With so many brides-to-be out there, I thought this would be a fun blog post idea.
What would your advice be to the bride?I first want to say, I am so excited for our new brides-to-be! This is such a special time in your life. Enjoy every moment of it because it will go by faster than you ever expect! While I've only been married a few months, I can say that planning a wedding in about four months is difficult stuff. We got engaged, planned a wedding, moved, and had one of the busiest work schedules ever... but we did it! My advice would be to realize that yes wedding planning may be stressful. It would be ridiculous to believe it isn't, but understand that it is all part of the process. Just make it fun and enjoy this process together! As long as you remember its about both of you, realize that asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, and really try to enjoy the whole process... you'll end up on top. Because at the end of the day...
YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED TO THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS! And that is truly what matters!
So on that note... I wanted to add a few more tid bits, details, advice, whatever you want to call it... about the
Wedding Process. Our wedding was the best moment of my life! Believe me. You won't want to forget a minute of your big day! My advice...
Make it about you & your fiance... make it unique and special for you! It is about both of you! The single best moment in your lives. Enjoy every minute of it! So get ready for a LOT of pictures, some advice and commentary, as well as (HOPEFULLY) some fun comments to help our ladies through this crazy yet AMAZING process!
Our Wedding Planning Craziness:- We received the wrong save the dates
- Our first officiant had to have surgery. We wish him luck and good health but are so thankful we had Rev Ken there to help us with our big day
- Ray's wedding ring came in the wrong size and had to be replaced with a new one
- We won a trip to the Bahamas but it took too long to do the paper work. Hopefully we'll be using this for our 1st or 2nd year anniversary
- The invitations were the wrong size for the envelopes
- I lost $200 worth of stamps! Still trying to find them :) ha!
- My first hair/make up artist double booked and went with the bride that would pay more!
The point that I'm getting at is that we know there might be a few hiccups along the way but in the end it truly does work out for the absolute best AND will be the
best day of your life!Bridesmaid Luncheon: 11/13/2009
The day of the rehearsal, I invited my wonderful ladies including my six beautiful bridesmaids, flower girl, MOB, MIL to a very girly Bridesmaid Luncheon at my apartment to say THANKS! Everything was pink & black! I had McAlisters deliver yummy sandwiches and desserts as well as their amazing sweet tea. I also made fun treats including cupcakes topped with pink frosting and chocolate covered pretzels in pink of course. Each girl received a monogrammed tote bag to carry her stuff in for the wedding, a hand made pink candy flower bouquet for the rehearsal, and a black and white mug with pink chocolate candies inside.
Rehearsal at CityPlace:11/13/2009
Our marriage certificate was signed the night of our rehearsal for 11/14/2009. Technically we were newlyweds! Shhhh!
After meeting our officiant we found out that he was a member of our church at the Heights and a part of the band during the early service. What a small world!
These pictures include my sweet niece Olivia: Flower girl practicing "feeding the fishies" with her petals and cute basket. Sadly the flower girl basket had been lost that night, but CityPlace found a replacement in the nick of time! Poor little girl also broke her foot only weeks before the wedding. I love the pink cast! It was such a cute touch. I had heard from Farrah when she went in to get the cast... Olivia loved the bright yellow... caution yellow! Farrah lovingly convinced her that pink was better;)
Kaylan showing off the cute Bridesmaid candy flower bouquet I made for my ladies!
My best friend & matron of honor with my amazing ribbon bouquet for the rehearsal! I absolutely love it. Seriously Krisitin you are so talented!
* Crazy camera lighting?!?!
Our amazing friends & family after our rehearsal. Now on to Buca di Beppo! YUM!
Again my advice is to make these wonderful events special to you! It's about the little details that make it unique and oh so memorable.
Groomsmen Gifts:
Ray made each Groomsman a Giant Jenga Set! (FYI: his car leaned and I thought it would pop the tires)
The boys & their Gmen gifts! Ok seriously ladies... these are heavy containers!
Buca Di Beppo: Friday the 13th: Dinner & a Movie!
Special Touches:- Bridesmaid Candy Flower Bouquets for the rehearsal
- Friday the 13th: Dinner & A Movie Themed Rehearsal Dinner
- Ray's video absolutely was a hit!
- My mom and dad both walked me down the aisle
- Gmen Gift: Giant G-men Jenga similar to Barcadia's Jenga set!
- Hand-made menus and entrance decor... Thanks Mom!
