The Wedding: FH’s Wedding Day Gifts Part I

MOH and Flirty Bridesmaid left with two extra-special packages to give to FH as a wedding day gift. The first of which was a super-secret surprise I had kept hush-hush for many months: a special boudoir shoot. The fabulous Sarah Maren and I holed-up in a chic little room at my favorite midtown bed and breakfast, The Inn at Parkside. Each room has a theme—ours was the “Kiss” room.

The Inn at Parkside
The rooms here are so chic and inviting!

The Inn at Parkside
Plus, the Kiss room had an in-room jacuzzi tub and fireplace - check out that adorable custom wall decal!

The Inn at Parkside
This chaise was covered in something so soft, it could have been cashmere.

Nicole of Deja Du Salon (the same wonderful lady who did my hair for our wedding) did my makeup and hair —and joined me for moral support during the shoot. I had brought a slough of different outfits that I had purchased over the months - mostly from a Victoria’s Secret End of Year Sale. I tried to keep the outfits as pin-up girl as possible, as that was the theme of the shoot. Didn’t Nicole do a fabulous job with the pincurl up top?

Sarah Maren Photography
I love this shot - it shows off the cute hair Nicole gave me and it’s sexy without being too much.

Sarah arrived armed with my two favorite adult beverages to help loosen me up—dirty martini mixers and red wine from R.H. Phillips winery (how thoughtful is she!?)—and we began the shoot. I started off feeling a bit awkward; but after a glass of wine and a sip of my martini, I loosened up a bit. It didn’t hurt that Sarah was absolutely hilarious and kept me laughing throughout the entire experience. She definitely removed any tension from the room. The shots with FH’s guitar and white shirt crack me up—as they are uber-cheesy—but I thought that he’d appreciate them.

Sarah Maren Photography
I was little tense at first…

Sarah Maren Photography
… but Sarah had me laughing in no time!

Sarah Maren Photography
The booze didn’t hurt—Sarah took some fun pin-up-esque shots with the martini.

Sarah Maren Photography
Here’s the cheese! Me with FH’s guitar and white shirt.
I had to sneak that into my car without him noticing!

Sarah turned these fabulous images into a 20-page 5×7 charcoal gray patent-leather covered album. It is gorgeously presented with little flourishes on the pages and contains a personal note to FH that doubled as my Wedding Day card—I’ve been informed by FH that the album is for His Eyes Only! The shots shown here are the few I could successfully beg his permission to share. I think they were all very tastefully done and all were in the super-sexy lighting Sarah magically created using her beloved Beauty Dish. I wish I had a Beauty Dish that followed me everywhere I went. I mean, look at what it did to my eyes? I swear they don’t always look like that!

Sarah Maren Photography
I love how amazing Sarah make my eyes look here! The Beauty Dish is every girl’s best friend. Plus, this shot shows off the diamond pendant FH gave me on our first Christmas together.

Sarah did an amazing job on the shoot and I was so happy to be her first test model (would you believe this was her first boudoir shoot!?) - and I’m super excited to share that she’s now offering these boudoir shoots as a part of her repertoire! MOH and Flirty Bridesmaid handed over the album to FH in private and then gave him another special wedding day gift that would replace something that I gave him at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Previously:

The Wedding: Our Pre-Wedding Financial Jitters
The Wedding: Rehearsal Time!
The Wedding: My Last Night as a Single Lady
The Wedding: The Pretty Pros Arrive

The Wedding: The Pretty Pros Arrive

I panicked a little, as our room had gotten pretty messy from our post-rehearsal partying. Thankfully, Crafty Bridesmaid and the other girls helped me sweep through the room and get it all ready for the chaos that was about to begin.

Image by Crafty Bridesmaid
Flirty and Blonde Bridesmaid all cozy watching TV as SIL Pom looks on.

Nicole of Deja Du Salon arrived first—a calming influence amongst the growing crowd. I had her start on the girls first, hoping to save my updo for the end. She worked her magic on a few of the girls and we enjoyed some Keeping Up With the Kardashians on the television while sipping on mimosas.

