A Woodside Wedding: Details, Details, and More Pretty Details, Part 1

Ahhh, the details. This is the post that I’ve been waiting to write since I first started blogging. All the tiny touches, glimpses of the venue, DIY details galore, and a few shots of the bride and groom thrown in for good measure.

I know some Bees like to do this post early in their recaps, but I decided I wanted to save mine for towards the end, so I could do a pretty picture overload post, without a lot of description. Just a “soak in all the details and hard work from our wedding” kind of post.

I’ve already touched on most of these details, scattered throughout my recaps, although there are some photos I’ve been holding onto for just these posts. So without further ado, here’s the first of my two-part details recaps (sorry, I just couldn't narrow it down enough to fit in one post!). Feel free to click on any of these for a larger view, and I’ve included the links to the original tutorial or inspiration posts at the bottom.

Photo 1: my DIY shoes and bridesmaid dresses, Photo 2: my dress, jewelry, and Mr. Cola's suit, Photo 3: memory stone guestbook, Photo 4: pictures in the park, Photo 5: table numbers, Photo 6: my bouquet my mom made and DIY napkin rings (guest photo), Photo 7: LED luminary escort cards, Photo 8: more from our pictures in the park, Photo 9: cocktail table centerpieces, Photo 10: my bouquet details and jewelry again, Photo 11: our ceremony site set up, Photo 12: another DIY shoe shot, Photo 13: our first look, Photo 14: my dress details, more memory stone guestbook, Photo 15: over 6 foot tall cupcake tower, Photo 16: shoe shot, Photo 17: Mr. Cola's boutonniere, Photo 18: cocktail hour cheese table, fauxtobooth and a stolen moment, Photo 19: choose your favor table, Photo 20: more table numbers, Photo 21: one of my 'must have' photos, on the swing, Photo 22: acoustic guitarist friend who learned to play our ceremony music for us, and our ceremony aisle, Photo 23: our rings resting on our DIY laser cut wedding invitations, Photo 24: circulating during dinner, Photo 25: our DIY programs (this is a guest photo), Photo 26: DIY card box and Mr. Cola's tie

Part two of all the details is coming up next! Is anyone else as excited about getting back pro photos of all their wedding details as I was?

Miss any wedding week details? Catch up here:

- I packed an emergency bag that saved my dress
- We had a crazy 4 days prepping for house guests and stuffing favors
- Shopping for a ton of wedding flowers to arrange ourselves
- Mr. Cola drinks a 40 and I have a night out on the town for our low-key bach parties
- A day of DIY'ing flower arrangements
- I kicked off our official recaps with my #1 wedding tip
- We began the weekend festivities with a sunset cruise for our wedding party
- We rehearsed our quick and easy ceremony
- I panicked, but we got our rehearsal dinner decorations set up just in time
- Our families met for the first time at our rehearsal dinner under the trees
- What went wrong on our wedding day, and my tips for future brides
- My bridesmaids and I got our hair and makeup done in the hotel suite
- I put on my wedding dress and became a bride
- The guys watched the World Cup, then got ready in 10 minutes
- Traffic delayed our decorations getting to the venue, and I almost ruined our first look
- We got to see each other for the first time on our wedding day at our first look
- We took some time for bride and groom pictures in the park
- I gave you a behind the scenes look at our family, friends and DOC setting up our venue
- Arriving at our venue and getting ready for the ceremony to start
- Everyone walked down the aisle
- Excerpts from our ceremony, and reading the vows we wrote for each other
- I interrupted our officiant, we exchanged rings, and with a kiss we were officially married!
- Wedding party and family portraits, and my thoughts on missing pictures
- Our guests enjoyed cocktail hour while we took a few more photos
- Everyone ate a delicious dinner, and our siblings gave beautiful toasts
- We didn't practice, but we had a very special and wonderful first dance as husband and wife
- I showed you some disposable camera pictures, which were totally worth it to include on our tables!
- I found a target and tossed my bouquet at her
- Mr. Cola finally managed to find my garter under my dress and tossed it
- We fed each other cupcakes, and our guests swarmed our 6ft tall cupcake tower
- We stole some private moments together that our photographers documented
- All our guests had some fun taking pictures in our DIY fauxtobooth
- We enjoyed the rest of the evening with our guests

(Unless otherwise noted, all photos in this post were taken by the very talented photographers of Shoot Me Now Photography)

Bees Then and Now: Cola Edition

Back in high school, weddings and getting married were the farthest thing from my mind. Honestly, I didn’t really think I’d ever get married, and I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t be with my senior-year boyfriend forever.

In high school I always wanted a very independent life for myself. I wanted a career. Maybe a husband, someday, in the far, far away land of my 30s. Part of this I think has to do with the fact that I didn’t have a traditional upbringing. My dad was a stay at home dad for most of my childhood, until I started 9th grade, and my mom was the bread winner in our family. So I had a strong female role model that showed me it was ok to prioritize work over family, marriage and children (not that we weren’t a priority for my mom, but my family situation laid the groundwork for this in my head).

Plus there was the fact that a lot of guys I dated ended up being just my friend. Perhaps this is also related to my dad being around to raise me—believe it or not, I was actually a tomboy at one point, until I went to kindergarten and saw all the pink and purple clothes and cute hairdos I was missing out on! There was even a guy I dated twice in high school, once my freshman year and again my sophomore year, but we could never make it work, and just always reverted back to being friends. My whole life I’ve had a lot of guy friends, starting when I was in elementary school, when the only two kids my age in my neighborhood were boys. I definitely had my boy-crazy periods, but I mainly just put guys in the friend zone eventually.

