Wedding Cake, Cupcakes, & Cake Cutting

Today's post is about our wedding cake, cupcakes, and cutting the cake!

We used Christina's Cookies and Cakes out of Sulphur, Oklahoma.  

Christina came to set everything up, and I must say I was amazed by how great it looked and tasted!

Enjoy, and don't lick your computer screen.  It'll give you the wrong impression.

We had a small wedding cake with lots of cupcakes!
We had Lemon, Red Velvet, Cherry Cheesecake and Chocolate with a Strawberry on Top cupcakes!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries on Chocolate Cupcakes!  Yum!

Thank you Christina's Cookies and Cakes for the delicious cake, cupcakes, and for setting up!  It was all wonderful!

We love the texture Christina put on the cake!  It went great with the succulents and cake toppers!

These little cake toppers have a wonderful little story.  They belonged to my great grandparents, Leona and Kermit.  My grandma told me they were used at Kermit and Leona's wedding. They were married on June 19, 1938.  That means these two figurines were at least 75 years old at the time that they were used again during my wedding.  

A photo of my Great Grandparents before they married.

I made the decorative piece below our cake using wedding pictures or young pictures of our grandparents and parents.  From the outer edges are our grandparents, leading to us in the middle.  We would not be together today if it were not for our families and heritage!

Thanks to mom for making the awesome wooden cake stand as well!

 The Cake Cutting

Cutting the cake!

My 'oops,' 'crap,' 'oh no,' and 'oh well' face all rolled into one when I realize that I forgot to tell Tyler that we're supposed to save the top layer for our anniversary.  We just made up for it by eating all the leftover cupcakes on the honeymoon.  :D  Love you anxiously hungry for wedding cake hubby! :)  

Yep, you know what I'm thinking.

Do you see this??
He is literally chasing my hand with his face because he thinks I would shove it in his face if he didn't catch it first.
He was right, but he made it too difficult, so I ended up being nice.
That wasn't my plan, just FYI.

Of course he is nice.  He's always nice.

See, nice.  I was nice.  I. Was. Nice.

Yum.  I hope we can go get some cupcakes from her bakery on our anniversary!

Cake is good.  Really good.

Marriage is okay too.  ;)

A big thanks to Birds and Coffee Design for capturing all the photos from our wedding day!

Outdoor/Rustic Wedding Boutineers

We received a lot of comments on the pinecone petal boutineers that I created for the groom, groomsmen, mothers, and grandparents at our wedding.  I thought I'd show you all some detailed shots of them today - as they are one of the parts of our wedding that I am most pleased with the result.

These were thought up one night as I worked like a busy bee on wedding crafts.  I wanted to tie our neutral colors in, give the guys something that wasn't too frilly, and create something unique and special.

The result was the Pinecone Boutineer!

This was supposed to be the groom's pennant, but for some reason he was wearing one of the groomsmen's boutineers on our wedding day.

Too bad the bride isn't always there to supervise him and make sure he knows which boutineer is clearly his. ;)

This boutineer in the top photo was different from the others, as it has an extra layer of petals, ultimately being bigger and more full.  I'm still not really sure what happened to the groom's boutineer, but below is the one he ended up wearing...

This is the boutineer the groom ended up wearing.  These were intended to be the groomsmen and father's boutineers, as they were still made from large pinecones - but had one less layer than the groom's boutineer. 

Here, you can see the handsome groom and groomsmen sporting the boutineers.  I liked how this project turned out because they are still cute, rustic, and went with our lodge decor - but most definitely manly.  Do guys really enjoy wearing delicate flowers that might break, or have to worry about a pin that usually comes out at some point during the wedding?

Mothers and Grandparents received a different boutineer.  The photo below shows my mom and mother-in-law wearing it - it is made from much smaller pinecones and has a pearl center.

**Pinecone Boutineers are made to sell here on my Etsy shop - I would love to make them for your wedding!**

A Bride and Her Dress

Today, I'm showing you the photos of my beloved wedding dress!  First I'll show the detail photos of the dress, and then my bridal portraits.  

At the bottom of this post is a story about where I found my wedding dress, and the process of the alterations.

Enjoy!

The Dress Details

My dress was built with two layers - a polyester lining in an ivory fabric, and a white lace overlay strung with beads and sequins.  The top half of the back was sheer lace. 

The wedding veil was handmade in a combined effort of me, my mom and my mother-in-law.
It has its own post and special story!  Click here to read it!

The Accessories

Gold brooch, used in veil and hair.  Had a matching brooch that my mom wore.

My 'Something Blue'
An old necklace that once belonged to my great great aunt.

Pearl Bracelet was a gift from my Mom.
My 1930s Art Deco Engagement Ring from Tyler.

Gold Jelly Pop heels with wide base on the heel since it was an outdoor wedding.
I'd originally planned to wear flats, but my dress was a couple inches too long, and was cheaper to by heels than to have the dress hemmed.

 The Bride

The Dress Story

Here is the story behind my wedding dress, for any ladies who are interested.

I didn't buy my wedding dress like most girls - by going in a shop, trying on several dresses until I found 'the one.'  No, it was actually quite different.  After not liking either the price or the look of every single dress I tried on in the bridal stores, I turned my gaze toward the internet.

