That Bride

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Currently I Am....

Where can you find That Bride at present?

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

That Wedding: Hometown Reception

After a full week of absolute gluttony and decadence while on our Relaximoon, it was time for us to put on our wedding attire for the last time and pose as bride and groom. We had gone back and forth so many times about whether the hometown reception was a good idea, or even necessary, but now that it's over I'm really glad we took the time to spend some time with the community that helped raise me.

I wish I had a camera in my hand as we drove up the road to the reception site. Our dear friends who hosted the party for us had sprinkled their property with lamps, torches, and twinkling lights. It looked magical. Guests were directed to park in a lot a few hundred yards from the house, and if they didn't feel like walking (it was a cold October night!), they were escorted up to the house on golf carts.

I smiled as I walked into the tent. I was so happy that we had decided to create our centerpieces ourselves, because it meant we would be able to re-use them later. For very little money we had created a cozy and beautiful atmosphere for the evening.

Of course my mom was walking around with camera in hand before the reception started. I don't think she can leave home without it.

The food! Oh the food was amazing. We worked with Jeff and Michelle of Sage Catering out of Yakima, WA. They worked to create a completely personalized meal that had our guests raving. Their presentation was really got me, since I'm a detail person, and Jeff went out of his way to make all of the food look at delicious as it tasted. If you are a central Washington bride, get in contact with them! I'm really happy with what they did for us.

When they asked what kind of menu we were interested in serving, I mentioned that we would love to have a fusion of foods that described the childhoods of both That Groom and myself. For the Polish dishes they made mini cabbage rolls, pierogi, potato pancakes, sernik (Polish cheesecake with chocolate glaze), and poppyseed cake. That Groom couldn't get enough of the poppyseed cake and said it was some of the best he has ever had! The American style dishes included beef satay, sliders, french fries, crudites, fruit and dip, mini apple pie bites, and chocolate decadence.

I wasn't surprised when many of our guests went straight for the food line instead of coming to see us! Here are the pierogis, don't they look delicious?

Guests were greeted by this frame as they entered the tent. It's a wedding gift from That Groom's aunt, and the pictures are of my cute little husband as a boy with his grandpa. The poem is in Polish, written by his grandfather about the time they spent together. We really wanted to find ways to make the decor and atmosphere very personal at this reception, and putting this poem on display really set the tone for the night.

For the festivities, I did my favorite fancy hairdo. My sister wasn't there that evening, and when talking to her a few weeks later she said, "I heard your hair looked really great that night!" I also loved being able to put on my birdcage veil one last time.

I love this picture of my new husband and my dad.

Who would be crazy enough to have an outdoor tented reception in Washington state at the end of October? We would!

My grandma knit me this very cozy, very soft shrug to keep me from turning into a popscicle that night. Now that the wedding is over, details like this shrug that I can use over and over in my everyday life are my very favorite.

It got so cold that our fabulous hostess dug into their snowmobiling closet for some heat packs. Once the guests saw mine they started asking for their own set as well. I spent most of the evening holding them over my ears and nose.

When I created the postcards for our guestbook at the Seattle wedding, I made sure they were general enough that we could use them for our hometown reception as well without anyone realizing that we made them pull double duty.

The little ones stayed entertained with a free wedding themed coloring book I found on the blu sky designs blog.

We had one of the images from our After Wedding Shoot with my mom on display. I love when couples sprinkle images for guests to look at throughout the reception space.

Although it was quickly thrown together, the slideshow of images from our relationship was a big hit. I was really overwhelmed by the amount of gifts we received. It was wonderful to spend time with so many people who care about us.

Compared to our wedding extravaganza the previous weekend. our hometown reception was a really laid back and informal event. There was no first dance, no cake cutting, and no bouquet. What we did have was good food, family, friends, laughter, and love. I realized that these things are all we ever needed.

Koniec. The End.