Rehearsal Mishaps/Fun Story:On a side note: Ray's side mirror was stolen/hit/broken off at our rehearsal dinner. As we're driving home he firsts looks at both sides of the car and says, "I think I'm missing one of those!" I was at first confused... and after I figured it out. All I could do was laugh!
Wedding Day Details: 11/14/2009Theme: Wine Themed Wedding
I'm Addicted to You: Gift Table including our "addictions" Monster & Chapstick! Chapstick & Monster!!! Oh my;)
Our Guest Sign in Tree: A little twist on the traditional guest book. At A&M one of our greatest traditions is our century tree! It is said when lovers pass underneath the branches that they are destined to wed. As you can see with the picture on the left... we too traveled underneath its long branches and as destined, have been wed. We asked our guests to sign a card and place it on the branches of our tree to support a love that could last for centuries!
Table Decor! Each table had a different decoration piece but all went with our "wine" themed wedding.
I loved our wedding cakes. My beautiful cake was a champagne flavored cake with rasberry filling and butter cream topping. The toasting flutes and cake knives were also extremely special to me. As a gift from my sister and brother-in-law, we decided to start a new family tradition. They will be passed down to each girl within the family to use on their special day. I love that this will be something special we can share for many years and generations to come.
Ray and I had a difficult time cutting into the cake. At first I was afraid maybe we did order a faux layer (advice... not a bad idea if you want a large cake but do not like the hefty price tag) But we hadn't. We were just cutting into a cardboard layer that had been used to hold the cake together and not to put too much weight on our butter cream top layer. But still I find it oh so funny.
* Butter cream is a great alternative to fondant. While fondant has such a perfect clean cut look you might be paying the price. Butter cream is much more tasty and less expensive; however, it may crack depending on the technique of the cake baker.
*Also another little way to save money IF YOU ARE DARING... you can pick up your own cake. I first thought Ray was crazy, but after hearing what the charge would be to have our cakes delivered, I did quickly reconsider. On the day of our wedding Ray and his best man were in charge of our cakes. I said I didn't want to know anything bad... just that they arrived! Ray had said that he probably drove about 5 mph but they made it there safe and sound and yummy as ever! So if you are daring... this could be a somewhat easy way to save a few bucks!
Ray's cake was a very fun and delicious wii groomsman cake. We were absolutely in love with Ray's wii cake. Not only was it a very yummy sweet chocolate cake with butter cream topping it was absolutely a blast and totally Ray. He had gone back and forth between a CD, Album cover, and the wii. I think he made the right choice.
*As you have read my mom made our menus, programs, and the like. Making your own invitations is another great way to save a few bucks; however, do think about your own sanity and what it's worth. Basically we bought the invitation and printed them ourselves. So another idea that might help with the savings.
For our wine themed wedding we decorated the tables with wine bottles, cork, floating cherries, vases, roses, pictures, and candles.
* Inexpensive decor idea: (as pictured above) For cheap decor we collected wine bottles and created our own labels. Literally I printed pictures on computer paper and pasted them as the label to give it a personal touch. I did this on about 5-6 bottles.
Wine & Beer options available
Picture Perfect!
I absolutely loved getting ready with my girls. It definitely relieved stress and was just a nice moment before all the wedding funtivities!
My beautiful burgundy Wedding Shoes! Yes they are flats:)
Just a side thought... Ray is 6.2 and I am 5.5! Heels might have been nice but would have killed me by the end of the night! I love my flats:)
My wedding dress: Maggie Sottero!
* Got my nails did on Thursday to open up more time the day before and day of the wedding!
My beautiful mother! I wore my Oma's (mom's mother) diamond necklace for the wedding as my something old! It was absolutely a perfect moment!
My bouquet!
The bridesmaids bouquet
Ray picked them up my garters in College Station during his Bachelor Party. At the store the clerk said... "Oh you are the brother?!?" Ray... in amazement. My brother Chris, "Uh that would be me... gross!" Ray... "no I'm the groom!"
Toasting all my wonderful women!
The First Sight:
Waiting to tell my soon-to-be husband to turn around!
This was his expression when we saw me!
and... we cried like babies! It was one of the most wonderful and special moments in my life. We decided to see each other before the wedding to share a special moment with just.. us to really capture our moment together before the wedding. It actually took a lot of pressure off me I think... and I was so calm and ready to walk down the aisle until she said.... ok it's time! Then I was a ball of nerves. Ha!
