Wedding Wednesday ~ ALL the details

UPDATED ~ items italicized.

Just some random wedding pictures for you to view.

my rockin shoes!  love 'em!

the first time I was able to try on MY dress!

There is A LOT that goes into a wedding.  I was engaged for almost 11 months and planned everything out and feel like my timing and planning worked out pretty good.  A lot of credit is due to everyone who participated behind the scenes.  I truly hope I don't forget anyone or anything!
Officiate - Pastor Ken Brown: We've gotten so many compliments on our ceremony, and our pastor is definitely due credit.  He is truly such a joy, and since we've been attending church we truly enjoy his spirit.  He added some amazing personal touches throughout our ceremony that made it even more special!
Church - Broomfield United Methodist Church: I grew up Catholic, and always knew that if I were to get married, I would want to get married in a church.  When I voiced this to Chris after we got engaged he mentioned finding a church for us to belong to, so that we could be at "home" once the wedding day arrived.  I was so relived that he was on board, and we were so blessed to find such a wonderful church family within the first church that we visited!
Reception - Chateaux at Fox Meadows: I had been eyeing this place easily for the last 7 years.  Immediately it was my dream wedding.  I'm so blessed that it was part of the day and my reality wedding!  We originally met with Jayme back in December who gave us the tour, and once we signed the contract for our day I definitely consulted her a hand full of times.  We also met there back in July when my mom was in town, and again 2 weeks prior to the wedding.  Other than that, they were definitely hands off.  Now who knows what all they did come the day of the wedding, but I imaged they would be more part of my planning.  A big disappointment was the cocktail hour.  Cocktail hour was suppose to be outside in there beautiful backyard gazebo area.  Well with the temperature in the 30's the back-up plan was to have cocktail hour down stairs in the basement.  Granted it isn't as nice, but that's where it was suppose to be.  When we arrived to the reception I was shocked and surprised to see all of the guests hanging out in our reception space.  I worked very hard and had a vision of being able to see the space untouched.  Have my very own "First Look" of the space.  Now we'll have no pictures of that space and what it looked like.  I later found out that the basement was under construction which was why cocktail hour was in the main reception space.  Obviously nothing could have been done about it then or now, but it's just hugely disappointing.
Ceremony Music - Harpist Monica Smith: I found Monica back in January and she was one of the very first vendors we booked.  I hadn't really thought about ceremony music but while browsing theknot.com she was listed as a featured vendor.  One of my mom's favorite musical instruments is the harp, and knowing what our church looked like, I thought it would be a beautiful touch.  I never even officially met Monica, but the music was beautiful!
Florist - Statice Floral: Lori.  Our package at the Chateaux came with a choice of florist, a DJ, caterer, cake, and photography.  Every one's recommendation was Statice Floral.  So that's who we went with.  We met with Lori back in January, and I met with her again about two weeks before the wedding.  I knew I wanted my flowers to be bright and colorful.  I wanted a bouquet to truly pop up against my white wedding dress.  My favorite flower is the bird of paradise, and I wanted that incorporated but I didn't want it to be seen as tropical.  I wanted elegant.  And Lori pulled all of it off beautifully.  I loved my bouquet.  When our bouquets arrived at the hotel while we were getting ready, that my first moment of "OH MY GAWD I'm getting MARRIED!"
Dress - Amanda's Bridal: Da Vinci style # 50010.  As you know dress shopping was hectic for me.  And in my opinion the picture of this dress on the website doesn't do it justice.  It also has the silver stitching, which I opted for the ivory.  My dress was perfect for me.  I love how tiny it made my waist, the rouching was super flattering, it had some bling but not a lot, it also had some detailing but not a lot.  To me it had all elements incorporated into my day. 
Reception dress - Nordstrom Wedding Suite(dress no longer available): This was one of the surprise moments of the evening.  Only a few people knew of the change of dresses.  I always thought a wardrobe change would be fun, and thankfully my gown was about $700 under my original budget so I splurged on a reception dress for about $150.  As much as I love my wedding gown, this dress was so much more comfortable and much better to dance in!  Plus I've already worn it again, on my honeymoon!
Shoes - Dillards: Knowing that blue was going to be a such a big highlight color in my wedding, I knew I wanted some rockin' blue shoes to wear with my dress.  I ran across these while shoe shopping with my mom back in July.  I kept walking by them thinking they wouldn't work.  I probably walked by them at least 6 times before I finally decided "I should just try them on."  And I'm so glad that I did.  They were perfect, but not at all what I had pictured in my mind.  I originally thought I wanted a T-strap or Ankle strap, definitely not a peep-toe.  But they worked, and I think that were perfect.  AND comfortable.  Now I just need to find an outfit so that I can wear them again.
