LIKE A BIG PICNIC

I took a picture of our wedding suite today (something we never got around to doing two years ago). I was missing pieces of it – the cute felt heart that we tied with twine to each one, the accommodation information, the matching drink flags and favor tags …

As I snapped pictures, I couldn’t get over the fact that it has been almost three years since I got married. Or that it took me three years to get around to taking a picture of the invitations – the very first thing I ever designed on my own.

Anyway, it got me thinking about our wedding. The things I loved. The things I didn’t.

 Here’s what I loved:

• All the DIY we did BEFORE the big day. Most of it was fun. It felt good to make + create. I was proud.
• The barn. We got married in this barn and it was lovely.
• The burgers. We kept the food simple. We ate burgers, fried chicken with honey, biscuits, cupcakes and fruit pies. It was like a huge picnic.
• The band.  They were good + fun. And a band is always better than a DJ.
• The bar. We had beer + two signature cocktails. One of them was this, and it was AWESOME.
• My dress. It was under $500.00. It was still gorgeous.
• Our budget. Our wedding was cute + fun + cheap(ish).

Here’s what I didn’t:

• All the day-off DIY. We did everything ourselves. Everything. Before the wedding, it was fun designing details, buying mason jars in bulk, filling glass apothecary jars with rock candy and lemon drops. But doing things ourselves on the day of your wedding is AWFUL. We spent the morning hanging lanterns, setting up the bar, unfolding chairs (the list goes on) … We spent the (late) night (after all of our guests had gone home) clearing tables, rinsing mason jars, and taking down lanterns. If I could go back I would hire a day-of-coordinator in a second. In less than a second.  But we survived.

Mostly, I try to remember what I loved. And there was a lot to love.