I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Lucas and Jessica Wardenburg! The day couldn't have been better! The rain stopped by early morning, we were on time for everything, my 14-month-old niece killed it as the flower girl, Lucas was drop dead handsome, I didn't look too bad myself, our wedding party people were amazing, the food was tasty, the lodge was beautiful, we had awesome photographers and a videographer, and everyone made it to Des Moines safely. The only thing I would change is that Lucas wouldn't have ripped my dress! That's right folks, the best way to put a groom in the dog house is to step on your lovely bride's dress. Luckily, the hole was only about an inch wide on the hem of the dress. I'm pretty sure (at least I hope that) no one heard me scold him when it happened. Everyone says the day will fly by and you won't remember anything. Well, I remembered it all and it went by at a decent pace, which I'm so thankful for!
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What better way to spend your last day as a single lady than to prepare for your wedding? I think that's the assumption of how to spend your day. My bachelorette party was a month ago so this was about as exciting as it was going to get. My mom, sister and I went to Signature Nails & Spa in Urbandale. I never get my nails done professionally so I took a recommendation from my friend Melissa. The salon did a nice job doing our fingers and toes. They were short-staffed because of a family emergency, so luckily we had the time to be there for 2 hours.
Later that night was the rehearsal dinner. My family and friends got to meet Lucas' which was a lot of fun. Then we actually ran through the ceremony. When you have 7 bridesmaids, 7 groomsmen, two readers, a flower girl, two ushers, two mom's, and a singer, you definitely need to practice! Practice m With just days until the wedding, I dropped off a signed contract to Christiani’s VIP Catering. It has all the details about the food and beverage order, how many people, decorations, and of course the money. Gotta love realizing just how much you’re spending on one day. Actually, to be fair, our wedding is coming in about one grand under budget. I’d say that’s a success.
Today was a productive wedding day. Months ago it felt great to have all the big things done, like booking the dj, buying the dress, but all the little things are a whole other story. One main thing I got done today was itineraries. I want the bridal party, parents, ushers, and other important players to know where they need to be and when. I got those finalized and emailed to everyone. This way no one should get lost or be running late or say they didn’t know. Oh, you know! I’m even going to print them out so they can have a hard copy.
I picked up my wedding gown today! Bringing it home feels amazing. It means the wedding is just around the corner. Now I just have to get through the week looking at it every day and night. Lucas and I met with our photographers today too. I’m so confident Stan and Erica will do an amazing job. Working with video every day, I really have an eye for detail and expect more than the average bride. I’ll try not to go bridezilla on them.
We ordered our unity candle on December 30, and I was just able to pick it up today. I ordered it with plenty of time to spare and told Bett's Bridal in Valley Junction I wanted it by March 1. I figure it's always good to have some wiggle room, and boy, did that come in handy! We went to pick this up 1.5 weeks ago and instead of saying Jessica and Lucas, it said Jessica and Luke. Not many people call Lucas Luke, and by not many, I mean his mom and brother sometimes do. I never do. I wasn't all bridezilla on the store owner, but I let her know I needed a new one in a week. She was able to get it in 9 days. And I still have wiggle room. My plan is to have NOTHING to do next week though. So I'm glad this is one more thing I can cross off the list. T-11 days!
As much as many of us think getting married is a religious thing, it's also a government thing. They can allow, or not allow, you to get married. They do this by making you apply for a marriage license. (I really think they should do this for having babies too.) It's a two-page form you can print of the county recorder's website. The bride and groom fill in the information, have a witness sign it, and have a notary give their seal. $35 later the state gives you the paperwork to fill out the day of your wedding. You then send that back to them and they mail you your official marriage document. I can use that for the fun task of legally switching my name on all my important documents. Fun.
What girl doesn’t love getting all dressed up? This girl does, especially when it’s my wedding gown. Today was my trial run for hair and makeup and my final dress fitting. Over the past several months, I’ve looked at picture after picture of hair dos to find the perfect one. I didn’t put too much thought into the makeup because I already knew I didn’t want to do anything super dramatic. Lucas doesn’t like when I wear makeup at all, so I don’t want to look unrecognizable. I had a great time at Estilo Salon in West Des Moines with Laurie and Annie getting me all dolled up. Once the makeup was done, I headed over to the Bridal Boutique for my fourth dress fitting. As I zipped it up, I held my breath. It fit like a glove. I have been worrying to death over this dress fitting just right. When you buy a dress 3 sizes too big off the rack, be prepared to do what it takes to shrink it down.
Preface: If you aren't planning a wedding or don't care about planning a wedding, I understand this blog is probably getting very old. Well, only 27 days left to put up with this constant blabbering.
This weekend a friend gave me a great idea for the name cards at the wedding reception. Since we are doing assigned seating, people need to know what table they are sitting at, but how? Lucas and I had very cool invitations that included a great black and white photo of us that was on the back side of the RSVP. Many people told us they didn't want to send it back. Well, we are going to include a table number on each RSVP and use those as our name cards. That way people get a great picture of us, and I don't have to waste the $120 I budgeted for these little place cards. They (the bridal industry, pinterest, theknot.com) tell you every detail counts at a wedding, each little nuance needs special attention, nothing can be overlooked. Give me a break. I decided too much of wedding planning is about impressing your guests. Took me long enough to admit it. The reason it came up is because I need to decide on ceremony programs here pretty quick. I don't like the ones my church wants to make, and I don't want to spend much at all.. like $20 is all I want to spend. No one except my mom and I will even keep one. Ok, maybe if someone else will be getting married soon, they might keep one as a reference. As such, I spent a little time designing my own. They're nothing fancy-pants, razzle dazzle, or blow-your-socks-off, but they're pretty. I just got to check with the church to make sure I got all the wording right!
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