Reception Shoes - Macy's: My mom purchased a pair of glitter silver TOMS shoes to wear at the reception.  She also bought me a pair, but they just didn't work.  I knew I wanted some sort of ballet flat, but I also wanted open-toed shoes (I wanted to show off my silver toes) but when I ran into these ballet flats I found at Macy's again they were perfect.  I'm not a big bow person, and the detailing on the front was just ideal!
Bridesmaid Dress - Amanda's Bridal: Alfred Angelo style #no longer available.  I really love this dress.  I think it flattered my girls perfectly, and with the side rouching and corset back even matched my dress a little, to look like it all went together.  I never really had a moment to just look at my bridesmaids, so I'm really anxious to see the pictures of all of us together.  The blue is beautiful, and I love the material and the fact that it was good for a cold Colorado day.
Hotel - Westminster Westin: This was a beautiful hotel.  I worked with Ashley and she was a lifesaver.  She was in charge of our hotel block, and looking back now I can't remember what it is that I called her about, but whenever I called her she was always there!  Our guests really enjoyed it and the fact that it's so close to so many things.
Hair/Makeup - Beauty on Location by Liz: Liz was a rockstar.  She showed up at 8:30am, and worked all the way to 2:30pm, getting all of us ready.  All the girls loved there hair and makeup, including myself!  She's truly dependable, and her rates aren't outrageous.
DJ - A Music Plus: This was the DJ provided through the Chateaux.  Music is a big deal to me.  I wanted our reception to be a party.  I wanted to dance the night away.  And the DJ provided just that!  It was so much fun.  Our DJ even went above and beyond my supplying the thingy that cuts off the end of the cigars for the cigars.  Thanks Fabio!
Caterer - Greenspoint Catering: Melissa.  The Chateaux gave us a handful of people to chose from in regards to food.  My dad immediately voiced wanting a sit down dinner.  Chris and I met with three different caterers.  The first one basically bullied us into having a buffet, which wasn't going to happen.  The second was more expensive and not as good as Greenspoint.  So thankfully picking out our food was easy.  Melissa was always available and super nice to work with.  And the food was great! 
Cake - Nancy's Best Cakes: Let me be honest.  Nancy is a bit out there, but wow does she know how to make a good cake!  Our cake was definitely clean and classic, but the flavors were all over the place!  She did a fabulous job.
Alcohol/Cigar's - DaveCo Liquors: A big advantage to the Chateaux is you bring in your own alcohol, and the caterer provides a bartender.  We had a couple of different beers, two white wines, and two red wines, along with our Blue Mojito as our signature drink.  We purchased about $1200 worth of alcohol at DaveCo, but were able to return about $600 of unopened liquor the day after the wedding.  With about 100 drinking adults from 5pm - 11pm and only $600 in drinks, is a pretty good deal.  Definitely a huge money saver.
The cigar's were another surprise, specifically for Chris.  He and his family occasionally like a cigar and I thought it would be something nice for them to enjoy.  The cigars were a huge hit!
Limo - Denver Limo: We also used this company for the bachelorette party.  I about had a heart attack when the limo took the long way (the freeway) to the church, but other than that the limo arrangement was pretty good.  For the wedding we had 2 limo's.  And both worked our perfectly. 
Custom Napkins/Matches - theknot.com shop: The blue "Chris and April" napkins were the very first thing I purchased back in December once we had our wedding date selected.  Then I got the matches after I bought the cigars.  I love the little personalized touches.
Invites - Wedding Paper Diva's: I don't really like our invites.  I think I jumped the gun on these, and got them on a whim.  If I could re-do these I would.  Oh well.
Ornament Favor - blog: I think my friend April found this link.  I immediately liked the idea.  They weren't too difficult to make, and so happy we decided on these right before Christmas so we could stock up during the after Christmas sales. 
Journals/Table Numbers - Journals and table number: I originally got this idea from my friend Sarah, who left a super long comment on one of my blogs then sent her comment to me via email.  A lot of the feedback I had gotten was that nobody looks at the guest book after the fact. And these will give us a tradition for many anniversaries in our future.  The books themselves were a huge pain to make, but well worth it.  Hopefully people wrote in them and signed them, and noticed the pictures on the back.
