A Walk in the Park - Dances

Once we finished our photo shoot, we were introduced as husband and wife.  

From there we twirled on the dance floor to our song by Blood Sweat and Tears.

 

 

 We ended with a dip.

Then is was time for our Father-Daughter Dance.  This turned out to be one of my favorite times of the day!

 

About a minute into the song, our DJ, upon my request, asked all the other Father-Daughter couples to join us.  That was one of the most fun things to see.  I really enjoyed that moment.  The photo above is me turning to watch all the other Father-Daughter couples, young and old.

 

 

We then were invited to get our food to eat - you know how difficult it is to eat when you just want to go socialize with everyone?  I had to force myself to sit and eat something!

Favorites - Dancing the night away!!

a FAVORITES series

When you attend a DAY wedding and reception, dancing is in question - do you, or don't you?

I have to say without hesitation, we danced!  And it was so fun!  I loved gettin' down in my dress (I rocked it for 12ish hours!) and loved that everyone else joined in.  

Our DJ, Stefan, from Sierra Sound who has become one of our good friends in the last couple years was amazing.  About a month prior to our wedding, I sent him a few pages of what I imagined our soundtrack  might sound like.  Not only did I tell him those ever important songs: processional song, my song, recessional song, first dance, father-daughter dance and last song, I included different times of the day (such as "before ceremony," "cocktail hour," "dinner hour," and "dancing") and an explanation of what I envisioned with a few songs that complemented my vision.  I made an entire MUST PLAY list as well, (about 30 songs).  I knew I wanted all of them to be played - most toward the end so we could dance, but others spread throughout the rest of the day.  

We had our ceremony at 1:30 and our last dance at about 7ish so we had a lot of airtime to fill, and a lot of dancing time!!!

Here are some of my favorite dance photos!

First Dance

 

Dip - First Dance

 

Dancing and everyone singing!

 

We couldn't pull our flower girl off the dance floor!  Look at my face! haha

 

Dancing with my Maid of Honor!

Nolan and my mom dancing!  LOVE THIS!

 The park closed around 7:30 so we had to get it all cleaned up within 25 minutes after our last song.  To my surprise, I didn't have to pitch in.  While I was busy saying my good-byes, my cousins, my dad, family, and friends put away or packed up the cars with all the tables, umbrellas, chairs, tents, canopies, tablecloths, and napkins so we were ready to rock out at our after-party party.  

The construction and deconstruction group was such a well-oiled machine!  They main point people who set up the park were the ones running the break down.  They all knew where items had to be stored because they got the speech in the morning of where things needed to be put back.  I also included the list in one of my handouts, a "jobs list" that my maids, and family received.  Without that and the awesome workers, I most likely would have been the one directing the craziness instead of saying my thank yous!

Favorites - Homegrown Details.

a FAVORITES series

So among all the great people that helped make the wedding happen, were Nolan's mom and sister. 


I can't say enough about them, as they took on  projects that I wanted to but couldn't because I didn't live in Nevada while planning the wedding.  I envisioned pumpkins, fall flowers, and personal touches that I couldn't accomplish in Chicago. 

I was shy at first to ask... that changed quickly.  Both Susie and Ric take pride in their gardens, they grow divine flowers, fruit, veggies and what-do-you-know - pumpkins!  Nolan's sister, Ric has actually transformed her love of gardening into a profitable business, Chickie Baby Blooms.  So they were eager to pitch in when they could and I am eternally grateful! 

Their decor contributions included orange and white pumpkins (large and small), the bouquet flowers, the ring pillow, and the ring bearers' ties.  Obviously listing them doesn't do them justice as they made our wedding that much more PERFECT! 

