Wedding Parade: All you need is love

Welcome sign made by my Father in law Duane

Thanks for checking out our wedding August 28, 2011 at Scenic Beach state park. When Kev and I sat down and talked about what was important to us on our wedding day we both agreed we wanted something fun and comfortable for our guest, we wanted everyone to have a good time, not JUST us, for it to be a day not just about our love, but about all the love in our lives that has brought us to this point. We are both outgoing people and wanted lots of color, so there really wasn't a "color palette" (GASP!) just the beauty of WA state and tons of flowers and tie dye . At a wedding?! Yes, at a wedding. I'll follow up with "how to" instructions on the projects you'll see I did in this post, but for now I'd just like to get it all out there! Also, all of these photos are from Ashley Wise, she is the sweetest girl, and did a great job documenting our day.


Program fans with the stand painted by my mom

As you approached the ceremony area there was a hand painted program stand,which was a shepherds pole and a hanging plant holder and a painted apple basket to hold the hand made program fans, it was a really warm day so we wanted to let our guests be able to sit and fan themselves and keep cool while they waited for us to start. I also put a word search on the back to help keep people entertained, to make the puzzle, I just used a free online puzzle generator. We kept decorations down to a minimum and just let the background of the water, and mountains speak for themselves.

This was the front of the programs, I just formatted the front in word, easy enough!!


The back of the fan programs, I included pencils in another hanging basket for people to use for the puzzle!

We had rented most of the park for the day, including the Emel house,this beautiful old house built in 1912 that you can rent to get ready in, we also rented the portion of the park right outside the house which has a great view, just a small walk through the woods and over a cool little bridge there is a large picnic area which we also rented. Kev and I both really wanted to have the ceremony and reception in the same place so this was perfect. Renting space at a state park is a great choice if you want to have an outdoor wedding, it's pretty inexpensive and the money spent is supporting the parks system. Most parks allow plenty of time for set up, and include things like chairs and tables and coffee urns which help save in rental costs!

The 100 year old Emel House, my Dad and the mountains August 28, 2011

Getting ready inside the "girly" room in the house, Christina doing my hair


My curls, and the hair piece custom made for me by my florist

Kev and I decided to do a "reveal" before the ceremony, we didn't want to make our guests wait for us after the ceremony to do photos, we wanted to go straight to the party! Also, it was great to have a moment with each other just us, to look at each other and feel the excitement together. I had managed to keep him from seeing the dress, so I was sooo excited for this moment. I am not the white dress type of girl (did I mention I like COLOR) I knew I wanted something vibrant and unique but not a "prom" dress-NO TAFFETA! I bought my dress at The Wedding Bell, which is a sweet little wedding dress boutique, they set you up in a private area to try dresses on with chairs and room for who ever you might want to bring with you, I brought just the Moms. You have a sales associate all to yourself helping you get gowns on and off, and running all over the shop to find your dress. I couldn't have asked for a nicer shop, and I fell in love the moment I tried on my dress, I knew it was for me.

Kevin, apparently very deep in thought, about to see me in my dress, I had ACTUALLY managed to keep a secret, I thought that was a sweet tradition to keep, because clearly my dress wasn't traditional

About to see each other, this is the living room of the Emel house, such a sweet romantic feel

I just love this one, everyone peeking through the window at Kevin about to see me


Checking the whole package out one last time before it's his forever : p

Now that we had seen each other and pictures were done,it was time for the ceremony to begin! It was just outside the Emel house, on the lawn of the beautiful scenic beach, surrounded by 100 of our closest friends and family members. Our officiant Mary, is a very special lady to Kevin and I. She is the mom of my BFF Jillian, who was my maid of honor, I've known her my whole life and always said she'd be my officiant one day. She led us in our wedding vows, and like a true Irish girl I had vowed NOT TO CRY,wouldn't want the mascara to run, so they were somewhat traditional non denominational vows spiked with a few funny moments, "to infinity and beyond" instead of till death do you part (how morbid!) and sending us off with "May the force be with you" (we both grew up on Sci-Fi). The ladies all wore Alfred Angelo dresses in colors to match my dress, ordered from Benita's Bridal, ask them for deals if you are ordering 4 or more dresses. They are very accommodating, willing to set up payment plans, and work with out of staters! Kevin, the guys, and the Dads all wore Calvin Klein tuxes from The Men's Wearhouse they all looked so sharp. On both the dresses and tuxes give yourself PLENTY of time for ordering. The girls all wore necklaces made by a family friend and jeweler Diane, who custom fused glass to form pendants for the girls. Instead of bouquets they all carried a parasol I searched ALL OVER for a colorful frilly parasol not made out of paper and finally found the perfect one to match all the dresses in the seasonal section of Joann Fabric. The guys all wore brooch flowers for the boutonniere. My mom, Kev's mom, and I had searched for them at antique stores all around the peninsula. All of us had matching "wayfarer" style sunglasses we got at Old Navy. My bouquet was a brooch bouquet I hand made myself from brooches I collected from family members, and some my mom and I spent weekends antiquing to find.I found instructions online, but made adjustments to the design myself to make sure it was REALLY well held together, so I'll post how I made mine in a different post. My shoes I saw first on Nordstrom's website, but then scored at almost half the price on shoebuy.com. My jewelery was minimal, I wore a matching mystic fire topaz necklace and earring set my Dad had given to my mom years ago, it matched my dress perfectly and my engagement ring is a big mystic fire topaz. The music for the ceremony was performed by my two long time friends Matt and Allison on guitar and flute, for the wedding party they played "Rocky Racoon", then I walked down the aisle to "Here comes the sun", and we exited to "When I'm 64". Now, for the photos from the ceremony.