Photobooth - Photobooth'N: In my mind a photobooth at a wedding is a relatively new idea.  Who knows how long this as been the "IN" thing, but I knew it would be a lot of fun.  I just wasn't too sure if I would be able to get my mom on board.  Thankfully I didn't have to try very hard.  When she visited in January and we went to a couple of bridal shows, she immediately loved it and wanted to get one for my wedding.  Shortly after I priced a few out and went with the cheapest one, and it was a HUGE hit.  There was a line for it pretty much the whole time.  The thing I loved about the photobooth is that it created instant gratification.  We got the guestbook that night, and it was so much fun to look at with Chris the next day and see all of the crazy/fun pictures!
Welcome Bag - I really liked the way these turned out.  So I just want to highlight them.  I got canvas type grocery recycle bags from Amazon, filled each one with a 5280 Magazine a local Denver magazine, a bag of trailmix from Mountain Man Nut & Fruit Company, a bottle of water, and a welcome letter.  I really wanted to highlight Colorado as the welcome bags were only made for people traveling in from out of town.  Hopefully everyone got there's when they checked into the hotel.
Videographer - Shuttlerbliss Cinema: I went back and forth for a long time about getting a videographer or not.  Thankfully Andrea and I negotiated on this one.  I can't wait to see the finished product!
Photography - Molly McGannon Photography: Molly was a joy to work with.  She definitely helped calm me down as we were getting ready to go take pictures.  I'm trying to be super patient, but I hope to see some pictures soon!
Program - my cousin/matron of honor: Kari.  I really loved our wedding programs.  Simple and elegant.  Thanks so much Kari for putting them together.
Glow Necklaces - Amazon.  I wanted to do something fun and simple to create a fun party atmosphere.  I got this idea when I saw people wearing glow necklaces at the park we went to on the 4th of July.  They were a total hit, and another fun surprise for our guests!  I brought them out when I came out after my wardrobe change.
Men's Attire - Men's Warehouse: All of this and I forgot my HH (hot husband, his new nickname BTW)!  The groom, his groomsmen, the ring bearer, ushers, and our dad's all got fitted through Men's Warehouse.
Etsy
Etsy was a huge part of my wedding.  I liked the idea of supporting local stuff made here in the United States.  All but two vendors were from out of the country and awesome to work with!
Rehearsal Dinner Invites/Escort Cards - InkaDink Designs.  Talk about quick turnaround and super cheap!  I loved LOVED both my rehearsal dinner invites, and escort cards...I wish I would have used this shop for my wedding invites.
Tank Tops - SomethingGlitzy.  I got myself a top that reads "Mrs. Sweat" and one for each of my bridesmaids and one for my flower girl.  Super cute and fun!
Towels - MonogramMarketOnline.  I got towels for the kiddos as thank you gifts: Max, Jake, Cheyenne, and Aidan.  This was a partially negative experience.  She forgot about my order, and had to request her to still make them and ship them.  Thankfully we got them in time.
Stamp - Love to Create Stamps.  I made a custom stamp for our rehearsal dinner invites.  Super creative, and a great idea for anyone who has recently moved!
Handkerchiefs - Pams Embroidery.  I got a custom embroidered handkerchief for each of my parents that was given to them at the rehearsal dinner.
Wedding day Jewelry - Crystal Avenues.  I love my wedding day jewelry.  Super BLING!  I made the mistake of not trying everything on with my dress until my wedding day, and the necklace was super long, so I wish I would have measured that.  Thankfully we just taped it down my back.  I also wanted a piece of my Grandpa Egan and my Irish background associated, so one of the crystals on the bracelet was green.
Cufflinks - Alexa Lane.  I got a pair of cufflinks for my dad.  One reads "Father of the Bride" the other "I Loved Her First."
Garter belt - Avysm.  This set came with two, one to give away and one to keep.  I surprised Chris with a Denver Bronco garter belt!
Headband - Lucibella1.  I love this headband.  A super nice touch to make me feel like a bride.
Veil - Ultimate Bridal Veils.  Because of all of my wedding day jewelry and the bling on my dress, I knew I wanted a simple veil.  I do wish it was a little bit longer, but considering it's the one thing you wear the least, I was very happy with it.
Sand Ceremony Vases/Flower Vases - Engraving by T.  Chris' and I official love quote is "Real Love Stories Never Have Endings" this is engraved on our vase that we poured our sand into during our ceremony.  I also got myself a vase for my bouquet that reads April/Bride/October 5,2012.  I also got one made for each of my bridesmaids.  This was a surprise for them that they got once we arrived at the Chateaux.
Bridal Party Jewelry - Bijoux By Meg.  I loved worked with this shop owner.  So nice. 
Hangers - Two Broads Design.  I got all of us (me, my mom, and bridesmaids) a hanger back in March, that I gave out at my bridal shower.  I love these because it's something you'll always be able to use.
PHEW I do think that covers everybody!!!
Flower Girl Dress - Tutu Bug by Bri.  I loved Cheyenne's flower girl dress.  Not only did accent our coral color perfectly, but it was just so much FUN!  Plus we got a great price on it!