July 23rd, 2016. Lake Catamount, Steamboat, Colorado.
That time Chris and I got married.
So a bride walks into a wedding ceremony. And yes, that was the first line of my vows… The vows I wrote on a tiny scrap of paper I kept tucked in the top of my dress. I wanted to write bullet points on my hand like I do for any important standup set, but Kim politely told me no.
And now some photos from the day that took months to plan and was over in just the blink of an eye.
Amy did show up. But we didn’t get a single photo in front of our beautiful arch because she was still decorating it as guests were showing up and we didn’t have time after. Do I sound a little bitter about it still? Because I am. I’m pretty sure I’ve never used this blog to write a negative review of a business or product, but I have to say The Tall Tulip in Steamboat really dropped the ball with our wedding.
Our flowers were gorgeous, don’t get me wrong there. But their overall lack of professionalism, and their childish response to the fact after, is something that still makes me itchy to think about.
Things I need to remember:
Walking down the aisle.
It’s a surreal moment and I almost missed it because my mind was going a million miles an hour with 100 different thoughts. Were we walking too fast? Or too slow? Did we miss our music cue? But luckily half way down I told all of my annoying inner-dialogue to shut up and pay attention to what was happening.
Not just pay attention, but live in it. Don’t think about it, just enjoy it.
So as my uncle played the Forrest Gump feather theme song on the piano, I smiled and laughed and enjoyed every second I could soak up walking down the aisle.
The vows.
We wrote our own and didn’t tell each other what we were writing. This was my favorite part because it just felt like us. It was weird how we surrounded by 170 family members and friends and yet for the three minutes we made life promises to each other it felt like we were alone. If it hadn’t felt that way, we both would have probably gotten shy and not said half the things we did.
We covered all topics from deep dish pizza, to keeping the tupper-ware drawer organized, and the highs and lows of T-Shirt Town. And of course Harlow. Even though Harlow wasn’t physically there, he was there in spirit. I can’t tell you how many times he was brought up. And not just by us, almost every guest asked about him at least once, which MADE MY DAY.
Why yes, here he is on the back of our program even.
The feeling of it all.
The ceremony right by the lake, the tent off to the side, the mountains in the background, and all of our favorite people in one place. Man, it was just so good.
Ahhhh. I could think about it forever.
And then we were pronounced “husband and wife” and walked back down the aisle to Home by Edward Sharpe (the piano version as played my uncle who killed it.) I don’t mean to brag, but my uncle is the number one pageant talent coach in THE WORLD. He’s basically coached every Miss America ever. Nbd. So he knows his way around a keyboard.
And now for a few more photos.
Coming tomorrow: Part III: The reception.
Exactly one month ago today, we had the best party ever. And ended the night smashing cake in each other’s face on the shuttle home. *I was the only one smashing cake.
Sadly our cake didn’t make it to Sunday. Which means we don’t get to eat year-old frozen cake on our anniversary next July. But I’m pretty okay with that, frozen cake is gross. We can go to Dairy Queen or something.
EVERYONE has something they are bitter about re: their wedding. I swear.
It looked absolutely stunning and I'm really honestly super impressed with your ability to remember everything about that entire week beforehand, night of, etc etc. Mine felt like such a blur and I feel like I forgot like 80% of it all!
ahhh love this!!!! I want more pics. All of them. ALL of them. These turned out so gorgeous. You just look so happy. and just to ease your pain, we had a flower problem on our wedding day too. Ugh, at least it was still the best day ever :).
I can't believe your florist was a shithead!!! The flowers at least looked amazing. I just love how when you first got engaged you were all…I wasn't the girl who dreamt of a wedding…then went to omg wedding planning is for the birds to now absolutely loving and dreaming about every second of your special day! It all came together physically and mentally for you! 🙂
can i just tell you, i yelp-stalked the shit out of that florist, and definitely think you should write a review about your bad experience! what a pain in the ass lol
however, you looked totally gorg, and so so happy! keep on coming with these recaps! i can't wait to hear more abt the ceremony! 😀
I may do just that… her response was really pretty awful.