Previously:

That Wedding: Bridesmaid Party!
That Wedding: Whole Foods (Rehearsal-ish) Luncheon
That Wedding: Harbor Sailing
That Wedding: Putting My Face On
That Wedding: The Gift Exchange
That Wedding: Dressing That Bride
That Wedding: Bridal Details
That Wedding: The First Look
That Wedding: Into The Woods
That Wedding: Woodsy Family Portraits
That Wedding: To Wed! To Wed!
That Wedding: Showered With Love, Coins, and Hugs
That Wedding: Group Shots With a Little Spice
That Wedding: Those Groomsmen
That Wedding: The Whole Party
That Wedding: Me and My Maids (+Manmaid)
That Wedding: Ring Ceremony Prep
That Wedding: The Ring Ceremony
That Wedding: Let Us Whet Your Appetite
That Wedding: Photobooth
That Wedding: We Dance
That Wedding: Dining Details
That Wedding: Toasting
That Wedding: Bridesmaid Cake Pull
That Wedding: 8 Lovely Cakes
That Wedding: Bedding Down
That Wedding: Grand Exit

Sunday, March 8, 2009

After Wedding Shoot

I'm sure you thought the wedding posts were over by now. I've taken you through 28 posts, detailing everything from the moment I woke up to our Seattle skyline finale. But, I loved my wedding so much that I found a way to drag out it all the way until the next weekend, with an After Wedding Shoot and a Hometown Reception.

The biggest reason for having a semi-TTD (I hesitate to call it such because there weren't any activities that even hinted at trashing since I had to wear it in front of family and friends the next day), was to capitalize on the chance to do a shoot with my mom, Denise Andersen. I didn't realize how much pride I would feel each time someone came over to my married apartment and said "I love this picture, who took it?" I've watched my mom practice her craft for years, and after years and years of taking pictures she can do some really fantastic stuff (as evidenced by my bridal portraits in Rome).

That Groom made one last huge sacrifice, and took these pictures with me on our honeymoon. My advice to you if you are considering the same thing? Prepare to look a little puffy from the gastronomic indulgences you will be making while taking your ultimate vacation. One night we sat in our bed and ate a huge wedge of cheese with crackers and finished it off with an enormous piece of chocolate cake. No wonder our faces look puffy in most of these photos.

If you remember, there are no photos taken inside the temple, and because of this I had no pictures of me wearing my mom's wedding dress and veil from the wedding day. After working so hard to lose 50 lbs over the last 3 years, I was happy to find I could even squeeze myself into the dress at all. My mom had something like a $400 wedding, and she hated her dress, but I'm in love with the meaning behind it.

My mom would probably like me to point out that her sister is the one who added those 80's puffed sleeves to the dress. It was much simpler when she wore it.

You'll notice that the neckline on the dress is pretty low. When I put it on in the temple I wore this turtleneck insert thing underneath. I didn't worry about how awful it looked though because there were no pictures, and it wasn't really about the dress anyways. :)

The lace on the bottom is my very favorite part of the dress.

After a few minutes posing in a dress so tight I could barely breathe, it was time to change into my lovely Evelyn once again.

I hate this pose I am doing (I did it a lot on the wedding day too, what was I thinking?), but I think That Groom looks dashing and debonair.

We took these photos at Cave B Inn at Sagecliffe, a winery/resort I worked at for a few Summers. I love this room just off of the tasting room, with huge unfinished stones for walls.

Apparently That Groom didn't get the joke that I was laughing so enthusiastically at.

We have this one hanging in our dining room. I look at it and smile every time I sit down to eat.

I'm completely in love with this property (have your wedding here, it's gorgeous!), and I had a lot of fun dancing around in my wedding dress in the same places I used to carry room service trays loaded down with heavy plates and bottles of wine.

I'm thinking about printing this photo on canvas for our living room, but I can't decide what version I like best.

Version 1:

Version 2:

Version 3:

Can you see why I am completely in love with this property? The view outside each of the cliffhouses are breathtaking.

We gathered some of the wedding decor suitcases and used them as props. I thought they were a nice subtle addition that didn't take away from the sweeping views.

Look how filthy my dress is! And look how cute my shoes are!

I won't lie, I love having my picture taken.

Then it was time to do a veil change, switching to a longer more dramatic veil that would blow in the wind nicely.

It really tickles when kisses my ears.

Quite possibly my very favorite. My mom's assitant almost threw herself off the cliff trying to get the veil to float for this shot.

And one of the last shots of the day, and my mom's favorite from the session!

You can see my mom's favorites at deniseanderse.com!

