married life is a lot like unmarried life

I still have to trick/bribe/threaten him to do chores. His snoring still isn't "cute". Bedtime still teeters between 8 and 9pm.

But, over these past few weeks I have noticed differences. People call me Mrs. now. It's a little creepy. The expression, "Don't make me go Snapped on your ass" escapes my lips more frequently during petty arguments. Sometimes I mean it. We watch a lot more Jeopardy. At first I thought Nick was just doing it to spite me, but now I see he really enjoys the show. There's something about being a husband that requires men to obnoxiously shout out answers then heckle the t.v. when contestants get them wrong.

For example, the other day we were watching Kids Week when one of the pre-teens blurted out the wrong answer to a fairly simple question. Staying true to fashion, Nick threw his arms up in the air and bellowed, "Oh. My. GOD. That was soooooo easy! I knew the answer to that. I did. What an idiot!"

"Sweetie, he's 12."

"He's a MORON."


I guess you could say married life is pretty sweet.


Image via FFFFOUND!

ummm...

Love it.

Ceremony

I rushed down the aisle with giddy anticipation- flailing my arms and giggling along the way. Quiet composure was beyond me. A poem. Tears. Eager vows. Even a stumble or two on our way back up the sand dunes. The Oregon beach never looked so good.

Photos by Joey Bloom

My Advice

Head on over to A Practical Wedding to see yours truly featured as one of the newest Wedding Graduates. I'm almost too giddy to type.


Photo by Joey Bloom

Getting Ready

At the beach house. Nick had the bottom floor. I had the top. Downstairs was a fiesta. Ties were straightened. Last minute pow-wows with the officiant were had. Liquor, chuckles, and even a polish dog or two.

Upstairs I sat anxiously in my cave, wringing my hands and waiting for the big reveal. Wedding blogs don't prepare you for this. Amongst the buzz of hectic day-of preparations, my frantic pleas could be heard echoing down the stairwell.

"Can somebody bring me some whiskey? I need a shot, dammit!"


Photos by Joey Bloom

Amanda, lover of doughnuts

Professional photos are finally in. Head over to esb for the big reveal!


Photo by Joey Bloom

Yesssss!

Our first wedding photobomb. Image: my dad and I posing happily on the beach before the ceremony. Photobomber: my feisty grandpa.

This is what weddings are all about.


Image by Joey Bloom

A little beach wedding advice

I was excited to receive an email from my friend Brittney this morning announcing her engagement to long-time boyfriend Jacob. Congrats Brittney!

In the email she added, "I need to know EVERYTHING you know about having a beach wedding... need all your tips/tricks/and things to look out for! =)"

While I don't claim to be any sort of beach wedding expert (Ours was very non-traditional. No bridal party, no ceremony music, limited # of guests, etc.), I do have a few tidbits of advice for the low-key beach bride:

-Definitely consider how busy the beach is during the time of year you want to get married. Nick and I picked the weekend after Memorial Day weekend in hopes that the town would be pretty empty. We also picked a beach that we knew wouldn't be as packed (Manzanita) as say, Seaside or Cannon Beach (in Oregon). It worked out perfectly.

-Do you want a backup plan in case of bad weather? I was very anti-backup plan because I was so dead-set on getting married on the sand. You have to decide if getting married on a rainy beach is worth it to you. If you're like me, there are always umbrellas.

-Noise and music. We chose not to have any ceremony music for lots of reasons. First, it wasn't really in our budget to hire a ceremony musician and we didn't know anyone who could play an instrument for free (I was interested in splurging on a harpist, but was having trouble finding one in the area who would bring their harp out anywhere near the sand). Second, there was no way we were going to use an extension cord to drag a boom box onto the sand. It just wasn't realistic. Third (and most important), I loved just having the sound of the waves crashing in the background as I walked down the aisle. It was very serene. Also consider that you and your officiant will have to speak very loud so that your guests can hear you reciting your vows (ours had a hard time hearing us).

-Chairs. If you want to set up enough chairs for everyone and have a person in charge of hauling them off the beach afterward, that can be nice (assuming that like us, you are sans a day-of coordinator). We chose to just set up 5 on each side to create a makeshift aisle/allow for seating for those who physically couldn't stand the entire time. Depending on how many guests you have and what you want to set up on the beach (chairs, arbor, etc.) you might need to get a permit from the state (in Oregon). We didn't have to because we had under 50 guests. You may want to call the city that you are having the wedding in to double check.
-High tide and the sun. We planned our ceremony according to when we knew the tide would be out and the wind would be calm. Unfortunately, we didn't think about how bright the sun would be shining overhead in the afternoon. We originally wanted to take all of our formals beforehand, but ended up having to duck out of the reception a couple hours later in order to get some photos of us on the beach without squinting.

-Photobombers. Ok, ok. I'm kidding. But I did go through all of the photos my family took in hopes of finding one on the beach. No such luck. Just a few curious sunbathers. ;)


I'm sure I'm still missing some things, but my mind is drawing a blank. Once again, while our lack of music and decorations might not be for everyone, we felt the simplicity of it was much more "us".

Any other brides out there with some good beach wedding tips? Any questions?

Wanted: husband, house with a yard, .5 kids

In anticipation of the arrival of our newest family member, I've been scouring Etsy for the coolest Indie dog supplies. The Gods have been good to me. It would only be fair to share some of my finds:
Bad dog good dog tag by Poochy Couture

Liberty print collar by Funky Mutts

VooDoo ex-boyfriend dog toy by Petsoul

Skull harness by The Cool Puppy

P.S. I'm still waiting for our wedding photos, so sorry for the delay of wedding-ish posts lately. But I promise, I will share. Soon.