our wedding: the reception.

where do i begin? the reception was so joyful. it was filled with incredible toasts, laughter, dancing and lots of good food.


we entered the reception to the song beautiful day by u2, since they are simon's favorite band. it cracks me up that simon is holding a beer. that's my husband. :)


our center pieces were a dream come true: understated, organic and sweet. my mother-in-law filled blue mason jars and gorgeous vintage vases with fresh flowers, and tied burlap ribbons around them.


in addition, each table setting came with a vintage handkerchief, which i originally intended as a second napkin. but as it turns out, people were so moved by the toasts, some people actually used them as hankies! :)


and finally, each table also had a card on it, illustrated by the oh-so-talented clare owen, explaining that in lieu of favors we had made a donation to an animal shelter. thank you, clare!


during dinner we had a total of 6 toasts. they were all so heart-felt and personal. simon and i both cried (again), and agreed the next day that the toasts went completely beyond our expectations. wow.


and of course, our cake! i thought it was delicious. each tier had its own flavor: chocolate with raspberry filling, carrot cake with cream cheese filling, chocolate with peanut-butter filling, and vanilla cake with maine-inspired blueberry filling. yum, yum, yum.

our adorable cake toppers (or rather, cake "along-siders") were made by goose grease.


we also had a traditional norwegian cake called a kransekake. it's made of marzipan, and our guests loved it.


instead of cutting the kransekake, the custom is that you pull rings off the top, and the number of rings you get equals the number of children you're going to have. we pulled off three!


speaking of norway, my best friend surprised us with this adorable "just married" sign in norwegian! isn't it sweet? this was just one of many amazing and thoughtful things she did over the weekend.


and last but not least, we had our first dance to the song today by joshua radin. it was so fun, and we couldn't stop laughing, chatting and smooching!


and that, my friends, is it. :) whew! thanks for all of your lovely comments and support. i hope you enjoyed our wedding re-cap. it truly was such an incredible day. and i have to say, being married is pretty awesome too. :)


tomorrow i'll be back to regular scheduled programming. thanks again friends!

yours truly, mrs. simon

(all photos from & unlimited)

our wedding: the venue and ceremony.

today, i'm excited to share the photos from our ceremony and venue. but first, i have to say, thank you for all of your comments on my previous posts. i have been loving them. you are all so sweet and make me so happy! thank you.




ok, i'll go ahead and say it... the venue looked amazing. we lit hundreds of candles all over the barn, which made it feel so warm and romantic. we also scattered rose petals along the aisle, and decorated parts of the venue with bright blue and yellow tissue poms.



we decided to have a less traditional guest book, so we collected silly and vintage postcards, and invited our guests to write messages on them. the postcards are being mailed to us throughout our first year of marriage. (we've received a handful so far and love having even more to look forward to!)



our programs were designed and made by ellie of hello tenfold. aren't they gorgeous? :) there were four different designs and i assembled them with coordinating ribbon.


as pretty as they are, the part of the programs i am most proud of is that we included the following text to show our support of gay marriage:


"we feel so lucky to have found our life-partner in one another. today, as we make our commitment, we hold in our hearts hope for the day when everyone has the right to share in the joys of marriage."


since simon and i are wine lovers, our escort cards were made out of wine corks. we spent many nights making these babies, but it was so worth it! :)


our ceremony was led by a friend, and it was both hilarious and moving. here is simon waiting for me to walk down the aisle.



standing up there saying our vows was quite possibly the most fun i've had in my whole life. i was literally beaming, and couldn't stop staring into simon's beautiful green eyes.



we wrote our vows together and repeated the same set of promises. one of my favorite lines is:
"i will always believe in you, and in our marriage."



we both got a little teary, but for the most part, we just smiled the whole time.



and here we are... married!!

tomorrow will be the final set of wedding photos, from our reception! thanks, as always, for reading... it's been wonderful sharing all of these special moments with all of you. :)

hugs and kisses!

(all photos from & unlimited)

our wedding: first look and portraits.

at the risk of completely overloading you with wedding photos today, here are some of the more "formal" ones from our big day. it feels so awkward to be sharing so many pictures of myself, (yikes) but thanks for being excited for us!


when i first saw my bouquet, i cried happy tears. not only was it made with love, but it was exactly what i wanted... organic and natural looking.


you can't tell in these photos, but it was windy and raining when we had our first look. i didn't care though. :)

we didn't plan this shot at all, but just happened to stumble upon two adorable pumpkins while walking around outside. i love the way it turned out.


i was so happy...

up next, the wedding itself! :)

xo.

(all photos from & unlimited)

our wedding: getting ready part 2

happy monday, sweet peas!


today is a chilly day in boston. brr! so i am planning to stay indoors, sip coffee, bake, and work on my yoga website. how are you, this morning?


this weekend i got the rest of our wedding photos, so i thought i would share a couple more "getting ready" photos before i move onto our portraits later today.



simon's three piece suit came from express, and it fit him perfectly. he got ready with his parents and this three brothers, and i love seeing how excited he looks!



his boutonniere, and, in fact, all the flowers of the day, were designed and made by simon's talented mother. i love how vibrant and sweet the yellow is, and how it brings out the yellow in his tie.



finally, my gorgeous clutch came from shakuyaku and the wedding dress hanger was custom made by wood and wool stool. i love them both so much.


see you soon. 