Photos above:

TOP: Susie and Camille at Camille's bridal shower in August 2009
BOTTOM: Bryant, Ric, and Ethan at Camille and Nolan's wedding in September 2009

Photos below:
Inspirational photos
TOP: Ties from Bella Bows
BOTTOM: Ring pillow from Martha Stewart online



Susie is a sewing machine so she took on the task of sewing the ring bearers' ties and the ring pillow.  I looked for little boy's ties for a while but came up with zilch.  I did find an Etsy seller, Bella Bows, who inspired me, but her fabric wasn't right, so I took my 40% off coupon to JoAnn's and purchased some fun orange polk-a-dot fabric!  I bought a pattern and gleefully handed it off to Susie.  The ring pillow was a similar story, I didn't find any that suited my taste but soon found this Martha Stewart photo that included hankies and ribbon.  Both my grandmothers and Nolan's had many handkerchiefs, so it was pretty fun to incorporate something old from our families into our vintagey wedding.  Susie sewed it like the ones above, bringing all four corners to the middle, attaching a ribbon and voila - a ring pillow!  It was so special to have our something blue as the handkerchief from my Dad's mom, to top it off, I was delighted even more when Susie sewed on one of her mother's circular doilies on the bottom. 

After I handed off projects to them, I knew I didn't have to think about or worry about them again.  Having supportive, creative, helpful people around while planning a wedding is priceless! 

The ties were so fun and the ring pillow was just amazing.  Here is a photo of them in action!  (I will have to include a detail shot of the ring pillow, this just doesn't do it justice.)

Nick - Ring Bear

By the time the wedding rolled around, the end of flower season approached.  We were hoping that some of the fun teddy bear sunflowers would stick around but our wedding was a week too late for a lot of the flowers.

Not to fear, Ric was able to pull together 6 bouquets worth of flowers and brought them up to our Tahoe vacation home the day before the wedding and we assembled our bouquets!  That was a bonding experience that I am so glad I incorporated.  All the girls were able to meet if they hadn't and get their creative juices flowing.  They all made their own bouquet and Ric tied them up! 

All the girls choosing flowers.

Contemplating color

Ric tying up the bouquets

 My bouquet in action!

Below are the pumpkins in action as centerpieces!

I am so thankful that we had all of these pieces in our wedding.  It made my day to know that our  grandmothers were present and that our homegrown elements brightened up the day!

Favorites - Mustaches

a FAVORITES series

It wasn't in the plans originally but I kept spotting fake mustaches in many of the weddings I drooled over.

Take a look at some of these fun photos and then ask me how I COULDN'T include fake 'staches!

I found these photos on Weddingbee.

Three out of these four photos use the mustaches on sticks - genius!  They are comical and silly.  I just laugh every time I see them.  I particularly like the "formal" portraits with 'staches.  They make me giggle.

So I searched for fakes -

The first and only stop I made was at Oriental Trading!  They were the easy and cheap (my kinda deal).  I purchased 140ish for around $35 (including shipping).  They sell packages of 12, each package includes 3 different styles of mustaches - so you purchase increments of 36 'staches.

To get the all our guest their mustaches was another fun DIY idea.  I had another GRAND idea of a photo booth; the mustaches would be our way to tell everyone about it - so I made business card size info sheets to attach to the mustaches.  They included our "faux"to booth info and where to eventually upload their photos online. 

Well our "fauxtobooth" feel apart - the sheet blew off the fence, never to be hung up the rest of the day so it wasn't used.  C'est la vie!   We had a lot going on - it wasn't a big deal.   But the cards were staples to the 'staches and placed on the tables for each guest already!  What happens when you give wedding guests props?  They make some really silly photos!

And what do  you know, they did in fact upload their photos!  YAY!

Nolan's sis and nephews

 

Camille's older brother and his fiance

 

Camille's little brother (his 'stach is up-side-down!)

 

Camille's uncle and cousins!

 

Nephew

 

Nolan's cousins

 

Camille's cousins

 

 Mike trying to give Camille a mustache!

A HUGE mistake of mine was that I forgot a handful of mustaches at the house when we were leaving for formal photos!  I should have delegated this to someone because I completely forgot!  I am so incredible sad that I didn't get a fun bridesmaid photo with these!  

