Wed Recap: It takes an army

I totally realized that I hadn't scheduled a post about my team of wonderful ladies who helped beautify and dress me on the day of the wedding.  I can't believe I forgot this normal recap because even though I was irritated by all the photos our photographer didn't get, the 'getting ready' shots are truly some of the most beautiful and my favorite shots of the day.  But before you check out the photos, here's a couple minutes of several pieced together videos of my friends and family getting me dressed :)

This is Natalie Buketov.  Natalie did my hair and makeup as well as hair and makeup for four of my bridemaids and my mom.  She showed up at 7:30 in the morning and left just after our first look when we were about to start pictures which was probably at about 2 pm.  My girls looked GORGEOUS!

Yes, I have false eyelashes on here for sure

Getting ready some more.  I was the second to last one to get styled. 

Mom was the last one while my girls were getting me into my gown, shoes, jewelry, etc.

I don't know why, but I love this shot:

And so it begins.  It took an army of mostly my sister and my cousin A who handled the dress part and then my cousin E, bestie L and friend D handled putting on my garter, shoes and jewelry.

Took a while to get that corset laced up but it sure was pretty.

Bridesmaids L & D help me get my bracelet and necklace on.  BM L gave me the earrings I wore that day as my gift when I served as the Maid of Honor in her wedding about 9 years earlier.

Ok, funny story.  I had my designer Jeanette make my bracelet out of a clip on earring I bought at a vintage swap meet.  So you know what a clip on earring looks like on the back?  She added a ring that slipped over the little 'clip' part.  But there was kind of this big space between the two sides of the pearls where the earring was attached.  So Mr Fix It had a great idea to use fishing line to tie together the two rings next to the pearls to pull them under the earring.  He's so resourceful, that man!

This is what my cousin A calls her 'happy clap.'  I'd be happy too if I was almost done trying to get me in this monstrous dress with it's ridculous corset.

Cousin E holds up my gown while friend D places my garter on. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

Once we were all dressed, they asked me to spin around a couple times in my gown.  But I was in the middle of a not so big room with all 6 of my BM's around me.  Wasn't easy but I still love this shot with my reflection in the mirror behind me. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

The girls are tending to my hair and placing my veil in just before our ceremony is about to begin.

And once we were all finished, these are the results we got of some bride shots while walking around the grounds at the venue.  I love this one because of the colors and the sun and shade coming through the trellis.

This one is kind of cool because it shows the cafe in the background.  That deck to the right is where the cocktail hour was held and I am standing down in the back of the ceremony area.

Um, hello bright green trees! 

Photo by Yan Freedline

This next pic was one of those ones I was telling you about that I was pissed about from our photog.  I remember telling him I wanted a shot like this on this blue bench and we posed for it but he didn't deliver it to me at all.  Then my videographer sent me the photos that his wife took and I got this one! 

Thank goodness because I absolutely love it. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

As a matter of fact, here's 2 more favorites I got only from our videographer's wife, Yan

Photo by Yan Freedline

Photo by Yan Freedline

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  Be sure to have your bridesmaid or mom or whoever is going to be assisting you with getting into your dress and jewelry practice at least once before the wedding.  It's best for them to go with you to your fittings to practice there but at the very least to give you an idea of how long it's going to take you to get fully dressed so you can plan your wedding day schedule accordingly and not be running late!

Wed Recap: I see you! (The first look that almost wasn't...)

There are many things debated by brides (and mothers...and grooms) when planning a wedding.  Perhaps one of the most hotly debated topics is whether or not to do a 'First Look' between the bride and groom *before* the ceremony and that infamous walk down the aisle.  I shared our reasoning behind our decision back here.  And I am very glad that we did this.

Like most things at our wedding, I had a vision in my head of how this was going to play out.  The difference between our first look and most other brides is that I did not want to deprive our family (and especially our mothers) of being a part of the moment when we first lay eyes on each other all decked out in wedding attire.  And thankfully, our venue provided a wonderful way for us to still have some sort of intimate moment but still have our family and wedding party members participate.

