The Reception: A Surprise and Traditions

Unbeknownst to my to-be husband, I'd hatched a plan to sing a song to him! I was super nervous and wasn't even sure if I was going to do it, but after some pumping up by my bridesmaids, I grabbed the mic and went for it! In retrospect I'm glad I did it, but man was it nerve-wracking to sing in front of that many people. I've sung at open mic's before but in small venues with maybe 40 people at the most. It was fun, though, and I've heard it was the highlight of the reception, haha!

And then, of course, the typical traditions. I had bought two garters, one to keep and one to throw, but on the wedding day I didn't know where either of them were. The bridesmaids and I ran around looking for something we could McGuyver into a garter, which ended up being a ribbon from a gift bag and a hair clip. It was blue, though! I couldn't figure out what would be my "something blue" and it ended up being the jerry-rigged garter! Of course after the wedding I found them in a box at home. Typical.

The Reception: Dessert Table

I think the dessert table was my one of my favorite parts of putting together the reception. Nothing is more fun than a veritable cornucopia of cute vintage-y treats. We got our cake and cupcakes done at Corina Bakery and they were amazing. Since the wedding was in November, we had pumpkin flavored cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! The wedding cake itself was a red velvet cake. Yum! I'm excited to get another taste of our cake and cupcakes on our 1 year anniversary. I wasn't even aware of the tradition that you freeze the top tier of your wedding cake and eat it on your 1st anniversary! I'm glad someone was on top of things though, because when we got home, there was cake in the freezer! It was the perfect time of year to get some caramels, candy corn and caramel apples as well. I was afraid no one was going to go for the caramel apples because they're a bit labor intensive to eat, but I found a couple of my friends munching on them! And, of course, the flower girl was licking away at a lollipop.

I had found a cupcake tier I liked online, but it was pretty spendy– over $300 if I recall correctly. I immediately thought to myself that my Dad would totally be able to make it, especially since all the dimensions and specs were online for that expensive tier. He constructed it so it could be broken down and put into a suitcase, which was necessary since my family would be flying down from Alaska. A few minutes after we pulled it out of the suitcase and it was all set up and perfect. I was SO excited.

See the little flowers on top the cupcakes? So cute!

photos by arrow & apple

A NYE Party MakeUp Tutorial

One of my friends from high school is a make up artist so I asked her if she wanted to do a makeup tutorial for a New Year's Eve party look, and she did! Tess is a costumer (she works on movies, so cool!) and also has a personal style consulting business as well. She splits her time between working on in LA and with her consulting clients in our hometown of Anchorage, Alaska. She's an awesome and fun girl, so it was a blast having her do the look on me!

Main Products:
Eyes:
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly
Chanel Illusion D'Ombre creme shadow in Epatant
Stila Day Dream Pallet color shadow "Fancy" (from the pallet)
MAC Pigment in Naked
NARS Mini Soft Touch Shadow Pencils in Agile Noir & Ballets Russes
MAC Pro Lash Mascara
MAC Fluid Line in Blacktrack
Duo Eyelash Adhesive in Black
Ardell Single Lashes in Medium Black

Face:
Stila One Step Correct
Makeup Forever HD Foundation
Dior Skinflash
MAC Powder Blush in Dame
MAC Lipstick in Chic

Steps:

1. Prep eyelids from lash line to brow bone with MAC Painterly.

2. Apply Chanel Illusion D'Ombre creme shadow in Epatant all over eyelid & smudge under lower lash line.

3. Blend Stila's "Fancy" eye shadow into crease.

4. Smudge NARS Mini Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in Agile Noir over top lashline, into the outer corner of eyelid (forming an almost V) as well as lower lash line, blending slightly.

5. Apply two to three coats of MAC Pro Lash Mascara.

6. Go over top smudged lash line with MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (feel free to wing it slightly out!)

7. Highlight brow bone & inner eye corner with MAC Pigment in Naked.

8. Add NARS Mini Soft Touch Pencil in Ballets Russes in inner eye corner & pop a bit in the center of eyelid to help accentuate a bit of bling for the New Year.

9. Fill in brows with desired brow color.

10. Add Ardell Single Lashes in Medium Black by using tweezers & slightly dipping each lash into Duo Eyelash Adhesive in Black. Start with the outer corner & go 3/4 of the way into the lash line placing each lash as close as comfortable to your natural lash line.

Face:

1. Apply one or two pumps of Stila One Step Correct all over face.

2. Apply one or two pumps of Makeup Forever HD Foundation starting at the nose & working your way around the face to complete coverage.

3. Use one or two clicks of Dior Skinflash under eyes, down the nose, & above cupid's bow of lips & blend to highlight & conceal the skin.

4. Set with a translucent powder if desired.

5. Apply MAC Powder Blush in Dame at apples of cheeks.

6. Apply a perfect pucker of MAC Lipstick in Chic.

7.Smile, find a dapper Gentleman to kiss at Midnight, & have a wonderful New Year!

Thanks, Tess! You can find Tess online and on facebook.

The Reception: The Cake

Our cake was red velvet and super delicious. So much so that I'm pretty sure my dress didn't fit as well when we left the reception as it did when I arrived... Needless to say I was pretty pleased that Dan wasn't one of those smash-the-cake-in-her-face type of people.

I wanted a really simple cake and I almost didn't even get a cake with tiers, but then I found some vintage inspiration and loved this simple two tier cake. I found the vintage cake topper on etsy and the cake cutter things were from Ikea which I customized with ribbon. Looking at cake cutters at wedding shops was ridiculous! 30 bucks for a tacky cake cutter? No thanks. I think ours were 5 bucks plus a couple dollars for the ribbon. Plus they matched our wedding colors!

photos by Arrow & Apple

The Reception: Dancing and Toasts

Dan & I chose Dusty Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man for our first dance. Dan's dad is a pastor, so it only made sense! Plus, it's just such a classic song. Unfortunately someone had unplugged the speakers so when we started dancing the music was only playing out of my laptop speakers and no one could really hear the song! Thankfully, my bridesmaids stepped in and started singing the song so we wouldn't be awkwardly dancing in silence.

I chose James Taylor's Copperline for the father-daughter dance. For some reason the song just always reminds me of my Dad and I can't quite put my finger on why. It was an interesting moment to be dancing with my Dad in the dress that my Mom wore when they were married. Who would've thought he'd dance with another girl in the same dress?

We used the same space for the ceremony and reception, so after the ceremony everyone moved out of the hall so it could be transformed into the reception space. During that time we signed our marriage certificate, shook a ton of hands (and met a ton of new relatives) and everyone sipped on tasty mimosas in mason jars.

The toasts were really wonderful. Everyone gave beautiful (and sometimes funny and/0r alcohol assisted) toasts and I almost made it without crying until Kristi, my best friend and Maid of Honor gave hers. We've been best friends since 8th grade and she's been with me though pretty much everything major in my life. She used to say back when I first met Dan and started liking him in 2006 that one day we would get married, and that she'd never seen me be more myself and more inspired and full of life than when I had Daniel in my life.

photos by Arrow & Apple