One of the blogs I discovered when we were church searching was Kelly's Korner, and I like to go back weekly (or sometimes more often) to check on her beautiful family and be inspired by her words. I know that I recently posted about my wedding and anniversary, but today she's hosting a "Show Us Your Life" blog hop with "Wedding Dress" as the theme, so I thought I'd play along.

Like Kelly, when I was married, there really were no digital photos to be had. I really got addicted to digital scrapping when Amara was born, but had never gotten around to doing anything with our wedding photos. Last summer, with our 10th Anniversary approaching, I decided I needed to change all that! So I scanned in my wedding photos and created an album for us to have as a permanent keepsake. Not that the photos aren't permanent, but it's fun to have them in a book. I even shared my scrapbook journey and provided free templates to other digital scrappers who were having the same dilemma: the need to scrap their wedding photos! It was such a fun journey, and I met lots of wonderful people through the sharing of templates. Now if only I still had time to do so much scrapping! Good thing I took on my project when I did, because it wouldn't have been completed had I waited to do it for our 11th Anniversary, which we just celebrated in June.

So... now onto the dress... (I've edited out my full name and details, hence some of the blur.)

I can't believe it, but I really didn't take the traditional "solo bride" photos. I had a whopping ONE photograph of me alone. ONE! That just doesn't happen. I never had bridal portraits done or anything -- it's just not a common thing to do in the north, I don't think. Or at least not where I was from. Or maybe just not for me? I tend to be oblivious to things like that! :)

I got my dress at Jean's Bridal in Wilmot, SD. It's a tiny little town of about 515 people...total. Yes, that's five HUNDRED and fifteen. However, this tiny little town draws brides from all over the place -- SD, MN, ND, IA, and from much farther than that as well. When I first tried on the dress, I loved it from the front, but it had the biggest, most hideous "butt bow" that I've ever seen. I immediately told my Mom, "No, absolutely not!" and began to take it off. She slowed me down and gathered the bow, then asked, "How about now? It's easy enough to take off the bow (yes, she's a seamstress)." Perfect. Loved it!

I wish you could see the train better -- it was so pretty. It has scalloped edges and cut outs with lace and beads. I thought for sure I wanted simple with no lace and beads -- I hate lace and beads! :) But the simplicity of the skirt and the cut of the dress was just "me" -- that for this one day, I could be "girly" and go with the lace and beads. They were subtle. :)



I wasn't a fan of veils in general, and really only wanted it for tradition. As soon as the wedding was over, I took the veil off and just wore the beaded crown. It was a pattern that looked almost braided. While I loved it that day (which is what really matters), my hair/veil are probably the biggest thing I'd change if I were to marry Jon all over again tomorrow. The dress, believe it or not, I still love, and I'd still opt for a similar style. Again, you can't see the veil/crown too well in this photo. But I love the photo! :)



This is my favorite photo from our wedding. My Grandpa has this awesome cherry red classic Chevy. He was our chauffer for the wedding to the reception. When the wedding was done and we were greeting our guests, he went to pick up his car, which was stored at a friends' house who lived close to the church (he didn't want to risk it getting "decorated" -- and for good reason!). He also changed into a tux complete with black top hat and cane, and he rolled out a little red carpet for us. It was so sweet! Obviously it's Jon and I in the car, but it's my Grandma and Grandpa behind the car. We've been blessed by many generations of strong, longlasting marriages built with God as the foundation, and this photo, to me, just speaks to that legacy.