wedding wednesday: 5 and 5

After a little post-wedding processing, [yes, I processed for eight months], I bring you the five things I'd do differently and five things I'd never change about our our wedding day.

1) While I was engaged and working in the Gov's press office, I would spend a lot of my free time thinking about what I wanted to say to my family, bridesmaids, and hostesses at my bridesmaids luncheon after I gave them their gifts. I knew that there would not be another time that I'd have all of those ladies in one place. So, I felt super prepared. And then, come wedding weekend, there were some moments that really stuck out to me earlier in the weekend that I wanted to mention that morning. So I really ended up being a blabbering and blubbering bride. Hopefully they felt loved.

2) I would have someone there telling the photographer what picture ideas I really wanted to make happen. Neither of us remembered in the hustle and bustle of the afternoon. Thankfully D remembered the either side of the door shot!

3) I'd take more time on the DJ or band list. Just...be specific.

4) I'd pack lighter for the wedding day. You should have seen the amount of things Dustin and his groomsmen were trying to get into our getaway car while be pounded with bird seed. I'd suggest duplicates of toiletries so that you can pack most of your goods in your honeymoon bags and leave the others behind.

5) I'd wear my veil with my runaway dress. My sister suggested it while I was changing, but I didn't do it. How cute would of those pictures been?

1) Not setting an alarm. Have your mom or sister or friend wake you up. No one wants to start the best day of their lives with an annoying alarm!

2) I don't regret not doing a first look. Walking down the aisle and seeing D for the first time was the most exciting moment of my life. I highly suggest it.

3) I stopped by our reception location after the bridesmaid lunch while on the way to the church. I got to see it fully decorated - a vision me and my mom and sister had been dreaming up for the last eight months. That in itself was really exciting, and it put my little planning mind at ease. Not to be cheesy (impossible), it was kind of magical. Thanks for sharing that with me, Katie!

4) If we splurged on anything - it was flowers. Flowers are our thing, and I go weak at the knees when I look at photos and see how wonderfully they turned out. Find what aspect of planning is your "thing" and splurge. Even if just a little.

5) Dance. Dance as much as you want. Dance with your friends, with your family, with your pastor and his wife. I have awesome parents who were wonderful hosts. So I just DANCED. Oh - and eat too. Definitely eat!

What would you do different? What would you never change?

wedding wednesday: it's back

Do you remember all of these?

After August 6th, I took a long break from the wedding world. I didn't read the blogs. I stopped following all wedding boards on Pinterest. I gave away the Brides magazine tower. Consider it a little wedding planning brain cleanser. It was a smart move - I didn't want to continue to be fed all these great ideas and wish we had incorporated them. Our day was perfect to us, and that's how I always want to remember it. The moral of this story is, after your own wedding, rid yourself of the wedding business for a while.

And fill the void with pictures of dream homes and difficult recipes. That's healthy, right?

But the truth is, I have always loved weddings and always always will. Not too long ago, I got really excited about being involved in the wedding process again when Audrey gets married. Again, she's four. I've also collected a couple of pieces of advice that one can only learn by going through the [awesome] process of planning a wedding. So Wedding Wednesday is back for a few weeks. This time I'd like to share with you a few of my favorite DIY projects that we cranked out with some amazing friends and family.

Surprisingly, we didn't plan for too many do it yourself projects because the hand-crafted look [which I still love] was not what we were going for. Here are my three faves:

My very handy Father of the Bride crafted these letters out of two layers of heavy duty foam board. The kind from Lowes, not Hobby Lobby. I chose the font, and he printed them on a ginormous printer they have at his office to print maps. You could easily have it printed in a poster size at Kinkos, use a projector, or freehand it. I chose a matelasse fabric and began the ultimate brain teaser of wrapping these suckers. Just think of it as wrapping a present but with lots of nooks and crannies to keep smooth. The trick to getting the fabric to stay was straight pins! They worked like magic. No glue. No tape. Just straight pins to the rescue.

Our florist attached ribbon and the clusters of fresh flowers before hanging them on the front doors of the church. Hopefully, they were a very pleasant welcome to our guests!

Our program inspiration came completely from this photo. It ended up being six pages long. Yes, six. I downloaded the fonts I wanted to use from dafont.com and created the monogram on Wedding Chicks. I designed the layout using Publisher because I have a Photoshop phobia that I'm slowly overcoming. Maybe it's some scarring from my not-so-nice adviser during my yearbook editor days.

