Best investment - ever! (and I got married!)

 So, I got married over the weekend. Which is one of the «many» reasons that I haven't had anything to say about any books lately. And it was a glorious weekend.

We made the bouquets ourselves

Brett and I are most likely wrapping the bouquets in wire at this point. Rachael, Brett and I headed to the Farmer's Market early in the morning, bought many flowers and then assembled the bouquets in the hotel room. They lasted through the pictures, and some through the reception. Which is what they're supposed to do, right?




We got married by our friend, Monica

Of course, she also brought wine to the hotel room for the "getting ready" portion of the day.  Monica did a fantastic job, and I'm so lucky that she was willing to get ordained for this day. There were spices of humor in the form of asking me to repeat, "I Nicole, take you Sean, to be my wife" - hilarious! And it was super meaningful, because she's great.
Thanks, Monica!





And there was much more. BUT the Best Investment of the wedding was BY FAR the photo-booth.

It was the only real "splurge" of the wedding, because we were trying to keep it pretty low-key and affordable because, at the end of the day, it's a day. It's a party. I wouldn't go bankrupt over a party, I wouldn't ask my parents to do so, either.

Like I said, we made our own bouquets (and boutonnieres). We printed (though printable press designed) our own invitations. I designed and constructed (with the help of friends, particularly Rachael) the programs, place cards, centerpieces (thanks for the help on that one, mom), and favors (our kitchen turned into a bakery the week of the wedding - and then there was the Great Macaroon Incident of 2009).  And I think that, overall, it made the experience really personal, and I hope that people knew the personal touches were so that we made them feel connected to us, and we felt connected to the day, because it really helped keep everything in perspective when I thought about it from the point of view of, "well, do I want ___ enough to do it myself?"

And, honestly, I couldn't have been more pleased with the way the wedding went.

So, the photobooth. Amazing. It let everyone show their own personal style. Do what they wanted to do. Be silly. Memorialize themselves in their best and worst moments at the same time. And it was a huge success.  I would DEFINITELY recommend using the traveling photobooth for any event, not even just a wedding. We got a Guest Book out of it: each trip into the booth produced two strips - one for the person to take home as a souvenir, and one was stuck into the guest book, where they could write a message and make it something personal. And the day after, it was SO MUCH FUN to look through all the pictures and have a laugh at the faces, and enjoy the words of wisdom. Which sometimes are just inside jokes, but still amazing.

I've always wanted a photobooth in my house. This really solidified that for me.  I'll try to update with some more photos of the details, and when they arrive, the pictures from the wedding. But for now, I guess it's back to business as usual.