So I'd like to try and name everyone by name - even though all of 7 people are subscribed to this blog - to try and acknowledge publicly the work that was done. I'll just keep it to first names, to honor privacy.
Having the last step completed (photos part 2 completed) allows us to look back and see the big picture of how everything came together. Maybe once I get the professional photos back, I'll do one more post about this with names and photos of what they helped do/make. For now, it'll just be words.
Austin and I would like to thank everyone who made our wedding possible! More specifically, we mean...
[In chronological order]
Heather (co-worker) for telling me I had to pick a color scheme, and for helping me talk through the initial parts of the wedding imagery. "Mood boards" was a regular term used in our discussions!
Mom (Connie) for helping me glue and sew the Save the Date's; for sporadically sending us the pretty Wedding postage stamps; for supporting me with all of the stress about anything that came up; for paying for a boatload of the weekend's festivities; for managing family stuff so I didn't have to; for passing out the women's flowers for our wedding; for paying for the amazing cupcakes at my bachelorette party; for all of the secret behind-the-scenes stuff that I don't even know about; and for everything else I forgot! You (and Austin) were my rock throughout this and I am forever grateful.
Kasha for tediously cutting out those envelope liners for the Save the Date's; for spending multiple evenings designing and cutting out the pinwheels; for coming to every event I asked you to be a part of and not complaining once; for throwing me a fabulous weekend party; for truly being the best sister I could ever ask for; and of course, for admitting publicly during your speech that you really did copy me with your AOL screen name in middle school.
Lara C. for also dropping everything to help! You put up well with my non-formalities, like forgetting to give you your bridesmaid gift (I still haven't done that, have I? Darnit!) and my semi-direction for what needed to happen. Thank you for prioritizing events for our wedding, like driving all the way to Lynchburg for a party where you didn't know very many people, and always being available. Austin and I are both honored to have you as a part of our wedding. (And thank you for yesterday when you dropped everything to help out with photos, which I'm sure was very tedious and I know it got into your previous plans!) Thank you also to Lara and Liam for throwing us an awesome Stock the Bar party! It was SO MUCH fun, and I can't wait to make all the margaritas from the mixes we got at the party. We are lucky to have good friends like you two.
Pam (Mom's friend) for throwing me an awesome bridal shower! That was so cool, and really nice, and made me feel like a queen. My momma is very fortunate to have you as a friend, and I appreciate all that you did for me (and us)!
Reid for helping me with all of the digital design-related needs. Your assistance with the placement of both the Save the Dates and the Invitations, your behind-the-scenes know-how of how to get cool fonts, and how to make sure I have both "cool" and "hot" colors in a poster were invaluable. And we couldn't have pulled off the "Leaf your Thumprint" tree without you!!! I am honored to call you my younger brother.
Dad (David) for helping paint the cupcake tree, for breaking those crayons, for navigating a varied and confusing payment schedule, for being in charge of the men's flowers for the wedding; for abiding by all of my random requests, and for being the sweetest man I've ever met.
Laura P for being my running partner/therapist throughout this process. Your listening skills, your encouragement to exercise, your crafting abilities, your insight on building the website, and your assistance in designing the big picture of the wedding's DIY's details are much appreciated. Beforehand, you helped with Friday evening craft activities, as well as taking charge of getting the Cupcake tree together. Day-of, you and Rob got the party started by dancing, and kept track of all of our gifts, and returned them all to our house, and that was very important! So thank you! And to Rob as well!
Katie & Jasmine for being rockstars, and plowing through the frustrations of realizing how big of a task you had taken on, and getting it all done anyway. There was some confusion in the beginning and throughout the process as to what exactly would be happening, and you came out of it determined to complete the tasks. It was no easy feat. You began by spending an ENTIRE weekend with me, talking about annoyingly small wedding details, which I bet was an overwhelming couple of days, but was crucial in moving the wedding planning forward. After that weekend, you put up with multiple e-mails from me, sometimes I imagine 3-10 in a day, which was probably really confusing and time-consuming, but you emerged on the other end with beautiful decorations. I think the fact that people took the flowers and put them in their hair is a testament to both the skill and the work that you put in to helping the wedding. I am indebted to you two, and please know I will pound out wedding-related things you need help with in the future when you ask me! (And I put that on the internet, which we all know never really goes away, so you can hold me to it.) I also want to make sure that I mention that Katie and Jasmine helped w/ the rehearsal dinner decorations take-down, so from both me and the Peters family, we want to say thank you for that as well!
