Here is a wedding that I know you have never seen before. I know because it is my wedding -- the day I married my love. Not many (quality) photos exists which is why (7 years later) I am JUST bringing myself to share them. The lack of photos? Well, that is for an entire separate post (hint: the title could be 'The photographer is the most important vendor you will hire'). For now, I will share these few photos with you and although I have no proof for those of you who did not attend, believe me when I say it was much more beautiful than what was captured.
There we are (just 7 years younger!). Even looking back, that was still the "perfect" dress. I don't think I would change a thing about it. The veil? Eh.... I was NOT a veil person. However, there was some "insisting" by some and well, there I am... with a veil. Brides: don't be afraid to speak up - if you don't want a veil, don't have one (ok PSA over, promise).
The setting was a far off green on a golf course where an 150 year old stone house was located. Here is a line up of all the centerpieces before they were placed onto the tables. Several shades of pink Gerber Daisies with swirls of Lemon Grass in the bottoms of the vases. They were simple but looked amazing.
My bouquet (which I LOVED).
A glimpse at our gorgeous wedding party. Bridesmaids in lovely fuchsia tea length dresses and these darling 3 flower girls (they were so small back then, melts my heart!). The guys wore black tuxes with silver vests and ties.
You can see a (rather blurry) peek at our arch. Boy was it stunning! I hope I can uncover a close up photo someday to share.
Bridesmaids bouquets (this photo makes them appear more purple than they were).
The cake... oh the cake. Not only the best tasting cake I've ever had but it was visually stunning. I had NO idea what the floral part of the cake would look like until I saw it at the reception. I trusted my florist 1,000% and told her to surprise me (still shocked I did that, boy how I have changed since then!). The flavor was perfect for a warm summer wedding. White cake soaked with Midori, lemon butter cream filling and a white icing that had just a hint of orange. It may sound odd -- but the cake was really refreshing.
So, there may not be many photos that captured that night as I remembered it -- but that night, in that moment we had nothing on our mind but the new life we were beginning. No photographer upset, nothing to dampen our mood. I suppose it has taken me 7 years to realize that in the big scheme of things, the poor photographer choice was a minor hiccup.
Plus, maybe we will just have to renew our vows in three years and do it again. But if so, you better bet we will be choosing the BEST photographer we can find!
Vendors
Venue | Temecual Creek Inn
Florist | No longer in business, but deserves a huge shout out...so, thank you MARY!
Cake | Jodee's Bakery
Photographer | To remain unnamed
So, make me feel better -- anyone have any wedding do-overs they'd like to fix? (Just please don't say the groom!)
Destination Wedding Planner in Rajasthan says
Amazing Summer Wedding...Looking Amazing..Thanks for sharing!!!!
Melissa C says
oops- daisies. ;)
Melissa C says
Beautiful wedding! I had a white & pink wedding and my flowers were gerber daisy's as well. Great minds think a like ;)
NYC Wedding Photographer says
What's not to like about your wedding? The flowers, gowns, place, cake and the set are perfect. Even the couples! I'm not sugar coating or anything but I think you two are one of the couples that look perfectly good. I hope your marriage will last forever.
Marry Me - Wedding planners says
Absolutely love your wedding :-) You both make such a cute couple
Melanie says
Awww...(sniffle) Thank you so much for sharing your special day with us. You two are just gorgeous. Seven years, does it seem like yesterday? We just celebrated our ninth and we were like "Holy COW," LOL.
Good wishes to you both and I loved the pics.
Plain & Fancy Living says
It looks like you had a lovely wedding filled with lots of great memories. I completely agree with you that a good photographer is a worthwhile expense. Sadly, I do not have one photo displayed in my home of my wedding. The pictures were horrible. I honestly cannot find one that I think is decent enough to display. I even tried to have my husband dress in his suit and have photos taken with a pro a week after but he said the day was over and it would just be pretend. I am really sad that I did not take more time and effort to find a professional.
Best to you!
Amy R.
mamahousemouse says
Your wedding was beautiful! Even with less-than-perfect photos, you can tell that absolutely everything was perfect.
We've already redone our wedding - for our 10th anniversary. Now my husband wants to do it AGAIN for our 25th! #1 was an elopement 17 years ago, redo was a Renaissance reenactment with friends & family... I'm thinking destination-wedding overseas for the third time; just the two of us.
April @ Park City Real Estate says
I love pastels! Your wedding is simple yet very elegant. The soft colors makes it more appealing and fresh to me.
Christine says
I don't think I'd be complaining about the 'low quality' photos, they're stunning!
I'd be happy if our professional photos turned out looking like yours!
Sheila aka GreenKangaru says
My oldest daughter graduated from high school a couple of weeks ago & I'd be lying if I said I haven't dreamed about the 5 weddings of my 5 daughters. LOL! I'm HOPEFULLY within 5 years of that! You ladies are giving me lots of great dos & donts.
