Meet the stunning couple - Vanessa & Jeremy. Vanessa was not only an amazing mentor at work, but through my wedding process as well! She got married months before I did, so I was constantly learning from her experiences. I love that even though I was around for some I Guess I Do moments including her historic "Label Meltdown," I was also there the day she came back from her Honeymoon. When I asked her how it went, she said the day was perfection and was better than she could have ever dreamed it to be. Enjoy Vanessa's story in her own words below!
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Jeremy and I meet 3 years ago in Las Vegas of all places and after a whirlwind romance, were engaged 9 months later. Jeremy’s proposal was something I like to consider as my “meant to be” moment. Just by pure chance, he proposed to me on my grandmother’s birthday, May 26. The significance? When my grandmother passed away, she left me her wedding ring and I promised it would be the ring I was married with. So, Jeremy and I were married exactly one year later, on my grandmother’s birthday, with her wedding ring. This is where my I Guess I Do moments begin…
Colorful. Whimsical. Fun….all words I wanted my DIY Vintage Country wedding to be described as.
Calm. Cool. Collected… All words I wanted to be described as, while planning my own wedding. Well, we don’t always get what we ask for and hell, the smallest, DUMBEST thing can set you off when you least expect it.
Jeremy and I knew from the start that we wanted to be married outside. So once we found our venue Orcutt Ranch complete with orchards, barns, a lush lawn and an old oak tree…we knew it was the place. This is easy, right? Piece of cake.
Next on the checklist… the color palette- turquoise, yellow and pink, inspired by candy dots of course. A candy buffet was a must have. Open bar? Yes please! Dinner? Made to order BBQ with all the fixings! Check. Check. Check.
Now its time for the details….table settings, photo-booth, center pieces, balloons, candy, linens, plates, cutlery, flowers, dresses. Done and done. This is a breeze!!
The year flies by and I am just about ready for the big day! Its 4 weeks out when Jeremy comes home from work with some “news”. The landlords have given us our notice to move out!! MOVE OUT! They want to sell our townhouse. I look at Jeremy quizzically and calmly ask “What?!...We are getting married in 30 days, your entire family is coming to town and we have to move?” “Yep” “When?!” “June 1st” “JUNE 1st?! We are getting married on May 26th”!!!!! So, we try not to completely panic, we take a deep breath and start our search. We amazingly find the cutest house 3 days later and decide it is the perfect place to start our new life together. Yay for optimism!!
It’s now 3 weeks before our wedding and in addition to packing boxes, I am also trying to make a 6 foot, streamer, photo-booth back drop in the middle of our living room. It is 8 o’clock at night and the floor is a rainbow of colors. Around 11pm, Jeremy asks me if I am coming to bed anytime soon and I respond with a cheerful “I’ll be up shortly”. Next thing I know, its 1 am and my streamer project is an absolute disaster. I suddenly have a realization, not only can I not make this damn thing… I just spent $200 on crepe paper!!!! I instantly decide this is a mistake and surrender to the paper. I am moving on and returning what I haven’t used. I will come up with something better! I am only slight defeated.
2 weeks before the wedding and it’s time to make the sticker labels for my adorable candy bags… what could possibly go wrong? All you do is fill in the template, hit print and you are good to go. Not exactly…. The first sheet comes out and the labels are completely crooked. Let’s try again….No. Again. Nope. Again. Negative. Ugh. I am out of labels. Annoyed, I jump in my car to go buy more labels. Let’s just say this entire experience repeated itself 3 times. As the last sheet of crooked labels comes out of the printer, I feel the tears start to well up. “Do not cry over labels” I calmly try to tell myself and that is when Jeremy walks in……
“What’s wrong baby?” Poor guy had no idea what was coming. “What’s wrong?! I can’t print these f**cking labels, that’s what’s wrong” I snap through my tears. “Just go to the printer” he suggests sweetly. “I DON’T WANT TO GO TO F**CKING PRINTER! I am tired and I want to print these from my own damn couch!” Followed by more tears of defeat and a few more cuss words… I am in a full blown, dysfunctional melt down over stickers!!!!! Of course I eventually pull myself together and get the labels done, but at the time there was no talking me out of it.
My wedding day finally arrived and despite ripping the entire front of my wedding dress before even walking down the aisle (this is what happens when you go traipsing through an orchard for the perfect photo) my timed out edited music to walk down the aisle not syncing with the iPod and burping into my husband’s ear during our first dance (of course caused by champagne, but the picture of us laughing is priceless) Everything was perfect!!! The ceremony was beautiful, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was magical. The moral of my story…. Something will go wrong, big or small. What really matters in the end? You are marrying the man you love. Learn when to let go and just enjoy the day!!!! When people remember your wedding, they remember if the food was good, if the drinks were flowing, and if they had a good time. They do not remember your I Guess I Do moments!
Love it! Thanks for letting my crazy make the cut! Its an honor! xo
ReplyDeleteI love this! Such a fun idea! And I had no idea that you just burped in his ear Vanessa! so funny!
ReplyDeletePrinters and labels are always responsible for my tense moments, too! It was a beautiful wedding!
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