PARTY PEOPLE!

The Emel House...THROUGH A FISHEYE LENSE (watch this so that's funny)

Necklace made for the girls, it was a different color every time I looked at it, the dichroic glass was so rad.

These are the boutonnieres for the guys

We found them all

at different antique shops

around the peninsula

Pink toes and bows

The bouquet

The ceremony...THROUGHA FISHEYE LENS


Mr.&Mrs. Eakes

With the ceremony finished it was PARTY time, we were SO glad we chose to have the reception at the same site, it made everything so fluid. The decorations were also minimal, but were vibrant,fun and welcoming. The main attraction of the decor was definitely my flowers. I wanted a free spirited very colorful spread of bright summer flowers, Kevin's grandma who had passed away a few months before the wedding,had a ton of old mason jars which we utilized as vases and for the lighting Duane was working on. Our florist Karen, was unbelievable, she came and did everything on site that morning, centerpieces for 26 tables, hanging flowers, sconces, boutonnieres, garlands, my hair piece, that women was ON FIRE that day. The cake was done by Bella Bella Cupcakes, we chose cupcakes so everyone could just grab and go and it left us open to multiple flavor options. The cake topper was custom made by "the coolest toppers", it was a surprise for my video game obsessed husband. We both LOVE a good summer BBQ so we had Mike's four star BBQ buffet style, sides made by parents (sometimes you just can't beat mom and dads recipes) it was DELICIOUS! There were picnic blankets and table runners made by my mom Mom and I from tie dye fleece from this great online fabric supplier. Since the reception was at a state park they have alcohol regulations, no liquor, no kegs. Which saved us money, we chose two different brews from local brewery Hales Ales, and tons of different wines picked up from Trader Joe's. We chose not to have a DJ and saved ourselves the money (and from hearing the hustle), instead we set up a stereo and Ipod with a mix we had put together of music we actually listen to together. While shopping at the local party supply store for napkins, cups, etc I stumble across a CUPCAKE pinata. I decided the time was now for a wedding pinata! It was always the most fun thing ever at birthday parties so we went for it, and it was worth it to get to hit something with a bat after a year of stressing about how the wedding would come together!!

Boutonnieres for the Dads and Grandpas, we wanted something masculine, they aren't really flower type guys

One of the beautiful summer centerpieces, as a thank you guest took home the arrangements

The wedding cupcake set up, I saw a hanging bottle spread online and used it as the inspiration for the bottles around the picnic area

Some of the girls enjoying a brew in the sun on one of the NO SEW fleece picnic blankets

Centerpiece and the tie dye table runner

Dedicated friends who showed up early to set up the decorations and buffet, the lighting hanging above was all made by my father in law Duane, we saw a similar picture online and he ran with it

Our custom cake topper, she even made Mario a red head, and the Princess a brunette for us, make sure to leave PLENTY of time to order as this is hand made and takes a bit to ship, but it's so worth the wait!

Custom flower garland home grown, and arranged on site, like all of the flowers by an amazing family friend, Karen

Sconce by Karen

Bud garlands hanging over the walls

The party shelter you can rent, and decorate!

Generally I'm not an advocate for baked good abuse but this was a good exception.

The groom gets his swing

CANDY! It was absolutely just as exciting as when I was 8!

And there you have it, OUR WEDDING! An entire year of planning into one day neither of us will ever forget and will always have very bright happy memories of. I hope you enjoyed and maybe even got an idea or two from this post. If you have a great DIY wedding I'd love to feature it, please email me your story and contents with photos to mallyleigheakes@gmail.com

"All you need is love, love is all you need"

<333

Mal

Time for shameless wedding cheese, you know you came for pics.