We're married!!!

Here are the pictures of pure jubilation!!  I was so excited to be his wife!!!  And the grin on his face means he was excited to be my husband too!!!

Haute Couture Amour.... The details

I wanted to name my company Haute Amour in recent years.... Here are the things that our guests saw when they entered the reception.  It was everything that I wanted my company to be.. It was frugal with an edge, modern, sophisticated, vintagey and it was my wedding.

This was the entrance to the reception.  The door's reflection shows the kick ass view to the park across the trolley tracks and the river a bit farther.

We couldn't afford chargers but in the end, I am not sure how much that mattered.  We used clear glass plates with purple napkins.  The wax seals were made by my mom and I cut the belly bands.  We have tons left over and if anyone wants to purchase them... let me know lol!! I have no idea why they weren't thrown away!!!

These were at the kids' place settings...

The entire view.....

Our favors...

Talk about a money shot!! I have never seen 80 cents look so good!!!

These were at each family table... This actually came from my mom's house!!! She had two of them.  Unfortunately we forgot to light them lol!!!

My cake... I love this picture!! (Taken by Krystal Alayne Photography) Please credit her if you use it!!!

Also taken by Krystal Alayne Photography

I love this non-pro shot of our beverage station.  It was later filled with Orange Juice and champagne....

Becoming Mrs. H

After we exchanged rings, we prayed.

And this picture was right before we were pronounced I was literally bouncing...

We're married!!!!

We're married!!!!!!!!  I was ready to get out of there but the preacher said, hey wait you gotta pray!!

The moment I waited my entire life for....

I was here.  About to marry the man of my dreams.  I can't believe it.  I have wanted this moment for so long and it is finally here. 

Here we sare with Reverend Rayford, our saviour. I just noticed that his tie and pocket square matched our wedding colors!! How awesome is he?!

You can really see the detail of my dress on this picture.  And the ring I grabbed from my Grandma at the last moment because I completely forgot about my something old.  It has the birthstone of all of my aunts and uncles in it.

I really should have gotten a pedicure but I ran out of time :(.... Oh well I still love this picture!

At first I grabbed my husband's hand with both of mine. I later realized my mistake and switched it.

Love his eyes!!! They can sometimes turn blue but right now they look hazel...

I used my engagement ring when we got married because we didn't have time to pick up my wedding bands before we left (oops!!!!)  In the end no one even noticed nor asked to see my ring lol!!!!

Luckily I had already bought his ring.  Too bad he lost weight before the wedding.  The ring kept literally falling off!! I had it exchanged for him.

 

The long walk

The walk was the most emotional part of my wedding day.  Until then I was cool as ice.  Not nervous, not anything but well numb. I wondered if I would ever feel like a bride and not just a wedding planner that is getting married.  Well, it happened.  Just as I was getting ready to walk down the aisle I asked for my daddy.  We thought that he wouldn't be able to make it because he went to the emergency room, but there he was, my Daddy.  The man whose shoulder I sat on when I was 2, the one who bought my first car fro me.  The man who spoiled me beyond belief.  He hasn't always been a great father but at that moment I forgot it all and just realized that here was my daddy.  I ran up to him and he reached up to me.  The cancer has stripped his ability to walk and he is now in a wheelchair.  I asked him if he wanted to walk me down the aisle and he said no it was too cold he wanted to just watch from the window.  And after he gave me a hug and we shared tears, my stepdad who was also in tears asked if I wanted to push him down. I said no because I didn't want my dad to feel uncomfortable and to be cold.  Then it was time.  My stepdad and I got to the door.  Then we couldn't decide who walked first it was hilarious!! He said I should go, I said he should go, in the end we both went :o)

My cousin captured this shot with his camera (he dabbles in photography).  I love the look on my stepdad's face in this picture....

I cried and laughed the entire way down te aisle. I am not sure how that works...

This is one of my favorite shots thus far.  I was telling my stepdad "Oh I think we are supposed to be walking and then I found it hilarios that I forgot to walk!! Go figure!"

This is my Oh God please stop crying face...

I didn't succeed and burst into tears again. I didn't realize I was bawling so much but I sort of like this picture.

Proof that I didn't cry the entire time lol!!!

Were you emotional when you walked down the aisle?  This was really the only moment that I was tearful.  I was just laughing and excited the rest of the time and in planner mode...

Getting ready...

Right before it was time to walk down the aisle, Kitty (the owner of No. 2 Vance), allowed me to stay in her office while we were being staged to walk down the aisle.

I love this shot. My little girl must have noticed that she was in the pictures and looked up at Krystal.

The traditional "bride on the stairs".  This is my sister-in-law's favorite.

Gotta show those pearlie whites lol!!!!!  Notice the feathers on the shoes. I was soo concerned that my dress would be dirty from the steps.  My venue was a converted printshop which is actually still in use as a printshop.

The millions of buttons adorning the back.  You can really see the fabric here of the dress.  Not bad for $300, huh?

I didn't even know that she was taking the following shots. I was sooo nervous and excited!

I love the raw truth of this picture with the hairs out of place and all. It reminds me of an old Ebony magazine spread.

This is the money shot to me.  It is beautiful and emotional and captures the essence of me as a bride.  I am so happy that I chose Krystal to be my photographer!!!

I'm married now!!!!

Marrying my husband was one of the best days of my life thus far.  The experience was bittersweet since we moved everything up so that my father could be there.  The process was not without its hiccups, even for a professional wedding planner.  My caterer (a family member) who was supposed to handle the food and the preacher pulled out.  In the end, everything worked out as planned and I am now Mrs. H.  We went slightly over budget with the catering fiasco but in the end everything worked itself out.  We ended up spending around $2800 on everything.  Without the gifts of linens from my bestie we would have been under $5000, still way under the national limit.  Without further adieu here are our pictures.  In a later post I will show how we even made money on our wedding. 

When our guests arrived they were greated with the bubble basket and by the ushers passing out programs.  Beside that table was our donut buffet which evidently was a huge hit.  I know that because I never saw the donuts lol!!!!!!

We used submerged orchids for the deck railing and the aisle decor.  Simple, chic, elegant, modern, yet traditional.

Here is the aisle decor that I chose.  My former company sold the monogram aisle runners and as a gift, the artist that I worked with made this for me.

The framing of the view was extremely difficult to describe to my bestie and to capture.  I wanted something more modern than the arch and less costly than the cedar altar.  She does pipe and drape regularly and I decided that it would be the perfect "frame".  I purchased the chandelier from Mrs. Star, a Bee that blogs on weddingbee and the rest is history.  Here are the few inspiration pictures that I found.  Forgive me for not knowing the source.  I literally had to find it on my blackberry and save it there since I was without a laptop.  If anyone knows where it is from let me know!! The first picture was my inspiration for the chandelier. I loved how it hung over everyone.

This picture showed the way that I wanted the fabric swagged to frame the view of the Mississippi River.  Thank goodness the photographer's watermark is there!!! 

Another picture of the chandelier:

Love the sky!!!!!