Our Wedding: Group Shots

What does everyone do with the dozens of group photos you get of your wedding party? The selection here is but a fraction of the group photos we received, and they're all good! 

LOTS more photos after the jump!

Our Wedding: The Reveal

It was important to Tim and I that we do the reveal before the ceremony. We wanted to be able to go straight from the ceremony to hanging out with our guests. While many people choose to go the traditional route and have a pause for photographs after the ceremony, Tim and I really aren't the traditional types. I don't know if it's as special as having your husband see you for the first time walking down the aisle, but it worked really well for us. It just streamlined the timing so much to do the reveal and bridal party shots before the ceremony, which definitely decreased the stress of the day! 

More photos after the jump!

Sunday Walk: Peterborough Water Tower

Tim and I wound up with some time to kill on Sunday, in between breakfast with Angel, running errands, and dinner at Dean and Wendy's for Christopher's 25th birthday. I've always been curious about the hiking trails (I'm using "hiking" extremely liberally here) around the west end water tower. There are actually more trails there than I thought, although it's really a small area. Very pretty in the gorgeous fall weather. We spent a half hour wandering around with Tim reminiscing about playing around there as a child.

On our way back to the car we found an apple tree that had sweet apples on it, so Tim picked as many as my scarf would hold and we'll try making apple sauce or something similar out of them later this week!

Our Wedding: Casablanca by Blue by Enzoani Wedding Dress

I will admit that I never had a "This is my dress" mental moment like they show on TV. When I saw myself in the mirror, I did think that I had never known that a dress could make me look like that. I did think that Tim would love it and that it was perfect for the vibe we were going for with our wedding. But I didn't have a crying-as-I-stared-in-the-mirror moment. Blaire did and my mother-in-law Wendy did. But I have absolutely zero regrets. I loved the dress, which is the Casablanca model by Blue by Enzoani.

I bought my dress at the first salon I went to. It was even the first dress I tried on. When I called Antoinette's Bridal Boutique to set up an appointment, I talked to Sevda, who I believe is the owner. I told her that we were having a barn wedding and that I wanted lace. That Tim had told me no poufiness and that I wanted something romantic. Almost right away she said that she thought she had the right dress. That she would have to see me first to know, but that she was pretty sure. When I walked through the doors of the salon the morning of my apointment and introduced myself, she said that she was right - she had my dress. Sure enough, she pulled the Casablanca, which was what I wound up buying. 

It wasn't originally what I thought I wanted - I was sure I wanted straps of some kind, maybe backless. But although I tried on nine dresses, none of the other ones fit as well or was as flattering. Plus I fit the size 6 in the Casablanca perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. I could have used a little butt padding. I blame my flat butt on my Dad, though. I bought the dress that day and cancelled all the other salon appointments I had set up. I will admit it was  a pain to wear. There's a photo in here of Sarah helping me up off the couch. The inner sheath of the dress is very tight, I'm guessing to keep the silhouette of the dress. But it doesn't allow for deep bending. Putting on shoes, picking things up, sitting too deeply - none of that was really possible. I could sit, but it had to be on the edge of the chair. Bonus points, though: I went to the bathroom by myself all night in this dress. Leave me your e-mail address below if you've bought yourself a similar dress and want to know how!

Sarah did an amazing job doing up my dress. I did send her a link to a Youtube how-to video, I'm hoping it helped somewhat. It definitely was not a quick process. 

Lots more photos after the jump!

Our Wedding: Lunches at Dancing Blueberries and St. Veronus

Tim and I both wanted to make it a priority to have time for lunch with our respective wedding parties before heading over to the barn for photos and the ceremony. All of the wedding tips I read said to be sure to eat regularly and drink WATER throughout the day. Given how long the day was, I'm really glad I followed that advice! 

I wanted to go somewhere girly that we could get cute pictures at, but the options for that in Peterborough are more limited than you'd expect. My first choice was the The Magic Rolling Pin Tea Room, but I was extremely disappointed to hear that their summer hours don't include Saturdays. We went to Dancing Blueberries instead. The food was delicious and really reasonably priced, plus the service was very quick. 

More photos after the jump!