Love at The Ranch: Our Video Teaser!

To say that nothing went "wrong" at our wedding would be an understatement.

We ran out of appetizers 15 minutes into our cocktail hour. Storm clouds swelled throughout the day forcing our ceremony from an expansive meadow into a cozy barn. The photo booth backdrop didn't end up being quite enough fabric to encompass a large group of guests. Our band played for longer than planned (score!) but that meant we had to skip our end-of-the-night dance party playlist which I'd been looking forward to. The bluegrass songs I picked for our band breaks brought the dancing to a halt every time the band took a break; I could never figure out which songs would keep the energy high between live sets. You can't go from fiddle and washboard to Jay-Z, right?

But calling everything above a "wedding failure" depends on your perspective and mindset. According to me? Nothing went wrong at our wedding. And that's because I didn't have a strong definition of the word "right." Here's a teaser of our wedding video, made by my brother, to give you an idea of how it all played out (note: you can make it full-screen):

I knew that our wedding was going to be what it was going to be no matter what. There was no controlling it which is something I tried to keep in mind while planning it. I put my best foot forward, I planned decor that spoke to me, I infused the whole thing with details that were reflective of us, but stressing over hiccups was never worth it. Especially not on the day of.

Remember how we didn't have a rehearsal? By not practicing the way something was "supposed to be," we had no expectations. Nothing could be a mistake because there was no "right" way of doing it. Sure, I forgot to hand over my bouquet to my MOH for a few minutes and we needed a shove to get us moving down the aisle for our recessional, but who cares?

One of the things my aunt said during her rehearsal dinner speech was that ceremony is sacred. That you do ceremony. You don't practice ceremony. And for us, this worked. We wanted it to be organic and that's what it became.

I'm not trying to tell you not to rehearse. And I'm not saying don't have high standards for your wedding--it should be as special as you want it to be. What I'm saying is: find the balance that works for you. Find a way to have a wedding that doesn't make your stress level sky rocket and then, walk down that aisle with your head high regardless of everything. Love your wedding for the way it unravels--as planned or otherwise--because that is the best gift you can give yourself. It will let you live on cloud nine for just a little bit longer.

Love at The Ranch: Father and The Bride

Our flower girl, Alma, was the band's cue. When they saw that little mop of red curls coming down the aisle in her pink cowboy boots, they knew it was time to switch songs. The song I chose to walk down the aisle to actually comes from a surf film called Shelter. No, it doesn't resemble the Beach Boys, nor is it rhythmic strumming like Jack Johnson (although, he was the cinematographer for the film). It's an instrumental piece by a musician and surfer named Jon Swift. Our band, Elephant Revival, learned the small tune for me and played it perfectly. Or at least, I think they played it perfectly. To be honest, it was hard to focus on anything as I came into that light-filled room filled with so many loved faces.

PS. I followed your advice, hive, and took the J. Crew belt off for the ceremony. But can you spot the cap sleeve that came with my dress (hint: my bouquet)?

To hear the song I chose to walk down the aisle to, press play, below. I love the crying of the violins. So dramatic. (I apologize for the lack of picture. I made this quickly in iMovie).

Photo by Tim Carr

The tears started to flow. I knew they would.

Photo by Tim Carr

I wasn't the only one crying. Mr. CB's dad shed a beautiful tear too.

And then, when I got close to Mr. CB, I just got really smiley again.

My dad gave me a hug and whispered something in my ear before he gave me away. He had mentioned, the day before, that he wanted to do this but when the time came, I, once again, couldn't focus on the sounds. I'll have to ask him to write that one down for me.

He hugged Mr. CB.

And then did something he thought of and wanted to include: put my hand in Mr. CB's. He gave me away.

For a moment, Mr. CB and I stood there chit chatting and staring into each other's eyes. I completely forgot to hand off my bouquet for a good two minutes.

Finally, I remembered and the ceremony began.

How did we get here?

Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Colorado.

I spent a peaceful morning with my girls.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party.
Two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated while I hiked with friends.

We celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.

And the guys got ready.

Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

Budget Breakdown: Bouquets and Bouts.

Potraits of the bride and groom.

Our wedding party braved the cold for photos.

