Love At The Ranch

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Love at The Ranch: Thanks for the Toast (and the Pie)

After dinner (which was a scrumptious barbecue feast), the toasts began. We hadn't made a timeline for all of this but our day-of-coordinator was on top of her game and made sure things flowed smoothly. Everyone faced the front as my dad took the microphone.

I was really nervous for my dad because he has faced serious shyness his entire life but he did beautifully.

He read a story he entitled "Butterflies" about the first time he met Mr. Cowboy Boot.

My dad is an amazing writer and as I listened to him read, I recognized where it is I get my love for writing--and the reason I went into the career field in the first place.

After my dad, Mr. CB's best man, Jeremy got up there.

He mentioned that he hadn't prepared anything and then dove into a story about the first time he met me. We were in Upstate New York and one of their friends had invited me to take a ride on his four-wheeler. Jeremy thought I'd be too much of a priss (I was from LA and had never been on such a vehicle) but I hopped on. That was when he gave his approval of me to Mr. CB.

My maids-of-honor, the girls I've been friends with the longest, got up there and sang their praises of our relationship.

It was so sweet.

Finally, my brother stood up and said a little something. My brother reminds me of Jim from The Office, so sweet and sincere and funny. And just the best guy ever.

I was not expecting him to do that but was thrilled he did.

And then it was our turn.

We got up there and thanked everyone for coming. And then, we made the announcement: We'd now be serving dessert. Our pie bar!

But first, we had to exchange bites.

I think we had some trouble cutting it because something was really funny.

Finally, we got it right, though.

And then we kissed (with cherry pie in our mouths!).

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.

The wedding party walked (and performed hand shakes).

Papa CB walked Ms (soon to be Mrs.) CB down the aisle.

Our ceremony began with a song from Grandma Cowboy Boot.

And ended with a kiss.

We hugged and took some family portraits.

Then our guests to to see The Details.

I broke down our centerpiece budget.

Then showed you our photo booth!

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

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Ornamental Inspiration

After being asked to design a wedding inspiration board based around a Christmas ornament, I immediately turned to Anthropologie. They have an eclectic assortment of ornaments (that I constantly covet) and I knew I'd be inspired. I sorted through the various deers, owls, mushrooms, and stars and settled on a carnival ornament that reminds me of all things moroccan, gypsy, hippie, and whimsical: The One-of-a-Kind Carnival Bird.

I liked the idea of a wedding decorated in saturated jewel-toned colors, which this ornament makes me think of (even though it's grey). So, I went to Polyvore and tried my best.

From top left, clockwise. Row 1: Flowers (instyleweddings), Tree (oncewed), Bangles (mymarrakesh), Lantern (oncewed); Row 2: Hair flower (oncewed), Flower girl wreath (theknot), Thread and pitcher (oncewed); Row 3: Lounge (kissevents), Flowers (oncewed), Felt bird (reformschool)

So, what do you think of my ornament-inspired board?

Love at The Ranch: The Photo Booth

I've been soooo excited to write this post! Our photo booth was a complete experiment and I was thrilled when I looked through the pictures afterwards to find complete success. Because our cocktail hour ended up inside of our reception barn, the photo booth was really popular as an activity during that time. A line even formed a few times throughout the hour. Plus, there was a lot of light coming in through the windows before dinner so the pictures were well-lit.

"Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy!"

Photo by Tec Petaja

The camera was set on a timer that gave people 10 seconds to get in the shot. This meant no one had to man the camera--although a few people did by choice. The sign above explained how to use the photo booth: "Love the camera. Press the button--you have 10 seconds to strike a pose."

Photo by Tec Petaja

Grandma and Grandpa Cowboy Boot

Auntie CB

MOHs

Niece CB, SIL CB, and Mr. CB

The structure: I borrowed a big, metal frame from a friend who owns a skiwear company. He uses the frame at trade shows and brought it up to the wedding with him.

MOHs and Mr. CB. Little did he know what would happen next...

Bridesmaids carry the groom

Aunt and Uncle CB

Mama and Papa Cowboy Boot

The Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi. I borrowed a flash and a tripod from a photographer friend as well as a diffuser from his roommate. Lucky for us, my brother is a cinematographer and knew how to nail the settings on the camera.

French sisters

Mr. CB and his youngest half-brother, Fletcher

Friends from Jackson, WY

The costumes: We brought a variety of cowboy hats and bandanas that we already owned. I looked at sheriff's badges and toy guns, but decided I was done spending money.

Aunt- and Uncle-in-law CB

Uncle CB and Cowboy Boot Cuz

The fabric: Jennifer Paganelli's Casey Scroll in Gold from her Sis Boom Basics Collection. I bought 5 yards from The Fabric Farm on Etsy. If I did it again, I would've bought 10 yards. Our fabric only went down to the waist, so shots from the floor didn't look as good.

Photo by Tec Petaja

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.

The wedding party walked (and performed hand shakes).

Papa CB walked Ms (soon to be Mrs.) CB down the aisle.

Our ceremony began with a song from Grandma Cowboy Boot.

And ended with a kiss.

We hugged and took some family portraits.

Then our guests to to see The Details.

I broke down our centerpiece budget.

