How I Tied the Knot: Outside the Mansion

Previously, in this post and this post, I blogged about how I wanted to take pictures outside of a mansion/historic home on our wedding day. Our family friends obliged and after the ceremony we hopped in the car for a little jaunt over to their house on Meridian Street in Indianapolis.
Here are just a few of the pictures that we took in our 10 minute visit.

I had saved the picture below in my inspiration files at some point before our wedding. Imagine my delight in going through our photos when I that two of our photos in front of the mansion were similar to the striking picture captured by rebekah westover!

We also took our thank you card pictures outside of this house. You can see them here. Chris and I would like to thank Jim & Peggy for inviting us over to their house. We're so glad we captured these pictures!

previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away, the cake, thank you cards, blurb guest book
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Blogging at Pearls Events!

This week I have the honor of guest blogging for Aletha over at the lovely Pearls Events blog. I've been following Aletha's blog basically since day one. If she didn't live so far away I have a feeling that we would meet weekly at Starbucks with our peppermint mochas and delve into the latest bridal magazines together.

Over at Pearls Events, I'll be blogging a series about the gorgeous pictures and ideas that helped inspire the details that sparkled at our wedding. So, grab a peppermint mocha and stop by Pearls Events everyday this week! See you there!

How I Tied the Knot: Blurb Guest Book

Previously in the post, tying the knot: reception details, I shared some of my favorite pictures of details from reception. Now, it's time to let you all in on the details behind one of our favorite details, the blurb book and lessons that I learned from that aspect of our wedding day. And, of course, some pretty pictures to display along the way!

I knew early in the planning process that I wanted to have a blurb book serve as our guest book. I incorporated our engagement photos into the layout along with pages left blank for our guests to sign and I couldn't have been happier with how the book turned out. Our guests loved seeing our engagement pictures and the book is now displayed on one of our end tables. So here's how I made ours:

I went with the standard landscape 20 page hard copy book with the dust jacket cover. We chose an image for the dust jacket cover and then customized the cover with our new "married couple" name and the date of our wedding. The spine reflected our new "married couple" name and "The Guestbook."
There were a number of photo layouts to choose from, but I stuck with just three photo layouts, which were displayed on every left-hand page of the book. The four picture layout was the layout that I used the most.

But the full page spreads were my favorite.

I incorporated this three picture layout from time to time.

In every layout with multiple pictures, I attempted to keep the pictures to either all color pictures or all black and white pictures...I just felt like it looked better.

Every right hand side of the blurb layout was blank, except for a light border. With 150 guests at our wedding, I assumed that 1 person per couple would sign our guest book and write a short little note to us. Therefore, I needed room for about 75 couples. Spacing it out I figured out that there was room on each page for about 8 people (couples) to sign/ write notes. Thus, I needed about 9 blank pages. So we went with a 20 page book (1 title page, 9 left pages with pictures, 9 blank right pages for writing/signing, and one final closing page). It worked out perfectly.

Here's a picture from our wedding day of the blurb guest book in action.

Lesson Learned #14: If you opt for a traditional plain guest book filled with lined pages, your guests will have as much fun signing it as they would signing their mortgage check. Take the time to create a personalized guest book. Make a blurb book, use the wish tree concept or have your guests sign a signature mat. Whatever you do, just give your guests something to do or something special to look at while they sign their names in your guest book. Bring a smile to their faces and their words will bring a smile to yours when you read their words in the years to come.

previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away, the cake

all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

How I Tied the Knot: Thank You Cards

Previously in this post, I was contemplating what we could and would do for our thank you cards. Now, it's time to reveal our thank you cards to all of you and share the lessons that I learned from creating and making them. And, of course, I'll have some pretty pictures to display along the way!

A month before the wedding, I was already thinking about a concept for our thank you cards. I wanted the recipients to feel our appreciation ooze out of the cards as they remarked how darling they were. So, Chris got to work crafting the perfect "thank" and "you" signs for our thank you card picture. The signs were flawless and beautiful, if I do say so myself.

By this time, Chris had seen enough of our monogram, but I begged for it to be incorporated. You can't blame a girl for her love of a monogram and a cohesive theme.
The front of our card was a collage of some of our favorite wedding pictures.

Thanks to April from Blu Sky Designs for helping us tweak the front of our design.

Half of the back of our card displayed the "thank you" picture we took on our wedding day. The other half of the card was blank, which is where I wrote our thank you note.

We ordered our cards from Vista Print. 100 post cards (5x7. 1 side color. 1 side black and white) for $17.47 + $6.71 shipping = $24.18. I purchased 100 white linen envelopes from a scrap booking store for $14. Total cost of our thank you cards (without postage) = $38.18.

Hint #1: Google Vista Print coupons. You should be able to get the product you want for at least 50% off.

Hint #2: Purchase the standard shipping. You will be quoted 21 days shipping, but it will come within 5-7 days.

Lesson learned #15: Your thank you notes don't have to be boring or expensive. Get creative and give something for your guests to smile about. And if you use Vista Print, you'll save yourself a good chunk of cash and get a great product. That's something to smile about.

previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away, the cake, blurb guest book
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

How I Tied the Knot: The Cake

Previously in the post, tying the knot: the cake, I shared some of my favorite pictures of our cake and how Chris managed to smash a nice piece of it in my face. Now, it's time to let you all in the details behind our cake and the lessons that I learned from that aspect of our wedding day. And, of course, some pretty pictures to display along the way!

I was a bride that did my research. I went to the bridal shows around town, I read all the wedding related blogs that I could find and I compiled spreadsheet after spreadsheet to ensure that I was getting the most bang for our buck.

I started obtaining quotes from the cake bakers around town (for a cake to feed 150 people). They were coming in at $800 and I couldn't get my jaw off the floor. The accountant in me did the math, with assistance of a calculator and was even more outraged to learn that one of those cakes would cost me $5.33 a person! No way. Not on my watch.

One day, our reception coordinator casually mentioned that she knew of a reasonable baker that has been making cakes out of her home for years. I called her as I was walking out of that meeting. I went over to her house, tasted some samples, looked at pictures of her past work, attempted to explain my vision or our cake, received a quote and signed on the dotted line. $350. The bottom two layers (one vanilla and one chocolate with butter cream frosting) fed 150 people, allowing us to take home the top layer. Her attention to detail was impeccable. She pretty much took this picture of a cake that I had in my mind and recreated it perfectly. We were quite pleased. To top it all off, it tasted just as good as it looked!

Lessons learned #13: You don't have to buy an expensive cake from a ritzy baker just because it's what you think is the best of what's around. Roll up your sleeves and start reaching out to your reception vendors, coordinator(s), etc. to see if they have worked with a reputable baker that won't send you a bill rivaling that of a weekend shopping spree at Anthropologie.

Indianapolis brides: please e-mail me if you would like the name and contact information of our wonderful cake baker.

previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Hooked on You

Loving this boutonniere. Lots.
The theme of the wedding could be "Hooked on You." Give me the credit when you use that theme for your wedding, it's cute isn't it!?
photo via: paul johnson

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Isn't this little series of pictures how every bride wants to be captured on her wedding day?Loving life. Laughing out loud. Happy as can be.

As found on we met in a bar.