Please leave a review. I did a review search too. Dying to hear the whole story. People who lack customer service skills seriously tick me off.
Oh and PS, you looked beautiful. And if it makes you feel better, I flipped out after the wedding on the hotel where all my guests stayed. They accidentally locked all my gift bags in some room and couldn't get them out and my bags were never delivered to my guests. Not only did I spend a ton of time and money on my bags, but all the directions to all the events were in the bags and no one got them. Which means everyone was texting me trying to figure out where to go. Grrrrr. Still annoys me. TEN YEARS LATER. But I'm totally not one to hold a grudge.
oh HELL NO. gifts bags are a huge deal!!! i'm mad for you now.
and by ceremony i mean reception…dur
All the pictures are great but that last one of you & Chris with that background – beautiful. 🙂
Ok could you guys be any more adorable with these pictures! Your dress is seriously my favorite bridal wedding dress…like ever! You can see all the joy in your guys' eyes, so awesome!
You are so gorgeous!
Her Heartland Soul
herheartlandsoul.com
So I just looked that florist up on yelp and Facebook because….apparently this is who I am now?? Anyway… I was so bummed to see such high reviews! Not to get in your business but you should definitely let people know on those platforms about your horrible experience. I hate that so much!
Other than that it looked beautiful! Your dress is so perfect.
I know, people don't seem to yelp too much in Steamboat :/
My husband and I promised we wouldn't smash cake in each other's faces, but he got some kind of feeling as we were feeding it to each other that I was going to smash it in his face (I wasn't) so he smashed it in mine. And of course, I had to do it back. My grandfather came up to me afterward and said "You've only been married 30 minutes, and he's already abusing you." So there's that.
AWESOME!! I especially liked the reminder to yourself to be present IN the moment because it'll all be over soon. I'll admit that planning can sometimes get the best of us, but in the end, what matters is the bride & groom + their futures >> Easier said than remembered, so I'm glad you subliminally helped to instill it in me! (Love the pics btw!)
Gorgeous! It's okay, I had florist issues too… it's always something! But your wedding looks like it was absolutely stunning. Congrats!
Alyssa @ Feathers and Stripes
Such beautiful photos!! I love the one with all of your bridesmaids facing away and you glancing back.
The photos are GORGEOUS! Love them! So sorry about the deal with the florist–that would have me pissed off too. They should have offered some kind of apology and compensation for that because that sucks.
I love, love, love your music choices!!! The feather theme song is so sweet, and I bet it sounded even sweeter as you walked down the isle to it. And "Home" on the piano? That was an awesome choice, too.
You looked beautiful, and Chris looked just as handsome. Congratulations!!!
I realized as I was reading through this that we had almost the same music….ha…I had to go back to my recaps to confirm (it's been 6 years) but yep…wedding party walked down to the UP song and I walked down to the feather song…both played by some string quartet kids my mom picked up off the street (j/k…kinda).
Love the photos and how Harlow was so much there in spirit.
I am loving the wedding posts!! I love the wedding programs with Harlow! If it makes you feel any better our cake fell over in the middle of our wedding ceremony so we definitely did not have any left to freeze lol
You were an absolutely gorgeous bride and Chris is a lucky man! I love the photo with you and your bridesmaid and that is a major bummer about the flowers – I'm so sorry!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
Your dress is so beautiful and I love your summer flower bouquet. It’s all so perfect! So cute about Harlow being on the programs, and I’m still giggling about your wedding hashtag.
Lexi, Lex Be Livin’
One thing that was great about this place (and that allowed us to plan it in a short timeframe without losing our minds) was that food, alcohol and rentals are all in house so no extra vendors to deal with. Also the view from Malibu wedding venues was amazing!
You had one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen. Seriously that location is too much. And I may have weirdly teared up at the thought of walking out to Home…heart eyes for days.
You looked SO gorgeous, Tay! I love that you included Harlow even though he couldn't physically be there. The backdrop you had looks amazing in Steamboat too. Wow!
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