things are better with a parrott

Photos with The Wedding Party

As many of you may know, I kept a separate wedding blog, Homegrown, while planning our wedding.  I kept the blog separate during our 2-year planning process & then started sharing the actual photos once we were married on September 18, 2010.  I have wanted to expand upon the content of this blog, & after much thought, I decided to combine the two blogs.  It is only natural to share wedding inspiration & our wedding on a blog that already focuses so much on wedding invitations & paper goods.  As happy {& impressed} as I am that I have filled this blog with unique & original content ({or the most part} for the past four years, I decided I need to mix it up a bit. 

With that said, today I will continue to share our wedding photos where I left off on Homegrown.  So far I have shared our welcome dinner, wedding invitations, paper details, getting ready, our wedding party, & the ceremony.  Today I have photos of us with our wedding party after the ceremony!

{All images by Fat Orange Cat Studio}

Our Wedding Party

Rich & I did not see each other until I walked down the aisle.  We took photos with our wedding party before the ceremony to save some time & to ensure we were not late to our own reception.  I took photos with my bridemaids at the Equestrian Center & Rich was with his groomsmen at the home where they got ready.

My sister & maid of honor, Jess, & my mother.

Boys will be boys...with Budweiser.

Those horses were so beautiful.  Tomorrow, the ceremony!

{All images by Fat Orange Cat Studio}

Getting Ready

All the ladies {plus my dad} got ready at the Loft which is above the Equestrian center at Pineland Farms.  It was a gorgeous & huge space for everyone to spread out.  My sister, Jess, & I were up early, but we laid in bed watching random youtube videos {including this ridiculous one}, most likely to easy our nervousness about the day.  My friend & bridesmaid, Deana is a hairstylist & she & her friend arrived early to start on our hair.  We had a breakfast of champagne & pastries, the ladies did their nails, we laughed, shared stories, & relaxed.

My something old was a 4-strand necklace with beads that belonged to my 96 year-old Memere {who was at our wedding with my 95 year-old Pepere!}.  My something new was my dress.  My something borrowed was a watch that belongs to my mother-in-law that was given to her by her mother.  My something blue was my garter given to me by my sister.  Our ring bearer bowl was from Palomas Nest.

I collected vintage handkerchiefs with all of my bridesmaids' & our moms' initials on them & gave them as gifts that morning.

My dress was a BCBG Max Azria.

My sister-in-law, Deb, made all of the necklaces for the bridesmaids, inspired by the amazing necklaces of Elva Fields.

While I was getting my hair done, I had no idea Jess was still writing her maid-of-honor speech!

Deb did my make-up as well!

The bridesmaids' dresses were from David's Bridal.

Our gorgeous flowers were by Minotts Flowers, & I will share many more photos of those beauties in a few posts!

{All images by Fat Orange Cat Studio} 

Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog

{Images by Snapshots by Clare}

Even though it is tradition for the Best Man to give the toast, I like the idea of the Maid of Honor speaking as well {provided she wants to}.  The Best Man for our wedding is one of Rich's oldest friends from High School & my Maid of Honor is my sister, Jess.  Deb, Rich's sister, is essentially the "Best Woman" so we hope all three will want to give a toast at our wedding.  My sister & her husband, Jay, had two Best Men & I was the Maid of Honor.  Each of us spoke before dinner.  I read the poem, Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog, by Taylor Mali at their wedding.  I kept my introduction brief & on the silly side {I am not one for sap}. We are a family of dog-lovers, having three different golden retrievers growing up.  My sister now has two dogs, & my parents & I each have one.  I found this poem & knew it was perfect.

Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog, by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York {note: I changed this to Portland}.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.