our wedding

We got married on August 6th, 2011. As you might have guessed, it was a total DIY budget-friendly affair.

The whole thing went down at a private club, which Dan’s family have been members of for over three generations, in Newcomb, New York — smack dab in the middle of the Adirondack Park. It’s a beautiful setting surrounded by mountains, trees, and lakes.

The day was everything that we had hoped for — it was relaxed, fun, full of love, and it just felt like us. It’s a pretty amazing thing to have all of your most loved family and friends all in one spot at the same time, and we just tried to soak it up as much as we could. Since we had an out-of-town wedding, it was really nice to get to spend that extra time with everyone. Most people came for several nights, so we made a long weekend out of it and just hung out by the lake, had some good meals all together, and enjoyed the company.

We started the day off with some yoga with the bride (taught by my yogi sister!) and golf with the groom.

After lunch it was time to start primping…

 The actual ceremony took place in a field beside Dan’s Grandmother’s cottage, where Dan spent his summers growing up. I quickly fell in love with this spot soon after Dan and I met, so it was nice to get married in such a meaningful place. Dan’s uncle officiated the ceremony (that’s a story on it’s own, but thank you International Life Church Monastery and your online ordaining business).

We asked a cousin to read ‘Us Two’ by A.A.Milne, one of my favourite passages and something I had read at my late godmother’s wedding, and had another cousin sing ‘Ave Maria’ (she is pursuing a career in opera singing). So moving.

Since we weren’t tied to the traditional wedding vows or a particular religious ceremony, we decided to write our own. Dan’s vows were beautiful — I think he had most folks shedding a tear or two — and mine were typical me: serious but with a side of sarcasm (I promised always to rinse out my cereal bowl before I put it in the sink and to always join D in his dance routines around the house).

We had a lot of fun taking our wedding party pictures. Some great photographers + 12 hilarious guys and gals made the whole thing super fun.

Right after the ceremony, we had a little cocktail hour. We had champagne and some yummy hors d’ouevres made by my culinary genius of a best friend (check out her blog for recipes, www.choppedgarlic.posterous.com). This was great since it gave us an opportunity to mingle and chat with all of our guests.

The reception was in a big white tent on the property, so folks just had to walk down a little hill from where the ceremony had taken place.

Our “photobooth” was a total hit. All we did was hang some fabric as a backdrop, throw up my burlap bunting (see that project here), and bring a bunch of fun props. A couple of my super sweet bridesmaids took over the props job and brought amazing stuff, ranging from big sunglasses and pirate costumes to mustaches and bowties on sticks. So. Fun.

And then we just had a huge dance party. It is no secret that Dan and I L.O.V.E. to bust a move. We got the party started with a rockin’ first dance. We began with our fave James Taylor tune and then kicked into high gear with a little choreographed number to ‘give me everything’ by PitBull and NeYo — yep, we’re those people. Everyone busted some sweet moves, including my Dad who was on that dance floor into the wee hours of the morning.

We couldn’t have had a more amazing day. And now you probably want to know about all the DIY stuff, right? Well we made everything from the lavender salt favours, to the centerpiece vases, to the aisle markers, programs, and even baked the cupcakes ourselves. Click on the links below to get to each wedding-related post/tutorial:

wedding program fans	recycled bottle centerpieces	sign posts
flower aisle markers	a paint chip seating chart	chinese lanterns
favours: lavender sea salt	DIY cake stands	personalized table numbers
burlap bunting	wedding party outfits	wedding ad libs
creating a wedding website	print-at-home invitations	will-you-be-my-bridesmaid cards
make a wedding photobook	us getting engaged!

Pssst- we totally loved our photographers. If you are in the Ottawa area and want to hire some super chill and super talented photogs, get in touch with www.stemphoto.com