Wedding!

Warning: Wedding talk ahoy! If weddings aren't your jam, feel free to stop here.  For real.  It's about to get gnarly.

A little over a month ago, our friends and family came from near and far to celebrate our marriage.  After over a year of planning, approximately four billion emails, and more dollars than I was ever anticipating spending, it all came together.  And, even though I joked about eloping more seriously than I ever thought possible, I am so, so happy that we did everything the way we did.

One of the things we decided to do was rent a house out in the woods for our out-of-town friends to stay in.  It was a great home base - before the wedding, we arranged flowers, ate epic meals cooked by my mom, and did hair and makeup; after the wedding, people were able to take day trips into Seattle, swim, eat more epic food, hang out and knit, and do karaoke.  It was amazing to have all of our friends in one place - especially since many of my Oberlin friends live far away - and I feel so grateful that we were able to reconnect and relax with so many loved ones when the stressful part was over.

The weekend after the wedding has been dubbed "The Magical Weekend" in our house.  Between the environment - which included trails littered with lanterns right out of a Miyazaki film - and the awesome company of almost every close friend we have, the time we spent at the house was hands-down the most magical, beautiful, life-affirming, squishy-love-filled weekend I have ever experienced.

But let's start from the beginning.



Our awesome officiant, Annemarie (left), and photographer, Jenny (right)!

Vendors

Photography: Jenny GG
Hair & Makeup: Andrea Chin
Venue: Robinswood House
Officiant: Annemarie Juhlian
Flower Arrangements & Bouquets: My bridefolks, with special help from Ethan's partner Alyx <3

Clothes

Ceremony Dress: Vintage Emma Domb
Ceremony Shawl: My Issaquah Tinkers knitting group, organized by my friend Rebecca.
Ceremony Shoes: Fluevog Keepsakes, Vans Authentic in Scuba/Chili Pepper
Reception Dress: Cory Ellen Designs - Betty Dress
Reception Necklace: Material + Movement
Reception Shoes: Fluevog Cana
Bowtie & Ties: Fox & Brie, The Tie Bar, ties.com
Bridefolks Dresses: Modcloth
Groomsfolks & Bridesfolks Pants: Bonobos, carried by Nordstrom

Food

Catering: Twelve Baskets
Cupcakes & Cutting Cake: Cupcake Royale
Jams: My mom

Looking back at this pictures, I can remember everything so clearly.  I started getting sick the day before the wedding, so I was running on six hours of sleep and a lot of tea and echinacea.  I felt like absolute crap, but decided that I was going to enjoy my day, dammit.  In a funny way, it made me remember everything better, because I was so focused on the moment that I didn't have time to stress about cupcakes turning over or there not being enough flowers for all the tables.  And in the end, our friends and family stepped up and took care of everything.

BOOP.  Lol!!!!

Have I mentioned that this location was magical?  It was magical.  The house itself was great, and then there was a swimming pool, two outdoor hot tubs, a stream running through the property, and a clearing with benches and swings to drink coffee and watch the sun come through the trees.  It was so peaceful.  It was also a really great way for me and Blake to reconnect with each other after a long, stressful wedding planning process.  By the end of the weekend, I felt like we had made this huge step and commitment together as romantic partners, and we had also reinvigorated our friendship.

The wedding party and their partners were rockstars: they kept me hydrated, jumped in to help with setting up, solved multiple crises, and drove us to the venue so I wouldn't have to drive a stick shift in 4-inch platforms and a sequined gown.  And, as I later found out, our kickass housemate jumped in to help my mom out at the venue, and basically made the wedding happen.  I've been absolutely blown away at how kind, hard-working, and generous our friends are.

After we got to the venue and had pictures taken with family, more than a few people shooed me upstairs to rest before the ceremony.  Blake found me a granola bar, water, and more cold medicine.  Melody and my mom came and kept me company upstairs while I put my feet up.  I looked out through the window on the second floor and watched everyone signing our guestbook; adding notes to the yarn garland; talking; looking at the book my mom made of pictures from our childhoods.  I was feeling pretty crappy by this point - I had been up since early that morning and had already gotten hair & makeup done, gone to my doctor, and had a zillion pictures taken, and all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed.  But then it was 5 o'clock - time to go make it official - and the adrenaline got me going again!

Everything did not go perfectly, but kind of in the most perfect way.  Our processional song finished right as we hit the bottom of the stairs, and the wireless lapel mic that the officiant was wearing started cutting out less than a minute into the ceremony, but it didn't really matter.  Everyone laughed a lot, and it cut any tension that might have been left.  Then it got to our vows, and Blake read his, and I lost it.  And then I read mine to him, and he lost it.  I am making ugly-cry faces in a lot of pictures, and I don't even care.  At that point, I didn't even feel sick.

FUCK YEAH MARRIED!

NOW GIVE ME FOOD.

My New York Fashion Academy ladies.  So much love!

 We weren't sure initially that we were going to have toasts, but we ended up doing them informally with Martinelli's.  My brother and our friend Derek did a hilarious little toast, gave us towels (so we'd always be prepared) and told us to be excellent to each other.  Our friend Charlie and my dad spoke, and Blake and I each got up and thanked everyone for being there and sharing the day with us.

It was so amazing to have friends and family from all these different parts of our lives - high school, Oberlin, knitting, our brothers, Blake's work - come together.  My Seattle friends finally got a chance to meet the Oberlin friends I've talked about so often; people from my different knitting groups got to meet and nerd out.  Since the wedding, more than a few people have become friends with people they had only heard stories about, and it makes me smile every time I see these new friends exchanging comments on Facebook.

Because we've been waiting for years for the right time to smush cake in each others' faces.

 

It started getting dark earlier than we expected, so we escaped the party for a minute and had Jenny take some quick newlyweds photos - I had also wanted to get photos of my gorgeous necklace from Material + Movement.

My parents generously gave us their Honda Fit as a wedding gift.  And apparently the whole wedding party got in on decorating the car with streamers, cans, and hundreds of post-its covered in hearts - with a few dicks thrown in for fun.

Finally, it started getting really dark, and guests started heading home.  Blake, Melody and I grabbed coffee and had a quiet moment before all the take-down started happening.  Then Blake and I drove to the nearest Denny's for another cup of coffee and some late-night greasy breakfast food.

It was the longest day ever, and probably the best.  I can't even express how overwhelmed with gratitude and joy I was, and how dumbfounded at how well everything went - it was almost as if my being sick was the disaster for the day, and everything else went perfectly as a result.

And in the end, when I look back at our wedding day, I remember all that love and friendship the most.  And that's what's important.

<3<3<3<3<3

Cory