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Red Lip, Classic, Seattle Wedding in August

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Red Lip, Classic, Seattle Wedding in August

Sarah + Nick

Seattle, Washington
- 08/05/2018
Total wedding budget $12,000
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August
Red Lip Classic Seattle Wedding in August

What was your total budget? Please provide a budget breakdown.

  • Dress: $300
  • Veil:$100
  • Tux Rental:Free
  • Photography: $3,500
  • DJ: $500
  • Venue:$1,500
  • Bartender:$200
  • Catering: $2.500
  • Desserts:$300
  • Flowers:$1,500
  • Linens: $300
  • Misc decor: $500

Total: roughly $12,000

How many guests did you have?

Just about 100 guests.

How did you meet?

Nick and I initially met at Moses Lake Memorial Day weekend. We were both preoccupied and didn’t have a chance to formally introduce ourselves. We later ran into each other at a 4th of July party that summer. Again, we didn’t really talk, he was shy and I was a terrible flirt! Later that night, I found him on Facebook and sent him a short message, something along the lines of, “did you get home alright?” The rest is history.

What is your proposal story?

My family (Sarah) has a long-standing Christmas Eve tradition of going to a candlelight service followed by Chinese food for dinner. I had a sneaking suspicion that Nick had bought a ring earlier that week, but pushed that thought out of my head as not to get disappointed if it didn’t happen that weekend. After dinner, I excused myself to the restroom. As soon as I got back, Nick said, “Get Up.” I thought something had happened while I was gone, that’s when he got down on one knee, My response was, “Shut up, shut up, shut up, YES!”

Tell us a bit about your wedding vision.

We wanted our wedding to be laid back and intimate, much like our personalities. We envisioned a back yard wedding with our closest friends and family. Initially, we booked an outdoor venue, but 8 months before our date, we got word that we could no longer use our venue. So we scrambled to find a new one when Nick suggested we check out the Great Hall at Green Lake. We visited it that weekend and immediately fell in love with the details and the history of the Great Hall. Much to our surprise, they had our initial wedding date still available, and at a lesser price than our first venue.

Tell us about your attire choices.

The theme of our wedding party’s attire was, “same but different.” My bridesmaids all had the same dress, but different styles. I let each girl pick out the dress they felt the most beautiful in, it was important to me that the girls felt beautiful and confident in their dresses. The groomsmen also wore the same suits, but Nick bought them different dress socks and wood watches that matched their personalities.

As for my dress, I wanted something timeless. Something where 20 years from now; when I’m looking at my wedding pictures I wouldn’t think, “what was I wearing?’ Much like our parents, hello eighties!

Nick wanted to stand out from his groomsmen, so he wore a blue suit. He opted for a suit instead of a tux because the satin piping on the tux pants made him feel like “a mailman.” He also opted for a vintage-inspired, floral print tie, and wood tie clip, to tie in with the color scheme of our wedding.

What was most important to you two while planning? Was there anything you chose to splurge on or skip?

The most important thing for us was documenting the day with photography. Boy, are we glad we did! So much happened the day of our wedding, I don’t remember much. Fortunately, Eva and her team documented every detail beautifully!

What were your favorite parts of the day?

My favorite memory was the morning of our wedding. Nick and I broke tradition and spent the night before together. Spending the night together eased my anxiety and allowed me to get a good nights sleep. Nick drove myself and my Maid of Honor to the hotel where I got ready with some of the most important people in my life.

Our other favorite memory of the day was standing at the altar. Nick and I are both reserved people and hate being the center of attention. Needless to say, we were both extremely uncomfortable. We talked and laughed with each other throughout the ceremony, I don’t think we heard a word our officiant said, other than our vows. The first thing Nick said to me after I walked down the aisle was, “you have food in your teeth,” to which I replied (unknowingly and rather obviously) SHIT! My soon to be inlaws caught the whole thing and thought it was absolutely hilarious. Then it was, ” Is my mom crying?” “No, is my dad?”

