More Scrapbooking from our Wedding

I'm still working away on completing one of my 13 of 13 goals - 

to "scrapbook a complete wedding album".

I'm just over halfway through the 2013 year, and I've managed to scrapbook right up to the ceremony now. Here are 3 different ceremony pages I did. 

I feel like they're all very different, and they all capture very different aspects of the ceremony. 

I'm quite happy with the finished products :)

 And a couple of close-ups on some details I liked! A cute tag with journaling, and a couple of cute pennants really complete the page!

Since I already finished some wedding party pages here, next up is... a page dedicated to me and my man, and then... RECEPTION! 

Lots of fun pictures to look through there :)

I still think this goal is do-able!

{create}

Post-Wedding Photo Album

Our photo album came!!! 

Our photographers - Beauchamp Creative (who were UH-mazing!), made us a wedding photo album as part of our wedding package deal. 

It's been sitting on our coffee table, and every chance I get, I browse through it again... and again... and again. Do brides get sick of reminiscing about their wedding day?? I haven't yet! 

Pop by anytime you want to browse through the album. 

It looks very professional. 

I was + + + happy (read: extra happy) with the results! 

Also... for those counting, I've been a newlywed for 207 days :) 

{love}

Tears of Joy

Those of you who know me and my family, probably know that we are going through some tough times right now. My father-in-law is battling a cancer, and there doesn't appear to be any treatment options.

It's so difficult to watch the people you love suffer through pain and discomfort. I've been extremely fortunate in my life. I have not had to see or witness the death of anyone close to my before. I've hardly even had to witness people I love in pain. This is breaking my heart.

My father-in-law is a rock though. He's so strong for the whole family. Cancer is a cruel disease that brings pain, and discomfort, and tiredness. But you wouldn't know that from the temperment of my father-in-law. I believe his faith plays a huge part in this comfort. It's clear from any conversation with him, that he is confident in his love of God, and has faith that he will be joining Jesus in heaven when he leaves this world. His faith inspires me. None of us know how long we have on this earth - but all of us have the opportunity to love and accept God into our hearts and lives. Dad is at peace.

Perhaps the most diffficult part of this process thus far has been the fact that we learned about this presence of the cancer only two weeks before the wedding of my brother-in-law. The thought of Dad not being able to attend the wedding of his son still brings me to tears. We did everything we could to prepare for this day. Booking wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, disability transportation, etc. But in the end, Dad was not healthy enough to attend. Fortunately, with the help of some amazing hospital staff, we were able to set-up an internet connection for him as a back-up plan.

This was the first virtual wedding I have ever witnessed. I was honoured to be the one to hold onto our iPad as the ceremony began so that Dad could watch the entire event live along with us through FaceTime. It was a very emotional day for everyone. Not just because we were watching our brother marry the woman he loves, but also because we all wished Dad could have been there in person. Still, I praise God for his health and happiness on that day.  It was an honour to see the joy on his face throughout the wedding ceremony. Many tears of joy were wept that day.

{love}

Wedding Guest Tree

When we planned our wedding we wanted everything to have a rustic, fall feel to it. You can see all of our themes come to life in this post. 

Instead of a traditional guest book. I wanted something creative. I choose to purchase a tree that guests could put a finger print on and sign at the wedding instead. This way I could use my wedding colours as "leaves" (I picked nice fall colours: brown, yellow, and orange), and I could have something to frame and see on our walls forever. I was going to have a friend paint it, but instead I bought the tree from this etsy site. I was VERY happy with the product they sent :) 

Here are some pictures of people making thumb prints and signing their names at our wedding... 

It's been a few months since the wedding, but we've finally framed and hung our wedding guest tree :) 

{love}

Wedding Thank You Magnets

They arrived! And I LOVE them! 

Please prepare to receive these magnets in your mailbox soon!

Cricut Time Has Come at Last

It came!!! 

My Cricut is here. 

My scrapbooking slash crafting world is about to see a BIG change for the BETTER! 

Just wait and see what I can make on this lovely machine :) 

It came just in time for me to finish another scrapbooking page! 

All of the hearts on this page were cut perfectly by my cricut.

These are some photos of us during the first moments we saw each other on our big day. 

{notice the tears in the middle left photo... awww!]

{love}

Something Old, New, Borrowed, & Blue

Is this an old-fashioned tradition? 

Do other people still do this?

Regardless - I was hoping to fulfill tradition on my wedding day. 

I wanted something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. 

The "blue" and "new" items are the easiest I think. Blue underwear? New dress? Bam, you're done. Can't really say the same for the other categories. Old dress? Borrowed underwear? 

Not too appealing for the wedding night.... 

Luckily my mama saved the day. She flew out prepared to help me by loaning me her necklace that she had been given as a birthday gift by her siblings and parents. She also dug out some old jewellery until we found the perfect broach that her grandma used to wear. We snuck it under the layers of my dress so that no one knew it was there except for us - but it was meaningful nonetheless. 

Something Old

Something New

Something Borrowed

Something Blue

Before and After Wedding Inspiration

I was reviewing some of my wedding photos the other day, thinking about all the lovely details and how they all came together perfectly. 

It got me thinking about all of the planning and preparations that went into that day, which made me pulled up my Wedding Inspiration Board. I had made this inspiration board within the first month of preparations! Before I actually had any real plans - I had these ideas. 

Here it is:

Looking at this board, I can't believe how many of the details and ideas from my wedding day started here!

Here are just a few of the ideas that stayed the same:
- Wooden slats and mason jars for centrepieces
- Orange bridesmaid dresses
- Tags with buttons on them for the wedding favours
- Bold & bright flowers
- Burlap decorative pieces
- Etched wooden Mr. and Mrs. signs
- Burlap banners for pictures and decorations
- NO seat covers (hate them!)
- Brown pocketfold invitations
- Cute, subtle owl theme
- more rustic elements

Here are how the details came across with the flare of my husband & I:

1. Wood and mason jars for centre pieces

2. Orange bridesmaid dresses

3. Tags with buttons on them for wedding favors 

4. Bold & bright flowers

5. Burlap decorative pieces

6. Mr. & Mrs. etched in wood

7. Burlap Banners

8. No seat covers

9. Pocketfold invitation

10. Cute, subtle owl theme

Other Rustic Elements:

Obviously it all worked out perfectly! BEST WEDDING EVER! (In my humble opinion... lol). 

HUGE thanks to my husband for putting many hours into the many wooden decorative pieces you see above. And a HUGE thanks to our photographers, Beauchamp Photography, for taking such amazing pictures of all of my details :)   If you're looking for a photographer in Grande Prairie, I highly recommend them! 

Sick :(

Yep. 

It's happened again. 

Sore throat. Cough. Stuffed Nose. Hurts to swallow. 

I thought that this morning was going to be the worst of it, but actually I feel worse right now that I have all weekend. 

In hindsight... all the signs were there for me to slow down. (i.e. feeling tired, waking up with a sore throat one day, and a sore throat plus a cough the next day, etc. etc.).

I have a really hard time slowing down though...

....until I'm forced too. 

Luckily I have the wonderful Mr. A who went to the store to buy me medicine... 

... and also came back with a Hyacinth :) 

I love that he buys me flowers that I can keep around for a long time (or try to anyway!). 

(btw - this one smells amazing!)

Being home all day isn't ALL bad. Gave me time to finish a couple more scrapbook pages that I had started with a friend on Saturday! 

My workstation.  

 The men getting ready :) 

The ladies pre-wedding :)  

Details - I actually used this fan/flower to cover-up a big stamping blunder, but I bet you didn't guess it! 

Maybe I'll accomplish some more great stuff while I'm sick...