When LeiLani and her team arrived, they were a smidgen late, but boasted a third assistant to help make up for the lost time. I was so very pleased that she came so prepared. She unrolled the makeup spread across the table and Nicole moved into the bathroom to give them some natural light.

Travis Hoehne Photography
The crazy amount of makeup used to make us ladies up!

Travis Hoehne Photography
Mamita Pom gets her makeup done by LeiLani

Travis Hoehne Photography
Doesn’t she look gorgeous!?

Travis Hoehne Photography
MOH has her lips painted a nice glossy finish

Travis Hoehne Photography
MOH cracking up - she had us all in stitches all day

Travis Hoehne Photography
MOH looking gorgeous!

Travis Hoehne Photography
Blonde Bridesmaid lookin’ pretty incredible as well!

Travis Hoehne Photography
And Flirty? Breathtaking isn’t she?!

Once I sat down in the bathroom, my tummy began to act up again. There was all this talk of “rain” and “having to move the wedding indoors”. Liz, the Tasting Room manager at R.H. Phillips, called me to check in and let me know that they would be holding back on the setup until the rain cleared out. Our coordinator called to warn me of the possible changes. To put it simply, I was on edge.

Travis Hoehne Photography
LeiLani starts on my makeup.


Travis Hoehne Photography
I look a little tense here, don’t I?


Travis Hoehne Photography
Workin’ those Shu Uemura lashes! I wish I could wear them every day!


Travis Hoehne Photography
Yeah, uhm, I look a little stressed here too….

Around 2 PM I received another call from our coordinator asking me what I wanted to do—in or out? The ceremony started at 6 PM. Would I risk it? I couldn’t decide. I told her that I couldn’t make the decision and that Mr. Pom would have to make that final call. Once we had hung up, I immediately received a phone call from Liz, who has spoken with the nearby KCRA Weather Center. She was in close contact with their weather lady and she had recently gotten married. Liz asked her, “If it were you, would you have your wedding inside or outside?” She replied, “I’d do it outside.”

Travis Hoehne Photography
Finally! A smile!

Travis Hoehne Photography
This is proof that having a camera in your face all morning will make you do cheesy things.

Travis Hoehne Photography
The back of Nicole’s amazing job on my hair - and a closer look at my custom fascinator

That was enough for me. I called the coordinator back and told her “outside” was a go. If a weather lady was willing to risk her own wedding with this weather, I would too. In the meantime, MOH and Flirty Bridesmaid escaped to go deliver Mr. Pomegranate’s wedding gift.

Previously:

The Wedding: Our Pre-Wedding Financial Jitters
The Wedding: Rehearsal Time!
The Wedding: My Last Night as a Single Lady.

The Wedding: My Last Night as a Single Lady.

The night before the wedding was certainly a fun one. I hope I never forget it - my girls and I had such a fun time hanging out together and bonding. We had headed back to Cache Creek Casino and Resort while the Hubs drove back to Sacramento to take care of a few things and wait around for Groomsman Peter to arrive at the airport. Some of the ladies had not yet seen my wedding dress and so after changing into some flips flops, we went down to my Mom and the Reverend's hotel room to check it out. Then we decided to go check out the hotel's Club 88.

Cache Creek Casino
Club 88 has a nice large dance floor and lofted seating in the back. We tried out many different seating arrangements before hitting the floor, as it was mostly empty.

There was an awesome Top 40 group on stage, so of course after a beer or two we decided to get out on the dance floor. It was pretty dead for a Friday night - but we were out in the middle of nowhere and the casino wasn't really the clubbing type of hotel - so we had the floor to ourselves. I seriously wish we had taken a video for you all - so you could see the gyrating hips of the male singer on stage. Hilarious!

Photo by MOH
Flirty Bridesmaid having fun on the dance floor.


Photo by MOH
MOH, Flirty Bridesmaid and I dancing at Club 88.

Once we had our fill of dancing, we headed back to the hotel room to get some rest, but Groomsman Peter and the Hubs had returned from the airport and had some problems checking into their room, so we didn't get far. I ran back down to the front desk (my fourth time that day) to resolve the check-in issue (apparently having three rooms under one name was confusing for them) and got the boys their room key.

