The Wedding Day (finally!)

I can not express how much I enjoyed my wedding. I liked it so much more than I expected and what I loved about it was so much bigger than any of the stuff we spent time and money planning. We were both just so happy and had so much fun. Aside from all the wonderful traditions we observed, we had a couple unique moments that I want to share:

All day long, I kept finding little notes Mike had stuck to everything I packed (with illustrations, of course). It was hard not to cry every single time.

My very favorite part was sitting in an empty sealing room joking around with Mike and practicing our official “kiss” for the ceremony. I hate hate hate fake tight lipped kisses so I told him we had to open our mouths enough and kiss long enough to make it seem like we meant it. So as we "practiced" Mike kept humming a beat to time the kiss. Each time this would make me laugh too hard to go on. It was so lovely to spend the moment before getting married enjoying a moment that epitomizes the reasons we had decided to get married.

After the ceremony, the sealer (also my great uncle) spoke with just Mike and our parents for a few minutes. He said some very nice things but the best thing was when he called us "Brother and Sister Brittany." Now that is a name change I can get behind.

After the temple we took family photos and everyone left to prepare for the reception. Then suddenly, for the first time in days, Mike and I found ourselves alone with some time on our hands. Not really wanting to get sucked back into the wedding whirlwind at my parent’s house, we went out to ice cream instead. Yes, people did look at us funny as we were still dressed up as bride and groom. But it was so nice to have a private simple little celebration with my new husband. And he was so sweet. He told me that he felt completely at peace. I think that is the perfect thing to feel after such a big step in life. I felt exactly the same.

Besides just how wonderful it was to marry Mike, I must thank a ton of people for their help. My dear friends were there all along the way consulting me on everything from hair to flowers. I am only going to have a chance to thank a few people specifically:

My old roommate Erin drove out from the mid-west to come and did a wonderful job helping me arrange my wedding bouquet. Just look how cute it is!

My sweet, talented friend Becky also drug her family out from the mid-west and as soon as she arrived she got right to work helping me make my cake. We were all so impressed watching her handle that fondant. She owned the fondant.

Stephanie took my engagement photos and also took tons of wonderful photos at both my receptions.

Nikki, Katie, and Stephanie were also my make up and hair team. It really made me wish they would always follow me around with fake eyelashes and hair spray.

Sarah, even though she couldn't even come, made me and my girl friends the most amazing spread of treats. She knows I love treats.

My parents were the best hosts to all our guests. The food at their house was spectacular.

Mike's parents, friends and family were also wonderful hosts at our Boise reception. I cannot believe how  great the food was and how smoothly that all went.

Shy was just there all along the way, how she always is.

Mike... his contribution was obvious.

Peru part UNO

I had not planned on blogging from peru but I am waiting in an airport and mike is asleep and the Internet works on mike's touch. we have been here for four hours because our flight to Cuzco was delayed. but this blessed airport puts three seats together without any armrests so we have been able to sleep in relative comfort. except it is a little cold so mike has every item of clothing we brought piled on him. pic coming.

so besides all the quality airport time, we have also hung out in San fran and at the cathedral of San fran in Lima. I like the symmetry. another symeteical thing about our visit to these cities, is that mike has attracked strange men who have sent us on wild goose chases for the best food in town. in San fran we never found the restaurant but we ended in one built in the room the Maltese falcon was filmed in. it made us giggle.

In lima two men approached us seperately in the plaza de armas and claimed to be musicians in the best restaurants. the second guy was more agressive and we found ourselves with him in an empty bar. all of this went down in Spanish so I really did not know what was going on and after a few minutes I just got up and started leaving. I guess he was trying to get mike to drink with him and mike was trying not to be rude. good thing I embrace my rudeness. otherwise the night was beautiful. we toured catacomes which is basically just looking at a bunch of piles of human bones. I can't explain this but I loved it in all it's gruesomeness. kind of reminded me of Indiana jones.

but the best was wandering the streets looking at the buildings and people and the food. I drooled over every pastry display. and for dinner we just ate street food including two churros each. if you think you know about churros but do not think you could eat two in a row then you have not been eating the right churros.

the final part of our evening was trying to get back to our hotel through unreal traffic. it was like NYC traffic in those movies where everyone is fleeing for their lives from the aliens or whatever. plus our cab driver had no idea where he was going and kept asking random people directions. and there was a car accident right in front of us and not even the cars involved stopped (I guess your bumper does not matter when the evil aliens are invading).

all together we are having a marvelous to
time. can't wait to see Cuzco.

My Wedding Part I: Planning Highlights

So it appears that I cannot be engaged and blog at the same time. But no worries, I will update all on my summer of wedding planning in chronological order.

Engagement Photos:

My darling friend Stephanie took our photos for us and did an AMAZING job. So amazing, in fact, that when we went to get them printed, the printer demanded a photographer’s release because she could tell they were professional.

Invitations:

Mike drew a fantastic illustration of us flying a kite (in honor of the kite flying the night of our engagement) and I designed an invitation around it.

 

Caterer:

Possibly our very favorite part of the planning was getting tastings from the caterers. The best was at Hamilton’s Steak House in Logan. They treated us like royalty and fed us tons of wonderful food. It was hard to pick our favorites for the wedding dinner.

 

Dress:

I was lucky enough to find Elizabeth Scoggin who was able to make my dream dress for a really reasonable price. I had a blast going to her house for frequent fittings and brainstorming the details of the dress. One of my favorite parts of this was when Shyla and I went and picked out the lace. I am quite confident that we picked the best lace available in the world.

speaking of rings

I just thought this was pretty. I have never seen one like it.

on the market

I decided to put my house on the market to see what I could get. It is bittersweet but I am pretty pleased to have the staging mostly done.

the ring

Mike gave me my beautiful ring this weekend. It is exactly exactly exactly what I wanted.

I used to think that I would be nervous to show people my engagement ring because they might not like it. But as it turns out, I love my ring so much that anytime someone compliments it, I just unquestioningly think to myself "I had know idea you had such great taste."

I also need to plug the jeweler, Winfield's, because he did a great job for so much less than anyone else could quote us. I think it must be because he doesn't have the overhead of a showroom and all that.

Finally, I need to plug Mike. He is swell. I love him.

Oh and I forgot to credit my friend Steph for taking those awesome photos.

the big run

A couple weeks ago, Mike and I went to Newport, Oregon for Mike's 4th marathon. Mike got his best time ever at a 3:28 and he looked wonderful the whole time---not a single bloody nipple or anything. He even claims to have done an oyster shooter along the way but I would never take his word on that. 

Besides the marathon we had a great weekend exploring beaches and way to many bakeries.

Here are some pictures from the trip:



Mike's friend Brian also ran the race and I got to play with his family during the marathon.