Tell us about your wedding flowers.

Each flower held significant meaning to us. Nick’s boutonniere was an Iris, in honor of his late Grandma, Jo Iris. My bouquet consisted of Roses and Dahlias. Roses are my favorite flower, as they remind me of my late mom and our childhood home. The dahlias were in honor of my late Grandpa who grew award-winning Dahlias. The garland of greens was made by my Aunt who collected greens from our family cabin, which has been in the family for almost a century!

Tell us about your wedding cake.

We wanted to keep our wedding cake simple and elegant. We went with a single tier cake with some fresh blooms, inspired by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding cake.

What did you do for favors?

We didn’t hand out traditional favors, instead, we provided guests with a variety of desserts. My soon to be sister in law baked hundreds of cookies, and Johanna (Delicately Sweet) made a variety of cupcakes, including Gluten Free options! We supplemented with Madeline’s and gummy bears from Costco. Needless to say, we had a ton of unopened leftovers, so we donated them to a local women’s shelter.

Please describe any handmade, DIY, or personal items.

Almost everything at our wedding was a DIY. The save the dates, invitations, and programs were designed by my Maid of Honor, Kirsten Landis. Signs and guest book window were created by my bridesmaid, Ashliegh Erue. Garlands along the staircase and fireplace were hand made by my Aunt. The ladder shelves were created by Nick, my dad, and my little brother. Wax dripped bottles and taper candles were made by me (Sarah). A majority of our decor was secondhand or from estate sales, including our sweetheart table, the ladders, vintage memorial frames, and vintage windows used for our guestbook and wedding party intro.

Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?

The most important heirloom we included was my late mom’s wedding ring, which I wore on a chain around my neck. Mom’s ring was inspired by the late Princess Diana’s famous sapphire ring. Mom’s ring also served as my old, blue, and borrowed.

Although not heirlooms in the traditional sense, our ladder shelves served as a memorial to all of our important relatives who were unable to be with us on our big day. We asked our parents to choose their favorite pictures of our grandparents and other relatives to display at the wedding.

I also chose to “save a seat,” for my late mom by displaying one of the last pictures we had of her with roses in her seat. It was important for me to make sure she was remembered and honored at our wedding. We also put in a short poem about roses and Heaven on the program.

As for tradition, I had my dad and my little brother walk me down the aisle. It seemed fitting as it was just the three of us for sometime after our mom passed. My brother and I have always been incredibly close, even though were are almost 6 years apart.

We also broke with tradition in terms of our wedding party. We opted to have only 3 bridesmaids and 3 groomsmen as well as 2 flower girls (opposed to a ring bearer and flower girl). We chose our closest friends to be our wedding party, we made sure to keep the party small so we could truly show our friends how special they are to us. As for the flower girls, we chose our two favorite little girls; who also happen to be family.

Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?

If I could do anything differently, I would hire a day of coordinator! Although our family and friends played a HUGE role in setup and breakdown, there was still an overwhelming amount of things we had to do leading up to, and the day after.

VENDORS

Photography: Eva Rieb Photography • Ceremony Venue: Great Hall at Green Lake • Reception Venue: Great Hall at Green Lake • Floral: Blue Ribbon Flowers • Wedding Cake: Delicately Sweet Confections • Hair: Krystal Dobbins Hair Design • Makeup: Kari Bowsman • Decor Items: DIY by the Bride • Catering: Onsite Catering • Linens: The Sweet Buffet Lady • Engagement Ring: Alana jewelry • Stationery: Kirsten Landis • Guest Book Alternative: Ashliegh Erue • Wedding Ring: Alana jewelry • Wedding Dress: Brides for a Cause • Groom’s Attire: Men’s Wearhouse • Veil: Brides for a Cause • Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal • Veil: Brides for a Cause • Headpiece: Amazon • Submitted via: Matchology