Dum dum da dum

So, it's a Friday night, and like always, I'm at home watching TV. I scroll through the shows that are on, and the only thing that I can handle is Say Yes to the Dress. So, I start watching. And what do I start thinking about? My own wedding.

Back then, I could have cared less about so many little details. But before we get to what I wasn't so fond of, here are a few things that I loved:

I loved loved loved my flowers. A lady at church did them. They were awesome. They were perfect. Another great part of them was that my mother in law offered to pay for them. Totally unexpectedly, so that was very nice.

I LOVED my centerpieces. I wanted a beachy theme, and these fit in perfectly. I saw the idea in some wedding magazine that I can't remember. I happened to work for an industrial sales company at the time, and I ordered my galvanized buckets and my sand from them. And then the owner wouldn't let me pay for them. My mom and I searched high and low for these thin taper candles. She finally found them at some little shop in Dana Point.

I really liked my dress. My mom made it, and put on the beading. At first, I didn't want a veil, but I gave in. I found my tiara myself.

(Not the best scan.)
And yes, I did wear flip flops. I did my best to find some sparkly ones, but because I have giant feet, it was pretty tricky. So, I found these ones and sat and glued sequins on them. I didn't want to wear high shoes. Not to mention we got married in the summer in Southern California....yeah, hot. (And in a lot of my pictures, I find that my posture wasn't all the great. Why didn't someone tell me to stand up straight???)



My mom made the cake. The shells are all chocolate, and the sand is light and dark brown sugar. The topper was the Los Angeles temple, which I think I would have changed. My mom had suggested it, and not having any better ideas, we just went with it.

Other things that I liked: I love Jelly Bellys, and we had bowls of them everywhere. Because it was so hot, we had my aunt and uncle bring their snow cone supplies and we had snow cones. I think they were a big hit! I know it sounds funny, but when it's 90 degrees outside.....cake just doesn't cut it. Something that I didn't appreciate at the moment, mostly because of how it was handled, but ended up being glad that I had, was the photographer situation. I had gotten a photographer. My mother in law had mentioned that her niece was a photographer too. This niece lived in Georgia. I think. Anyway, I then said that I already had one. Well, they ended up flying her out anyway. And I had no idea until that day. Which kind of ticked me off a bit. Hello, it is my wedding! Now, almost 9 years later, I am glad I had both photographers there. They both had their different skills, and each got things that the other didn't get.

There are quite a few things I would change. First, our announcements. And, our engagement pictures. There wasn't anything wrong with them at all. We didn't have a ton of money to spend, and they worked. If it were now, I would have hired a professional photographer and would have ordered our announcements instead of piecing them together ourselves.

I would not have had any bridesmaids. Less stress. Less money. Less flowers. Less. And less is always more. And if we didn't have any bridesmaids, no groomsmen. Again, less.

I would not have had a receiving line. Such a waste of time.

I would have had dancing. I don't know how we would have done that in my parents backyard, but I would have made it happen.

I also would have been a little more involved with things rather than leaving a lot of the details to my mom. I was working full time at the time, and teaching piano lessons. I had come home from my mission to France only a few months before and was kind of oblivious to a lot of things.

It was fun to get out these pictures. I haven't looked at them for a long time.

So, what about yours? What would you change? What would you keep the same??