The Details...

I just have to put the details on here because Matt and I handpicked every single item and designed everything ourselves (yes, I'm tooting my own horn!). We were so happy with how our vision came together and everything was just perfect and how we had imagined it!! Our ceremony and reception were in a 1940s barn that was restored with orginal floors and beautiful wooden beams on the ceiling, so we wanted our decor to compliment the rustic elegance of the building.

The signature frame - instead of a guest book, we opted to use a signature frame which now hangs in our living room with our picture in it. It's so neat to walk by and read what people wrote, and I swear sometimes I read stuff I don't think I've seen before!

The Place cards - I found a pine cone farm online and ordered 200 medium pines cones so that we could use them to display our place cards.

Our centerpieces were made of orchids and curly willow. We used old barn wood and had the table numbers spray painted on using stencils.

I ordered these flavored personalized teabags online and requested that a small pinecone be added to the tag.

The appetizer displays were so pretty, and yummo!

White chocolate and milk chocolate fountains with pretzels, bananas, pineapples, strawberries, marshmellows and I don't even remember what else!

And of course, the yummy food! Our caterer was SO absolutely sweet and an amazing chef. The food was delish! We went with a country style buffet dinner, eat all you can! And, I got to go first, woot!

The room setup. Our colors were burnt orange and chocolate brown with a touch of cranberry. Since my dress had a sash I wanted all the chairs to have sashes too!

And here it is once it got a bit darker.

The ceremony location was turned into a lounge once the reception started so people could mingle and relax on the couches.

Using the wood beams we draped beautiful fabric from the ceiling to mark off where the dance floor would be. In some of the reception pictures you'll be able to see the fabric hanging to the floor.

My hideout while people were being seated and during the start of the ceremony was in the reception room, so in this picture you can see the fabric behind me, and the head table setup near the window with cranberry fabric mixed in as an accent.

Now that everything is setup and ready to go, we can get this party started!!

The Sand Ceremony

The sand ceremony was one of our favorite parts of the ceremony and something we came across while researching weddings and unity ceremonies. The unity candle is the more traditional version of this ceremony, but with an outside wedding, sand is becoming more and more common so that the wind doesn't extinguish the flame. Our wedding was supposed to be outside but due to the weather it was moved inside. We were totally fine with still using the sand because the final result is something we can keep and cherish in our home as part of our decor! Instead of the mothers carrying in the candles, or lighting each side to symbolize their child, our moms carried in jars of sand that represented each of us.

Here is the wording of the ceremony for those of you not familiar!

You have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings. This beautiful union is symbolized through the combining of these two individual jars of sand. The first jar represents you Jamie, in all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other jar represents you Matt, in all that you were, all that you are and all that you will ever be. Each one holds its own unique beauty, strength, and character. They can stand on their own and be whole, without need of anything else. However when these two are blended together they create an entirely new and extraordinarily more intricate entity. Each grain of sand brings to the mixture a lasting beauty that forever enriches the combination. Please pour the sand into this common container to symbolize the union of your two lives. This container of sand now represents your new life together, although you are two separate people your lives are now entwined as one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be a molding of two individual personalities, bonded together forming one heart, one love. The life that each of you experienced now, individually, will hereafter be inseparably united, for the two shall become one.

The first layer was poured by the preacher and represented our foundation of God, friends and family.

Then Matt poured in a thin layer representing who he is as an individual.

And I did the same...

And then we poured together to finish it!

And here is our sand! It's corked and in our living room!

And there you have it! :)

The moment we had been waiting for...

The ceremony!

I could hear the music but I couldn't see anything. I was so excited (and nervous) to walk down the aisle. About halfway down, my dad leaned over and said, "Hon you need to stop shaking!" I relaxed a little bit and just focused on looking at my future husband who was waiting at the end of the aisle.

The mommies!

Our awesome flower girl!

Eek, my turn!

The vows, the rings, the sand, the hand ceremony!

The Kiss

"May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright!"

Wooooooot! It was such an amazing feeling to walk back down the aisle hand in hand with my new husband! I could NOT stop smiling!!

We did it!

And the fun was JUST about to begin! Hee hee!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Our wedding day...I still remember it like it was yesterday, every detail, every moment, every nerve! It was the most amazing day of my life, marrying my best friend and being surrounded with all my closest friends and family. I think about that day a lot and look through my pictures over and over. Here is a recap of our day, September 23, 2006. Since I have so much to recap, I'm going to multi-post so you'll have to check back for the rest of the day!

Getting Ready Shots

Matt Getting Ready (so handsome!)

The Ceremony Setup

My (Rainy) Arrival

I was so cold when we arrived. The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse and the wind and rain were freezing! Tonya, as you can see, was right by my side the whole time, and she didn't even have an umbrella!