Jared & Jessica- September 6, 2009

When Cassie and Debbie asked me to blog about my own wedding, I was thrilled! It’s so exciting for me to relive our big day! Jared and I were married on September 6th in Anderson, Indiana. I have known Cassie and Debbie for a few years now, so it never crossed my mind to get help from anyone else but the two of them! I’ve been lucky enough to help them with a few weddings before as well, and I knew that Jared and I would be in great hands. We definitely weren’t let down!

Jared and I had a smaller budget to work with, so we all had to stretch our minds creatively. We all know weddings aren’t cheap these days! But, it’s amazing what we all came up with and how grand it turned out to be! I have always known I wanted to be married outside. And luckily, Jared was okay with this too! (Or he just knew he had to go along with it!!! Haha) I grew up in Anderson, so I was really familiar with the town. Unfortunately, it isn’t a very “wedding friendly” town as far as venues…so we had to do a lot of searching for something that could work for us. We first set our sights on Mounds State Park. We even booked a date there. As we got deeper into the planning, we realized that this wasn’t going to be a big enough place for our friends and family, so we began the search again. We immediately went to Shadyside Park where they have a garden terrace area. This park has fantastic scenery and so much to offer for outdoor events. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t looked there first! Naturally, almost all the dates were taken except for Sundays, so with that, we scooped up September 6th, and got to work on the remaining details! And can you believe that it only cost us $30.00 to reserve the space!? Major bonus.

At the top of the list for us after having a venue was finding a photographer. I spent hours upon hours searching the internet to find someone who fit what we were looking for. I stumbled upon Lindsay Wilson Photography and immediately put in an email for her asking about her availability. At this time, we were planning for a June date. She had my original date open, so I hurried and scheduled a meeting with her. Lindsay met me, my mom, Cassie, and Debbie at Starbucks in Castleton, and we immediately hit it off. I knew after seeing her work it was a done deal. We had to have her! Then a few weeks later, when we found the new venue, we had to change our date. All I could do was pray that Lindsay still would be available. I had my fingers crossed when I was waiting for a response because having a Labor Day weekend wedding definitely can make it tough to find someone who has that date open. She emailed me back and said she had it open! YES!

So now that we had figured out that important part, it was time to nail down the reception venue. The places that were well known for receptions in Anderson either didn’t fit into our vision, or didn’t fit into our budget. And all during this time, we were completely looking over the little old Elks Lodge not even a mile away from the ceremony site! We knew we had our work cut out for us as far as transforming it into the reception we wanted, but we went for it. Reception site-Booked.

Now it was time to start deciding what food we were going to serve. Having a smaller budget, you have to really figure out ways to stretch your dollar. We couldn’t bring in outside food to the Elks lodge; we had to go through them. So then, we brainstormed, and came up with the idea for a dessert bar. I had already known I wanted to do a candy bar, and Jared was definitely on board with that! So, we just decided to go full on with the sweetness! We came up with a menu of cream puffs, mini éclairs, a full chocolate fountain table full of fruit, pretzels, chips, rice krispies, you name it! I still have dreams about that chocolate fountain! Our candy bar for favors was a HUGE hit. We barely had anything left over. And to add to the sweets, we opted for yummy cupcakes for everyone instead of a large cake. We used The Flying Cupcake, and it goes without saying, that they were the best cupcakes Jared and I have ever had.

So now with most of our food decisions out of the way, it was time for the “smaller” details. It took me forever to come up with the color scheme I liked. Jared would have gone with beige! So I was glad he let me take the reins on that! After changing my mind several times, we decided on black, crimson, and white mixed in with a damask pattern. I designed our save the dates myself and had them printed through Vistaprint. I also made our invitations by using kits from Michaels and adding my own touches. I was really, really happy with how they turned out. Next on the list were the programs and various other paper-related items. And after changing our minds several times on centerpieces, we came up with an idea that we both loved. It was very overwhelming at times, and it doesn’t help that I am a perfectionist when it comes to those things! But with Cassie and Debbie’s help, we trucked through.

Next on the list was finding someone for hair and make up. Through Cassie and Debbie’s recommendations, I chose to go with True Colors. Rebecca was awesome! When my mom and I went down for a practice run, she did exactly what both of us wanted. I remember sneaking back into our apartment and Jared was home, and I had to run in with a scarf over my head because I didn’t want him to see my hair until the big day. I was so sad to take it down! Haha.

