Miss Turtle: September 2010

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

So Happy Together: Just the Two of Us

After we finished up our wedding party group portraits, our photographer, Chloe, suggested taking some photos of Mr. Turtle and I in the same field, instead of stealing us away during the reception later like we'd planned. I'm so glad we did this, because we got some wonderful shots and only missed our cocktail hour, which we'd already expected to miss. First, my brand new husband helped me drag my dress further out into the field...

Then Chloe just clicked away! (The groomsmen had already driven back to the house, but my girls stayed in the car and smiled and pointed at us the whole time...)

*Sigh* Now that we are back into normal life, busy with work and school and everything else, I so wish that we could just relive this day again!

But anyway, once we finished up with the pictures, we all headed back to the house to join the reception! And there you have it: no "first look," but plenty of gorgeous portraits of us with our wedding party, and of just the two of us newlyweds together! Quick, easy, and totally painless! So if you want to do it this way, we're living proof that it can be done! With just a little organization, and a great photographer! :)

Are you planning on doing a first look, or are you winging it and taking pictures after the ceremony like us? What did you base your decision on?

In case you missed out on my earlier recap posts:

*Note: To answer your fashion questions, my dress was by Casablanca, the bridesmaids' dresses were by Watters, and the guys' suits were from Banana Republic.

And once again, all of the beautiful photos were taken by our wonderful photographer, Chloe Murdoch, with Mike Larson Inc.

Monday, September 27, 2010

So Happy Together: Wedding Party Portraits

While our guests were enjoying cocktail hour back at the house, Mr. Turtle, our wedding party, and I joined our photographer, Chloe, for some group portraits. We went just down the road and pulled off at a random little patch of dried grass. I do not even understand how our photographer made it look like such an epic open space. Talk about photography magic!

After taking some pictures by the fence, right off the sidewalk, we decided to venture deeper into the "field," getting dried grass stuck all over our clothes in the process! Our bridesmaids and groomsmen were total troopers though.

^ This one is my favorite!

Just as we were getting ready to take some "serious" shots, this guy drove up in a truck, and he rolled down his window and was all, "Yeeeeeeeeeah!" in this total creeper voice. We all started busting up laughing. So weird.

Once we got over the weirdness of that moment, we finally got our "serious" shot!

Then, our photographer took some pictures of me with the guys...

And of Mr. Turtle with the girls...

I love how these ones turned out!

Next, our lovely wedding party headed back to the house, while Chloe took some pictures of just Mr. Turtle and I. But that's another post! ;)

In case you missed out on my earlier recap posts:

*Note: To answer your fashion questions, my dress was by Casablanca, the bridesmaid dresses were by Watters, and the guys' suits were from Banana Republic.

And once again, all of the beautiful photos were taken by our wonderful photographer, Chloe Murdoch of Mike Larson Inc. (The fabulous food was catered by the lovely team at Epic Weddings, based out of San Luis Obispo, California.)

Friday, September 24, 2010

So Happy Together: Cocktail Hour & Family Pictures

As soon we'd all made our way up the aisle, it was time for cocktail hour! (Well, I guess technically it was a cocktail-less hour, since the only alcoholic beverages we served were wine and Champagne... but I still like to call it cocktail hour. It sounds classy that way!) Our guests spent the time in between our ceremony and reception mingling in the backyard and munching on some seriously delicious food.

Water, Iced Tea, and Lemonade

Stationed hors d'oeuvre #1: Fresh Fruit Display

Stationed hors d'oeuvre #2: Imported and Domestic Cheese Display (With Fresh and Dried Fruits, Assorted Olives, Roasted and Candied Nuts, Breads and Gourmet Crackers)

Left: Our officiant goes for a Caprese Skewer. Right: Stationed hors d'oeuvre #3: Vegetable Crudites Platter (Accompanied by Parmesan Ranch and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus)

Close up of Passed hors d'oeuvre #1: Caprese Skewer, (Our catering staff passed the hors d'oeuvres on antique silver trays collected by my mom and I.)

