I am so excited to finally share the photos from my wedding! A few weeks ago I posted the slideshow that my photographer, Paul Rich, posted, and just after that, I posted the highlights video that my videographer, Travis Shields. But now I have the full disc of all the edited images. There is so much to go over, but I figure the best place to start is at the beginning…

Saturday morning started bright and early when my make-up and hair stylist, Bri from Nicole Wagner Makeup, came over to my parents house at around eight o’clock in the morning! Bri got started with my maid of honor, V, first, and then she did my mom’s hair and make-up. Soon after, two other stylists came over to style my other bridesmaids, K, J and E.

My fun didn’t get started until around noon, but that doesn’t mean I was just resting on my laurels! My mom and I finished up our one and only DIY project, our seating chart. I finished writing a couple of letters to Erik. I also made sure that I was packed up and ready to go to our hotel in Portland straight away after the wedding. We also spent the morning munching on bagels (thanks K!) and my brother was a sport and got all of us girls Starbucks.

Getting my hair and make-up was so much fun! Bri and my bridesmaids kept me entertained while I sat there for two hours. I can’t imagine being a model and having to do this everyday. I was getting pretty restless. Bri is a total sweetheart and was so much fun to work with. She did the whole nine yards, including fake eyelashes, which are the most bizarre things to wear. They made my eyelids so heavy!

Then Bri got started on my hair. In February, we decided to do an half up-do with curls. However, despite not cutting my hair for six months, my hair still wasn’t long enough, so Bri used hair extensions. That was a drama and a half, because the woman at Sally’s Beauty Supply did nothing but confuse us with our options. Thankfully, Bri offered to go out and buy the extensions for me, and then attempt to dye the extensions to color match them. This is extraordinarily difficult to do, but it ended up working out perfectly! She is an amazing colorist. You could hardly tell that it wasn’t my hair! I really loved the style, but the front of my hair started to lose its curl after awhile, which was kind of a bummer. However, I absolutely love the color of my hair, so overall, I’m really pleased with the look.

Toward the end of getting my hair done, Travis Shields, along with his assistant, and Paul Rich came over to document some of the getting ready fun. It was a little awkward, so I tried to relax and stay focused on my bridesmaids. It was also a bit embarrassing because I knew that my hair looked crazy, but that’s all part of the fun, right?

When everything was finished, I took a look at the final product: me! A bride! It was the strangest thing to look in the mirror when my hair and make-up was done. I hardly recognized myself!

Around two o’clock, Mandi, my wedding coordinator, came over to pick up the seating chart, the table numbers and a few other decor items that we were providing. Shortly after that, we gathered up my dress and the bridesmaid dresses, piled into our cars, and headed over to the venue, which was a mere five minute drive away.

Once we arrived, we hurried into the bridal suite. The boys were shortly behind us, so I was coordinating with N, one of the groomsmen’s fiancee, to make sure we didn’t accidentally intercept them. Apparently that’s a big no-no! The bridal suite was like a mini apartment, with a dressing room, huge bathroom, mini-kitchen and living room. When we arrived, my blood sugar was plummeting, and I may or may not have had a twinge of bridezilla in my voice when all I could think of was getting something to eat. Luckily, our fridge was totally stocked with both diet and non-diet soda and the venue’s caterer provided quite the spread with white wine and hors d’oeurves that kept us going, since we had over three hours until dinner. Cocktail shrimp, sushi, little croissant sandwiches and fudge. Yum! I was definitely not a hungry bride.

After we snacked and I recovered from my low, Mandi came into the bridal suite to give us an update on our schedule. It was time to get the girls in their beautiful purple dresses!

Then it was my turn!

Getting into my wedding gown was quite a procedure, but I really couldn’t do anything to help so I tried to just stand there and look pretty.  After I was dressed, we took a few minutes to snap a picture of my insulin pump holder under my dress. I’m pretty sure I am one of few brides to ever request a photographer take a picture under the dress!

So, about this dress. Since I am sure everyone is wondering, it is Maggie Sottero’s Geneva. Maggie is a designer of gorgeous dresses, but when I tried this dress on? I just knew it was the one. I didn’t know if I was going to be one of those girls, but I was. I totally was. However, there was quite a bit of drama getting the dress to fit properly. But at the end of the day, it was beautiful and I loved it.

My custom hanger is one of my favorite details! I bought it on Etsy from Deliziare. She was super great about getting my hanger to me on time, although it did end up getting shipped to our home in New York instead of my parents’ house in Oregon. Luckily, Erik was still there, so he brought it with him. Otherwise, it would have been a big oops!

Because the dress was so detailed, I chose not to wear a necklace. My only jewelry was a pair of drop earrings. For the ceremony, I wore an ivory finger-length pencil-edge waterfall veil with scattered crystals (whew!). We bought the veil from August Veils in Portland. For the reception, I switched out the veil for a pearl and crystal comb, which is from beadAlex. I definitely hope I can wear the comb again. It is gorgeous!

The shoes? Were perfect. But I am so glad I only wore them for the formal pictures and the ceremony! I was definitely starting to teeter by the end. But the ballet flats? Soft, comfortable and perfectly purple.

After getting a few final getting ready shots, I was ready to head out to see Erik for our First Look…

But you’ll just have to wait until next week for that!