We had all of our floral items done from Toles Flowers, a floral boutique in Anderson. They were very easy to work with, and very helpful with finding ways for us to stay in our budget. Once again, it really worked in our favor of having an outdoor ceremony, because we didn’t really need too many floral arrangements. In fact, all we had at the ceremony were rose petals. The park truly was beautiful as it was.

Fast forward to our big day! All week we had been worried about rain, and thought it might hold off. We all woke up Sunday morning to overcast skies, and I was bummed! Anyone who knows me, knows that I despise rain! But, realizing there was nothing I could do to control the weather, we got to work with Rebecca and her assistant on hair and make up, while Jared and his groomsmen hung out and watched tv! Oh, the easy life of men !! Once again, Rebecca worked her magic. Everyone who had their makeup and hair done by her looked fabulous! And I can honestly say the rain didn’t mess it up one bit. Debbie went over to the reception site to make sure everything was okay over there. We had all gone there the night before to do the transformation to the venue, and it looked AWESOME. I couldn’t believe it was the same place! It was fun to make it our own for the night, and personalize it a bit. Since Cassie was one of my bridesmaids, she stayed with us, and of course helped calm me down! Lindsay and her husband Ken arrived and began taking pictures, and then we all got into cars and headed out to take pictures at the ceremony site. There was light rain at this time, but we all sucked it up and headed out. Then, out of nowhere, the sun broke through! YES! We definitely took advantage of this and quickly got through some more photos. As soon as the seating of mothers took place, the rain started again! I couldn’t believe it. But oh well, we were about to be married! With the help of umbrellas and my amazing Dad, I made my way down the aisle towards my soon to be husband! The ceremony was amazing. Our Pastor won the award of being the best ever, that’s for sure. He was perfect for us. Even through all the rain, he was making everyone laugh. We did a sand ceremony, but ours was extra special because we have twin sons, who were a year and a half old at the time, and they joined us to poor the sand. That was one of my favorite moments EVER. Soon we were pronounced Husband and Wife, and as soon as the song “Beautiful Day” by U2 started playing, the rain stopped! I still say to this day, if all it took to stop the rain was to play that song, we would have played it the entire ceremony! But luckily, no one complained and most even considered it to be good luck! And we got to see how dedicated Lindsay and Ken were to photography, as several people came up to us afterward telling us how they didn’t let the rain stop them from getting a good photo, even if it got them a little dirty in the process!

We all freshened up and headed out to the reception. It was a blast! The food was yummy, the speeches were great, and the people were amazing. Our DJ is actually a friend of ours, so we were really glad to have him on board. We also did a special “Anniversary dance” for my parents, who have been married for 25 years. That was really special for us and for them.

I could probably go on and on forever about our wedding day! All the planning and the stress was totally worth it, and every moment was special, rain or no rain! And we did it on a small budget! YES! And most importantly, we couldn’t have done it without Cassie and Debbie!

And now, for some pictures!!

My dress!

Jared and I opted to see each other before the ceremony so we could get pictures in before the rain! This was after we first saw each other.

Love this shot at our ceremony site!

My bridesmaids and myself!

All the bouquets from Toles Flowers.

Of course I have to throw in a picture of Cassie and I!

Our favorite shot! Love this one so much.

Flower shot with a close up of my rings and rosary.

Our wedding party!

Jared and the groomsmen and ushers.

My husband!!!!

My handmade programs, and our rings!

Gorgeous ring shot!

My shoes...wish I could say they were still that clean :)

We had the boys wear little converse shoes with their tuxedos...way too cute!

Our son Nicholas playing in the grass!

My dad giving me away...one of our favorite photos. Aren't they both so handsome?

Our other son, Noah, and Cassie's husband, Dustin. Our original plan was to send the boys down the aisle in a wagon...and after several breakdowns...that never happened! So we quickly ditched the idea, and Noah found a new buddy! :)

First kiss as husband and wife!

The Madison Family! Practically the only picture the boys weren't crying in with us! Haha!

The cupcakes. I am drooling right now...I can still taste them! My favorite? Banana Nut!

Our centerpieces! I made these myself, and saved a ton of money. And they turned out perfect on the tables!

LOVE this ring shot! I told Lindsay that I wanted a shot like this, and she definitely delivered! I love the colors of the M&Ms...perfect for us with all the sweets at our reception!

Our first dance!!!

I love everything about this picture of my parents. This was when we surprised them with their first dance at their wedding, 25 years ago. Precious.

No one could keep their hands off the boys. I can't say I blamed them :)

The last picture is my son Noah dancing with me. Such a cutie!