I searched online boutiques first, like Etsy.  I researched having custom dresses made.  Then I stumbled on a website called Helene Bridal - it is a wedding dress company out of Suzhou, China.  There, I found the dress I would wear for my wedding - which had most of the features I was looking for in a wedding dress at a much cheaper price.

When I saw the dress, I knew I liked it.  But it was difficult to actually purchase a dress online when I knew I wouldn't be able to try it on, I wasn't really sure about the quality, and I hoped the shop was legit.  Having lived in China, I felt somewhat connected and wanted to chance it.  I had Tyler take my measurements, and I sent in my custom order (because I wanted a few changes made to the dress from the original design).

A month later, my dress came in.  I was in contact with the shipping man the entire day, and was anxiously awaiting his arrival - hoping he didn't come before I got off work, and hoping he got to my place before I had class.  I asked my roommate to stay at home as long as possible while I wasn't home - just NEEDING to make sure we got the dress THAT DAY.  I ended up having to miss class to get my dress that day, but it was so worth it.  Waiting one month to finally get to try on the wedding dress you'd already paid for was nerve racking!

When I tried it on, I was a little dissappointed.  It was much too big in the chest, shoulders, sleeves, and hip areas.  The only part that really wasn't too big was the waist.  When I bought it, I was certain I'd have to make some alterations, but figured it was fine since you have to do that with dresses you buy in bridal shops locally as well.  However, I didn't realize how extensive some of the alterations I would need were - and how many people either refused to do those alterations or wanted to charge me more than they should have.

After months of searching, and wondering if I would have to end up buying a completely different dress, or having a wedding dress I didn't like, I finally found Formal Fantasy in Stillwater, OK with prices that seemed reasonable.  I emailed their owner, Stacia, and she agreed that she could work with me on the alterations I needed.  Although the drive was pretty far from where I was, it was worth it.  

In the end, Stacia altered my sleeves, took up the shoulders, tightened the chest, added more boning, and took in the hips.  I think she did all the alterations with fantastic craftsmanship, and for a great price.  Anyone looking for alterations in Oklahoma should look no further.  

I was not as pleased with the bustle, which by the end of the first dance didn't look too great.  However, after the first dance the bustle wouldn't stay up anyway...which makes me glad because I'm pretty sure my pictures are much better without it.  Sometimes things just work out for the better!  If I would have done anything over with the dress, I would have had it bustled by a different woman who had shown me a bustle that I fell in love with prior to going to Formal Fantasy.  

In the end, my dress may have been a little more stressful than most girls, but even after $130 in alterations it was still cheaper than any of the other dresses I'd tried on in the stores.  I love how it turned out - just took a little TLC to get it there.  :)

All photos credited to Birds and Coffee Design.

Our Flower Girls were Pebble Girls

 Here's something that'll throw ya.
We had pebble girls instead of flower girls at our wedding.

What are Pebble Girls, you ask?
Well, here's a story about the idea and the sweet little ladies who carried it out.

Meet our pebble girls.  
I'm leaving their names out just for security purposes.

They are my little cousins on my mom's side of my family.  

They are also the only girls besides me since my mom's generation.

All the cousins in my generation are boys.

I think they're pretty special.

The idea to have Pebble Girls came one day when I was toying with the idea of them throwing something besides flower petals.

(Remember, in the above paragraph I told you that I was the only girl in my generation.  I grew up with a bunch of boy cousins, and have since been very much a tom-girl.)

Flowers don't do that much for me.  They are pretty, but they aren't that meaningful.

To both Tyler and I, rocks are very meaningful.  We both have extensive rock collections since we were young children.  Our grandparents taught us about rocks, gave us rocks, helped us look for rocks, and so on.  Thus, the idea was born that the girls should prepare the way with rocks, not flowers.  

The idea kept becoming even more meaningful as we kept thinking of ideas.  For her basket of pebbles, I decided to make a sign that said, "We're Standing on the Solid Rock" from the old hymn.  

Not only is our marriage made of things we both love, but it should be built on the solid rock - which is God.  Rock is a foundation that is sturdy, and it doesn't just go away through many types of conditions. 

For our youngest pebble girl, we had another important task.  You see, in this picture she is holding my beloved Maggie.  Tyler won Maggie for me on our second date at the Oklahoma State Fair, and since she has gone wherever I go.  Maggie lived in China, Maggie has made lots of road trips, lived in different apartments, and always likes to snuggle.  Maggie had been there with us since the beginning of our relationship, and there was no way she was missing out on our wedding day!

That's where this lovely pebble girl came in, as she made sure Maggie was standing right up there with us!

Aren't they both adorable?

And so the time came, for our Pebble Girls to prepare the way....

Our oldest pebble girl laid the rock foundation,

and our youngest helped us have everyone we needed all together.

The ceremony happened.  It was wonderful, windy and well.

Our pebble girls stayed strong!

There they are, still doing a great job during the ceremony!

Mostly, anyway! ;)

This was one of our favorite pictures from the entire day! haha!

And then the time came to celebrate!  So they did...

Photo Credited to Veronica Burns.

This little lady was awesome, because she figured out that the sign turned around for the recessional!
I had completely forgotten to show her that, but she figured it out anyway!  You go, girl!
Photo credited to Veronica Burns.

And we they lived happily ever after!

*All photo credits go to Birds and Coffee Design unless otherwise stated.  We appreciate their talent and hard work!