For this week's Wedding Story, we have our very first Blogger all the way from Washington state! Today's Featured Wife is Carrie from Laugh, Love, Eat Ice Cream; be sure to check out her blog for more wedding stories and pictures. With that, here's Carrie...
When did you get married?
October 10, 2009
Where was your ceremony? Reception?
Both our ceremony and reception were held at the Space Needle in Seattle.
What made you choose that reception location?
My mom was the one who suggested the Space Needle as a venue. Before Nick and I even were engaged I talked to my mom about how an engagement would be coming soon and she started asking me about what I wanted to do for a wedding. I told her I wanted to have it in Seattle (I’m from Boise and my entire family lives there) because Nick and I live in the area and most of our friends do as well. My mom asked if I had thought of any venues for the wedding. I told her I hadn’t really thought of that part yet. She wondered, “Does the Space Needle have weddings?” I told her I wasn’t sure, but that idea excited me and I looked into it. Sure enough, the Space Needle hosted wedding ceremonies and receptions! Neither Nick nor I are religious, so we didn’t want to get married at a church. We wanted to choose a place that offered both ceremonies and receptions to make it easier on our guests and ourselves. Once Nick proposed, we set a date that week and scheduled a time to view the Space Needle Skyline banquet level. We liked what we saw so we didn’t even check out any other venues.
We liked that by having our wedding at the Space Needle “Seattle” sort of became a wedding theme. We gave Seattle Chocolate truffles as wedding favors to bring in the theme that way. We wanted a classic and elegant wedding and we thought the Space Needle was a perfect venue for the type of wedding we wanted.
What was your favorite aspect of your wedding?
Celebrating Nick and my love for each other with each other and our families and friends was incredible. Just being surrounded by people who love you and have supported you and are there for you on “your day” makes you feel amazing. I was overwhelmed with love and emotion and it felt wonderful.
What was the best resource you used during the planning process?
I loved The Knot for the checklist, budget calculator, and guest list, as well as all their database of pictures. Junebug Weddings was a great local resource for me to find outstanding vendors.
What's the one thing you would have done differently?
I probably would have listened to my mom and cut back our guest list. It’s so hard to narrow it down, you want to invite everybody! The people who we invited were all important people in our lives, but I have to admit some people I felt pressure to invite like, “Well they’re inviting me/invited me to their wedding.” Or “If I invite this person I can’t not invite this person.” In the end we had 148 guests, which I don’t think was a huge amount, but it might have been nicer if it were more intimate.
Any advice for future brides?
Enjoy your time being engaged! It’s such a fun period in your life and you never get to relive it!
Also, getting stuff done early is a huge relief. We booked a lot of our vendors 9 months before our wedding so no vendor we really wanted had to turn us away saying they were booked for our date.
Lastly, relax. You don’t want your bridesmaids or family members talking about you behind your back telling everyone you’re a crazy woman. I’ve heard it many times where the bride had ridiculous demands and high expectations for their wedding and everyone’s rolling their eyes at her. You need to remember that the wedding is about celebrating the love you and your fiancé have for one another. The wedding isn’t about gifts, or people, or food, or flowers. It is about love. All the flowers and gowns and sparkles in the world can’t fake true love. If things go wrong at the wedding whether it be something someone does or says or doesn’t do take comfort in the fact that imperfection and chaos is part of life. You cannot control outside sources no matter how hard you try. Stay calm and feel the love!
Excellent words of bridal wisdom, Carrie. I think it's very easy to forget that the marriage is the most important part of the day; not the bridesmaid's shoes, cake topper or candy buffet labels.
Photo courtesy of JKoe Photography.
If you'd like to be a Featured Wife or Bride, please email me at legallybride@hotmail.com
