Our Happily Ever After: Wedding Recap

 My biggest goal in life, to be married in the temple to the man of my dreams, came true to the fullest it could've been. I've always wanted a simple, yet elegant wedding. Our colors were Navy, Burgundy, Gold and Ivory. Practically all my reception decor was DIY, by me. Luckily - yes luckily, I was unemployed during the most part of our engagement, which gave me plenty of time to put together a wedding. It was so much fun. Super stressful at times, but so much fun. The day was a blast. It's a bit of a blur, but it was everything I dreamed of.

We got my ring at Shane Co. (I highly recommend them.) We went ring shopping at the beginning of January, and we were both really nervous, because holy cow this means we're actually serious about getting married! It was crazy. We looked at pretty much every ring they had and when we were burnt out and ready to go, we had 2 more cases to look at. I said, "What the heck, let's just look.", and we found mine. I couldn't be happier with it. It's so hard not to look at.

Derek's ring was bought on Amazon. That's the way to go I tell ya. Derek actually found it himself and I bought it for him, and gave it to him early as a surprise. It's titanium with a wooden inlay.

I designed our invitation, and we got them printed at PG Printers. I just supplied them with my digital files, and they printed them off! I also made the insert for the sealing invite.

I love my dress! I got it at Sweetheart Bridal in Orem. They have an awesome selection of beautiful dresses, for affordable prices. The owners are so nice and helpful, and help you get exactly what you want. They also own the tuxedo store next door, where we got our ties and bow ties for the groomsmen and "ring-bearers". Originally I tried on a dress like this with a round neck and I didn't like it. But at another "try on" we found one with a sweetheart neckline, and believe it or not, it made a huge difference. I was deciding between this one and another chiffon Aline one, and I had to go with the big skirt! It's taffeta, ruching on the bodice, buttons all the way down, (meaning over the zipper) and a slight train, it was too long for me so I had my lovely best friend's mother slightly hem it up and add a bustle. The belt around the waist was actually a head piece, my mom just sewed it onto the same color ribbon and we tied it around me. Plus - bonus points - it has pockets. I got my shoes from Modcloth.com. I bought my jewelry from Charming Charlie in the University Mall. (If you like bling, that's the store for you.)

I had my hair done by the lovely Melinda Furr. (Visit her facebook page!!) She is amazing. She was at my house at 6:00 a.m. to do my hair for the day, and was there at the reception to touch it up. We put loose flowers in it instead of a veil. I didn't hire a makeup person because I didn't want it super elaborate. So I did my makeup myself. Also I saved money.

*Sigh* Isn't he just the handsomest? I'm so in love. *Insert heart eyes emoji here*

Derek got his suit from Amazon, before we got married. Before we were even engaged. It just fit perfectly with the colors we picked out and he looks dang good in it. So we used it. (He says he would've gotten a bigger size if he'd known.) We got his tie from DC Tuxedos in Orem (the Bridal shop's sister company). He got his shoes from Wish.com. Again before the wedding. Hey use what you got if you can!

Psst. Derek, I love you.

Derek and I were Sealed for Time and Eternity in the Provo City Center LDS Temple. It was a beautiful day. There was a slight breeze and a few clouds to cool it down which was perfect for pictures. June 9th, 2016: The best day to get married!

By far, the best part of the day was the temple. I was just a little nervous but only because I knew there would be a lot of people there watching us get married. But that may be another blog post.
We got to the temple an hour and a half before our sealing, and did all the paperwork stuff and the prep stuff. We walked up to the Celestial Room together and sat for a few minutes just by ourselves. That was so awesome. We met our sealer who was a sweet man named Alan Bird. He asked us questions and told us what to do. We then went into the sealing room and I immediately burst into tears. I was overcome by the feeling of love from all our family and friends who were in that room to support our decision to get married. Also my mom was crying, that's what really started me. As the sealer spoke to us, I was trying not to make eye contact with anyone because I wanted to stop crying. As I knelt on the altar across from my eternal companion, looking into his eyes, seeing how much he loved me and how happy he was to be there with me, I started bawling again. I had such a good, warm feeling. The spirit witnessed to me that Heavenly Father was proud of Derek and I and that we were in the right place. The temple is definitely the place to get married.
We were sealed for Time and Eternity.
Together Forever!

The lady who has been there for both Derek and I throughout all the dating, breakups, and pretty much everything else that happened between us. My sister Ann was the one who told Derek that he should rethink dating me after I friend-zoned him because she knew I was falling for him. 

Thanks Ann!

We have the best friends ever. For reals. All of these wonderful people were offering left and right to do things for us.   I had 7 bridesmaids, and Derek and 8 Groomsmen. We like a lot of people.

The Flower Girl dresses were bought at Dillards. (By the way - if you buy lots of dresses or shirts, or ties, or things for a wedding, mention it's for a wedding. We got a lot of 10% offs.) The "Ring-Bearers" suspenders were from Tie One On, and the Bow ties were rented from DC Tuxedo.

The Bridesmaid's dresses were bought at Urban Wear and they bought their own shoes. As a "thank you for being my bridesmaid" gift I made each lady a personalized necklace.
I adore these women!

"The Bros"

The Groomsmen's shirts were bought at H&M, the ties at DC Tuxedo, and they just got their own pants and shoes.