The maids (with family behind them) hanging on the patio waiting for our first look...

Of course, nothing goes according to plan and like other things on that day, this moment was almost ruined...by none other than Mr Fix It himself.  You will see in today's video that as I come out to begin taking photos with my bridesmaids, I am directing somebody to find our coordinator and the groomsmen and be sure they keep Mr Fix It held back when he arrives until I can hide out of sight.  The grounds were huge and there were many ways to get around the different areas.  But mainly, there is a little parking lot that we had parked in that takes you straight by the reception room and down towards the ceremony and dressing areas.  So I was pretty confident he would get held up there.  WRONG!

Mr Fix It decides to park upstairs and come down through the zoo into the ceremony area bypassing the reception room where all of the coordinators were working and the cocktail area where the guys had gathered.  So instead, while this shot was being taken:

I suddenly hear somebody say "There's John!"  To which I reply "No, it isn't...where?"  Sure enough, I caught a brief glimpse of Mr Fix It carrying his tux marching down a walkway straight to our ceremony area where I was standing all by my lonesome smack dab in the center of the chairs!  I start screaming at him to turn around and go back the other way and then all my bridesmaids start screaming at him to go back and smartly they all run over and surround me like a pack of protective wolves while I drop down into crouch mode on the ground in the center of the ladies. 

Mr Fix It is totally confused and has no idea what or why everyone is yelling at him but he must have suddenly got it because he did go back the other way finally.  The next shot in the video is me chiding the groomsmen for not handling like the only real duty they had on the wedding day - keeping track of Mr Fix It!!!  Unfortunately, no one - not the photographer or videographer - got any shots of footage of this little mishap as it unfolded.  It would have been funny.

Anyway, so as you'll see, I had our family all wait on the patio just outside the bridal cottage at the end of the bridge that leads to the ceremony.  Mr Fix It stood in the center of all the ceremony chairs/aisle with his back to me.  I made my way across the bridge and snuck up on him.

Also, note that in the world of wedding videography, some things are not always totally 'real.' As you'll see in this video, we had our first look (which felt a little awkward sometimes) and then the videographers had us go back and do a second take so they could shoot us from different angles. The second look is actually the one they used on our video trailer and we felt much more relaxed I think. Kind of silly but I loved it :)

This video was created with raw footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills

I love the look on Mr Fix It's face and how he looks like he is afraid to touch me in my gown. He just looked petrified. :) I love how our family was cheering in the background and how they screamed things like "Pinch his butt!" and "Save it for the honeymoon!"

And now for the pictures that captured the real moment of our first look:

This was the view from our family's vantage point taken by my cousin Bridesmaid A:

This is the first of many photos and video which include what I call my 'Frile' or 'smown.'  It is this horrible version of a smile and a frown which has some sort of emotion behind it.  It made it's first appearance on this blog in the Moments Before video recap last week and was obvious in yesterday's video interview as well.  :)

He is asking me if I am 'getting close' and says he can hear me

I think somebody said to 'Pinch his butt' which made me laugh!

The REAL first look!

Followed by our first kiss of the day!  Wowza!

I love this shot taken by my cousin BM A

He just kept stepping back and staring at me

I did in fact pinch his butt when I met him the first time :)

Our first look was not tearful as I had thought it might be.  Mr Fix It didn't even really smile the entire time.  The moment was just calm and collected and a little funny.  We got to hug, kiss and tell each other how wonderful we looked without having to stick to the script of a ceremony.  Mr Fix It got to be himself as was made obvious when he looks down my chest trying to see how it's possible that I have more cleavage than normal :)  And then he made his stupid, perverted comments which made the videographers laugh.  I couldn't get upset though because that is totally the man I married.  I just had to laugh.