**All images above by the photo booth camera, unless noted as by Tec Petaja. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Love at The Ranch: Reception Flowers (Budget Breakdown)

I broke down the pricing on our bouquets and boutonnieres for you, so I wanted to finish our floral budget breakdown with our centerpieces. And, since I just showed you the details of our reception, I thought fleshing out our flowers would be the most organic next step on this recap train.

The main thing I told our florist, Plum Sage Flowers, was that I wanted our centerpieces to feel garden-y, loose, and flow-y. Almost like wildflowers but in creams, peaches, and golds.

Before sending my final order for flowers, Erin of Plum Sage had me look through Amato Wholesale Florist's flower gallery (for the month of October) and let her know which flowers caught my eye. She made sure to tell me that not all of the flowers in the October gallery would necessarily be available but it would give us a good guide, at least. This flower gallery might come in handy for your wedding, but keep in mind that this flower gallery is specific to the Denver area and climate. If you live in the South, for instance, you'll probably have a very different selection.

The flowers from my list that were available and in my budget included light pink delphinium and larkspur, cream mini gerbera daisies, cream spray roses, apricot stock, billy balls, pale yellow dahlias, feverfew, yarrows and mums in pale pink, apricot, wheat, and cream with wheat sprig accents.

Budget Breakdown:

Centerpieces: 24 jars (8 small, 8 medium and 8 large): $35 x 8 tables = $280
Reception decor: Additional 6 jars (small and medium) for windowsills = $50
Flower girl petals (for one small basket): $10
Dahlias (for moms/grandmas/aunts): $3.50 per stem x 8 = $28
Total (with 7.72% tax) = $396.41
Total for our bouts/bouquets (with 7.72% tax) = $382.41
Delivery fee from Denver (about 2 hours away) = $200

GRAND TOTAL: $978.82

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.

The wedding party walked (and performed hand shakes).

Papa CB walked Ms (soon to be Mrs.) CB down the aisle.

Our ceremony began with a song from Grandma Cowboy Boot.

And ended with a kiss.

We hugged and took some family portraits.

Then our guests to to see The Details.

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

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Love at The Ranch: Reception Details

Our cocktail hour, after our ceremony, was supposed to be outside on the reception barn's beautiful deck. It was even dotted with heaters should it be cold. But there was nothing out there to protect from the howling winds and driving rain that started immediately after we said "I do." Instead, all of our guests made their way into our reception barn, margarita in-hand. Here are the details they saw.

Our centerpieces:

Each table had three jars of different heights with flowers in them. They also had three more jars with candles in them, plus one ceramic candleholder. I collected the jars and candleholders from garage sales in the year before our wedding.

Here are a couple of my favorite little vintage bottles I found:

Our table cards were purchased from Etsy seller Seasonal Delights. She was fabulous to work with and had really quick turnaround--which I needed, between getting our head count (to know how many tables we had) and our wedding. The wrought iron holders are from Pottery Barn and the wooden stumps were made by my dad from trees in his yard in California.

Instead of table numbers, we used 10 different pictures of horses--each table had one of the images.

As guests walked in, they found the table full of horseshoes, which also held their escort cards. The horseshoes were given to me by a co-worker (but didn't make it to the wedding without a good scrubbing as they were used!).

The escort cards were gift tags that had each guest's name on one side and the image of his or her table's horse on the other. They were tied to the horseshoes with organza ribbon. Seasonal Delights, from Etsy, made these for us as well.

Next to the horseshoes was our birdcage which was our card holder. It was also where guests were instructed to put their postcard--which we used in lieu of a guestbook--once they were done signing well wishes to us.

The birdcage was purchased at a garage sale. And the horse postcards were bought from ebay.

Each seat had a napkin made from vintage fabric. I bought the fabric at local thrift stores (the fabric actually came from bed sheets and pillow cases) and then washed it. After washing, I used pinking sheers to cut very rough rectangles. Believe me, these were no masterpieces but they added a cute amount of color to otherwise ivory table clothes (which came with our venue). You can see them laid out in the first picture. The napkins were actually set up opposite of the picture below, meaning colorful laid out on the bottom with a rolled up ivory napkin on top.

Here's one of my favorite things we decided to add to our reception at the last minute. A photo booth! I can't show you the actual booth yet (because it deserves its own post!), but here's a sign we made on a chalkboard (from Hobby Lobby) to accompany the booth. The chalkboard was actually pretty low quality and was hard to write on, so I would recommend going with one that's already broken in. That said, people got really creative with it and we could read all of their message so I guess it wasn't so bad.

And the chalk:

Drool worthy! Our pie bar was a huge hit! Such a huge hit that it also deserves its own post. But here's a preview:

Photo by Amanda Wilson

One of my bridesmaids happens to have adorable writing. She chalked our drink menu (below) and even got crafty recycling some fake flowers from an earlier gift. This sign sat on the bar.

The last project I pulled together was a clothesline of pictures. While most couples use pictures from their relationship, we decided to do something a little different. We put up pictures of us with our guests throughout the years. People loved looking at their little piece of history with us.

The cocktail hour was a great way to ease into dinner, with a few drinks in hand to celebrate. We spent half of it taking family pictures in the ceremony barn. When we were done, there was a funny effort to make a receiving line for us, but it didn't quite work. People had picked up a few of the scattered rose petals from the ceremony site but that totaled about 10 rose petals, so as you can imagine it was fairly anticlimactic. But still cute.