Former bride, Sarahbeth has kindly written about her wedding experience. I was so impressed with her ingenuity, that I asked if she could share. It will be a four-part series with professional photos that touch on budget (all this for less than , DIY awesomeness and Sarahbeth with add her voice of experience. Enjoy!

(previous posts: Intro)

About Me and Us

Hi, my name is Sarahbeth and I am a full time mommy to the most wonderful little boy ever. Johnathon is the light of my life and I’m so glad I found someone who loves him half as much as me.  I enjoy arts and crafts and scrapbooking as well as reading and caring for my son. I love to try and parent my son as naturaly as possible, so I still breast feed and we cloth diaper.

For my wedding I was DIY queen! I DIYed everything from my veil to the flower girl baskets to the favors! It got tough at times but I loved every frustrating minute of it! I really felt lik me wedding was a personalized celebration and I had my fingers in every piece of pie which was great because I am a bit of a control freak.

Sean and I met in 2005 on a forum about a gaming series we were both interested in called Harvest Moon. In this game there is no killing or fighting, you run a farm and raise a family along side of cows and rows of turnips and carrots. I messaged Sean first because I noticed he had a signature with star wars characters in it and star wars is just as awesome as Harvest Moon is to me so I messaged him about this coincidence. We talked for a while and really enjoyed each other’s companionship- even if it was online. We found we had a lot of the same goals and values in life as well as a lot of the same tastes in just about everything else.

Then due to life circumstances on my part we lost touch for a year  or so and then I found Sean on Myspace in 2007. We started talking again and there was rarely a day that went by that we didn’t speak for at least a few hours. Sean decided to move up to Washington to solidify our relationship in September of 2009 and we became engaged shortly there after.

Thanks Sarahbeth! Stay tuned for parts 2-4, including budget breakdown, stumbling blocks, and DIY madness!

This is the wedding I affectionally call, The Last Wedding. Sean and Sarahbeth were the last, wonderful couple I got to work with before retiring. 

They called me back in December for their event: my first and only weekday wedding. I was so excited to work with them because they thought outside the card box when it came to certain details. But you’ll see that in upcoming posts – I’ve invited newlywed, Sarahbeth, to blog and share her wedding experience. I can’t wait for the first post!

Without giving too much away, I’ll simply say that they exchanged vows in beautiful Hovander Park in Ferndale, Washington, with their young son. The weather was perfect and the giving of a certain blue feather was touching. I loved how we were able to welcome a new season and a new family all in the same day.

We were also able to transform a functional, lovely space to a wedding space – someplace for their 50 or so family and friends to enjoy. I personally had a great time decorating the pavillion. Here are a few pictures I snapped that day. Professional photos to come!

Vendors Used: Photography: Jen Martin Studios | Venue: Hovander Park | Officiant: Heidi Fish | Caterer: Moveable Feast | Cake: Mount Bakery

I’m not entirely sure on the subject of this post, but I wanted to get the point across. Paper tissue poms, or pom poms, tissue balls or paper pomanders…however you nom them, are a great decoration; you can get lots of miles out of them.

For instance, the beautiful wedding I coordinated on Monday used pink, green, and brown poms. All the shades of pink had been previously used at birthday parties, and were my contribution. When asked about where the poms would go after the reception, the bride said that they would go to a friend for their wedding. We bagged them up and sent them on their way.

They’re easy to refluff (a lot easier than fluffing in the first place, especially if there are a lot of layers of tissue), and the varried shades gave the whole look a nice depth. Pictures to come!

Another event I helped coordinate used green and white poms for a baby shower. Those went home with a mom-to-be for a nursery, which turned out adorable.

Here’s one more great use courtesy of PomLove

I like Ikea. Quite a bit actually, and I follow the two websites, Ikea Hacker and Ikea Fans. I was reading some recent post, when I came across this one: a wedding hack.

200 Pillows For an Outdoor Wedding

And here is a beautiful reason to make them via Oh Happy Day and Stanlee Gatti

Picnic

Let’s talk hangers shall we? It’s a small detail, but I think it’s something that’s pretty important (emphasis on the pretty). My general rule of thumb is to use a nice looking hanger for the wedding dress on the day of the wedding. Nothing says “oops” like a cheapo plastic hanger and a couture gown. I even keep a stock of wooden ones for this reason.

But I think I found the exception to the rule here. Grey Likes Weddings had a fantastic post. The colors are gorgeous, but the it was the picture of the dress that got me. A perfect example of when to use a clear plastic hanger – when you’re background is just so awesome, you don’t want to cover it up. Thanks Greys!

I came across this video on Yahoo!, and I thought I’d share. I’m always talking with my husband about possibly crossing paths before we actually met. This couple was putting together a slideshow for their wedding and found a picture proving they they had crossed paths before. Now I kind of wonder about all those people in the background of my pictures.

Link to Yahoo! video

When I first saw this link on Design Mom, I thought it was referring to a fancy soda fountain. Nope, turns out it’s a cool twist on a childhood treat.

Image via SimpleSong, Inspiration via Design Mom

Wouldn’t this be amazing at a summer wedding?

Via Wedding Chicks. Customize your colors and your content and voila! The attachment shows up in your inbox.

Free Customizable Templates

Here’s one I whipped up

The umbrella is fast becoming my new favorite icon – for showers for weddings, for nurseries…I see it pop up in the coolest places. Being from a rainy state doesn’t hurt either. These little umbrellas would be perfect for an elegant baby shower.

Thanks Lotus Haus for the inspiration!