Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My Wedding Day!

I wanted to share my big day with the readers of The Bride’s Book. I don’t think I can put into words the way I felt that day. I was excited, anxious, emotional, and tired. It took a year and four months to plan our wedding and it felt like it flew by in 20 minutes. The night was a blur. I look back now at our photographs and think “Was that really us?” It is all surreal. I have a feeling once we get our video back that is when reality will hit that it was us and that it was real.



We were so fortunate to have a warm sunny day. Our ceremony was outside on the Mississippi River in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Our reception was inside at Mississippi Dunes Golf Course. Twenty minutes before the ceremony began my youngest sister drew blood by ripping open her leg on a broken couch! I was getting ready to pack up our stuff to head to the hospital for stitches when my extremely brave and tough sister Macy requested super glue to close the wound! If anyone knows Macy, this is typical. Oh the stories, this one being one we laugh about now. Especially since the bridesmaid dresses were above the knee and in some pictures the wound is quite showy!



I didn’t trip coming up the aisle in grass! However, I was waiting on a golfer yelling “FOUR” and someone getting hit by a ball. Our ceremony site was right next to a par 3 green! I want to apologize to our guests for the ceremony starting about 10 minutes late. The unwarranted construction caused some guests to arrive late. Including my Uncle, who met me just feet before the aisle and he wanted to stop and talk. Excuse me Uncle, Go and SIT DOWN. Again, love and laughs.

I’m a detailed person, so details at the reception were my favorite. I’m so in love with any Damask print. That was shown in my wedding and now has carried over to my house! We showed our excitement for cupcakes in our cupcake tower! The Candy Bar was a huge hit with the guests and made for a fun favor. In my opinion, my florist, Saba Flowers, could not have captured my idea of a centerpiece more accurately. And Brides, I believe any florist can do such a better, stress-free job when you pick flowers that are IN season. I did just that and the flowers were luscious and gorgeous and lasted for days! If anyone read my last blog post, I talked about the 350 lemons. They did a great job at the wedding! And afterwards, quenched much of my family’s thirst freshly squeezed!







Keith and I chose “When you got a Good Thing” off of Lady Antebellum’s second CD. This may have been my favorite moment of the evening. It was really the first chance Keith and I got to spend a second or two alone and take in the meaning of that day. I wish I could have frozen time in that moment. Eventually I got teased for having a weak throw in my bouquet toss. One special dance we had was the Anniversary Dance. I had seen this at weddings before, but every married couple is on the dance floor and the DJ plays a slow song and dismisses couples by years of marriage. Finally the last couple standing was my grandparents married for 50 years!



At the end of the evening I was so happy, but exhausted. It took me 30 minutes to take the bobby pins out of my head! Now in the weeks after the wedding, my favorite thing to do is look back at the photos my photographer, Kate Botwinski was able to show me. I can’t get enough of them! Brides, cherish your photos. These are pieces of art that you will have forever! I am completely in love with mine.

Thank you Bride’s Book for letting me share my big day with you! We love to hear about our reader’s weddings and see their pictures! Please share with us on our facebook page!

-Mia Mauer - Acct Executive with The Bride's Book

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Two Days Out!

To all of our beautiful brides, “I understand.” I understand the drama, the excitement, the stress, the happiness, and most of all the utmost craziness of planning a wedding. I am two days out from my big day and it makes me think the last year and four months have been a big whirlwind. I take a lot of pride in being organized and getting a lot of planning done in advance. Well I hit reality hard. It doesn’t matter how much you do in advance or how organized you are, when planning a wedding there is just so much you have to do in your last two weeks! When it comes to head counts, food choices, and seating arrangements you are at the mercy of your guests. You can’t get any of that nailed down until you hear from you guests or track them down! Stressful.

But then you get to enjoy the other side of planning. The laughing and the nonsense. I have been very fortunate to have wonderful vendors, just like the North Carolina vendors I get to work with every day. They have made planning the wedding very simple. Online resources have been a key to my planning success. How convenient it was to sit at home and enjoy dinner while planning a big Minnesota event that was 6 months away! My colors are black, white and yellow. Of course I’ve searched for all things yellow! I had to have lemons in my arrangements and my florist happily agreed as long as a got them and brought them. Here is a picture of my mom and our purchase of 329 lemons! Thank goodness for flatbed carts!
I am so anxious to see every detail come together. I believe every piece is gorgeous, but I can’t fathom everything all together. Our ceremony is outdoors, so I have been checking the weather ever since the internet can post a 10 day forecast. Accurate or not, 10% rain has sent me to tears on day 9! But I took a deep breath and 0% appeared the next day. Have faith.




My biggest piece of advice to future brides is to enjoy. Enjoy the fun moments and have faith in your closest supporters to get you through the “not-so-fun” moments. Bottom-line, this is going to be the most memorable day for your life and your fiancé will be stunned. Have full confidence that you are the most gorgeous bride to walk this earth and show your guests one heck of a time.

Ps: If you ever need to vent, I completely understand! Throw it at me!

With Love,

Mia

The Bride's Book

Account Executive Western Carolina and Triad Area

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Creative Bridal and Wedding Portraits

Image from Kiss the Groom

Image from Kiss the Groom

I saw this wedding on Kiss the Groom a couple of weeks back and threw a handful of images into an inspiration folder on my computer. While going back through them looking for inspiration, it struck me. This gal isn't doing a day after shoot. She was on that horse during ON her wedding day! Note the ceremony arch and guests in the background. That's freaking awesome!


Image from Kiss the Groom

So it got me thinking. Why is it that brides put so much time and energy into customizing their wedding celebration only to default to safe, standard bridal portraits? Especially with such mad wedding photography talent available. Wedding photography has come a long way and you can find plenty that look a stunning as editorial shoots in a magazine.



Image from Two Ring Studios

OK, let me take a step back here and say that traditional, classic portraiture will stand the test of time and won't look dated in 10, 20, or 30 years. And classic portraiture is wonderful in is own way. But why not also embrace your own personality and tap into your photographer's creativity? To truly capture your wedding story, I suggest you consider doing both.


Image from Kiss the Groom


Image from Style Me Pretty

I'm not talking about a Trash the Dress (TTD) session. I'm talking about rocking the dress and highlighting your style and personality, while taking full advantage of your photographer's talents.

Image from Two Ring Studios

So how creative would you be willing to get with your pictures on your wedding day? What would best express your personal style and creativity?

MWAH!
~The Hindsight Bride