedding Wednesday giveaway.

I'll be announcing it in just a bit, so be sure and check back!

*The new Mrs. E