Coming soon...

Reception photos.  There's some fun ones!

Wedding photos: The ceremony

I hope you have enjoyed all my wedding posts so far.  Only a few more, I promise! For now, here are a few special shots from the moments leading up to the big event and the ceremony itself.

Our ceremony took place at 5:00 PM on Saturday, September 25, 2010.  It was a beautiful and completely surprisingly sunny day in Seattle. We were fully prepared for the normal Seattle doom-and-gloom sort of sky.  So, when the sun rose brightly that morning (yes, I was awake by sunrise), it was such an unexpected gift!

Thanks to some very thoughtful bridesmaid planning, all of us ladies enjoyed a can of Sofia Coppola champagne just before we lined up to walk into the Fremont Abbey, where the wedding took place.  We toasted, gulped and took a few adorable photos to commemorate the moment. 

My bridesmaid Kristin and I went to Pike Place Market the morning before the wedding to buy dahlia's and other flowers for the bouquets and the table decor.  Then, on the morning of the wedding, the bridesmaids assembled all the bouquets themselves.  They were amazing improv florists, who knew!

The flowers were simple, but lovely.  For my bouquet, I wrapped the flowers in the sash that came from my dress, since I bought the one you see here in this photo.  The long sash around my flowers hung nearly to my knees and blew in the wind.  The big, white dahlia's looked like pom-pom's.  

This is one of my favorite photos with my dear friend, Megan.  A stolen moment, caught on film.

All of these photos speak for themselves.  (And for that reason, I get a little misty-eyed when I see them again!)

These captured moments with my dad and Ryan's mom make my heart melt.  I love the concern in Kathy's eyes and the tender, affectionate hand my dad offered me just before we walked down the aisle together.  

Here is our flower girl, Grace and her mom, my bridesmaid, Olivia.  They made an adorable duo walking down the aisle.  

The moment we'd all been waiting for!  

My dad and I and the entire wedding party walked down the aisle to one song, Across the Universe, by the Beatles, but covered by an obscure band called Laibach (if you click on the link, ignore the bazaar video and just enjoy the music!). The acoustics in the Abbey made it sound like a choir was singing.  We thought it was beautiful.  

Since we had rehearsed the ceremony just the day before, at this point I was feeling totally in the zone and ready for anything.  A good feeling.

I don't remember very much humor during the ceremony, but so many of our photos show all of us smiling, giggling and laughing out loud!  I used the think weddings should be so serious, but having gone through it, it was fun to realize how much joy and excitement is bursting from each moment. We couldn't help but laugh and smile through the entire ceremony.  And since I cried my eyes out during the rehearsal, our ceremony was virtually tear free! 

Here is Ryan giving me my ring.

And me putting Ryan's ring on the wrong finger. Oops!  We'll debate whose fault that was for the rest of our lives.

For the readings during the ceremony, we asked my grandparents, Ryan's parents and our dear friends, Rachel and Than, to do the three readings.  We listed the readers in the program as "three generations of marriage that have inspired the bride and groom".  Their readings were one of my favorite parts of the ceremony.

Phew! That kiss made me think my veil was going to fall off!  What a moment.  Everyone cheered and clapped and it was official.... we were married!  

Our exit song was Rill Rill, an unrelated, but bursting-with-joy kind of song.  

Next up: decor, reception and dancing!  xo

P.S.  We bought this book for our readings and loved it.  A great book on love and relationships, even if you aren't planning a wedding.

P.S.S.  My grandparents read Hafiz, Ryan's parents read Ecclesiastes and Rachel and Than read Stanley Kunitz.

P.S.S.S. We tucked this poem inside the program:

One faith is bondage. Two

are free. In the trust

of old love, cultivation shows

a dark graceful wilderness

at its heart. Wild

in that wilderness, we roam

the distances of our faith,

safe beyond the bounds

of what we know. O love,

open. Show me

my country. Take me home.

A Homecoming, by Wendell Berry

Thanks again for reading! 

Wedding Photos: TUBS

After taking a few nature shots with our wedding party and families, we headed to a slightly unusual Seattle locale: TUBS, an abandoned hot-tub spa that has become a local canvas for street artists.  Anyone who has driven past this infamous 50th and Roosevelt corner would be hard pressed to forget such a sight (whether you like it or not). 

The idea to take photos at TUBS came when we first met our photographer and were discussing location ideas for our outdoor photos.  When we mentioned TUBS, Yvonne and Ryan and I were mutually thrilled at the idea of the bright colors and graffiti as a contrast to the elegance and tradition of typical wedding motifs. 

The sun was shining perfectly on our wedding day, which gave Yvonne the chance to capture the light in different ways. Some, bright and striking as you can see the detail of the graffiti in the background, while others feel romantic and airy as the sun washes out the color.  

One cool thing about TUBS is that the graffiti is constantly changing.  When we lived in this neighborhood last year, much of the images and designs captured in these photos weren't there and will most likely be painted and covered up by another artist sometime soon.   

Next up, the wedding! We have some special photos backstage with our friends before the ceremony, teary-eyed moments with our parents, awesome laser-dance party shots, as well as some detailed images of the decor.  Thanks again for indulging me and letting me share with you!  xo 

Wedding Photos: Cowen Park

The second stop for our wedding photos was one of our favorite neighborhood spots, Cowen Park, in Seattle's Ravenna/U-District neighborhood. We were sooo lucky to wake up on Saturday morning to a gorgeous, sunny day, which really made the photos.  Since the wedding was indoors, we really wanted to capture a sense of nature and greenery by taking some photos outside.  I'm so glad we could do it.    

Ryan and I used to live in a house just blocks from the park, so we have loads of memories wandering there on rainy day walks and going on short, but well intended runs that turned into existential musings on everything from our own relationship, to our jobs, our goals, our dinner plans and how we needed more sunshine in our lives. 

Cowen Park is really nothing super-special (other than the fact that is big and beautiful, like much of Seattle) but it just felt like the perfect place to commemorate on our wedding day; a place that represented so much of our journey because of how pivotal our time in that neighborhood was in the development of our relationship.  I feel like we took something ordinary and normal, a place some people might not even pull over and take a walk through, and made it unforgettable.   Not just on our wedding day with these photos, but through all the moments we spent there journeying through the up's and down's, turns and corners of our relationship that slowly but surely led to our marriage.  

I love seeing this shot from the two photographer's perspectives.  

Our beloved friends were so happy, joyful, supportive and not to mention so EXCITED!  They made taking these photos such a blast. 

One thing I've always looked forward to when being a bridesmaid was getting to take a few shots with just the girls.  I couldn't wait to do the same at my own wedding.  Here's one with my bridesmaids and Ryan's groomswomen. 

Here's one with my bridesmaids, my best friends... all in one place. 

Ryan and his par-tay (minus one who couldn't be in photos due to security reasons, arg). 

My DIY bouquet. We did all the flowers ourselves (not sure I would recommend it!). 

Yvonne, our photographer, kept yelling out, "Cylops, cyclops!  Get your faces so close that you can only see one eye!"  We laughed and promptly squished closer together upon her command. 

Our wedding party left for the venue while we took these lovey-dovey photos and headed off to our next destination (which I plan to share STAT).

If you're reading, I'd love to hear a comment to know you're out there!