Tori says
@Texas Peach -- that would be a great topic, so true how our tastes in colors change as the trends do.
The Texas Peach says
It looks like it was a beautiful wedding! Your bridal bouquet is one of the prettiest I have ever seen. I love the colors that you chose. That is one thing that I would definitely do over. I was nineteen when I got married fifteen years ago, and seriously into green and purple at the time. My colors were emerald green and a deep shade of purple. My colors would be much softer now, probably a baby pink and cream.
Sheila aka GreenKangaru says
I got married 18 years ago on December 18, a week before Christmas. What would I change? I would not have had my husbands sisters as bridemaids. I would have had my friends. That is really the only thing. I loved our photographer who was an old family friend. I would have had different food & a more "exciting" cake. LOVE this topic.
Sheila
Tori says
Awe, Kate -- thank you! Funny what we have learned about styling events since our own weddings isn't it? This was actually when I got my "bug" .... I have learned a lot since then!
Appreciate your sweet comments -- and miss you too!
Kate Landers Events, LLC says
Hi Tori! Oh I am so glad you posted your beautiful wedding! I just *love* your dress, it is absolutely stunning on you, like it was made as an exclusive for Ms. Tori! The location is also stunning, all your details, I just loved reading about your cake and the bouquets and the entire day! What a beautiful wedding, a day to always cherish!
I VERY much adore your pictures, and am sorry to hear about the disaster you encountered! In your photos what I see, esp of you and your hubby, is the emotion and that is something no one can ever take away from you! I can see the sheer joy on your face and it is so lovely!!!. My sister-in-law had a disaster where somehow something happened with their photographer, and to this day all she has are hard copies of proofs--and nothing else. My husband and I decided photography was going to take a HUGE chunk of our budget, and we were totally blessed with this decision (somewhat made blindly, might I add!).
But I do have my "do over" too--being the size of the centerpieces. They were just too small. Beautiful, but small for the size of the tables. I learned my lesson!!!!! Your centerpieces are fabulous, I love the overall warmth and feel of your wedding style! But somehow I am not surprised. ;-)
Miss you my friend!
Your Hostess says
Thank you all for the kind words, they are really heart warming!
@Jen- BOY I feel you. I have put off dealing with our photos for 7 years. The short version is, our photographer was a recommendation of a family member and we sort of just "went with it." BIG mistake.
And I love hearing about your wedding "likes" as well!
Jen @ SecondCitySoiree says
We met with our photog before the wedding and loved him. Cool, funny guy who did great work. The morning of the wedding, I got a phone call from the studio manager...our photog was sick, and they'd need to send someone else. Uh...ok? I mean, what else was I going to do?
When we got the photos, I burst into tears. They were awful. They were SO awful that I couldn't even bring myself to complain about them. I just...wanted them to go away. I didn't even want to deal with them, which is very unlike me - I'm almost always up for a battle. The candids turned out alright but the posed pictures...I hate them.
I also wasn't too happy with the cake. It was the wrong color! Again, I didn't feel like putting up a fight. What were they going to do at that point?
What I DID like - 1) my bridesmaids wore the same color but different styles (very radical back in 2002!) and 2) instead of a traditional head table at the front of the room, we did a huge head table down the center of the room, with people sitting on all four sides, dates included. That was a lot of fun. Also, our car was a 1940s Rolls Royce. That was pretty cool :)
At the end of the day, there was more that I did like versus things I didn't. But I still don't like looking at those pictures.
shannon says
Three things I would "do-over": in order to save my parents money, I used my sister's wedding dress. It was so not me though! Victorian style, no train and very lacy. I regret to this day that I didn't have a dress I loved. The other thing is that, like you, my cake was absolutely gorgeous, but when we cut into it for guests, it was moldy!!! Thankfully, no one told me until after the ceremony. (We did get our money back!) The last thing is a photographer -- we went cheap...and you can tell!! However, the most important part...the groom...I would never do over! 15 years later and still madly in love :)
Tiffewisany L says
I don't know the story about the photographer but these photos are stunning. You two are a beautiful couple.
Destination wedding in India says
Awesome summer wedding , the all are looking nice and beautiful photography, thank you for sharing the blog, well done.
Gayle says
Your wedding is timeless - I think you could probably post it on a wedding forum today and nobody would realise it was some 7 years ago. My wedding was 6 years ago, I love looking back at the photos and seeing all the changes since then - styles coming and going, friends coming and going and of course, the differences that time brings. Still wouldn't change a thing though. :)
Our photographer wasn't brilliant either, but we had an awesome videographer. We were able to get some stills from that and so now we have heaps of great photos.