(all photos by the ever-amazing & unlimited)

our wedding: getting ready.

my loves,

today i'm thrilled to be able to share the first set of our wedding photos. i smile every time i look at them. our photographer, meredith (& unlimited), did an amazing job, and i feel so lucky that she was a part of our big day.

i woke up the morning of the wedding and surprised myself with how calm i felt. all i could think about was how excited i was to see simon and get married.

and a few moments after my alarm went off, my girls, my mother and my sister, (still in their pjs,) came running into my room and piled into my king size bed! we lay there and chatted and snuggled for a while. it was the perfect way to start the day.


after showering, eating (a little) and getting my hair done, one of my dearest friends, sara, showed up to do my make-up. i absolutely loved having her there with me during that special time. she not only did a fabulous job, but her presence was also so fun and supportive.

and it was during this time that it all started to sink in. all of my favorite people in the world were going to be showing up in a matter of hours!


then i put on my dress, and my sister helped me put on two strings of pearls: one that belonged to one of my women of honor, (something borrowed) and one that i inherited from my late aunt. (something old). can you guess what was new and what was blue?


i got my clutch from etsy, and the bracelet (one of my most prized possessions) was a gift from simon last christmas.


at one point, my dad walked in the room, and we both started crying. in retrospect, it's a good thing i got it out of the way, because i actually pulled it together to walk down the aisle. :)


in the meantime, my handsome groom was putting on his finishing touches.


simon and i decided to be traditional and spend the night before our wedding apart. but at this point in the day, almost dressed and ready to go, we were both dying to see each other! it felt like it had been days and days, and i remember peeking out the window to see if i could catch a glimpse of him.

next week... our first look and our portraits.

have a wonderful weekend!
xo.

(all photos from & unlimited)

signing off...

it's time!

my sweet readers, thank you so much for your enthusiasm and support over the past year. you have made the wedding and honeymoon planning so much fun. i can't wait to tell you about every little detail... and of course, show you pictures.

i have some posts scheduled for you while i am away, and i will be back on october 11th to tell you all about our adventures. lots of love to you all.

your friend, almost mrs. simon.

i feel like i might burst.

i sat down to write a post yesterday, and i just kept writing, deleting... writing, deleting. i think i am too distracted to write anything coherent at this time. :)

the wedding festivities (sort of) start tomorrow... my best friend and parents are arriving! then other friends and family will quickly follow. it's all such a joyful whirlwind... i can hardly believe it.

sometimes i am so excited, i literally feel like jumping. so far, i've managed to avoid doing it in public.

now off to clean up the guest room, and pack pack pack!


(photo credit: im on tambourine)

our wedding invitation.

almost as soon as simon and i got engaged, i decided i wanted ellie of hello tenfold and mint design blog, to design our wedding invitation. she agreed (hurray!) and then proceeded to indulge me and my inspiration boards, as well as my numerous long emails and random ideas. :)

and i couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out: delicate, romantic and understated. now the fun begins, as the rsvp cards start showing up in our mailbox!

thanks, as always, for letting me share all of this with you. :)

wedding stamps and calligraphy.

good morning, my friends!

i'm sorry for a lack of posting this week. things have been wonderfully busy! but i will be back in the swing of things next week as i prepare to leave for my kripalu yoga teacher training.

in the meantime, now that most of my friends and family have received their wedding invitations, i am excited to share them with all of you. first... the envelopes.



we chose ashley osgood to do the calligraphy. (she is incredibly talented and has a unique style that i simply love.)

and then i adorned them with a variety of vintage stamps (butterflies, flowers, birds etc.) that i found on ebay. what do you think?

next week, the actual invitation... stay tuned!

the big things, the little things... and everything in between.

as i sit here, with the hum of the refrigerator in the background, and piles of wedding invitations, envelopes, and stamps spread out all over the living room rug... i can't help but pause and reflect.

we are really getting married.

there are days when simon and i discuss little things like the table arrangements, or what color tie he should wear.

then there are the moments when we're driving, and i look over at him and think: "he's going to be my husband," or he says something hilarious about our future children like: "if we have a girl, i guess we're going to have to drive her to ballet class, huh?"

but mostly, our days are just filled with a quiet knowing. anticipation for our wedding day, and a subtle sense that everything is about to get even better.

trust me when i say, there were times in my past when i felt thoroughly discouraged about ever meeting the right person, or getting married.

and yet here i am: folding things, licking envelopes, and sorting through our guest list.

it's really happening.

xo.


(photo credit: emmily shaw)

gorgeous wedding inspiration.

oh my goodness. this wedding took my breath away. the bride's hair is adorable, her shoes are divine, and frankly, i am completely jealous of the paper flower installation. it looks like an anthropologie store!

they also look like a fun couple. i think we could be friends. kelsey and brett, if you're reading this... you rock. wanna hang out?

(photography by kyle hale via oncewed)