My beautiful little flower girl! She definitely stole the show and did so good:) We love you Olivia and are so glad you were apart of our big day! What we didn't know was that she walked down the aisle and looked at everyone. And the very end she realized she was supposed to throw the petals and did... all at one time and at Owen, Ray's dad:) ha! So so cute and everyone thought it was adorable!
Walking the catwalk:
My mom and dad both got to walk me down the aisle!
Handfasting Tradition: This is where "tying the knot" had been first created!
Ray and I also had a wonderful time choosing our ceremony speech. I loved that we each wrote our own vows. This made it so special!
Now introducing... Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Zellner!
Our First Dance: Journey "Faithfully"
Family dances including father/daughter; mother/son; and a swing dance between grandson/grandmother:)
Dancing with my 2 year old niece! She could really shake it:)
The guys randomly singing you lost that love & feeling! Ha!
Ow Ow... Becky caught the bouquet and Tyler caught the garter! Looks like more weddings are coming!
At the wedding we sang 2 special songs:
(1) Aggie War Hymn
(2) Sister Hazel: All for you! Our "family song"
Our wedding was so special because it was very unique to us.- Wine themed wedding
- Colors: Burgundy and White: a special Aggie's touch!
- My favorite burgundy shoes!
- Mother/Father/Nana Dances
- Our songs: Aggie War Hymn & Family Song
- Handfasting Tradition
- Crafted own vows
- Chose our own songs: My entrance song was "I Fall" by Dutton, the band at our church.
- Gifts: I'm Addicted to You! Monster & Chapstick
- Symbols of love: Infinity Symbol (my bracelet in memory of my Oma)
- We dance battled Ray's parents?!?!
- First Sight
- Aggie Garter
- Hand-made menus... Thanks Mom!
- Sign in Tree: Century Tree themed
- Toasting flutes and cake knives will be passed down for generations to come
- Each bridesmaid wore a dress of her choosing that she loved... all the same fabric, color, and designer.
- Something Old: My Oma's diamond necklace
- Something New: My dress or anything I bought for the wedding:)
- Something Borrowed: Kristin's beautiful veil
- Something Blue: (I forgot... oops!)
Wedding Laughs/Mishaps/Details/Craziness- On the day of the wedding I was 100% calm... up until she said ok let's get in line to walk down the aisle... Then I shoved about 15 sour patch kids in my mouth and found the strength to line up:) ha!
- One of Ray's co-workers set a napkin on fire:) Awesome
- They gave one of our groomsmen the wrong shoes. We love you Mike!
- My poor great aunt Alice got a black eye on her way to the wedding
- I ripped my dress at the end of the night (on the way out) It's still beautiful!
- I forgot my "something blue"
- We were locked out of the dressing room right before the wedding
- We lost the flower girl basket the night before the wedding
- We ended up with lighting that looked like 12 monkeys on the floor as compared to the light we chose. Still looked good but we got a good laugh.
- I was so anxious I couldn't eat much... but boy did it look good. I did have one marshmellow covered in chocolate from the fountain (advice... have the venue make an extra plate setting for you and your husband. Lots of times the bride and groom do not get to eat because they are too busy greeting guests)
- Sadly I did not have my Chapstick pocket created in my wedding dress. The alterations lady thought I was kidding. When I asked her about it upon picking up my dress she was like "No... I thought you were kidding but boy that would be such a great idea!" So heads up for next time?!?! J/K
- During our fake exit at 9PM... we forgot to cue our fam members to get the car. Sorry guys it was still so fun and thanks again for letting us use the new vehicle:)
- A fake exit can be a good idea. It allows some guests to slip out for the evening and once you return the real dancing and partying can begin! ;)
- The hotel service was supposed to transport our family members to the wedding. They forgot about them and our poor family had to scramble to find drivers. It all worked out:)
- My brother-in-law flashed his sheriff's badge at the bartender and told him that he was serving a minor. (Ray's older of the two sisters who is 22). The bartender believed him and would not serve her. Ryan had to give him permission for her to have drinks. Love it!
The funny thing is that none of this craziness mattered and everything was absolutely PERFECT! (It's just funny to laugh at now)
And the Honeymoon Begins!
I loved that we took a day off after the wedding to relax! I woke up the next morning to a rose on my pillow:) That morning we slept in, drank mimosas, went to Waffle House for breakfast:) and opened wedding gifts! OH SO PERFECT!
So here were all the details...
Random at best! But I do hope in some way they gave you a few hints or ideas if you were interested. I look forward to more commentary as well!
Love,
Alicia
