The groom helping his grandpa with his boutineer. . .




Hello beautiful. . .

Ending on a good note. . .

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Wetzel! Here's to many more years of pizza and beer on Wednesday night. :-)

Amber and Dan: Part I

Amber sipped her coffee while she chatted with her girls. If you listened, it was almost as though they were sitting around someone's dining room table on a Saturday morning. But if you looked around, it was obvious this wasn't any run-of-the-mill Saturday coffee. A wedding dress hung from the ceiling. Amber's wedding dress. The dress that would bring her to tears when she put it on and that day. . . their day, finally became real.

Dan hung out with his guys, Mountain Dew in hand. He was relaxed. Calm. Quiet. You'd never know this was a big day, quite possibly the biggest day. When the clock struck quarter til, he put on a tux - as if he did so every morning. That day was just another day. Because he'd spend the rest of his life loving Amber even if that day never came. Because to him, they had been real. . . for a long time.

Amber and Dan, I feel so blessed to have been able to play a small part in the biggest day of your lives. I hope you had a great time soaking up the sun on the seas on your cruise. Enjoy your 'Part I".

Amber bought two pairs of shoes... one because she thought they would photograph better. And. . . that is why I love her. :-)

Her 'something old, something new, something, borrowed, something blue'. . .

Mmm, the candy bar was amazing. . . to photograph and taste!

Amber's sister made the cake. Impressive! It was so pretty. And it tasted even better!

Part II coming soon!!

I heart... Ruffled

Oh my gosh. I just discovered Ruffled. And it is by far one of the coolest wedding blogs I. have. ever. seen. Not even kidding. I've spent the last 45 minutes going back further and further to read more posts.

Why do I love it so much? Let me count the ways.

1. Today's post (and the first one I saw) happened to be about a wedding in Canada with a 4-H theme. And I heart... 4-H. I spent my childhood at the county fair. So I was smitten from the beginning. I realize this tid bit doesn't apply to many of you... but it is my list. ;-)

2. There's very much a vintage, indie, whimsical feel to the site. But they aren't all in your face about it. Some websites make it seem like if you don't have [insert cool new idea of the second] your wedding is less than perfect. Ironic considering they're telling readers to personalize the wedding as much as possible, and yet they're trying to mold every wedding into what THEY deem to be the hottest trend.

3. DIY. Ruffled is all about do-it-yourself. It's the focus of their 'real weddings' and they highlight the handmade aspects of every wedding they post. Not to mention they have an entire DIY section. Not only do they make it easy for you to find all of their DIY 'real weddings', but they also give you specific ideas, directions, and templates for all sorts of cool stuff!

4. Recycled weddings. This is BY FAR my favorite part of this site. This is what makes it completely different than any other site I've seen - granted I'm sure there are a lot of sites I haven't. So... what is "Recycle Your Wedding"? It's like Craigs List specifically for wedding stuff. Decorations. Invitations. Shoes. Dresses. Jewelry. It's fantastic!

If you're a bride, you need to check it out. If you're a groom, you should tell your fiancé about it. If you like looking at pretty pictures, take a look. If you like planning parties and love new ideas, definitely give it a once over.

And if you don't fit any of those categories, let me know. I'm sure I can come up with a reason for you to check it out.

P.S. Ruffled has NO idea who I am. Just wanted to make sure y'all know they aren't telling or paying (I wish!) me to say all these nice things about them.