Why Everyone Should Have a Photobooth

Almost every wedding blog has one thing in common.. they've all talked about or posted photos from a photobooth. Seriously. For all you brides-to-be stalking other planning blogs, find ONE that hasn't done a post with one. I dare ya!

I know its a trend, but with everyone doing photobooths, or faux-tobooths, we were hooked. There was such a wide variety of types, some whimsical, some vintage, but they were all fun, and the pictures are priceless.

(Unless otherwise noted, all photos were clipped from Weddingbee. Click on the photo for its blog-post-link.)

All you really need is a camera, a tripod, and maybe a sheet with a fun print.
Oh, and props, cause everyone loves funny hats and mustaches.

Below, Mrs Cookie went with a traditional rented photobooth, and even provided colorful paper to attach the photo strips to!

Mrs Avacado even thought to bring in a dry erase board for people to include messages!

We knew our reception was going to be a party. We knew that people tend to be silly when happy (and drinking) and we REALLY wanted to encourage this and capture it on film. I've shown you before what can happen with our family friends at weddings. So, true to form, our friends, and our families friends were all drinking and laughing and having a great time... and we caught it all on "film".

(And by "we" I mean our uber wonderful photogs.
Rae and Wes set up the background, provided the props, and snapped the shots! )

I think some of these may end up being among our favorite photos. And as you can tell, it was a hit with the entire crowd, not just us "kids".

They captured the feel of the party and the wide variety of personalities regardless of the ages. It was worth every penny, and in the near future I'll do a full post on our photobooth photos.

A few weeks ago, my husband came across these and we think they would be a great addition to anyone's photobooth props!

And one last idea that I found on weddinbee by way of Martha Stewart,

How fun is that? Use the chalkboard for messages and backdrop!

So, there you have it. Photobooths are just plain fun and you end up with pictures to look at and laugh with for years to come. I highly recommend it!
Anyone else planning the booth route?

Wedding Day Drinking

So its been such a long time I'm almost hesitant to post! I've got lots of fun stories of being a military wife and newlywed, mini-moon and hikes and rafting and camping, and arguing over curtains. But since this is my wedding blog, I'll stick to that for now.

I don't have the digital files from my photog yet, (We have to choose the ones for our album first....hmmm..... I think I'll start post-it noting the ones I like best right now!.... No, wait... I am blogging FINALLY. I will not be distracted..... oooh... shiny thing!) :)

I thought I'd bring up a topic that I never read about and put ZERO thought into before the wedding. We planned the meal, we choose wine and champagne that fit the feel (and budget!), and special ordered beer. We had thought it all through.... with one small snafu... I hadn't given a moment's worth of thought to what I would be drinking.

When we arrived at the party and finished the sword arch, one of my parent's friends came over, gave me a great big hug, and asked me what I wanted to drink because she was going to get it for me. Gotta love the South. ;-) I was caught off guard (not expecting this question quite so early... and for some reason I envisioned going to the bar myself - HA!), and asked for a glass of the red wine. I thought some version of this would be me:She LAUGHED (loudly) and said absolutely not with my pretty white dress. Huh. Not the reaction I expected (I guess even at your wedding when asking for an alcoholic drink I am still "John and Mary's kid" and my requests will get laughed at as such). She brought me a glass of white wine, which I am really not a fan of.

I sipped on it just as long as she was talking to me. All the while thinking "OK - I'm not aloud to have red wine... and she does a have point, I am my father's daughter thus, I will end up wearing it. I don't fancy white wine. I will be a diabetic before the night is over if I drink champagne all night. People are obviously going to keep my hand full of whatever I am drinking so mixed drinks are OUT OF THE QUESTION. So what the hell am I going to drink?!" At which point my oh-so-wonderful-brand-new-husband walked up with one of our specialty beers! (Kona Brew Company) PERFECT! I quickly snagged it from him and said thanks! And then I was pulled into another "Congrats - It was beautiful!" conversation, and someone quickly got him a new beer. :) All was right with the reception world.

Like the propped up pinky? I figured it was a dressy event and here I was drinking beer, so I'd fancy it up a bit. =)

Of course, later on, when everyone had been drinking a bit, the eel came out and became the limbo stick. So, beer in hand....

Everyone thought it was funny that the bride was drinking beer all night (except for the toasts), but that was just fine by me. I had a good time, wasn't stressing about each sip, and wasn't getting wasted. Just good friends, fun music, a fabulous new husband, and a night to remember.

Has anyone else put any thought into it? What will you be drinking?