Friday, February 20, 2009

That Wedding: Seattle Skyline Finale

I don't write stories very often, but whenever I do I have a hard time coming up with an ending. My endings always end up sounding trite, or abrupt. I often put the story off to the side and end up forgetting about it because I can't find a way to write in the perfect ending. Telling the story of our wedding day is the one instance where I'm not left feeling this way.

The original plan was to drive with our photographer out to a park with the Seattle skyline in the background and have one last photo shoot for the day. But by the end of dinner I was so tired. All I wanted was to be done with the day, and I told Kelli that we weren't going to go to the park and that after the exit she was done shooting.

I assumed That Groom was feeling the same way I was, but when I told him about my decision he did one of the most thoughtful things he has ever done for me. He reminded me how much I loved the inspirational photos I had found, the shots that gave me the idea to do the skyline shoot. He put aside his own exhaustion and encouraged me to go through with the shoot. We only went up to the park for about 20 minutes, but the photographs we have are just stunning. We look tired, and our facial expressions in most of them aren't the best, but they so perfectly sum up the wedding for us. A classic storybook ending if I've ever seen one.

I'm very excited to have this hanging on our wall sometime soon!

I'm so happy we took a second to grab a shot with our photographer and friend, Kelli Nicole. She was such a huge part of our wedding day, it would be so sad to have her left out of the story completely.

This is the very last photo taken on our wedding day. It says "Done done done! Off to the honeymoon suite!"

The End (of the wedding day). We gave ourselves a whole week to relax and recover before our hometown reception the next weekend. Best. Honeymoon. Ever.

Previously:

That Wedding: Bridesmaid Party!
That Wedding: Whole Foods (Rehearsal-ish) Luncheon
That Wedding: Harbor Sailing
That Wedding: Putting My Face On
That Wedding: The Gift Exchange
That Wedding: Dressing That Bride
That Wedding: Bridal Details
That Wedding: The First Look
That Wedding: Into The Woods
That Wedding: Woodsy Family Portraits
That Wedding: To Wed! To Wed!
That Wedding: Showered With Love, Coins, and Hugs
That Wedding: Group Shots With a Little Spice
That Wedding: Those Groomsmen
That Wedding: The Whole Party
That Wedding: Me and My Maids (+Manmaid)
That Wedding: Ring Ceremony Prep
That Wedding: The Ring Ceremony
That Wedding: Let Us Whet Your Appetite
That Wedding: Photobooth
That Wedding: We Dance
That Wedding: Dining Details
That Wedding: Toasting
That Wedding: Bridesmaid Cake Pull
That Wedding: 8 Lovely Cakes
That Wedding: Bedding Down
That Wedding: Grand Exit

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

That Wedding: Grand Exit

I was one of those brides who had the unfortunate experience of switching event coordinators at the venue. Donna did an incredible job and the transition was very smooth, except for the agreements previously made about what Hotel 1000 would allow our guests to be thrown at us at the end of the night. I was frustrated, to put it mildly, when I was told that all of the ecofetti I had invested in was no longer allowed. I forwarded them back the email from the previous coordinator, packed up the ecofetti, and decided that I would instruct the DOC to hand out the packets no matter what.

My rebellion against the system wasn't even necessary because Donna ended up telling me just before dinner that we could go ahead and do the exit with the ecofetti. I don't know that it will be so, but I hope that after seeing these photos Hotel 1000 will allow brides to have this environmentally friendly option at their own weddings.

This was the second time that day that we were greeted by cheers, clapping, and whistles when we walked outside of a building. I absolutely loved it!

In the next 5 photos I can be found smiling, laughing hysterically, ducking, batting ecofetti out of my way, etc. That Groom has the same look of relaxed excitement on his face the entire time. It says "I'm so happy this is finally over."

As you can imagine, my dress was filled with ecofetti. The v in the front created a kind of pocket that gathered a whole handful!

I love the warm colors in this guest photo.

Has anyone else noticed that That Groom really hasn't been covered in much ecofetti yet? Don't worry, his time is coming.

If you look closely at my right hand, you can see the custom ring from our cake topper.

As I leaned forward to give That Mother a kiss goodbye, the groomsmen came out of nowhere and got my new husband right in the face! I love I'm experiencing this special moment with my mother, and he is in the middle of an ecofetti storm.