The excitement for all of us was too much - I don't think I actually rested my head on the pillow until midnight and even then, I wasn't able to fall asleep until about 2 AM. I woke up at 6 AM with a terrible stomachache - probably due to stress. I was worried about the rain. It was pouring outside. I hadn't planned on waking up until about 8 AM so I tossed and turned until my alarm woke up.

Photo by MOH
MOH insisted on taking photos at every instance of the day - including me in a towel before I hopped in the tub.


Photo by MOH
This is what I changed into - a white sweat suit I had purchased on clearance at Target for $25 just that week. So comfy!

I immediately went to draw a bath, hoping to ease the stress, and started fielding phone calls from vendors and family members. This was the quietest part of my day - the makeup and hair pros were not scheduled to arrive until about 11 AM. Blonde Bridesmaid arrived shortly before the chaos to supply us with much needed champagne and orange juice. Mmmmm mimosas!

Photo by MOH
Flirty Bridesmaid enjoys a mimosa.

Previously:

The Wedding: Our Pre-Wedding Financial Jitters
The Wedding: Rehearsal Time!

The Wedding: Rehearsal Time!

We finished up at the spa, hopped into our respective cars and drove up to the hotel. We quickly checked-in, freshened up and changed. I put on my Ralph Lauren black and white striped dress - but my boobies were NOT going to fill it out. I had to improvise by taking my black wrap and tying it in front to not only cover up the vacant area, but also to hold it up!

Travis Hoehne Photography
First thing I did when I got to the winery? Why grabbed a glass of wine, of course!

I'm not gonna lie - with all the stress, I ate very little the week before the wedding. For most brides, the five (or possibly more) pounds I lost during that short period of time would have made them elated! But I was just worried that my dress might look a little...empty. Truth be told, I was a bit on auto-pilot and felt pretty crazy and rushed through the entire rehearsal. It didn't help that the weather was gray, misty and looking very much in favor of rain.

Travis Hoehne Photography
R.H. Phillips Winery under a haze of rain clouds.

Once everyone had gathered, we all headed up Olive Hill to start the Rehearsal. We decided to walk - instead of drive - to the top of the hill and it became a sort of adventure. Even with the rain clouds looming ahead, it was absolutely, breathtakingly, gorgeous out there!

Travis Hoehne Photography
Trekking up Olive Hill to begin the Rehearsal.


Travis Hoehne Photography
A sneaky peek at our Flower Girl through the grape vines on Olive Hill.

On my earlier recap post, Mrs. Penguin had asked if we had needed to reserve tents in case of weather problems. Due to my stubborn-ness and overly-optimistic attitude, we had passed on the tents. The weather reports were pretty much 50/50 on the rain factor and I wasn't going to spend another $3,000 on tents when we were already in financial limbo. Sure, we had worked out plans for rain, but they involved cramping 150 guests in the Tasting Room and removing tables when it was time to dance; it would be less than ideal.

However, I figured that the rain would clear up the next day. So for the moment, I was fine with it. Even when it started to rain on us during the rehearsal. It added a little humor to the moment when my MOH and Flirty Bridesmaid pulled their coats and sweaters over their heads. They weren't the only ones hiding from the sprinkling rain.

Travis Hoehne Photography
MOH protects herself from the rain with her coat.


Travis Hoehne Photography
We laugh mid-ceremony after catching a peek at Flirty Bridesmaid swathed in her cashmere cardigan.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Our Cousin (who just became engaged YESTERDAY!!!) and Flower Girl Allie huddle together in the cold.

Our coordinator (I won't mention much of her because I've never been 100% pleased with her services - and friends and family did more for me on the actual day than she did) ran us through walking down the grassy aisle three times before I finally called it quits. Three times was more than plenty and I was HUNGRY!

Travis Hoehne Photography
The Hubs and I walking back up the aisle for the first time.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Ceremony rehearsal times two! I love this shot of our hands.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Walking back up the aisle after rehearsal number two. I completely forgot my ribbon bouquet in the back of MOH's car. That doesn't mean I can't fake it!


Travis Hoehne Photography
Rehearsal number three - this is where I start to get bored...and hungry.


