Nick & Anela

Set Up + Decorations

2010-08-28T21:54:00.001-07:00

Generally speaking our goal was to be fun, colorful, and creative (cheap, too). We are so lucky to have thoughtful and creative people in our lives. Without them, we would not have had the great details that made our wedding feel so...us.

We set out the cards Nick had his first graders write to me about why I should marry him (when he proposed) as well as the save the date madlibs we used.

Our extremely thoughtful friend made this frame for us from our proposal!

A bridesmaid set up the guest book which was a blank canvas, directions to "draw a line that represents you" and a digital camera. It was really fun and now we have a great painting above our bed!

My mom made hundreds of feet of garland. She even sewed buttons on some of them. We saved it to use in the future for parties and I'll put some up in my classroom this year. It made our reception really feel like a party.

We didn't go too cheap on the dishes and glasses. We kept that classy. The turquoise tablecloths were a last minute decision that I really loved. I had already made everything reds and oranges, so the contrast was perfect.

My mom made over 200 birds for decorations/party favors. Here's where the bird idea began and here's where she got the template. Don't call it a bird themed wedding-Nick hates that. Shoot, like he really reads the blog, call it what you want :)

We had catering from Baha Fresh. It was such a money savor and it really was wonderful! They even gave us hibiscus flowers to make it look nice. It helped that we had friends help set up.
At first we wanted to have a margarita toast, then we realized that it'd have to be cheap margaritas, then we vetoed it and stuck with beer/wine/lemonade/water. More importantly, Nick's mom and friend made these awesome buckets for ice. There were a few on each table.

Ceremony

2010-08-28T21:30:00.001-07:00

The week before the wedding we painted some quick pieces of wood.

Our good friend Mike played guitar while we all walked down the isle. I think he played a Damien Rice song as I walked.

We put down blankets for out guests. We set up about 15 chairs for our grandparents and older guests. Don't worry, the ceremony wasn't too long.

Our friend and photographer Diana's daughters were our very beautiful flower girls. We picked some flower petals out of a tree at the hotel guests were staying at the morning of. That was one of a few last second things.

My nephew was the ring bearer. The rings are on a ribbon around his neck. He was hot and tired, so we left off his pants. He was so happy when he finally got to his mom at the front!

The boys wore any shade of blue/green shirt they wanted. Nick let them pick out a tie from 2002ties. Nick wore a tie with art by Seurat called Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of Grande Jatte...we got married on Sunday afternoon in a similar setting; smooth, right.

Our friend James performed the ceremony. We stood near the trunk of an oak tree. The flowers were "happyolas" (gladiolas) that we found at the grocery store as well as the flower in my hair. The girls wore saches that my mom made out of fabric that we died.

Our Dance!

2009-08-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you Stacie and Rachel for choreographing and teaching this! Thank-you to all our dancers for shakin' it!

Watch it on youtube too if you'd like (the sound isn't as good).

dance inspiration

Invitations

2009-08-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

We're back from the wedding funanza, so now I can post all the nitty gritty details! Today for you, our invites!

We didn't want to cordially invite anyone, but we wanted our close families to be included, so I asked everyone what animal they would be and made a family tree out of it with me, the cockatoo, and Nick, the polar bear, almost connected.

The invite had four pieces of paper that we connected with a string. The orange and yellow papers are our RSVP cards which we made into a madlibs. I'll post some people's responses soon. It was really fun for us to read and I think we had a higher than average response rate.

We used a variety of colors for the strings that held all the papers together.

All the envelopes. I was excited about the new king and queen stamps. We ordered the recycled paper and envelopes from envelopemall.

We put in the invites in the envelops with string sticking out and put leaf stickers on the string.

Here's all the peices nicely layed out next to the street on a patch of grass!

Programs

2009-07-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

Me and dad painting signs. You should be able to tell the ones we painted and the ones that Anela painted.
Programs. Blisters on my cutting fingers.
programs. Note how hard Tim is working
I cut the leaves out. My mom helped.
People told me I looked like white trash in these clothes.

A Grand Entrance

2009-07-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

I don't think we'll be able to pull this off with our acoustic guitarist, but it's pretty fun.

or maybe I'll wear my hair down

2009-07-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

via Green Wedding Shoes

New Digs

2009-07-22T18:13:00.001-07:00

after the dumping process

city traffic

Megan's new spot plus our free lettuce plant

Big Bear's bed battle

Nick will keep me safe (with his water gun)

It's nice to combine our books

beer

2009-07-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

just trying to get this to Nick (who's in LA!)

One step closer to: Master & Master Deisler

2009-07-17T07:27:00.001-07:00

And now, I can really focus on the wedding!!!