Two guests (My childhood friends)

More guests enjoying cocktail hour... Shout out to you, C! (If you still read my blog!)

Longtime friend of my family and her boyfriend... Aren't they adorable??

Passed hors d'oeuvre #2: All American Bourbon Glazed Mini Sliders

Passed hors d'oeuvre #3: Ahi Sushi Rolls

And what were we doing, while our guests hung out and ate this delicious food, you ask? Taking family pictures of course! I'll spare you all the group pictures of random people you don't know, but here's my favorite one, so you get the idea:

From left to right: My brother/groomsman, my dad, my mom, me, Mr. Turtle, Mr. Turtle's mom, Mr. Turtle's dad, Mr. Turtle's brother/groomsman

Aww... what a wonderful, and color-coordinated family! :) We kept our family pictures pretty simple, just taking them in the same place that we held our ceremony. My main advice for these shots is to plan out beforehand exactly which groups you want pictures of. If you don't do this, it can get awkward. But we had a plan, and made sure everyone we'd need was gathered nearby, so it only took our photographer like 15 minutes to get all of the pictures.

Next, our family joined the guests for cocktail hour, and Mr. Turtle and I, along with our wedding party hurried off to a nearby field to take some group portraits!

In case you missed out on my earlier recap posts:

*Note: To answer your fashion questions, my dress was by Casablanca, the bridesmaid dresses were by Watters, and the guys' suits were from Banana Republic.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

So Happy Together: Now Pronounced Husband and Wife

So... I'd made it down the aisle to Mr. Turtle, and here we were!

We kept our ceremony really short and old-fashioned. No readings, no unity candle, no special music. Our pastor just welcomed everyone and gave a short little sermon about love and marriage. He even referenced our proposal story, which was based on 1 Corinthians 13:13 and the most importance things in life: faith, hope, and love.

He said some wonderful things about Mr. Turtle and I, joking about how we are both such goody two-shoes that no matter how many people he asked, he couldn't manage to dig up any embarrassing dirt on us! (Which, in my opinion, is pretty embarrassing in itself, haha!) He talked about how after talking about us in depth with our families and closest friends, he couldn't think of any two people who could be more the same. He made a couple jokes about how we both drive MINI Coopers. And how we're both Europeans at heart, how we were even going to London and Paris on our honeymoon...

He tried his best to come up with a few differences between us, and some advice on how to live with them. Like how I'm the "talker" of the relationship. He advised Mr. Turtle that when we're together with friends, let me tell the stories. He shared about his conversation the night before with Mr. Turtle's college roommate, and that the best advice his roommate could give me about living with Mr. Turtle was: "Don't mess with his albums!" (Mr. Turtle is an obsessive record collector, mainly classic rock.)

Since we only had 100 guests in attendance, the people who know us the best in life, I felt like everyone truly enjoyed every word of our ceremony.

Before we knew it, it was already time to exchange our vows! (The traditional, "from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer" etc. kind...) And exchange our rings...

Then it was the "You may now kiss the bride." part....

Then, the "I now pronounce you husband and wife." and "Introducing for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Turtle!"

As the string quartet started into our recessional song, we happily walked up the aisle!

Our wedding party walked up the aisle too, but I'll spare you those pictures, since you'll be seeing so much of them in my next post! ;) But that was it! That was our ceremony! It was simple, it was to the point, it probably only lasted fifteen minutes at the most, and it was absolutely perfect. I honestly felt like it was the best ceremony I'd ever been to. It wasn't boring, and there weren't even any awkward moments! (Except when I got up to the front of the aisle with my dad, and a random Ray Charles song started playing out of the speakers. I forgot that part... that was weird.) But still, it was perfect!

Next up: our family portraits in the backyard, and our quick drive to a random field to take wedding party pictures!

In case you missed out on my earlier recap posts:

And once again, all of the beautiful photos were taken by our wonderful photographer, Chloe Murdoch of Mike Larson Inc.

*Note: To answer your fashion questions, my dress was by Casablanca, the bridesmaid dresses were by Watters, and the guys' suits were from Banana Republic.

Miss Turtle