Casey's Elegant Musings » wedding

a year later…

casey — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:00:32 +0000

[ one of my favorite pictures from the wedding. I always smile because we were laughing at the fact that I can't dance and our families had finally dragged me onto the little dance floor. I was more than a little embarrassed! hehe! photo by Kate Headley. ]

One year ago I said “I do” to the man who had won my heart before all our close friends and family. I remember how I had been treating it like any other Saturday, and had kept composed up until right before the ceremony: when my dad and I were standing outside the church sanctuary before I walked down the aisle. When we walked in, I couldn’t believe how sharp Sailor Husband looked in his Navy dress blues (or “Cracker Jacks” as their also known). How cold it was that day! I don’t think it got much above 34° that day as we scurried around with our photographer and tried not to freeze. The shyness I felt when our family convinced us to do just one dance together at the reception–I am an awful dancer with two left feet. hehe!

The admiration for my Sailor Husband I felt that day has not waxed or waned–it’s gotten stronger, as has our love for each other. It’s amazing how much can happen in one year; I look back and sometimes feel like a totally different person. Marriage has not only been sweet, but it’s had it’s harder parts too: the things that build character and force two people to become closer. It’s been an adventure and a wild ride, but I wouldn’t trade him for the world!

wedding bells

casey — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:24:25 +0000

[ click for a larger view. ]

I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since Sailor Husband and I tied the knot! Some days it feels like we’ve been married for much longer (and I mean that in the nicest way), and the wedding a distant memory. hehe! So imagine my utter surprise when an editor from the Martha Stewart Weddings blog contacted me about featuring my wedding this month. I cannot tell you how excited and flattered I am (I swear it’s all Kate’s fault–her photography made our wedding look so good!). So if you want to (you don’t have to of course!), you might want to go take a peek over at the MS Weddings blog and the slideshow to see the feature on our wedding. It was a fun experience to remember many of the moments of that day (especially since our 1 year anniversary is a little over 2 months away). I feel so honored to have our wedding featured–I’m seriously jumping up and down here!

A big thanks to Kate Headley, Shira at MS Weddings and all the lovely friends and family members that pitched in to help make our wedding happen!

wedding wonderment

casey — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:43:26 +0000

I apologize beforehand for the length of this post… but breaking it up seemed rather awkward! There are lots of photos too, so be sure to click the “read more” link for the entire post!

Our wedding took place November 22, 2008, early afternoon amidst gorgeous late-November weather in a little town in western Northern Virginia. Aside from the cold (I just don’t do well with cold–which is why I’m so thankful I’ve moved south! lol), the wedding turned out far better than I had imagined! It was a blessing to be surrounded by our friends and family, to have a great photographer to document the event, and the generous girls and women from our church who volunteered their time and talents to help pull the day off!

If you remember my earlier posts about this, we had decided to go with a Japanese/retro theme. Something that we could do a lot of Asian elements in the decor, but also play some of our favorite old tunes, and still keep it simple and fun. The best part of the wedding? The fact that we not only made a lot of decorations and favors ourselves, but creatively sourced things and came way under budget. I don’t want to come off as bragging, but we did the wedding for $4,000 (thanks in large part to my mom who is very good at making a budget stretch!)! Which is amazing considering the average D.C. wedding is 8-10 times that figure. Plus, it turned out very us, which is what matters, right?

Here are a few highlights of the day:

My super talented friend Jenny Rose helped me pick out my makeup colors and the scheme (she’s a Mary Kay consultant). It was a treat to have her do mine and get some girl-chatting time in too!

Wearing a vintage kimono as my dressing gown. Not only did it keep me warm (remember: it was in the 30s that day!), but I loved feeling so glamorous and fairytalish!

Slipping into my beautiful dress! My dress is a vintage, early 1960s evening gown that I believe someone made (there are no tags). I picked it up for $30 from a vintage dealer I am friends with. The shoes are also 60s vintage (you might recognize them from this earlier photo shoot I did with Kate), and I found those at the thrift store (for $6) months before I was even engaged! The earrings were from a flea market ($0.50), and I redid them a bit by attaching them to different posts from another pair of earrings (given to me). The necklace I made after spying a similar design online for over $150. I bought the faceted glass beads on Ebay and used some settings and vintage pearls in my stash (for a total of $15). The gloves and bag I already owned, and I just had to buy stockings ($7). So the entire bridal outfit was less than $60!