Travis Hoehne Photography
All lined up in a row.


Travis Hoehne Photography
The Hubs and I heading back down after the rehearsal together, taking a moment alone before dinner.

We headed to the Tasting Room where Liz, the R.H. Phillips Tasting Room Manager, had set up some tables topped with Cabernet and Chardonnay R.H. Phillips wines, the perfect centerpiece. Our friends and family gathered to visit while dinner was served. The conversation did not cease, with groups sectioned off in their own little worlds. It was nice, peaceful and relaxing - and the food? It was FANTASTIC! We had Cabernet Braised Shortribs with Gorgonzola Polenta and fresh Grilled Vegetables. The ribs were all locally raised beef and vegetables from the local farmer's market - because Liz is green like that.

Travis Hoehne Photography
Groomsman Brian enjoys a joke from Best Man Beau.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Ring Bearer Landon enjoying his spareribs, polenta and veggies.


Travis Hoehne Photography
A nice shot of the entire group enjoying dinner.


Travis Hoehne Photography
My iPhone never left my side - Travis obviously caught on to my addiction and captured this little memento.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Flower Girl Allie had some major fork balancing skills.


Travis Hoehne Photography
She began to try to get others in on the action, visiting each table to teach us how to do it.


Travis Hoehne Photography
And it worked! Blonde Bridesmaid gets in on the fork balancing action.

While dessert was being served - a Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae - the Hubs and I made a little toast to thank all of our friends and family. We handed out our parent's gifts - Ginger Elizabeth's Chocolates for our Moms and Old Soul Coffee for our Dads. They were subdued gifts - we had planned on following the footsteps of Mrs. Penguin in buying digital photo albums, but those had to wait until this Christmas. They were thank yous nonetheless.

Travis Hoehne Photography
Mmmm...brownie and ice cream!


Travis Hoehne Photography
Flirty Bridesmaid looks like she might cry during the toast.


Travis Hoehne Photography
My MIL opens the Ginger Elizabeth chocolate box.

We then handed out our Wedding Party gifts. This kids received giant bins full of fun Target $1 aisle stuff. The boys received mini bottles of champagne, utility knives (for the local boys), favorite books of the Hubs' (for the visiting boys), and some other little novelty items. My girls received their huge bags of fun. Inside each Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, was a freshwater pearl necklace, freshwater pearl earrings, a moss green pashmina, a handmade Japanese knot bag made with fabric from the wedding, tissues, customized stationary, a USB jump drive (that I had won from a contest) and a mini Pommery Pop bottle of champagne (they have a wrist strap!!).

Travis Hoehne Photography
Ring Bear Landon lugs around his Dragon and Knight themed gift basket.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Flower Girl Allie demonstrates the blanket and pillow portion of her Princess themed gift basket.


Marc by Marc Jacobs
Each girl received a black MbMJ Basketweave Tote - I had to make friends with an employee from the San Francisco store, who shipped them to me. They kept selling out!


Travis Hoehne Photography
Flirty Bridesmaid shows off her damask and green handmade Japanese knot bag, a project that truly tested my sewing skills (thank goodness for Co-worker Gloria who helped me out there).


Travis Hoehne Photography
Blonde Bridesmaid displays the freshwater pearl ribbon necklace. You can see the galvanized metal initials that I tied on to each Marc by Marc Jacobs bag - so that they could tell them apart.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Flirty Bridesmaid holds up the pink crocodile print USB drive that I won for each of them in a contest.


Travis Hoehne Photography
Flirty Bridesmaid holds up the Pommery Pop champagne 1/4 split complete with wrist strap, while MOH takes a gander at the black and white damask tissues in the foreground.

The Hubs chose to give me his wedding gift at the Rehearsal Dinner because he wanted to BE THERE to see the reaction on my face. I had decided to give him one of the gifts I had purchased for him in exchange, as I figured it would throw him off for what he would be receiving the next day. Sneaky, sneaky.

Travis Hoehne Photography
The Hubs holds up the cuff links I gifted him. The REAL wedding day cuff links would be given to him the next day, but for now, he thinks these are them!


Travis Hoehne Photography
Adorable yes? "Eye" and "Do" cuff links - because the Hubs is soooo money!