Also: http://www.mediacollege.com/downloads/sound-effects/star-wars/darthvader/darthvader_circleiscomplete.wav

flowers

2009-07-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is so beautiful!

wedding shoes

2009-07-07T19:47:00.001-07:00

"nature hates calculators"

2009-07-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

I just made reservations for our little honeymoon retreat. We're going to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and staying at super chic and earth friendly Earthbox. We'll get to hike, kayak, and bike ride all around. I'm excited!

ps. we signed the lease today! The picture above is of our rooftop hangout.

(quote by R.W.Emerson via earthbox website)

This and that

2009-07-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

Nick can't make hearts. Here's some cards he wrote as thank-you's for the bachelorette party.

And I got my ring from a mother's ring website.

Countdown

2009-07-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

I like her hair.

This gave me a good idea for our programs.

Lately, we've:

Looked into rings...yeah, we're a little late. Nick just ordered one from Etsy which beats the super plain one that would have been double the price at this cool local jewelry store (keep in mind our budget is small).
Planned out our web of helpers.
Started brainstorming the ceremony details.

It's now less than a month away! Oh, we're going to sign our new lease on Tuesday!

just because

2009-06-28T23:12:00.001-07:00

Bridal Party!

2009-06-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

My pal/bridesmaid/roommate Alexis threw the greatest bridal shower for me yesterday!

We sat in the sun by a calf in University Village.

It started with my favorite cupcakes from Trophy.

Then we played bingo on the hand drawn bingo cards she made. My mom won!

She even made special wheat free "cupcakes" for my mom.

Then we painted pottery.

Drinking coffee at my house next year will be the best!

I'm so excited to see them once they've been in the kiln.

Thanks girls!!!

I'm am officially bridal showered and ready to get married.

We've been posted elsewhere

2009-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you Nole for putting up our Save the Dates on your blog Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Fun Wedding

2009-06-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to a full fledged carnival wedding. I say, if you're going to spend the big bucks, you might as well have a ferris wheel! I really like the picture of the bridesmaids with balloons.

Invitiations!

2009-06-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

Finally! We did it. I'm so excited that I had to post something. 73 envelops are sitting in my mailbox to be picked up this afternoon and 10 more will be on their way soon once we check addresses.

Nick and I are both going to weddings today. Nick's in Temecula wearing a Tuxedo and I'll be in Issaquah wearing whatever I want.

Such a cool wedding

2009-06-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

Adam and Hali

invites

2009-06-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

The paper and envelops have arrived. (Been printed, cut, stamped, addressed...other processes.... and are almost out the door).

Wedding party invites

2009-06-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

Here's parts of what my bridesmaid/maid of honor ladies got when I asked them.

We were pleasantly surprised...

2009-06-06T14:05:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, our officiant/Deputy for a Day and good friend James sent us a package including:

1. A very nice letter with his thoughts about our relationship, both Nick and I and us with him. We're so happy that he said he would marry us. When we thought of asking a friend, it made perfect sense to both of us to ask James. I think he's one of the best humans I've ever known. He's perfect for the job since he's fun, but also intelligent and thoughtful.

2. A date-night debit card from giftcards.com with a picture of us on it.

3. Self-counseling books: We've decided that Nick will handle taking out the trash as long as I make the bed. I'm still working on getting him to always make me lunch with a note. Maybe I just need my mom to be around more often.

4. Links to videos about Joey marrying our good friends Monica and Chandler.

photography

2009-05-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Another photographer I like: Tec Petaja

walkin'

2009-05-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Our ring bearer is walking! Whew. Happy (late) Birthday, baby!

sashes

2009-05-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

We decided to make sashes for the ladies. My mom and I couldn't find orange eyelet fabric, so we bought white and dyed it using pink and orange dye.

I picked out the thread at the store, then we matched the colors. We found that the eyelet took to color differently than our plain tester fabric.

Here's the fabric and my lovely mom.

Eyelet + coral

See how they turned out at our ceremony!

video

2009-05-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

This doesn't have much to do with weddings or my wedding except that I found it on Gangsta Bride.

Maybe after our wedding we can all go over to a train station and do the dance that Stacie and Rachel make up for us.

A quote from our "wedding planner"

2009-05-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

"If a trail is to be blazed, send a ranger,
if an animal is floundering in the snow, send a ranger,
if a bear is in a hotel, send a ranger,
if a fire threatens a forest, send a ranger,
and if someone needs to be saved, send a ranger."

Stephen Mather - First Director NPS
Park Ranger

invite inspiration 7

2009-05-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

Beast Pieces

See also: pica press

invite inspiration 6

2009-05-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

(dosfamily)

(elum)

Save the Dates

2009-04-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to post our save the dates!

