The ABC's of the first official "Sarti Party"
Attending:
110 Family and friends came from across the country to Prescott, AZ (Dan and I were both born and raised here)
Bridesmaids:
Sarah - Sorority Sister, Sabra - best friend since 6th grade, Sheila (Matron of Honor) - Dan's twin sister and my best friend since 7th grade, Kate - Sorority sister and college roomie, Meg - Sorority Sister
Catering:
The Hassayampa Inn was our reception site and they catered the dinner; Prime Rib or Macadamia Nut Crusted Chicken. I was most excited about the bread, I went carb free before the wedding ;)
The Cake was not very high on my priority list, I just wanted something that tasted good (nothing too fancy or expensive). We got a recommendation from a local caterer and hit the jackpot. She was so affordable and it was delicious!
Dress:
I found my dress at a bridal show about 2 weeks after we got engaged! I wasn't expecting to find my dress there but when I tried it on, both my mom and Sheila wouldn't let me leave without it.
My favorite part was the asymmetrical rouching and crystal details on the side.
Engagement:
Despite obsessing about when he would pop the question, I was COMPLETELY surprised. It was Christmas Eve 2008 and we had a progressive dinner with the Sartis. Dessert and gifts were at Sheila's house and it was our turn to pick a gift in the White Elephant gift exchange (not exactly my favorite Sarti tradition). I wanted to steal a cookbook and Dan was sure I'd go for the box with the most beautiful wrapping. After arguing about picking versus stealing I finally agreed to open the gift if he picked one from under the tree. Little did I know...
Flowers:
My mom is extremely talented and when a girlfriend of mine had a shotgun wedding when we were 20, we did the flowers ourselves. Turns out my mom had such a nack for it she turned it into a business. She has done some amazing work over the years and I was so lucky to have her! I was able to customize everything!
It was A LOT of work, but so worth it! We had so much help from wonderful friends and family.
We made the centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner (mason jars with lemons, sunflowers and raffia bows).
I made Dan's boutonniere myself, it was special for both of us :)
We rented the antique candelabras and my mom did the centerpieces.
My absolute favorite part was my bouquet. Blue hydrangeas and white garden roses. AMAZING MOM!
Groomsmen:
Dan's brother Jim, my brother Ryan, Dan's brother Mike, Dan's best friends Paul and Ty and Dan's cousin Jake.
Honeymoon:
We did not go away on a honeymoon right away which I really regret. We did go on a short trip to Vegas during my fall break a month later, which was fun. We saw shows, went to great restaurants and relaxed together.
We saved up and planned a "honeymoon" for our 1 year anniversary and went to Cancun. SO. MUCH. FUN. I wish we had gone right after the wedding but whatareyougonnado?
We stayed at an all inclusive resort and it was beautiful.
Despite the hurricane that came through, we got plenty of sun, relaxation and drinks with little umbrellas!
Invitations:
My graphic artist sister in law designed our save the dates and we used Costco Wedding for our invitations. They use the same stationary books as boutiques but we got 40% off going through Costco. The only draw back was tying all of the bows ourselves, thankfully I had the best Matron of Honor EVER!
Justice of the Peace:
Pastor Jane. She is the Pastor at the First Congregational Church of Prescott and she was amazing! We were the first couple she married at the church and we couldn't have been more lucky. We go to her Christmas Eve service every year :)
Keepsakes:
We kept our unity candle and guest book (photo book). I also have my garter that my mom made, hand sewn hankie from my great grandmother and my wedding jewelry.
We had fun with the gifts for our bridal party. I gave my girls earrings and bracelets in jewelry bags that I had sewn plus flip flops for the reception :)
Dan bought black cowboy hats for all of his guys. Being from Prescott, we had to have some honky tonk fun with it! We incorporated this theme into our hotel gift bags and rehearsal dinner centerpieces as well as dancing at Matt's post rehearsal dinner.
Ladies Night:
My girls gave me a bachelorette party to remember! The theme was "Rachel's Last Rodeo" and we showed Whiskey Row how it's done!
We had drinks and all of my favorite foods at sis in law Sadie's house before we took the party downtown. Bridesmaid Sabra made my awesome veil hat :)
We danced and danced.