Not so nervous

I suppose its a very common thing to be nervous before a wedding. After all, you are saying "I do until death do us part." (Well, those weren't our words as we "wrote/plagiarize/personalized" our own vows.... but I'll get into that later.) And there are plenty of examples where that doesn't hold true or you don't know the other person as well as you thought. And of course, there is also the fact that its going to be all eyes on you for most of the afternoon / night. Leading many to outwardly or inwardly feel like this:

But for me, I am pretty comfortable in my own skin. Would I like for that skin to be a bit more toned or tan? Sure. But, overall, I'm a pretty happy camper with myself. And all my friends and family and family-friends know me pretty well. So we've got the "center of attention" fear covered.

As far as the nervousness due to details and things going wrong, I had a wedding coordinator that I trusted. I had done all my planning and decisions, it was her job to pull it all off. I am sure some things went wrong, its just bound to happen. I only knew of one snafu and when someone came to me with it, I tossed up my hands and said "not my problem go find the wedding coordinator". Part of that level of comfort and relaxation was because I trusted her so, and part of it was that I knew the wedding would still happen if the programs got lost, or if the centerpieces were goofed or whatever else. As much effort went into those details, there were still that, details. Small details that many would overlook anyway, and while beautiful and full of heart, wouldn't affect the outcome of the day.

I am by NO means a perfectionist. (If you click forward to 3:48 you'll see Charlotte's freakout about a perfect wedding.)

Long shot, reach for the stars and don't stop 'til you get there drive and stubbornness - sure, thats me. As long as it isn't work related, close enough is fine by me. Its a shade or two off? Who'll notice? We are 10 programs short? No one here bites (besides me), they can share! The words weren't perfect? Am I getting graded on this? When small things go off plan my first response tends to be something along the lines of "So?" or "Oh well" or "there was a strict plan?" My mother actually sat me down for a serious talk a few days before the wedding. Her "we need to talk" mode freaked me out more than anything. She very calmly let me know that while she didn't yet know specifics, things would indeed go wrong. Falling short of perfection shouldn't ruin my day. It just might rain and there is nothing we can do about it, etc. At this point I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I kept looking behind me wondering if she was really talking to me. I suppose my mom was afraid of me having a freakout like Charlotte did in the above video, but that is soo not me. I sat there wondering if the speech was for me or for her. I reminded her that we chose the venue in a good part because of the really good rain back up plan and the stress-free manner in which it could be implemented if need be. At one point she said she had looked at the weather report and was sorry, but it might rain. My reaction was, "Why, is it your fault? Cause if it is - THEN I'd be pissed!" To say that I am flexible is an understatement... you'd think that would make wedding planning easier. Oh, the irony! Anyway... back to my nerves, or lack thereof.

And then there is the kicker cause for truly being nervous, saying "I do." [Again, not our actual words... but for another post.] Was I nervous for it? Honestly, no. I was lucky enough not to loose sight of the marriage for the wedding. This wasn't a decision that I was nervous about. I couldn't even begin to count how many people asked if I was nervous. When I said "nope" it never failed that I got that look that said "Yeah, right. Every bride is nervous." It actually really began to annoy me. I kept wanting to respond with a "You obviously don't know me, or us, and you should feel free to keep your cynical face to yourself. "

This is my WEDDING! I was excited for it. This was the moment when before God, beloved friends, and all kinds of family, we would officially start our lives together. And then after, there was going to be one hell of a party! What could be better?

This is me, dancing to some wonderfully cheesy sing-a-long, a la "Heaven on Earth" or "Livin on a Prayer". Nervous, notsomuch. If anything I kept having to be scolded and reminded to be serious. We were having a damn good time and this was just the beginning.

Almost Dress Regret

Remember how I said I had almost dress regret? I thought I'd elaborate a little.

So this was the strapless version of my dress. It was young and fun and funky and sparkly but not too heavy or traditional. But... it was strapless. And for me, that's a deal breaker. I am not a fan of the way it tends to make me look like a line backer or the fact that I like to dance and jump and I would be the one to come popping out of my dress. Of all the dresses I tried on I always felt "bridal" in any dress with an of the shoulder neckline. And Casablanca being the great company that it is, I could change the neckline!! woohoo! perfect! Ordered and done. Unfortunately, I have never tried one of their off the shoulder neckline dresses so until my dress arrived, I had no idea that my arms would be somewhat restricted in their movement.

Yup, that's about as high as my arms could go.

And all of a sudden I went from feeling bridal and beautiful to restricted and maybe too traditional for my tastes. After all, we were getting married on the beach and traditional is rarely a word that joins my name in a sentence. Next thing I knew I was very jealous of the swishy cool look to Maggie Sottero's Mary (though the skirt was waaay too much for me).

And I was loving the modern uber sparkle of Mrs Green Tea's "Zelda"

And more than anything, I kept thinking the beautiful neckline of Mrs Cherry Pie's dress would have been much more dance friendly.