Think of the rocky song when you look at it. We went to a park and took pictures of each other. We hid the fact that it was actually about 35 degrees that day. Brrr. Funny thing is that the week before, I wore leg warmers which inspired me to do this for our Save the Dates, then I forgot to wear the leg warmers in the pictures.

We got them printed on matte cardstock at a local printshop, then cut them and used some pens I got in France (oh la la) to write out addresses on the back. We chose to keep it black an white so it looked more retro and because it was about a third of the price. We were pretty happy about the fruit stamps.

Design: free (us)
Printing: about $10
Stamps: about $15

inspiration

2009-04-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

Snippet and Ink figured me out...

See the post here for the picnic wedding.

A small dream of mine...

2009-04-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

Would be for everyone to learn a dance and do a performance at the wedding like this family.

invite inspiration 5

2009-04-25T10:08:00.001-07:00

maps

invite inspiration 4

2009-04-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

Envelopes!

fun bookmark

simple and sweet

I'm not sure what we could do with this, but they sure are fun.

paper in envelope=special

hand-written note

Ok, it's about time to actually make ours.

New Favorite Photographer

2009-04-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Looking at Feather Love makes me really excited to get married.

Pretty, but yikes!

2009-04-17T07:16:00.001-07:00

These photos from Joe Mikos are really cool, especially the last one, but I question, is the owl really necessary? And I'm a little afraid, honestly, of having 8 people put clothes on me, even if they are my favorite people. This is how the wedding industry seems so crazy to me!

Anyway, lots of plans are underway and we'll be ready to put up more fun details later. Maybe I'll even get Nick to do more posts!

Anela likes Garland

2009-04-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here's more pictures of Garland. Grace and my mom are going to make it for us. Here's our directions:

Get yarn of your choice.
Cut pieces of fabric that vary in rectangular size and shape. With an average size of 3x4.
Sew a single piece of fabric to the yarn using a zig zag stitch or whatever works. Pieces can be 3 inches to 12 inches apart.
Change directions as needed.
Bring to wedding.
Have a brownie for dessert, unless you're at the wedding, then you'll have strawberry cake.

*Nick helped, but Anela posted.

napkins, etc.

2009-04-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

The wedding industry is just nuts. We're looking into getting bandannas that Jenny found from oriental trading company for our guests which would be about 65 cents each. They're fun and colorful.

I was excited to find that there are a couple websites that are like the craigslist for brides. I'm not sure how useful they will be, but it's worth looking into:

From the Airplane!

2009-04-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

I was just going through my random photos from the airplane trip from Seattle to LAX and realized I got a perfect shot of Paramount Ranch. Yes!

trip to LA

2009-04-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

In'n'out. Dicks isn't even close.

Anyone need any sugar or molasses?

Anela has a strange fascination with straws. It is also our first official wedding purchase.

Old West Bar. but no old west beer or whiskey. We have to provide that.

Our wedding planner Ranger Randi: "High heels can be riveted in a gopher hole." "Rattlesnakes probably won't be a problem." and if they are Pete and Karl have offered their services.

Bridge. Anela wants me to tell anyone reading this that the tree that is partially in view is the one where we are getting married. It is a nice tree.

BOOZE for 5 cents.

Our wine sponsor (my mom) with her purchases. That is me in the background. I am wearing 2 shoes.

soon...

2009-03-26T00:28:00.000-07:00

We're going to LA on Saturday and we'll come back with some huge ideas. And the whole wedding completely planned out, of course.

invite inspiration 3

2009-03-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

I don't so much want to give small packages of seeds to our guests, but I do like the idea of using white ink on color for our invitations. I was also thinking it could be cool to hand paint our envelopes to keep the price down. This image came from once wed.

invite inspiration 2

2009-03-21T13:34:00.001-07:00

From Pixiegirl Presents via How About Orange.

Introducing the cutest baby ever!!!

2009-03-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

I am 100% positive that any nerves or overwhelming emotions will be calmed for everyone at the wedding when the cutest ring bearer to ever exist walks down the aisle. My sister had amazing timing ... he'll be walking this spring!

He is the cutest baby ever, don't you think!!!

Holga

2009-03-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

First, I love the casual beach setting you will see in the rest of these pictures by Leo Patrone. But even more, how cool is that camera that he used? It's a Holga which uses film and has a plastic lens. That's about the extent of my knowledge about it. I'd love to have one of those around at our wedding just to get some great artistic photos. It could be just so much better than the bridesmaids in a row hold up your matching flowers tilt your head to the left for 1/2 an hour photography.

new idea for guest "book"

2009-03-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

I love this idea from today's "real wedding" at snippet and ink. We can have guests write on a chalkboard just like they did and just set up a camera for easy and fun pics. I think a digital camera will be cheaper than polaroids even though they are super cool

If I won $2,995

2009-03-13T21:44:00.001-07:00

invite inspiration 1

2009-03-13T08:17:00.001-07:00

More on the garland

2009-03-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

This image from lobster and swan makes me want to make our garland from any spare fabric we have from our DIY projects. I think patterns and random color combos will fit our other decorations, especially the little birds (which I will share more about later).

