Jenna Lou Loves You

Weddings are Bliss

Wedding season is just around the corner and so I've had my hands full with orders for custom clutch sets. When I opened my email to find that my clutches had been professionally, and beautifully I might add, photogrphed I was speachless. Anna Page photographed this stunning wedding in Wisconsin and graciously agreed to allow me to share it with you. I love everything about this.... especially those amazing shoes the girls were rocking.

Custom orders are streaming in so if you are interested in a set for yourself consider planning to order early.

Are there anyother brides out there with wedding photos featuring Jenna Lou Designs clutches?? If so I would LOVE to see them!

To view more photos from this wedding you can see it featured on the Style Me Pretty Blog.

 

Our Wedding in Photos : The Reception

The reception was a blast. We had delicious food. Amazing cake. And fun with our family and friends. The decorating was all done by me and a couple helpers (thanks family!) and we kept it minimal because the place was pretty great already.

 

   

   

 

 

 

And that finishes my "show and tell" of the wedding. I feel amazingly blessed.

Our Wedding in Photos : The Ceremony

The Ceremony was held in the town we have called home for many years now. In the church that has made us feel loved, welcomed, and whole. We were surrounded by a guest list of our dearest family. It was small and perfect. I can't recall a moment in my entire life that made me happier than this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Wedding in Photos

Finally I have photos of the wedding to share.... and a slide show too! I'm going to break it up into three posts because there are so many I want to show. They were all done by Christine Wood who was wonderful, brilliant and kind to work with. I'm so happy with these photos because they really capture the day just how I remember it. PERFECT.

 

 

 

 

 

To see the slide show click here.

The Honeymoon

I'm still waiting to get our wedding photos back, but until then here are some of my favorite shots from the honeymoon. We went to Orlando for the majority of the trip, but did small day trips to both the ocean and the coast. I was really surprised how much I loved the coast. the water was clearer and the color just beautiful... not really what I expected, but exactly what I wanted to see.

Although we have been together for 5 years the honeymoon was our first vacation sans parents, family, or friends. It was amazing and romantic and we got to spend a good amount of time just acting like the children we are at heart. It made us both realize that we don't travel enough and plan to remedy that in the coming years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Vacation from Vacation ?!!

Right now the thought: "I need a vacation from my vacation" is ringing through my head.

The wedding was amazing. More than I could have dreamed of. It went smooth and beautiful and I cannot wait to get a look at some of the photos that were taken. I promise I'll share when they are available. The honeymoon too was text book perfect. The weather in Orlando was brilliant. The sun shone everyday and the heat lasted into the evenings so that we could swim even after the sun set. Lucky us... everything was gorgeous. 

At this moment though I'm feeling so tired. It's hard to focus on much work although I've been surrounded all week by an constantly full inbox and laundry up to my eyes. I'm trying to take things slow doing one task at a time, but I think it's going to be a while yet before things feel normal again. 

Here is a little sneak peak from a few of the photos I got from family.

 

Thanks for all the sweet comments left while I was away.... I miss all you girls so much!

Wishing it were May

One week from today I will be completing the final steps on my checklists. Picking up the fresh flowers, getting my nails done (for the first time in my life by the way), packing up the dress and shoes and other little things to bring down to the church so that when I wake up Saturday morning most of the work will already be done.

It's amazing how fast 4 years can pass and even more amazing how fast the last one making it 5 did. It really seems like yesterday that we were standing out on that chilly February day, him on one knee, me gasping for air. And now it's just eight days away from coming to the end... well really we all know it will be the beginning, but it also feels like the end. It is the happiest end of my life. Where the planning, and dreaming, and love all come together.

It's consuming all my thoughts and more than anything, I want Saturday the 8th to come fast.

Countdowns

While this place may be quite lately, my life is more noisy than ever. I'm surrounded by countdowns and to-do lists.

I have...

5 days until the Spring Show in Shakopee MN

3 weeks until craftstravaganza

27 DAY UNTIL THE WEDDING

While most of the work is done for all of these things I still have tons of bits and pieces to pull together. It's been hard lately to just step back and take a breath. Life is feeling unbalanced and leaning heavily towards the overworked side. I'm pulling through though... yes I am.

One thing that keeps me smiling is my garden. I think that this will be the first year since moving in that no major work needs to be done out there. Now I can just watch it grow with a little guidance and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

My DIY Wedding - Floral Hair Pin

As of today there is less than 3 months to go until the wedding. 86 days to be exact.... yikes! During the day I feel like I've got things under control. We have our menu planned, the photographer has been lined up for almost a year, things are coming together for the decorations, our premarital counseling is on my calendar, and I've got the shoes. OH BOY have I got the shoes!

I thought I was doing a pretty good job of putting all the fear and worries deep down inside... except that they find their way out in the wee hours of the night. I've been having really bad dreams about the wedding, my bridal shower, the dress, everyone forgetting to show up. They are endless. If things don't get better I've heard tranquilizers can fix problems like this... just kidding....

Today to quiet some of my nerves and check off another thing on my To-Do list I made my hair accessory for the wedding. I've seen similar items selling on etsy from the $20 to $60 range, but that just wasn't in my budget and I wanted something colorful, so like many of the detail for the wedding I decided to make my own.

I followed these instructions pretty closely with great results. I did my own thing for the beading, but got a similar effect. All the supplies I needed came from Hobby Lobby and the total cost was $11.78. Plus I have enough leftover feathers for an accent in the boutonnieres I'll be making later on.

I wanted to show how it looked on without trying too hard so my hair is just pulled back in this photo. For the wedding I plan to have it mostly all up with curls. I'm really happy with the results and think that it will add a nice effect when my hair is done properly. 

And with another task done maybe I'll get to sleep a little bit better tonight!

Taxes and Heels

 

The majority of my work day over the past two days was spent playing catch up. Last year I fell about 6 months behind on my bookwork (OPPs!!) and so to file my taxes I first had to finish detailing my income and expense reports. Not much fun to say the least. I'm vowing to never again get that far behind and to be sure of it I'm implementing a new system so that it forces me to enter in my data monthly. 

{ The Strata by Madden Girl  }

And because I'm DONE (yey praise to God!!) I had to treat myself. Nothing removes the stress from spending 12 hours bent over your keyboard crunching data than buying a new pair of shoes. Especially if they are a gift to yourself for finishing your taxes AND you can tell your fiance that you bought them because you plan to wear them on your wedding day... which is true, and makes the purchase totally "valid".