there he is

for our first married valentine's day, I wanted to post some of my favorite photos of my husband from our wedding day. (I'm in big trouble as soon as he sees this post!) my maid of honor made the funniest observation -- that I had lots of different smiles in the photos from that day, but my groom had just one huge, "I'm getting married!" smile, and I love it. 

plus, is there anything like a navy guy in whites?!

have a wonderful weekend!

wedding day letters.

we were so happy to join the tradition of writing each other letters the day of our wedding. honestly, it was one of my favorite things we did that day. i had picked out the cards (above is my groom's to me, which is especially appropriate because he is 6'5) and the rules were we weren't allowed to write anything until that day. what really warmed my heart was that in different words, we wrote the same thing.

funny story behind the photo above -- i thought what he wrote on the envelope was so sweet and simple (and it was). my husband later told me he was so caught up in the day, he accidentally wrote his own name (instead of mine), so this is how he fixed it. love it so much.

more wedded bliss here!

with their dancing shoes on!

our wedding ceremony was very classic and traditional -- in a gorgeous, historic church and we loved it. the guys were in classic black tuxes. the girls in classic black j. crew dresses. that said, we needed a little kick. i asked each of my bridesmaids to pick out a bright color of shoes they wanted to wear. then, when we went to pick out the tuxes, the guy helping us casually asked us if we wanted traditional black or spectator shoes. my eyes got really big and before i said a word, my groom smiled and said, "spectators."

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our getaway car.

 

one of our dearest friends (and groomsman) borrowed it from a family friend. we stuck some homemade signs on the back and tied ribbons with the rims that go around the jars you use for canning preserves (and that we used as place cards-- more on that soon!) i have no idea what kind of car it was, but it was fun. it felt like we were driving off on this big adventure (and we were!)

newlyweds in a coffeehouse.

so, i came up with this idea that between the ceremony and reception, my new husband and i would go to this precious coffee shop in old town, called misha's coffeehouse. hot drinks and good conversation had been a huge part of us falling for one another, so why not make it one of the first things we did as a married couple?

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blooms for your big day!

so, right after we got engaged i was thinking about how weddings used to be. that it was almost like a barn raising -- everyone pitched in. your aunt made the cake. your grandmother made the food. your mom made your dress. your dad would grow the flowers. today, there are infinite possibilities of all the incredible things you can have at your wedding, but i wanted to be surrounded by things dear friends had helped me create. i was really, really fortunate to have a friend who had never "done" flowers before, but is a.) from birmingham, alabama, b.) so gosh darn creative, and c.) brimming with enthusiasm, so i felt like she would do a truly amazing job. and... she did.

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taking over the streets

some of my favorite photos of our wedding day (one of which is hanging in our dining room!) are of us in the middle of the street. old town alexandria has precious streets and stopping traffic is fun. and, apparently when you're in a wedding dress, you can do just about anything! the boys decided to take this to a whole new level. these are the people closest to us in the world and it still just blows me away that they could all be in the same photograph. all of these photos by the one and only andrew reilly. for more of our wedded bliss, click here.

bright pink shoes

i looked, and looked, and looked and finally found these kate spade shoes for my wedding day. and they were just as wonderful as i thought they'd be. and now i have them, to wear on wonderful occasions and remember just how incredible that day was.

photo booth goodness.

one of the best decisions we made was to have a photo booth. it ended up being super easy. i spent $15 on bright fabric at ikea. one of my great friends who loves costumes brought awesome props. and my best friend's amazing fiance brought a camera and his A-game. this, plus the postcards, is the best guest book ever. i've made a separate album with just the photo booth photos -- it makes us laugh and grateful for the goofy people in our lives. we're going to start a new tradition of having photo booths at ordinary gatherings over the years.

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wedding photo turned christmas ca

after professing my love for minted, and using them for our save the dates, it's no wonder we went back to minted for our christmas card. was so fun to send dear friends a little mail a month after the big day! i love flight suits, but navy whites are pretty gosh darn handsome.