I ordered the cardstock from Sams who has free shipping [!!!] and had them professionally printed. The Kinkos man was thankfully super patient with me as checked and double checked and asked to see his computer screen about eighteen times.  They have a small fee for cutting the printed sheets in half which was absolutely worth it. I would have probably paid $1,000 to not have to cute over three hundred sets of programs in half.

I rallied the troops to cut corners, punch holes, stick reinforcers, cut and tie ribbon, and stuff and glue envelopes with tissues. I dug out a program from our stack of wedding memorabilia [which is in terrible need of organizing] to show you my very favorite page: For Happy Tears. Yes, my family and friends stuck millions of little hankies into envelopes before gluing them on a page all because of my bright idea. Yes, I owe them big time. But isn't it adorable?!

Last but not least - the photo wall. I loved having it. I almost died making it. A word to the wise: have a handy fiance [which I did] and stay calm when the wallpaper won't stick for the eighth time because of the humid July air [which I didn't]. Instructions can be found here.

More Wedding Wednesdays to come. I'm back on the bandwagon. And loving it!

the honeymoon revisited: part two

I guess I should give all of our excursions their moment in the sun. I am so obsessed with our last experience of the trip, that I can hardly wait to write about it. And, yes, I realize that I am a complete lunatic.

Ok. In Costa Maya we walked around, souvenir shopped and laid in those picturesque hammocks. In Roatan, Honduras, we had a lovely little private island with rescued wildlife [up close and personal with sea lions!], the most beautiful water I've ever seen, and a killer lunch buffet where we were baffled that we couldn't go back for seconds [cruise-spoiled]. And in Belize we rode a charmingly janky bus into the Belizean jungle for over an hour. Me - terrified, Dustin - thrilled. I just new we were going to discover some unseen, ginormous species of snake on our Mayan cave tour. I panicked a little more as they suited us up with a harness, helmet, and head lamp and chilled out a bit as we started hiking up Central America mountains and crawling through old old caves. After we got through the first repel, I was happy to zipline and trample across some rope bridges from then on.

Alright now that that's done, let's talk about Cozumel. I keep saying that Cozumel was the best experience of my life, but then I remembered that I stood on stage and married my BFFL [<-- that is a joke] just a few days earlier. So, yes, the wedding/marriage excitement totally trumps this. But it's the SECOND best moment of my life.

We swam. with. DOLPHINS. For some background, I've been a long-time dolphin lover. And though I have friends that rag on me for it, I'm proud of my childhood dolphin figurine collection. That sounds so much more lame when I type it. At some point during junior high or high school, I thought it a good idea to make a life to-do list, a bucket list (though I didn't know that it was called this until that Jack Nicholson/Morgan Freeman movie). Number one on this list: swimming with dolphins. Really deep and meaningful, I know. But all I can say now is check, check, CHECK!

I'm pretty sure the people in our group thought I was a complete idiot. I continually waved to Athena [our dolphin] while everyone else listened to directions like normal people. Poor Dustin. Hopefully my excitement only enhanced his experience. I was the first to get a kiss from Athena and yelled, "that was awesome!" which my whole group laughed at. I supposedly hugged her a little more passionately than instructed. And the instructor may have had to pull me off of her when I didn't let go early enough at the end of the ride. I'm probably flagged at Dolphinaris as a hazardous visitor. It was well worth it. This could possibly [but hopefully not] be a once in a lifetime experience. Gotta live it up!

Afterwards, we headed back to our home at sea for our afternoon ritual: Dustin watching all the embarkation mechanics while I journaled the days memories. I think I filled up an entire page about Athena, and I knew that I had caught the new adventure/experience bug. And, in that moment, that desire to live this life to its very fullest became so much sweeter because I knew that I'd always, if the Lord wills it, have Dustin to share it with. I got anxious to step off that boat and into this brand new life we now shared. What a loving God we serve. He began this journey as a rich blessing and promises to uphold and guide us through every turn, both slight and sharp. And that's all for the mush. We've just got this party started!

the honeymoon revisited: part one

After so much wedding enjoyment, it almost seems unfair to get to honeymoon. I'm not complaining or anything. It's just that it was almost too good to be true.

 

We stayed the night at the Baer Inn in Vicksburg, Mississippi. And when I say we stayed the night, that's exactly what I mean. Got there around 12:30 and hit the road 7 hours later. Nevertheless, it comes highly recommended. You know my affinity for comfy beds and good food surrounded by old lovelies!

