After nine years of partnership, Kim and I finally tied the knot on September 5th in our very own Farm Wedding!
We planned and prepped and pulled everything together with a nine week turnaround time and enjoyed the most phenomenal weekend filled with family and friends, food and shots, hilarity and ridiculousness.
Friends and family (including my very best friend on the planet, Jacqueline!) traveled across state lines and county lines, bringing rain storms and double rainbows with them, and everything worked out exactly as it should have and better than we could intended or planned for!
I’ll have to pull together a reflection post about it all after I’ve had some actual time to reflect on it all but for now I will simply say that I could not be more grateful for each and every person who showed up for us! The love, support, and hard, sweaty work everyone put in to get us ready for all of the love and support of the actual ceremony was incredible and magical. From the calls and texts on the day to the actual set up and break down of everything, to the packaging up of leftovers and moving bales of straw and alfalfa, our friends and family are totally bad-ass and words cannot express our appreciation!
I have to say, doing everything yourself is no joke and I’m super grateful we won’t ever have to do this again!
Also, everything was documented by our dear friend Cameron, who is not a Wedding Photographer, but a very talented photographer indeed, who agreed to shoot our special day for us as our Wedding Gift 🙂
And, of course, it rained cats and dogs right before the Ceremony! Dumped! But then the clouds broke in perfect timing for the Ring Ceremony and it didn’t rain again all afternoon or evening. Magic. I even saw proof of double rainbows after the ceremony as guests were making their way home:
And now, at the bottom of it all, is the fact that after nine years, we are officially (and legally) Wife and Wife 🙂
Click on any of the photos in the galleries below
to see them larger in another window.
The Scene:
Blessed to be granted permission to hold our ceremony on the gorgeous 11 acres we are currently renting, the backdrop couldn’t have been more beautiful.
Everything for the ceremony and party was handmade or painted, from the signs to the pennants. We brought in straw and alfalfa bales for seating that are being reused on the property, got our flowers from our friends at Revolution Farm, offered Mason Jars and animal cups for guests to drink from and take home with them, borrowed tens and tables from Kim’s work, and I painted the tree for our “Guest Book”.
There were tiki torches to ward off the mosquitos, an outhouse/Potty Tent so as not to stress the plumbing, tents set up in case of rain, and a Photo Booth.
And, of course, while Kim and I got ready, and our friends finished setting everything up, shots and toasts to each other were necessary.
The Ring Warming Ceremony:
Our very closest friends and family joined us before the actual ceremony in a Ring Warming Ceremony. It was beautiful and sweet and so very moving to feel all of the love emanating from those we love so very much and going directly into the two bands we will wear into infinity. There were laughter and tears and it was so very perfect. (You can read more about this type of ceremony here.)
The Ceremony:
We requested a technology-free ceremony, asking our loved ones to put down their cameras, phones, and iPads so as to be fully present with us. It was wonderful.
The ceremony, Officiated by our dear friend, Stacia, began as Kim and I walked ourselves down the aisle to Pink’s Glitter in the Air. Stacia lead us through a beautiful ceremony that included the blessing of the four directions, as well as our vows to each other (which we did not write in advance…totally winged it!), a few tears, some laughter, and a toast at the end followed by a group photo to Dave Matthews’ You & Me.
The Party:
While Kim and I went down the field with our photographer for a couple of pictures, our Rock Star friends popped up the tables, put out the flowers, food, and desserts while my brother began acting as Official DJ for the evening.
We had a Taco Bar from the Cowgirl Hall of Fame (which was picked up and brought safely an hour north by my wonderful Dad) and every dessert under the sun for guests to choose from (cookies, brownies, tarts, pies, cupcakes, mini-cheesecakes..). There was local beer, lots of whiskey, Sangria (deliciously made by Angela and Rebecca), iced tea, and lemonade to drink.
There was music and dancing and bubbles floating every which way!
As the afternoon slid into the evening and the majority of the guests made their way home, those staying in the house and camping on the property made their way to the bonfire where S’mores and all kinds of shenanigans were in abundance.
The Photo Booth:
In addition to Cameron’s gorgeous photos, we thought it might be fun to allow guests to be silly (or serious, as it were), so we set up our own version of a Photo Booth! There was a tent, some lights and props, and old camera with an extra battery. This is just a sampling of the shenanigans 😉
The Aftermath:
With about 30 people spending the night (either in the house with us in all of the rooms and on the couch or camping out on the property), the next morning consisted of coffee, bagels, leftover Frito Pies (that were planned as a late night snack but worked out better for breakfast for some reason), and all kinds of clean up. We broke down tents, moved bales, cleaned up the scatterings of…well, everything, packed up leftover food, enjoyed a few quiet moments by a new day’s firepit…and all of it was captured using the Photo Booth camera by my two favorite little photographers who even figured out how to set the timer so they could capture a selfie!
Aside from the hard goodbyes at the end of it all (more tears!), I cannot imagine it all going more perfectly. The love and light we were surrounded by from those present and those who would have been present if they could have been was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
We are totally and completely blessed and are so looking forward to what what the rest of our adventure together has in store for us!
xoxo,
M
Congrats on the wedding! I tried to click on some of the photos to see them large, but got “404 Error Unfortunately the page you were trying to access does not exist.”
Cardinal Guzman recently posted…Ocscarshall Slott 2015
Thank you, Cardinal 🙂 weird about the pics, though! I went through and updated the galleries so hopefully that helps! Thanks for the heads up 🙂
Congratulations!
Thank you, Karen! 🙂
Lovely! Congrats!
Thank you, Jen!!!
Thank you for sharing your special day! It looked and read by all accounts as a most memorable day. I am so happy for y’all. Lots of creative ideas! And I too, had not heard of the ring warming ceremony.
Tonya recently posted…Happy First Day of Fall
Thank you, Tonya, for your kind words! It truly was a wonderful day <3
Thank you for sharing a glimpse into your wedding day. What an amazing and beautiful way to begin the rest of your lives together. I’ve never heard of a ring warming ceremony but loved the concept and it seemed so fitting for the day surrounded by friends and family. Congratulations again!
Rachel @ Grow a Good Life recently posted…Seasoned Tomato Sauce Recipe for Home Canning
Thank you, Rachel! It was wonderful and the sting Warming added such a nice layer to the day 🙂
I. LOVE. this. It sounds like it turned out *exactly as it was supposed to. Maybe not as you’d planned, but as it was supposed to. I’d never heard of a ring warming ceremony before but what a great addition. Congratulations again!
Kris @ Attainable Sustainable recently posted…“Green” Highlights from our Italy Vacation
Thank you, Kris! It really was such a lovely day!