Misha for providing unmeasurable support throughout this process. Your sister was also getting married, and you were at an extremely busy and stressful time in your life, but you still were able to call me and calm me down when I needed a friend's ear. You were aware of exactly what goes into planning a DIY wedding, because you were going through it in your own family at the same time. Your assistance with helping Katie and Jasmine with the decorations, as well as your shuttle services throughout Northern Virginia and Richmond beforehand and the day-of were awesome! Thank you to Paul as well for helping out with everything beforehand. He was the silent DYSC girl of the weekend!
Rebecca for helping with the decorations and for listening throughout this process. I think your nails turned turquoise, blue, and silver from all that crayon-peeling, but Austin LOVED the crayons at the bottom of the glasses as he was putting them together! And also a shout-out to Gretchen for providing similar help, as well as to you both for coming to the bachelorette party. I'm glad we chose to have each other as friends.
Speaking of the cake, I'd like to give a shout out to Elizabeth, Sarah, Stephen, and Lara D for rocking at getting all of that together. [Lara, you get your own paragraph further down.] The four of you stored our cupcake stuff, picked up 150 cupcakes from the store, set them up at the station, and made it back to the ceremony in time. You took all of the alcohol back and brought it in our house. You busted your butts for us.
Julie & Pat for renting a huge van, for allowing us to call it the Party Bus and treat it as such, and for shuttling us and family members around this town for the whole weekend. We asked you if you would be willing to drive us around because we wanted a space with family where we could relax in between intense events, and you did not hesitate to help. I believe you had to shuffle some things around behind the scenes, and you kept us out of that, and we are thankful. I also haven't thanked you yet for purchasing the alcohol, picking up our stuff out of the dressing room, and for making sure to keep track of all of those little details that we would inevitably not be able to do ourselves. Best Aunt and Uncle team ever!
Suzanne & Dennis for understanding what a wedding is like, and for lending your support when possible. Austin and I were excited to ask you two to drive us to the airport to leave for our honeymoon. We were happy to work with you for the rehearsal dinner, and I am glad that all of our plans fused together well. Suzanne, if you ever want to go buy Jelly Belly's in bulk again, I'm there! We will just make sure to use their bags this time... hah! I am so happy to officially be a part of the family.
Christine for helping with the guestbook directions and for making sure envelopes were taped to gifts. It was so great to see you at the guestbook, helping people to figure out how to do the funny fingerprint thing, as we arrived! I'm glad that you were able to help.
Michelle (co-worker) for doing our hair! I was nervous about anyone touching my hair, or my bridesmaids' for that matter, and you did the job stunningly! You met with me on a regular basis to talk about it, we even practiced one day before the wedding. I really, really appreciate you and your two girls' help in getting all of our hair done.
Meghan & all of my Lynchburg girls for passing out directions to the Reception after the ceremony! Thank you also for contributing to throwing me a bombass bachelorette! Molly and Kelly especially drove from far, far distacnes! Laura (and Kelly, right?) had a nice little brush with the police on the way down, and Brittney took time out of a very hectic studying weekend to honor me and our friendship. There are many details that each woman was involved in planning and scheduling, but please forgive me because I do not know all of those. But I really appreciate them all!
Lara D gets her own paragraph, because she was F-ing stellar for making this wedding work. I don't even know how I could list everything that she did. It would double the size of this entry. All I can say is that Lara, on the wedding day 5/21/11 and on the fake wedding day 7/10/11, was instrumental in everything coming together. She took care of everything I asked her to, everything others dropped the ball on, and anything she thought I might need help on that I hadn't thought of, or that I had forgotten about. I have no idea how I can ever make it up to you Lara, but please know that Austin and I talk about everything you did on a regular basis, and you are a rocktar. You are the secret grease that made our wedding go as well as it did, and for that, I am truly forever grateful. I have never seen someone so willing to identify what's needed and make it happen, regardless of how fun the task is. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And of course to Austin for being totally fabulous, for understanding all of the wedding-ness that needed to happen to make our (my) vision possible, for referring to me regularly since the wedding as "my smokin' hot wife," and for being the greatest person I've ever met. You truly make it all worth it.
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