Oh, and the "why didn't I think of making the back a V style?!"

I had started looking through craigslist and ebay to see if anything popped up for an inexpensive alternative to my dress. At this point I knew my dress was not the most "me" dress. And since I'd only be wearing it once - shouldn't it be the epitome of "me"? But then again, I'm only wearing it once, Adam was going to think I was beautiful in anything, I've already bought it and it is a beautiful WOW-worthy dress.

Knowing that potentially switching dresses would also mean trying to sell my current dress while finishing up wedding preparations and then being uber stressed with finding another dress with in such a short time span. So I decided that my dress was pretty and it wasn't worth the last minute effort to replace it. But I continued to think about it and drool over other dresses that were more "me". And then it was the rehearsal and I spent the day in a light flowy airy dress I love.... and have no good pictures of unfortunately!

It was airy and light and beachy and pale colored and once or twice I thought "why dont i just get married in this!?"

And then it was the morning of our wedding. My dress was just beautiful and glowing!

I'm sure I would have been glowing in a potato sack, but I felt bridal so I was happy. I know everyone compliments the bride, but EVERYONE.. ALL DAY... kept saying that my dress was amazing and unique and BEAUTIFUL etc. I normally don't care too much about what other people think, but WOW! This many compliments and high praise - I was a very happy bride and VERY happy with my dress choice. Now, I am soo glad I didn't change my dress. Hence - the ALMOST dress regret. Now, I love it again and am debating whether or not to keep it or sell it or donate it.

Title Fun

So many of the blogs I've read recap their weddings with a constant title:

That Bride's "That Wedding"
Mrs Lovebug's "One Lucky Day"
Mrs Shortcake's "Old Fashion Love"

So I thought I'd reach out for some creative suggestions.
Keywords being beachy, tropical, stars, relaxed, party, celebration, destintion wedding, hometown.

My current idea is "Hometown Destination Wedding".

Thoughts?

And because every post should have a great photo:

SERIOUSLY?!?!!

Not to be completely Grey's Anatomy... but SERIOUSLY?!?!? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?

So I've told yall before about my love of Top Gun. Let me reiterate by pointing out that I still have the VHS tape because I love the commercials at the beginning!! I still say this is the best pepsi commercial ever!

Anyway, I'm watching Top Gun on Bravo right now while making dinner and cleaning up and a few things struck me. 1 - when did we become such prudes?? When Maverick and Goose walk into the bar (just before the serenade) a la:

Maverick say's "Even you could get laid in a place like this." To which, Goose replies "I'd be happy to find a girl to talk dirty to me." Really? Is that THAT bad? Oh no, Bravo edited it to "Even you could have a good time in a place like this." To which, Goose replies "I'd be happy to find a girl to talk to me." Seriously??? "Get Laid" and "dirty" are too extreme for TV!?!??!?!

Oh, and it gets worse. Much worse. Maverick is in class and get's the note from Charlotte, and then he's pulling up to her house. Smooth transition right? Sure except they deleted the ENTIRE volleyball scene!!!

I rolled my eyes at the word edits, but at this point, I walked away from my cooking and rewound the "video" (thank heavens for DVR... oy I wish I had tivo.... but I digress..) and sure enough - they really did take out the ENTIRE volleyball scene. So, not only are you deprived of that fun, but if you had never seen this, or don't have it memorized like I do, then it leaves you with, "Why is he late? He keeps talking about needing a shower... Why?" I think its a travesty. GRRR to all the uber conservatives that think "talk dirty" is suddenly unfit for tv!

Oh, and just to make this somewhat wedding related.... (since this still is my wedding planning blog and all). As many mistakes and uber faux paus are made in "Top Gun", it is still a favorite of almost every Naval Aviator I know. Add alcohol and you have the proof!

Take 3 Naval Aviators (including the one in the middle not in uniform), one ex-military old fart (yup - thats my dad!), 2 good friends of the bride, plus LOTS of Jamie and Gingers and VOILA!

Yes, this is the wedding after party and they are all hammered singing "That lovin feeling." This is why you have an after party. :-D Ok, back to wedding day recaps!!

Random Wedding Dress Thought

So its been a lazy Sunday for me. I've been cleaning and organizing, singing to the radio, and watching movies on TV. Luck would have it, "My Fair Lady" was on. As much as I like the movie, I really wasn't watching much as I was writing thank you notes. I looked up and watched a bit when a random thought struck me:
With "vintage" being the most popular wedding theme and style right now, I am surprised I haven't read about a bride somewhere wearing Audrey Hepburn's "My Fair Lady" dress.

Since she tends to be the epitome of fashion and everyone wants to be her, I can hardly believe it. Granted, maybe tone down the bling a bit, but I'm still a bit surprised.