I kept asking Derek his opinion about reception stuff and picture stuff, and his answer was always "Jen, I don't really care, I want you to do what you want. All I really want is the superhero picture and the dance." Each of his groomsmen picked a superhero and got a shirt. In this picture his dad and his little brother wanted to play too. We have Daredevil, Wolverine, Nacho, Hulk, Iron Man (If you know Derek, Of course Iron Man.), Little Captain America, Flash, Spiderman, Mr. Incredible, Batman and Big Captain America.

Thank you to our wonderful, amazing, best bridal party ever! We love each one of you!

Our flowers were done by Pam Thomson. She's an old family friend and has done all the weddings in my family. She's amazing!! For flowers I picked, Burgundy and Ivory Peonies, Cream Ranaculus, Cream Freesia, and Cream roses. I don't remember all the green stuff, but all of it turned out beautifully.

We had our reception at The Bungalow in Pleasant Grove. I chose it because of the twinkle lights honestly. It was perfect. Outdoorsy, the lighting was perfect and there was shade. Ideal.

I made all the decorations for the reception. All the wooden frames are from Michaels, my sisters and I hand painted all of them ivory, until I found an ivory spray paint... Ahem. I also made the chalkboards with chalkboard paint and wrote on them with a chalkboard marker. The gold bottles are just various sizes of glass bottles collected from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. We spray painted all of them gold. I had my florist just put a few flowers in each bottle. For our guestbook, I bought some 4x6 cards that we had people sign and place in a box. I put them in a picture book with our bridals and engagements afterwards.

This easel I borrowed from my neighbor. The stand was a little low for my frame, so we strung it higher with extra ribbon. But it looked funny just like that, so I made a little flower display.

We had a large picture of us on each table, either a bridal or an engagement, and 2 small frames with smaller pictures in them. The other side of the large picture was our story that I made, and 2 bottles.

The Arbor we stood in front of we borrowed from Derek's work, I put wisteria and greenery all over it so we had something to stand in front of. It added a little flair and attention to us and the line. I just wish I could've kept it!

We were catered by Landmark Catering. It's run by the sweetest lady ever, and she got everything I wanted. She also packed us a little basket with food and some treats for our honeymoon. How sweet is that!!? We decided on a crepe bar, with lots of different fillings, and flavored lemonade. Blackberry lemonade is to die for. Everything was delicious. I made a little banner that said "How sweet it is" after the J.T. song. (James Taylor for you young people who think J.T is Justin Timberlake.)

We had so many friends and family come to our reception. Thank you to all who came and supported us in our decision to be married! We love you all!!

This sweet little niece of mine would not stop hugging me. It was the best!

Our cake was made by Cakes by Dawna. IT WAS AMAZING. It was possibly the best tasting cake I've ever eaten. I had Pam put some flowers around it. Super simple. And incredibly Delicious.

We didn't have a plate, and it was going to get on the tablecloth so I just stuck my hands in there. Total Jenny thing to do. (Plus, then I got to lick all that yummy frosting off my fingers.)

We decided ahead of time to not smash it in each other's faces, mostly because I'm not into having food all over my face, especially in front of other people, and because Derek loves me.

We danced with our parents to the same song because I'm not about attention. We danced to "The Way You Look Tonight", Michael Buble's version, and we had planned to do our first dance to "From the Ground Up" by Dan and Shay. But my dad spun me out to Derek in the middle of the song, so we just danced to that with everyone else.

I love dancing with my man.

Our first plan was to use a vintage VW beetle that belongs to one of my bridesmaids. But complications arose, so we just used the good old Rodeo. Which turned out to be so much fun. 

This is what I saw as we came through the group of people. One thing I absolutely love about Derek is that he focuses on Eternity. Throughout our engagement, he would send me notes, or texts that always said "I'm so excited for our Eternity together." It wasn't, "I'm so excited for our life together", he always made a point to say Eternity. The night before our wedding day, he dropped off a watch on my doorstep at exactly 10:00 P.M. with a note that said "Our Eternity starts in 12 hours. Love you and can't wait to see you soon." (Our sealing was at 10:00 A.M.) I found out that he had texted my best friend Aubrey that he wanted this sign to be at the end where we would ride off into the sunset. I almost started crying when I saw it.

Oh the day was marvelous. We held a luncheon at Derek's parent's church with the people who attended our sealing and some more close friends. Catered by Wallaby's. It was so delicious. After the luncheon we went home and got a little packing done for the honeymoon, and took a short nap. Then we headed off to the reception. The reception was so much fun. It was hot in the setting sun, but we saw good friends and old neighbors and so many wonderful people.

We are grateful for all of those who helped put the reception together, for our parent's who paid for all of it. We are grateful to our friends and families for supporting us and giving us all the love we needed during the hard parts of our relationship. Thank you to those who came to see us. It was the best day ever and we are forever grateful that we could be sealed in one of Heavenly Father's holy temples, and then party with you afterwards! 

Our photographer was Amber Prusse with Amber Prusse Photography. She is super sweet and played Ella Fitzgerald for our engagements. She also took our Bridals and our whole wedding day, besides the luncheon. She did such a good job!

(A few of the pictures on this post were taken by me.
 The rings, the invitation, the closeup of the story, and the closeup of the arbor.) 

Our Videographer was Kari Pagotto with K. Alysse Films. Also the sweetest and we were instant friends when we met. She was everywhere and as far as I noticed she got some awesome shots!! I'll post the video soon!!