Two weddings I love

2009-03-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

Nick's friend Donia's wedding was posted on spippet and ink. They were on a pretty low budget and kept things very low key. We'll have less people, a smaller budget, and I won't be playing the piano unfortunately. Dave & Donia Wedding link.

I found this wedding via cup of jo, but here's the link to more pictures and details on once wed. We won't be having a potluck, but we will be getting married under a big tree. I love that their guests stood in a half circle around them and that their friend married them. Our friend James will marry us-three cheers for James!

a little inspiration

2009-03-09T00:02:00.000-07:00

Feathers and more

2009-03-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Check out the selection of feathers and flowers at Nicholas Kniel! This could be great for the boutonnieres and head pieces.

table talk

2009-02-27T08:06:00.001-08:00

I was inspired by this save the date invitation and would like to steal the idea of getting little MOO cards with pics of Nick and I with some random information on the back or maybe just our wedding date. It seemed like fun. Maybe we'll just make our own, though.

guest "book"

2009-02-03T23:49:00.001-08:00

I found this glass bowl guest book idea on Martha Stewart's website. It could be a good way to have a splash of color at the wedding and to get guests to write a quick and casual note to us if they want. After the wedding, it would be easy to compile these into a book.

photography

2009-01-31T09:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture from my favorite photographer I've seen online so far. I'll want to send whoever does our pictures to his website for inspiration. Here's the link: Ben Chrisman

DIY "flowers"

2009-01-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here's some really cool pieces that I would love to imitate from and etsy store called Twigs and Honey. They could make some great boutonnieres for the guys and fun hair pieces for the girls. I really like the peacock feather aspect of it.

Our Big Projects

2009-01-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

...that we need help with:

Napkins and table clothes (sizes?).
Sticks and birds for table centerpiece.
Playlist for DJ ipod-izzle
Garland (inspiration from sophiecuvelier in photo).
Figuring out our food plans

Thanks in advance to:

Andy & Jenny for the strawberry cake.
James for marrying us.
Grace for making my dress.
Maile for making my jewelry (still up for that?).
Jenny for being our LA-liasion.
Jenny and Ann for looking into the sticks
Mom for looking into the birds for table centerpiece.

Dresses!

2009-01-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Grace and I are searching for the perfect wedding dress. I'm so lucky that she'll be making it for me. Here's some great websites to start at when looking for vintage patterns:

A Dress a Day
Old Patterns
Mom's Patterns
Sandritocat (etsy!)

Save the Dates, etc.

2009-01-18T11:27:00.001-08:00

I've had very limited internet lately (thanks, comcast), and school has slapped me in the face, so I haven't gotten much done. But, Nick is working on getting addresses of everyone and yesterday we put together our save the date postcards. Here's a sneak peek! Very romantic.

Nick should get some cool socks

2009-01-13T22:50:00.001-08:00

sticks on tables

2009-01-08T07:40:00.001-08:00

I really like the idea of using sticks and birds like in this picture I found on snippet and ink from tina rupp's photos. Maybe we should make some birds (and paint some sticks).

Cake topper?

2009-01-08T07:37:00.001-08:00

How about a little strawberry man and woman to go on Jenny and Andy's strawberry cake they are making for us?

a fun wedding:

2009-01-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to a wedding I saw in Martha Stewart's winter wedding magazine. I don't think I'll knit socks for my bridesmaids, or even make special rocks with each guest's initials, but it's cool to look at for inspiration.

Save the Dates

2009-01-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

Are coming soon...

Paramount Ranch

2009-01-03T00:54:00.000-08:00

Dress

2008-12-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of... a clean cut strapless, or narrow strapped top, colorful ties with flowers dangling in the back, and a "flowy, spinnable" maybe lace layered full length (no train) skirt. whew.

Fun Links for Inspiration

2008-12-25T20:35:00.000-08:00

I like Jesse and Deanna's blog about their wedding. They're both artists and had a cheap wedding which was on Snippet & Ink which shows lots of great wedding and ideas. Here's some more of my favorite posts I've found:

I like the dresses in this wedding.
Board 296 has some great colorful ideas.
This summer wedding has fun colorful ideas, including the bride's shoes.

Date + Location

2008-12-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

We'll have our ceremony and reception at Paramount Ranch National Monument which is in the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu. The big date is Aug. 2.