 

I must admit, I was a little cruise-skeptical. Though I didn't have much time to think about it thanks to the wedding buzz, I wondered if it was going to be over-saturated, cheesy, and filled with crew members trying to persuade me to do karaoke on the lido deck. [Moment of truth - it just took me several tries to spell karaoke before I got it close enough for Google to recognize.] This, of course, would be a pretty big disappointment since I have this selfish wish that the Titanic had never sunk so I could sail on it and experience all its charm. Let me say, the Norwegian Spirit nearly satisfied that desire. From the majesty of the ship itself to the the shiny hardwood features to the walloping windows in the main dining room surrounded by fabric covered walls - it was better than imagined.

 

Boarding could not have been easier. One of the Norwegian employees even told us "congratulations!" without us telling him that we were newlyweds. Good to know that our honeymooners' glow was seriously undeniable. Before our stateroom was ready, we grabbed lunch in that pretty dining room I mentioned earlier. We were obviously cruise novices seeing how we weren't aware that we each get to order a starter and we got up and left before dessert. Crazy look from our waiter. Now we know. Even sans-dessert, it was love at first bite. Steak for lunch seemed like an appropriate way to start this gorging-of-a-trip. Why the heck not?

 

We did break a cardinal cruise rule by skipping lunch one day. But we made up for it by taking advantage of the late night pizza delivery, ordering multiple starters, too-big-to-be-called-a-snack afternoon snacks, and nearly killing ourselves on the Chocoholic Buffet. Dainty little eaters, we were. See, the thing is, eating was just so much fun on the ship! We were seated at tables with crisp, white clothes where they pull comfy chairs out for you, put your napkin in your lap, hand you your menu and remove any tableware you don't require. Charming. Even more than that, your in this atmosphere filled with candlelight, soft music, and that wonderful dish-clanking sound of a great restaurant - every night for seven days!

 

Ok. Don't want to bore with an extensive vacation dialogue. Part One ends now. Of course I blogged about food first. 

 

 

the sixth of august

To the sixth of August, two thousand and eleven:

I am glad to have known you and [mostly] glad that you are gone. I'm glad for the anticipation and excitement you built and for the relief and enjoyment your presence offered. I'm glad for the way you granted a generous amount of togetherness. I'm glad you brought with you a shiny-new hubs, a shiny-new time of life and a lot of remembrance of how we got here. I'm glad that the Lord shined his face upon you and blessed every minute of your existence. I'm glad that, though you did not defy impossibility by being 100% flawless [though, almost], you were absolutely perfect where it mattered.

Your morning was ideal - not even setting an alarm, a shabby chic bridesmaids luncheon filled with handwritten notes, laughing, crying, and priceless advice from my second moms. Oh, and really awesome cheesecake and peach tea. Your afternoon was a joy of a whirlwind - doing hair [sorry, curls - you didn't survive the August heat], getting dressed with my favorite females, smelling the most beautiful bouquet I've ever smelled [or seen], exchanging gifts with the future mister via messenger mail, and lots and lots of pictures. Your evening was enchanting - gripping my daddy's arm at the sound of Come Thou Fount, craning to see my groom over the congregation, a teary eyed father of the bride, groom, pastor, and best men, worshipping with our wedding guests, more pictures, lots of candlelight, dancing, good good cake, and doing all those wedding reception traditions you can't imagine yourself doing until it happens.

I can't wait to hang your pictures all over my walls and tell our grandkids about you. Thanks for being the unquestionable best day of my life. And thanks bunches for not raining.

All my love,
Meagan Jenkins

P.S. Here's a few snapshots of you that I stole off Facebook

pre-wedding partying

There are so many moments I will never forget. At least I expect to not. But just in case I don’t have my grandmother’s genes that have provided her a steel trap of a memory, I ought to do a little recording. And I don’t even know if that’s genetic. Just sounded fancy. 

I'll never forget how cute my niece was getting a mani and a pedi. Or how fun that girls day was - running wedding errands, having lunch out with the best MOB, MOH, and flower girl. Even if Audrey's crayons melted into a thick paint-like substance in her car seat thanks to the ba-jillion degree weather.

 

 I'll never forget how the easily the projects came together thanks to friends' and family's "all hands on deck" attitudes and the fun we had finishing them.

I'll never forget the last night that the Ruston four spent as all single ladies. We moved from all in one booth to all in one car to all around one kitchen table to all on one couch to all in one bed. That night offered a promise and a peace that this friendship, strong yet adaptable, is up to the task of another life transition.

I’ll never forget that it was a weekend full of parties. For a person who likes to celebrate the smallest of  events, I was profoundly blessed. Blessed by gifts of people’s shared memories, their time, their traveling, their laughter and their tears. Lots and lots of tears. Happy tears, of course. Or at least I hope.