Please share you mustache photos!

 

Favorites - guest book

a FAVORITES series

I changed my mind a thousand times for what to do for our guest book - so I included 2!

I didn't want a book that kept the names of our guests locked away. It seemed silly to have another book on our shelf that listed our guests in a boring way. There were thoughts of a paint by number painting, frames to sign, photos to take and then sign, small cards to fill out, the list goes on for days...

All I knew is that I wanted something creative (big surprise, I know!).

As I read and reread blogs I came across this photo and a quick explination of the idea. For the life of me I can't remember where I found this - I just saved the photo in my "wedding folder" - (don't judge, you know you have one!).

Thumb Print Wedding Tree

Well it completely fit our "family tree" theme - all I had to do was ask the hubby to see if he liked it in the way I liked it! " I love it!" rang from his mouth and I was filled with glee!

So I purchased all the materials -
1 large, thick, poster size paper - $3 at the local art store
1 poster tube - $4 at the local art store (needed to store and transport!)
3 stamp pads in different greens - $3 each at the local stamp store (same place I ordered my custom stamp!)
3 thin Sharpies - $4 at Target
1 box of wipes - Free from my Dad's house!
Paper to test their thumb prints - Free from my mounds of extra paper! (make it the same weight and texture as the tree poster!)

Grand Total of $ 20!

My bridesmaid/roommate created the tree with her pastels and toted it to Reno for us! She is amazing! Thanks Jack!

I posted a sign displayed at the guest book table with instructions. The tree was pinned to a cork board and the guests happily marked the tree!

It will soon by framed and hung in our home! I can't wait!

I am thrilled that our wedding guests will hang on our wall everyday rather than in a book on a shelf somewhere.

I have to admit, not all our guests made their mark - bummer, I know, but you can't drag your guests to do things they are unaware of. This is where your DJ should come into play. Have a few printed instructions to announce throughout the night! You can't assume everyone will know what's going on, especially if it's out of the ordinary!

Before the tree came into my life, I had chosen an alternate guest book.

From the start I knew I'd like something creative and interactive. So I purchase a photo album and inserted cards into the slots. The cards had instructions on them and a place for the guest to write or draw out the prompt.

In so many words, some of the prompts included, "Write a haiku," "Give marriage advice," "Describe love in 6 words," "Describe family in 6 words," "Draw your favorite memory of Camille or Nolan," "Draw the meaning of love," "Predict where Nolan and Camille will be in 5 and 10 years," "Sign our guest book." The last one was for all those people who wouldn't want to play along.

Because I had purchased the album already ($35) and printed the cards ($5 for the pack of paper) I put it together and used it also. I included not only the cards I printed but the RSVPs we received! It was a fun way for everyone to see what other people did. The empty spaces will eventually house some wedding photos to complete the book.

Some people did both, the thumb print and write something, but the majority just did the thumb print. My mom actually said some people were confused by the book. I guess I needed better posted instructions? A good thing: The book will serve double duty as our Chicago Celebration guest book!

Favorites - COLOR

a FAVORITES series

Throughout the wedding planning process you have obligatory items and FAVORITES.

I wanted all the Fall COLORS in our wedding like a cat wants a mouse!

I began with the bridesmaids' dresses and it just snowballed from there. Originally, I picked a Fall color for each girl (as in I mailed them all a paint chip I picked up at my local Home Depot) - they'd have to find a dress in that color! Well, it seemed pretty difficult for all of them to find a dress in their color, and/or they were apprehensive to do it alone - all 5 girls lived in different towns at the time (Las Vegas, Gardnerville, Chicago, Denver, Carson City). As much as I explained that it was okay and I didn't care - they seemed to more than me. So I chose for all the girls to wear chocolate brown and they'd accessorize with their color - they seemed please with this new evolution. I was pretty pleased with the new look I was attaining too.

So, all my girls found a chocolate brown dress from J.Crew or Ann Taylor, and the last - a hand made beauty from Rachel O's mom! My single stipulation was that they all to be tea length.