We all lined up for the ceremony.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

Love at The Ranch: A Frigid Bridal Party

If I'm not mistaken, we took about two hours to finish our portraits which meant we were around 30 minutes late to meet our bridal party and family for pictures. The funny thing was, we didn't care. We'd padded the photo-taking with enough time that we were still able to get all of the pictures we wanted. Plus, it was so frigid outside (probably 30 degrees with the windchill) that we couldn't stand a drawn out photo shoot anyway. With t-minus one hour until our ceremony time, we gathered our friends and went back out into the field for some group shots.

The storm clouds and wind really started to pick up.

Beyond these professional pictures, our friends got some funny pictures of this whole photo shoot taking place.

My two awesome MOHs waiting to go outside for group shots.

Photo by Claire Barthelemy

My MOH put lip gloss on me before we went outside.

Photo by Claire Barthelemy

Outside, the bridesmaids borrowed the groomsmen's coats to keep warm.

Photo by Claire Barthelemy

Running back to base camp, they tried to prove they could handle the cold, they were strong.

Photo by Claire Barthelemy

But they ran anyway.

Photo by Kimberley-Marie Blanchot

How did we get here?

Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Colorado.

I spent a peaceful morning with my girls.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party.
Two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated while I hiked with friends.

We celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.

And the guys got ready.

Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

Budget Breakdown: Bouquets and Bouts.

Potraits of the bride and groom.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

Love at The Ranch: The Bride and Groom

Our photographer, Tec Petaja's, strong suit is taking pictures of couples. He's extremely good at taking pictures of everything but he has a way with direction that puts a couple at ease. Or, at least he did for us. After our First Look, we trudged into a nearby field to get some portraits of us. I gave up on holding my dress out of the sticks and let it gather what it may.

In this next one, I was probably closing my eyes because it was bitterly cold and they were starting to water, but it looks like I'm breathing in the moment.

This was another candid moment.

After the field, we switched locations to a pond-side forest nearby.

This next one makes me feel like we were in awe of our surroundings. A magical forest, if you will.

For this next background, we had to crawl under a wooden fence. I scrunched my dress up as best as possible.

The paparazzi were also on call that day. They caught us down in the field while we were getting our portraits taken.

Photo by Tim Carr

How did we get here?

First, Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Boulder, CO.

Then, I spent a peaceful morning with my bridesmaids and maids-of-honor.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party that night.
The next morning, two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated from his bachelor party while I hiked with friends.

Until evening, when we celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.

And the guys got ready too.

Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

Budget Breakdown: Bouquets and Bouts.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

Love at The Ranch: The Guys' Turn

As the girls were getting their hair and make-up did at the Ranch Creek cabin, the boys were in the cabin next door known as the Red Quill. Albeit, they started a couple of hours after we did. In both cabins, groomsmen and bridesmaids were opening up our gifts and our homemade cards featuring the horse that Mr. CB drew. I had it turned into a stamp somewhere along the way.

The guys tied their ties. That's Mr. CB in the foreground.

The groomsmen received ties from Brooks Brothers as part of their gifts. We bought them at the outlet during a sale for around $33 per tie. They are normally $75 a piece.

As an artist, Mr. CB was extremely concerned with the appearance of his knot. Love him!

Groomsman Rich made sure his vest was properly fitted.

Of the six guys, Mr. CB was the only one wearing a vest. Since he was wearing the same color tie, I was really glad we decided on this because it made him stand out as the groom. The only other difference was that Mr. CB's suit was black while the groomsmen wore heather grey. It was really hard to see the difference because the grey was so dark. They all wore the Aldridge Suit from J. Crew which we also scored for just under $300 per suit by waiting for sales. Tip: if you're going to buy a wool suit, wait until the beginning of summer when the stores are all about linen and other light fabrics. The wool will be on sale. The guys wore their own white shirts, and black leather belts and shoes.

The guys were almost ready. They chilled out in the Red Quill cabin (notice the PBR in our friend Justin's hand). Awesome.

But wait? Right about then, I received a text from Mr. CB: "Where is your brother?"

Woops! Someone forgot to tell him to go to the Red Quill cabin at 11 AM to get ready with the guys. This was about 45 minutes before he needed to be ready for pictures. Luckily, it takes guys about 2.5 seconds to get ready.

And then, finally, they were all ready.

How did we get here?

First, Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Boulder, CO.

Then, I spent a peaceful morning with my bridesmaids and maids-of-honor.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party that night.
The next morning, two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated from his bachelor party while I hiked with friends.

Until evening, when we celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**