My sister and the rest of my Ruston bridesmaids gave an awesome lingerie shower complete with ruffly pink decorations, hilarious games, and every good-tasting dessert this side of the Mississippi. So good that I lost all inhibition and forgot that I was to wear a wedding dress the next day. Worth it. That afternoon began the weekend’s whirlwind, and I will never forget how I felt sitting in Abs’ living room. I was surrounded by nearly every female [family members and friends alike] who I loved most in the world and knew, without one doubt, that they loved me. They had been a part of this journey from the beginning [and long before that]. They knew me better than anyone, and they were there to celebrate. Because of that, they not only gifted me with lots of pretty little things, but with comfort and with peace. The weekend could not have started better. 

After that, another party and another dress. The rehearsal brought more well-known faces. More reunions. Especially the beautiful Swanson family who flew from Seattle for the weekend. Their presence will forever be a favorite wedding gift. I think nearly every one of my girls cried as they rehearsed their walk down the aisle. It’s my fault – I started it. It was awesome. A good happy cry with all of your favorite people. What more could a girl ask for?

Our emotional abundance was only the beginning for the evening. It’s a good thing we had some great comfort food for the rehearsal dinner. I ate my feelings in the form of fajitas, chips and salsa, and strawberry cake. Once again – wedding dress. Less than 24 hours. And, once again, worth it.

I’ll never forget nor will I ever be able to explain the encouragement. So much so that, as Dustin and I were saying goodnight in the parking lot, we were speechless. Speechless from the blessing of being known by so many. Speechless from processing all that priceless marriage advice. Speechless from the love. It's as if all those that spoke were saying, "Go and tackle this ginormous change ahead of you! We believe in you! And we will stand beside you as you do." We see the resounding effects of this encouragement as we get comfy in the newness of married life.

I'll never forget how I slept like a rock. A peace-filled rock. 

There is more that is remembered in time. Fleeting thoughts that become sweet memories. And these were only the days leading up to! It was the greatest. weekend. ever. 

wedding wednesday: pack and go

Times are a-changin'!

Tonight - no new ideas, no color schemes, no latest wedding fashion. I've got cardboard boxes on the brain. What do cardboard boxes bring? Change. Lots and lots of change. So I'm going to go back to wrapping up dishes and attempting to wrap my mind around those said changes.

10 days and we're excited!!

P.S. Back to faithful blogging soon. Promise.

wedding wednesday: fly by

I think someone told me that the weeks leading up to a wedding begin to fly by. I wish this had been a take-my-face-into-their-hands kind of statement in order to convey this with more permanence. I mean, could someone please tell where the last month has gone? Because I must have been in a shower food induced coma for it. We've covered most of the to-do list. At this point, whatever gets done - gets done. Whatever doesn't - doesn't matter. Because we'll still get to spend the weekend surrounded by the people we love. And we'll still be married at the end of it.


Speaking of the people we love, we have felt overwhelmingly blessed and undeserving by the love, support and generosity that we've experienced during this engagement time. I mean...totally overwhelming. I've loved that this time has given us a reason to be around family and friends that we don't see as often. After August 6th, I'll have to find another excuse.

There is something about being with people who know you so well. It's filling. Or fulfilling. Or a better word that I can't put my finger on at the moment.

Reunited with my fellow bestie bride-to-be!

Here's to the home stretch!

wedding wednesday: what if

I thought you might be a little tired of lace, mercury glass, and lots of ruffliness. And, though it's everything I love an more, I want to offer some well-rounded inspiration for y'all. 

I've always been a person who knows what they like. So, don't worry Mom, this post has nothing to do with me wishing I we had planned something totally different. Because our plan is everything I've ever wanted. It's simply, "What if..." Just for fun. Promise!

What if I wasn't set on getting married in my home church?

I'd find the nearest and prettiest library and nestle some chairs between tall, dark-stained shelves that are filled with lots of good-smelling books: 

What if I wasn't obsessed with all things vintage?

I'd go for a somewhat-modern wedding cake like this one:

What if I wanted a destination wedding?

I'd want a small wedding in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico with my husband in the foreground and Castillo de San Cristobal - a Spanish fort built right by the water in 1783. Who knew something used for such practical reasons could be so beautiful? I spent one of my favorite evenings here with a mission team. Actually, the photo I used for my blog header was taken while standing next to one of the walls. I'm going to stop attempting to explaining it, because it's beauty can't be put into words!

What if I didn't love muted colors?

I just love this:

What if I wanted to show off my legs?

Maybe I'll just go ahead and order this for our vowel renewal. Kidding. Totally kidding. 