The one thing I do remember which is not really seen or heard anywhere on the video is that in those moments he stepped back and looked at me and said "You look very, very, very, very, very, very, very pretty."  It was so funny...he said the word 'very' like 8 or 9 times.  It totally stuck out in my head and I have not forgotten it.  It was nothing like I expected it to be, but so totally perfectly us...nerves and all.

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  If you want to do a first look, do it!  Regardless of when you see each other on the wedding day, nothing takes away from what you feel the moment you walk down that aisle.  After our first look, during our ceremony, as I walked across the bridge, I glanced at the altar to see Mr Fix It, but then my gaze went straight ahead...all I could see were the guests and I smiled at them.  As I turned the corner to the main 'aisle,' I stopped for a moment holding my dad back.  I know I had a huge smile on my face and wasn't sure if I was fighting back tears or not.  But one thing I fully remember very powerfully was how breathless I felt...so much so, that I raised my shoulders and chest and took a huge breath of air - almost like a heavy sigh.  Then I made the march the rest of the way down the aisle.  From that moment on, my eyes were solidly fixed on Mr Fix It.

Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Robert Mullins Photography

Wed recap: Raise your hand if you're sure!!!

I was definitely sure on April 16th that Mr Fix It was the man for me

and that I was truly Born to be Mrs. Beever!

I wish I could say the entire day felt like this for me...but as I have said before and will continue to share, the day went by in such a blur.  I have no recollection at all of what was going on at this moment for me to be raising a fist above my head like that.  I am due to get my raw footage from our wedding DVD back on Wednesday this week (that means hopefully tomorrow).  I am hoping maybe there is some video footage of this moment that will help me remember.  :)

Anyone want to have some fun today and write a caption for this photo?!?  Come on, make me laugh!!!

Wedding pics - a sneak peek!

Well, our photographer, Robert Mullins has finally had a moment to post some sneak peek pics of us from the wedding day.  I have been stalking his web site like crazy and have to admit that I am super excited about the first photos I finally get to see.  How is it that pro-photogs always seem to make everything look so much better?  :)

So here they are...

My beautiful Maggie Sottero SaBelle gown hanging up from the patio rafters outside of our bridal cottage prep area.  Our photog refused to touch the dress himself so he asked my girls to take it out and hang it up for him. 

My super hot groom, Mr Fix It - no really...look how hot he looks!

A close up of me.  I have to admit, I loved my makeup for sure...the hair was another story for a future recap, but this photo made me realize how great pro-photogs can make you look.  And I absolutely LOVE my necklace in this shot...wish it was just a little more in focus but hoping he got some good shots of it!

 

Um, hello?  Is that me?  LOVIN' IT!

 

This is one of my very faves because it is kind of artsy, it totally shows off that gorgeous train and made me fall in love with my gown all over again and it has that great shot of the venue's name in the background.  This is just at the end of the main entrance - what the guests see as they first drove into the estate.

Another great shot that I love because it shows off the amazing grounds of the estate. 

Up to the right of this picture (the little deck you can hardly see) is the cocktail area where guests can gather and look down.  I am standing at the very back of where our ceremony took place behind all of the chairs that were set up (not in the picture obviously).  The building in the background is called Rick's Cafe...it is a little multi-level restaurant type building with booths and chairs and tables throughout.  That is how the guests got down from the cocktail area to the ceremony area.  We also used that building to set up our kids' corner area where the babysitters hung out with a few kids playing games and watching movies and cartoons on portable DVD players.

And finally, a shot of Mr Fix It and I from inside of Rick's Cafe.  In this one, we are standing on the balcony that you see dead center and just to the right of the blue light post in the pic right above this one.  The second photographer was inside shooting this shot from the inside looking out and our main photog, Robert was down where I was standing in the pic above shooting us from below up on the balcony.  :) 

I love the silhouette.

So there you have it...our first sneak peek.  Unfortunately, I have to wait another month probably to get ALL of my pro pics back...and as soon as I do, the serious recaps will be in full swing.  For now, I have plenty with some other stories and shots from friends and family as well as honeymoon recaps to keep those of you who are interested busy - more to come!