We played this hilarious game where you have a hot dog tied on a string around your waist and you relay with your team and dip the hot dog in the water bottle. Everyone on the street stopped to cheer us on!
It was an aweosme night!
Music:
During the cocktail hour we had a guitarist and a DJ for the reception. I was very strict with my play/do not play list! Our friends are getting married in September and they are going to use our DJ. The dance floor was packed and I had no complaints :)
Newlyweds:
The morning after the wedding my parents hosted a brunch for out of town family anfriends. It was so nice to spend more time with people who traveled so far to celebrate with us. We spent the rest of the weekend at the hotel in the Bridal Suite. The hotel was generous enough to give us a night's stay on our 1 year anniversary so we went back, stayed and ate the top of our cake!
Old, New, Borrowed, Blue:
My something old was a hand sewn hankie from my great grandmother. Something new was my dress, shoes etc. Something borrowed was ring from MOH and bestie Sheila, she has a great marriage and I knew anything borrowed from her would be lucky! My something blue was my ruffly panties from VS and the bow on the garter my mom made me :)
Photography:
Worst. Decision. Ever. I used a photographer friend who said he'd cut me a deal and I was thinking since we were friends he'd do a nice job and I could communicate to him what was important to me. Bad idea Rachel. He was inexperienced and unprofessional. Luckily he brought and "assistant" who had a clue and if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have half of my wedding photos. Long story short, he reneged on his contract, refused for months to give me the rest of my photos and did an overall mediocre job.
I'm just sick over it and it was my fault in the first place. A lot of the photos were too dark or had totally weird lighting.
And in all of our family photos positioned us behind everyone so you can barely tell we are the bride and groom.
And he had people looking away from the camera and it just looks weird.
There were some nice pictures, but I wish more than anything that I could go back and do this over :(
Question Popping:
Ummm...isn't this the same as "Engagement"?
Reception:
The Hassayampa Inn in Prescott. We had a vintage theme going and the Inn is a historic landmark in downtown Prescott. We love the Hassayampa but the reception room is Art Deco, not my fave but we did our best to make it look nice :)
Shoes:
I loved my shoes, they were silver character type shoes with a peep toe and big jewel. I thought they fit the vibe.
T is for "Trash the Dress" but I didn't do this (it's still hanging in my guest closet). I'm going to change T to "Toast".
We had a lot of very special toasts at our wedding. One from MOH and Dan's twin Sheila, another from Best Man (Dan's brother) Jim and a sentimental and funny one from my dad where at the end of the toast he had Dan place his hand over mine...
And said, "This is the last time you will have the upper hand." It was so funny!
Unique:
We did a lot of wedding prep and planning ourselves. Mostly because we wanted it to be unique and special to us, partly because that is the way we could get what we wanted without busting the budget. We tried our best to make our day special and I think we were successful. Some of the unique things we I (or my mom) did/made were the table numbers...
which now have wedding photos in them and are hanging on a wall in our dining room.
The flowers I mentioned before,
and the placecards. I am glad we chose to do a lot oursleves but it did make everything that much more stressful on the big day. Thank goodness for our amazing bridal party and family who made it all possible.
Vows:
We exchanged traditional vows :)
At a traditional church
Wedding Woes:
"It's like raaaaiiinn on your wedding day". Yep. It. Rained.
It was so bad that people driving up from Phoenix were texing and calling asking if I was freaking out. DUH. Luckily it only rained during prime photo taking time and during the walk across the street to the church. The rain stopped during the ceremony and we were able to enjoy our outdoor cocktail hour.
And take a couple of outdoor photos.
X-Rated:
I needed at little "help" under my dress ;)
Young Kids:
We didn't have any children in our bridal party. We do have some adorable nieces and nephews who cut a rug at the reception :)
Zzzzzzz...
After it all we went up to our room and ate all of the snacks and chocolates our friends had left in the room, I jumped on the bed in my wedding dress (cheesy but after all the work I put into fitting into it, I didn't want to take it off!) and eventually went to sleep ;)
I'd love to read about your wedding!
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