What if I braved the outdoors?

I would attempt to 100% recreate this beauty:

Do you like any of this? If you're getting married, can I plan it for you? I can't be done with wedding world after this wedding season is over. I can't be done with wedding world EVER.

P.S. Thanks for playing along with what turned out to look like me interviewing myself.

kinfolks

[This is my pre-apology for poorly sized photos. Better too big than too small, I say.]

My grandmother is one of nine Fallin brothers and sisters. This makes my mom the youngest of twenty-three cousins. Not just extended family. Cousins. First cousins. And, since all these cousins came to be, every bride in the family gets a coveted Kinfolk Shower. It also serves as an all-female family reunion.

It's loud. It's fun. There's great food. It's very Fallin.

[That's banana pudding in a jar]


I sat there opening gifts in the midst of more conversations than there were people in the room. You see, we have a unique talent of being in multiple conversations at one time. It's genetic.

For an afternoon, I had the privilege of being surrounded by familiar faces [and not just because I look like a lot of them], cousins I didn't even know I had, the newest additions to the family, and the one's with the most years to share.

There were a couple of especially memorable moments that afternoon. One includes a very loud alarm, two fire trucks, and an emergency response vehicle. They finally decided that the one zillion degree weather set off the heat sensor. But a couple of the husbands speculated that it was due to a house full of Fallins and, subsequently, a lot of hot air.

The other happened mid-gift opening. One of my mom's cousins thought I would appreciate having something of her mother's, my great aunt, who passed away two winters ago. Appreciate would never come close to how much I treasure that beautiful, cut-glass dish. All of a sudden, I wasn't laughing at pairs of sisters picking on one another. I was headed straight to the ugly cry.

See? Ugly. It's OK to agree.

After that, it seems that salad plates and skillets and flatware weren't quite as important. Don't get me wrong - we're so grateful for everything. I was just more interested in soaking up time with these exemplary families and preparing to carry on the God-fearing, people-loving, loud-talking, good-food-cooking traditions.

wedding wednesday: break time

I've got to stop running after-work wedding errands in my heels. The feet are tired. The brain is tired too. I feel like it's one of those fast-pace news tickers you see in Times Square. Except instead of current world events, mine is full of words like "tablecloths" and "wedding jewelry" and "thank you notes." 

I'm headed to Ruston again this weekend sans fiancé. Which is always a bummer, but he's staying here to stay true to his hard-working-and-providing-self. Ok. Enough bragging. 

We're taking the night off tomorrow from planning for a little together time. That got me thinking about movies. And since everything I think about falls under the heading of "wedding," I was thinking about my favorite wedding movies. Maybe I can talk him into one of these from my all-time favorite list. 

8. The Proposal

7. Sweet Home Alabama

6. 27 Dresses

5. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

4. The Wedding Planner

3. Runaway Bride

2. Steel Magnolias [When I was little, I remember watching this on a Saturday afternoon and making my dad rewind it a million times so that I could watch the ceremony over and over again. The love affair started young.]

P.S. Sorry about those annoying words on the video.

1. Father of the Bride

Take a break [even if your wedding is officially one month away like OURS] and watch a wedding movie. Trust me, there is no greater type. 

Mom and Dad - y'all take a break too, OK?

wedding wednesday: picture perfect

I'm certainly a picture lover. My desk and dresser function more as photo galleries than study and storage space. I spent what D calls "our entire life savings" [slight exaggeration] on my first child. I mean...my camera. 

I'm thankful that our photographer, Kevin Beasley, is such a dear friend of the family. He knows and loves us so well, and I know he'll capture the big day perfectly. For me, it might be a little more important than it should be. Or at least more important than others think it is. No pressure, Kev.

I want to remember the moments and details of this predicted best-day-of-our-lives-so-far. I want to be able to see what my dress and shoes and flowers looked like after they are old and yellowed. I want pictures surrounded by family and friends before I don't have them all in the same place for a long time. I want photographs packed with emotion and light and love. I want a ruggedly handsome picture of my new hubby while he's got lots of lovely hair. [Though I'll still think he's handsome when he has no hair at all]. I want to, one day, be able to snuggle up to some soft-skinned granddaughters and stinky grandsons and tell them, over and over again, about the day that we got married. About how we didn't think we could love one another any more than we did way back on August 6, 2011. About how wrong we were about that.

So, for this Wednesday, I thought I'd dig into my "Wedding Ideas" vault and pull out some pictures of other's big days. Here are my faves:

[sources: couple, veil, shoes, groom, maids, couple #2]