The Hubs had driven to the ends of the earth to get the wedding day perfume bottle engraved for me. Apparently, laser etching and engraving on a bottle full of flammable liquid is a no-no. Somehow he managed to pull it off - and it definitely blew my mind. It will be something that I treasure for many, many years. The perfume came packaged with the matching Ralph Lauren body wash and lotion as well as a Massage Envy gift card.

Travis Hoehne Photography
I think we can all agree that there should be a special place in our hearts for the Ugly Surprise Face - just as much as the Ugly Cry Face. I'm taking one for the team here by posting this.


Travis Hoehne Photography
The engraved bottle of Ralph Lauren Romance that the Hubs gave me as a wedding gift.

The night was young as we headed back to the hotel. I had dropped off some Out of Town Gift Boxes at the front desk and after I checked on them, I planned to kick back and relax with my girls. We were staying at the Cache Creek Casino and Resort - so there was much to do. After all, who needs sleep the night before your wedding day?

Travis Hoehne Photography
A shot of the girls and I before heading back to the casino - I SO had ugly rain hair, but my ladies all looked gorg!


Travis Hoehne Photography
The R.H. Phillips staff is super talented - check out this glass action. Yeah, that's how they clean up!

A special thanks to Travis Hoehne for joining us at our Rehearsal Dinner. It was a blast to have you with us and a great way to introduce you to the group before the big day!

Photo by MOH
Travis poses with Crafty Bridesmaid and Blond Bridesmaid.

Previously:

The Wedding: Our Pre-Wedding Financial Jitters

The Wedding: Our Pre-Wedding Financial Jitters

Hello again! I’m so sorry to have been away for so long! Married life has swept me off of my feet and I landed running. Then came the holidays and then came the common cold. I’m starting to recover—and I’m utilizing this time to catch up on my tasks at hand—namely, our wedding recap!

To be honest, it hasn’t slowed down since the week before the wedding. Which was, in fact, one of the most stressful times in my life. It shouldn’t have been, but a few things put a wrench in our sides—and I’ll be the first to say that even with those small setbacks, everything went off without a hitch!

Now, I think I have mentioned before that The Hubs and I were paying for the entire wedding ourselves. We had scrimped and saved every single dime and had arranged for just about every last vendor payment, house bill, and tip. We were ready for our wedding day—or so we thought.

The Hubs is self-employed and while we were completely ready to pay for the last of vendor balances, we still had to rely on our normal income to pay for the basics of life like rent, utilities and food. This proved difficult once we discovered that due to the failing economy, one of The Hubs’ clients would decide to back out on the promised payment of an already past due bill. We’ve still not received this substantial payment to date.

Panic rose and thoughts of canceling as much of our honeymoon as we could in order to pay our rent popped into my head.

We spent two days in angst before we decided to ask for help - and thank goodness for my Mom's awesome credit. We were able to pull it all off with a plan to pay her back by Christmas (which we did). While our wedding was not accomplished without a dime on credit, as we had wanted, any debts accrued were paid off shortly thereafter.

Now that I’ve got that snag off my chest, I’ll say that my Day Before started off in a panic. Nothing had been packed in the organized fashion that I had wanted, as we had spent all of our time figuring out our future finances. I scrambled to organize family members to come pick up the load of boxes and my new in-laws we so, so very wonderful. My Aunt-in-Law came with her giant SUV and my SIL labeled and loaded everything safely—not forgetting a thing.

Where was I? I was sighing along with my other Bridesmaids—MOH, Crafty and Flirty Bridesmaid all met me at a high-rise spa where we got full service pedicures and ate a catered sandwich lunch. It was the perfect way to calm me down and “start” my Rehearsal Day.

One of the few pictures I have of the day - as photography was not my priority during this stressful time: A fuzzy iPhone photo of Flirty Bridesmaid getting her pedicure and lounging in the VIP area.

Please note that this post was relatively “photo-free” and that all future posts will be “photo-heavy”, I promise. I simply could not begin without this as a helpful reminder that sometimes life happens and that it’s not always the end of the world. Hang in there girls; it will be amazing no matter what!