Keeping those colors in mind, I brought Fall Red, Orange, Brown, Yellow, Cream, and Purple into my other elements - I loved how it finally all came together. Remember to be confident in your decisions - as long as you keep your final look in mind, it will all be cohesive in the end! I chose to purchase linen napkins as one of my Eco-friendly elements in the wedding planning. (We don't need more paper napkins thrown away!) So even though it was more expensive to purchase all linen napkins, as apposed to buying paper or renting, it was so worth it as we put together the table scape. They brought color and fun to the tables.

I found all the linen napkins at World Market and Crate and Barrel. I only bought those on sale and they've since been gifted as small tokens of appreciation to the women who helped throughout the wedding planning and wedding day. All the napkins were different Fall colors and patterns. As another Eco-friendly element, I wrapped the real flatware in them.

I visited 3 different World Markets to accumulate enough napkins and about 8 different thrift stores for enough flatware. The napkins were bought 6 months before the wedding (all the fall colors were on sale) and the flatware 1 month before the wedding. I didn't have a head count until less than 1 month before the wedding so I purchase 40 more napkins than I needed. The extras were just used as decorations on the service tables at the wedding!

See table scape photos:


My mom's friend Donna came to Tahoe early to help out and well, she HELPED OUT tremendously! She created all the centerpieces from potted flowers from the grocery store, curved twig-things from Michael's, pumpkins my in-laws grew and the napkins! She did an amazing job for the items she was given!

FYI: The potted flowers were given to the park to plant there (I wonder if they were settled in before the snow?), the pumpkins were taken back to Fallon for Ric to put in her veggie baskets she sells, the flatware was donated to Nolan's family's cabin association, and the napkins have been given as appreciation gifts.

TIP: When you're having a wedding away from where you live - know and TELL someone where the items are going to go before the wedding, before you purchase them!! I made sure to tell my maids, coordinator, moms, and family where the napkins, flatware, and pumpkins were going.

Favorites - Everyone has 'em!

a FAVORITES series

Throughout the wedding planning process you have obligatory items and FAVORITES.

Obligatory items include plates for dinner or chairs and tables – they are "no-brainers" for the most part. The easiest and cheapest solution usually wins out. Because, really, your guests aren’t going to sit on the floor or eat of their hands?

But your FAVORITES…

They gain your FULL attention; they make you crazy, reading blogs, exploring magazines, and even asking your opinion-less future husband (which in most cases irritates you, cause he gives you half-ass response that conflicts with your opinion so eventually you stop asking him even though you'd really just like him to agree with you)! Anyhow -

My wedding favorites include our vows, our ceremony, our guest book, our napkins, our stamp, making our bouquets, our TREE, my hair flower, the boutonnieres, and our guests picking up their own chairs after the ceremony! These few small things immediately stand out in my mind; they created OUR wedding. After all, isn't that what it's all about; inviting your guests and including them in a day created by you for you? You let them experience a small piece of yourselves that you hope to experience forever. YOUR joyous occasion!

Today begins "a FAVORITES series" to include some of these fun details - enjoy!

Every now and then in my planning process I asked myself, "Self, is this something you are doing to impress others?" If I said yes, for the most part that 'something' wasn't included. I made sure to include things that were meaningful to Nolan and me.

Our vows and commitment box were the biggest things we did for ourselves that day.

We wrote and said our promises to each other aloud - LOVE this. I had a pretty hard time expressing what I wanted to say in a brief promise to Nolan. I scanned blogs to get inspired by others' words - it helped tremendously! I will write them up to share soon.

We included a tangible object that would forever adorn our home with words to each other as to why we wanted to marry one another. The box is a reminder that we are committed to each other, for LIFE! It's a "break glass in case of emergency" kind of thing. We know the trials and tribulations of a marriage and if things ever come to that breaking point we can open that box, read our letters, and talk things out over the whiskey we put in the box. These two things will be with us forever!