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The cake and topper. You may all remember the story of the topper after I found it on Ebay during the summertime. Since my husband is in the Navy, we’re both into the 1940s, and have done a pose based on this famous photo more than once, it seemed the perfect, personalized addition to the wedding! The cake was also super fun; after doing a lot of research about cake styles and shapes, I decided I wanted something simple and modern. The woman who made my cake was really fantastic–the cake turned out exactly like the sketch (yes, I sketched my cake!) I had shown her months before!

My mother is very talented with flower arrangement, so she generously offered to do the flowers for me herself. Again, I wanted something simple and modern, but a little bit whimsical! We put together a bouquet of red carnations with red roses scattered throughout, shaped into a tight ball (kind of like a topiary tree!). The stems were wrapped with a gorgeous antique gold ribbon and pinned in place with a vintage brooch from my collection. My two bridesmaids (my younger sister and sister-in-law) had smaller white and red versions of my bouquet. I love, love, love how it turned out!

Even though it was cold, the late November light and landscape proved the perfect backdrop to our outdoor portraits. Kate did really well utilizing the countryside around us; the gnarly, bare trees in many of the shots are my favorite elements!

The real, star-struck highlight of the day was driving to the Ritz Carlton to spend the night! Almost a year before, we had been driving back and forth a lot near the hotel, and joked repeatedly that it would be fun to stay there a night or two at some point. So that was a real treat to have it become reality. The room and views were gorgeous, we were waited on by the staff with impeccable service, and the breakfast we had in the restaurant was perhaps the best I have ever had! But, one thing I did discover about even high end hotels: they have bugs too. I spotted a large water beetle in the closet the next morning! Yikes!

To be realistic, there were lots of stresses and hiccups along the way; I definitely got some good lessons in learning to let go and be flexible. But the whole experience was also a delightful adventure in using a small budget to create a fun and magical day for us to celebrate our marriage. I am truly touched and thankful not only for the amazing suggestions that many of you gave me, but all the help and support I received from friends and family. It truly made the day memorable and special! (There are loads more photos here for you to see!)

Many thanks to Kate for providing many of the gorgeous images I used in this post!

:: the time has come ::

casey — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:29:42 +0000

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.”

The time has come, my dear friends, to bid you farewell for a short spell! This weekend I’ll be standing next to the man I love, joined by our family and friends to celebrate our marriage. It’s still hard to believe that my life is about ready to take one of those “big plunges”… lol! Then I’ll be off to sunny Florida right after, with all our stuff (er… most of it being mine–eeek!) for the Big Move. Nesting and general domesticity are sure to follow, and by then I’ll hopefully be back online and able to show y’all some photos from the wedding!

I just want to say a big thank you to all the emails, advice, stories and tips you have shared with me since I announced L. and I were getting married! It’s been such a blessing to have a lovely group of friends who can offer help. Thank you all so much!

To all my fellow U.S. readers: wishing you an early, happy Thanksgiving! (I’ll be unpacking that day… lol!) See you all in a few weeks!

{ Photograph courtesy Kate Headley Photography from the photoshoot we did earlier this autumn. }

:: knit-wit ::

casey — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:22:53 +0000

After a month-and-a-half hiatus from knitting, I finally grabbed my sweater project and started working on it again last week. It’s nice to feel busy doing something non-wedding, and also see the sweater take shape! Currently, I’ve finished the front and back, and have started on one sleeve. It’s so exciting! lol.

I know it probably doesn’t look like much yet, but it’s fun to see it begin to actually look like a sweater. I have been pleasantly surprised how easy this has been to knit, having heard that vintage patterns are sometimes difficult or rather confusing to work with. There have been a few moments when I had to stop and think a bit about what the directions were saying, but that’s what photocopying the instructions so I can pencil in my version is for, right? Perhaps if I’m really quick, I’ll get this done before the wedding! Yeah right… lol!

This past weekend the women at my church threw a large wedding shower for me, which although wasn’t a complete surprise (I had told Mom she needed to tell me the date/time, otherwise I might unknowingly plan something for that day!), it was just far bigger than I had expected. Which nearly brought me to tears! It was so nice to have my friends there, celebrating with me, and gave me some time to socialize with people I hadn’t been able to catch up with in ages. And it felt very much like Christmas with all the gifts L. and I received! The joke now is that we may still be lacking bedroom furniture (not a huge, big deal: we’re getting it as soon as we move the rest of our stuff to the apartment), but we have a completely kitted-out kitchen!

I hope you all are having a lovely Monday!!!