Then comes marriage...

October 2, 2010

I absolutely loved our wedding day! It was perfect and I know that it wouldn't have happened if we didn't have the love and support of our families, friends, and our Heavenly Father.

Planning the wedding was very fun, but very stressful. We had a very limited budget so I had a lot of phone calls, emails and research to do. I canvassed Snohomish county for the perfect place to get married, and well I found them all and all were well out of our price range. Finally we had an inspirational thought to call some friends in Cle Elum and ask if we could use their property. Before I could even finish the question, the answer was an excited YES!

The location. A working family farm that has been in the family for I don't even know how many generations. An old barn was transformed to be a place of bringing people together for good times, memory making and celebration without losing any of the original character and charm. It is absolutely breath taking and meant to be the place where we said "I Do!" There was room for the ceremony, and with a quick transition for the reception for dining and a final transition for a dance floor - it had everything we wanted, desired and needed. 

Decorations. The decorations were kept simple but just enough to give the space a little more country wedding atmosphere. We draped white Christmas lights around the four posts in the middle of the barn then hung two strands of jute string diagonally in the center to make an x. We then hung white tissue paper puffs from the strings to bring the ceiling down a little bit and to make a dance floor for the reception. For table cloths, I scoured second hand stores and even a few estate sales to find fun, not necessarily matching, embroidered table cloths. I found 15 gorgeous table linens, most had matching napkins, and they all worked perfectly. I know I had a few sisters eying them to see if I would miss them after the wedding was over.

We used placed polished river stones in the bottom of eight-ounce canning jars and battery operated tea lights to first line the aisle for the ceremony, but then moved the jars to the tables as center pieces.  For a back drop on the stage, I found three pieces of fabric - one antique blue, chocolate brown and bright red (our wedding colors) at thrift stores. We hung those so they would drape from ceiling to floor. Over top, I found some daisy lace curtains that I re-sewed to hang over the top of the three colored fabric so you would just get hints of the color, but it would be a great textured background.

The Bride. Well, my mom actually made my dress and veil! She did an amazing job. I showed her a photo of my perfect dress, she tried to use a resembling pattern, but ended up really having to make her own and I couldn't have been happier with it. I love the elegant simplicity and a bit country styling to it. I found my tiara online and fell in love with it. It took my breath away.

~ Something Old: my boots

~ Something New: my dress, tiara, veil

~ Something Borrowed: I borrowed two angel pins from my mom and wore them on my petticoat to symbolize my sister, Chantry and Peter's mother, Elfriede who both passed away.

~ Something Blue: I got a "forget me not" flower necklace that I wore and also gave one each to my matron of honor and junior bridesmaid, Zulu, my flower girl, Sophie and my Aunt Roselva for being my wedding day coordinator. Also, my boots were blue.

~ And a sixpence in my boot!

The Groom. Peter's attire was a blue western shirt with brown slacks, a tooled leather belt with a buckle with our initials and our wedding date engraved in the center (A+P 10-02-2010) He also wore his brown boots and a cowboy hat.

Matron of honor and Junior bridesmaid: Anna (Ayrian's sister) and Zulu (Ayrian's sister through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program) wore brown dresses, but different styles and materials. For Anna's (Matron of honor) dress we actually bought a white dress and she dyed it brown using RIT dye. It worked perfectly. To add a little extra touch, she used a wide off white ribbon for a sash around her waist and both her and Zulu wore remaining ribbons as a headband. They both wore a blue cardigan and brown wedges.

The Best Man: Eduard (Peter's dad) wore a blue western shirt, brown pants and shoes and had a brown fabric cap.

The ceremony: We were matched up with our Officiant who is a friend of the family who owns the farm. I can't tell you his name, cause he made me promise that I wouldn't tell anyone. However, he did an amazing job. I talked to him several times on the phone before we actually met,  but once both Peter and I were able to meet him in person, we knew he was a perfect fit. He is a gentleman of a cowboy with pure heart and a man who loves God.

We walked down the aisle to a song that is from one of the movies we saw when we dated in high school. The movie was "8 Seconds" and the song was "Standing right next to me" by Karla Bonoff.

Our exit song was "Great Balls of Fire" and our first dance was "Never ending love song" by Dickey Lee.

The reception was great! In leiu of gifts, our family provided food and hard work. We had chicken, pork ribs and roast beef. Sides included potatoes, coleslaw and an array of fresh from the farm veggies and fruit. To be honest, the buffet was not what I had planned out on paper, but an amazingly lovely surprise. Everyone walked away full and happy, well, except for Peter and I who did not get enough ribs! We were too busy visiting, photos and just being a bride a groom. All in all, It was perfectly wonderful and we wouldn't have changed it for the world.

Now, to show you some of the photos from the wedding!