dessert details

I am quickly realizing that these wedding posts may be impossible until we get the professional shots back from our photographers- in a couple months. Friends and family took some great shots but they just don't cover all of the details and handmade aspects of the wedding that I want to share. Believe me, you don't want to see the 50 shots of me walking up and back down the aisle. So for now I will just share some of the best we have gotten from our loved ones that shared the day with us, and the real breakdown of the day may just have to wait until later.

But let's start with the sweetest part of the day- the desserts. Our dear, dear friend Sara works at a bakery and she generously made all of our desserts after hours at the bakery for just the cost of supplies. She is incredible and made all of our 100 cupcakes (pink lemonade and lemon almond) and 7 cheesecakes (2 oreo, 2 plain, orange creamsicle, chocolate raspberry, and white chocolate strawberry) for under $100!! Everything was so delicious and even though we thought she had way overbaked we actually ended up with only one leftover cheesecake and a couple cupcakes. I think some people had a taste of everything on the table and I don't blame them.
The photo above shows the table before we put out the cheesecakes. The rest of that table was simply decorated with a few logs, flowers, and our signature white birds and birdhouses.
I made the little cupcake flags from cocktail toothpicks and japanese paper tape, with a little help from my mom and sisters. I had also made lots of assorted flags and banners for the cheesecakes but somewhere in the day they never quite made it out, oh well, one of the casualties of a wedding I guess.
We kept the rest of the tables pretty simple. We collected lots of different style and size birdhouses when we could find them on sale at the craft store and painted them with various shades of aqua and yellow. Justin and my dad cut all of the logs at his family's country property and we combined those with the houses, some white ceramic birds from the craft store as well and simple shapes we punched and scattered on the table. The day before the wedding I was super delighted to find the simple yellow "billy button" flowers at the local grocery store and we put a couple of those on each table in tiny clear glass vases. We knew we didn't want large floral centerpieces and these elements just seemed to be much more fitting for our whole style. Modern meets rustic.

after the storm

And storm it did. The whole morning of our wedding day was grey and heavy with looming rain. Disastrous rain. The kind that floods our backyard, ruins hair, and makes tents on rooftops seem like a bit of a hazard.

An hour before the wedding there were flash floods and 30 mile per hour winds as my bridesmaids and I were getting ready in the apartment (penthouse!) above our ceremony site. But we had a great downtown view and in the distance we could see the slightest sunlight fighting to get through that storm. It cleared up just in time and we knew someone was looking out for us. Maybe it was the Mexican voodoo ritual we had all performed the day before, maybe it was all of the last minute prayers, and maybe it was just right. I got to walk down the outdoor stairs with my dad, down the aisle, and marry Mr. Jackson- all as tornadoes were touching down in other parts of our state.

After a perfect day and a perfect beachside honeymoon in charming Charleston, today was our first day back to reality. To work and school, to the gym and homework, and back to this little blog I have missed so dearly in all of the chaos of wedding planning.

There really is far too much to share in one post- with the months of planning, laboring, and love that went into the whole affair. So I have been trying to think of how to best recap it all. I think it will have to be done sections. Like taking turns opening each present on Christmas morning, savoring the time more than the presents themselves. Today are just a few of my favorite moments captured by friends and family, a peek into a much bigger affair if you will. My following posts will cover all of the handmade elements, the decor, the fashion, the music, the ceremony, and of course the after party. Oh and maybe a few honeymoon shots for good measure.Laughs and first dances.
An after party complete with a white feather headdress.