Would you like to see a picture from way back then? How about a senior photo?

(I have no idea who took the original picture, but this is a photo I took of a photo. No way I was scanning these ancient pictures at work!)

That was, until I met my ex, the summer after my junior year in high school. He was cute, had a great sense of humor, was my opposing school’s quarterback until he got injured, and just a fun guy to be around. But I always knew it wasn’t forever, even back then. However, we had a lot of fun our first few years of dating, and ended up staying together 3 ½ years, before I dumped him for Mr. Cola.

And just for fun, because I know you want to see more funny pictures of me in high school, here are some prom pictures with my ex:

(More photos I took of photos. Face blurred to protect the innocent/jerk. Man, I wish I still had those skinny tennis player arms!)

It took me quite a while of reflecting to figure out why I always knew I would never marry my high school boyfriend. And it was because we were never really friends. Sure, we hung out, we knew each other pretty well, but I was never as close with my ex as Mr. Cola and I were, even before we started dating. I wrote about it before here, about how much I love the fact that my husband and I were friends and roommates for years before we started dating. And even though my high school self didn’t realize it at the time, that was what was missing in my prior relationship: friendship.

And even more telling, I knew within about a month of when we started dating that I wanted to marry Mr. Cola. I’d finally found the perfect relationship, with the perfect person, my best friend. I’m so lucky to have found someone who could change my mind about marriage, and very glad that I’m a different person now than I was then, because of him.

(By Shoot Me Now Photography)

Are you a different person now than you were back in high school?

A Woodside Wedding: Enjoying The Evening

After the scheduled bouquet and garter tosses were over, and the cupcakes had been served, we were free the rest of the evening to just enjoy our reception.

Our reception resembled more of a cocktail party than a crazy dance party, and was just what we wanted—time to kick back with our friends and family and enjoy everyone's company over some yummy alcoholic beverages.

(Haha, don't worry, that last photo is just my friend joking around! Above 3 photos are guest photos)

I know most of these photos won’t mean as much to everyone else as they do to us, but I love looking back at everyone just hanging out and enjoying themselves!

That's because during our planning time, I sort of felt like there was a lot of pressure to make our reception "conform" and fit the more typical format of having lots and lots of dancing. But that just wasn't us. So we didn't do it! Sure, a dance or two more mixed in would have been fun, but overall, I'm happy that we ended up having a "let's hang out, drink and catch up" type of reception. It’s definitely true that you can have a wedding reception without a lot of dancing that is still a blast, it’s up to you to set the tone of the reception that you want.

Of course we did more than just stand around, talking and drinking. Our fauxtobooth was still going strong:

(Above 3 photos are guest photos)

And our wedding wasn’t completely devoid of dancing, some people were breaking it down on the dance floor, especially after the open bar had been busy all night! :)

(This above photo might just be my favorite of my FIL ever!)

Also, because our reception was more like a cocktail party, we got a ton of great group shots and posed photos of our guests.

(Above 5 photos are guest photos)

That about sums up the later part of our reception. Again, it's up to the bride and groom to set the tone of your reception, and if what you want to do resembles a cocktail party or nice dinner party, just go for it! You guys enjoying yourself, and making your reception be a reflection of who you two are is what is important. Your guests will grab a drink, put on a silly hat from the fauxtobooth, and follow suit!

What type of tone are you hoping to set at your wedding reception?

Miss any wedding week details? Catch up here:

- I packed an emergency bag that saved my dress
- We had a crazy 4 days prepping for house guests and stuffing favors
- Shopping for a ton of wedding flowers to arrange ourselves
- Mr. Cola drinks a 40 and I have a night out on the town for our low-key bach parties
- A day of DIY'ing flower arrangements
- I kicked off our official recaps with my #1 wedding tip
- We began the weekend festivities with a sunset cruise for our wedding party
- We rehearsed our quick and easy ceremony
- I panicked, but we got our rehearsal dinner decorations set up just in time
- Our families met for the first time at our rehearsal dinner under the trees
- What went wrong on our wedding day, and my tips for future brides
- My bridesmaids and I got our hair and makeup done in the hotel suite
- I put on my wedding dress and became a bride
- The guys watched the World Cup, then got ready in 10 minutes
- Traffic delayed our decorations getting to the venue, and I almost ruined our first look
- We got to see each other for the first time on our wedding day at our first look
- We took some time for bride and groom pictures in the park
- I gave you a behind the scenes look at our family, friends and DOC setting up our venue
- Arriving at our venue and getting ready for the ceremony to start
- Everyone walked down the aisle
- Excerpts from our ceremony, and reading the vows we wrote for each other
- I interrupted our officiant, we exchanged rings, and with a kiss we were officially married!
- Wedding party and family portraits, and my thoughts on missing pictures
- Our guests enjoyed cocktail hour while we took a few more photos
- Everyone ate a delicious dinner, and our siblings gave beautiful toasts
- We didn't practice, but we had a very special and wonderful first dance as husband and wife
- I showed you some disposable camera pictures, which were totally worth it to include on our tables!
- I found a target and tossed my bouquet at her
- Mr. Cola finally managed to find my garter under my dress and tossed it
- We fed each other cupcakes, and our guests swarmed our 6ft tall cupcake tower
- We stole some private moments together that our photographers documented
- All our guests had some fun taking pictures in our DIY fauxtobooth

(Unless otherwise noted, all photos in this post were taken by the very talented photographers of Shoot Me Now Photography)