My Newport Beach Temple Wedding

As the first official post of this (actually live) blog, I thought I'd write all about my own wedding.


Let me give you a bit of background:
Blake and I met in March of 2005 at the LDS Fullerton West Institute in Fullerton, California.
He was fresh back from his Mission (Barcelona, Spain) and I was still investigating the Church. (I had been for almost a year)


We dated.
While we were dating, the Newport Beach Temple finish construction.
I was so moved by the Spirit of the Temple and all that was around me, I finally acted on the courage I was blessed with and was baptized in July of 2005
He went back up to BYU after the summer.
His visits were what I looked forward to.
It seemed like he was gone forever, but it was only one semester.
He decided he missed me just as much and moved back to California.


In March of 2006, my love proposed.
I said yes.



Wedding Planning for September 16, 2006:
 I always had a basic idea of what I wanted, and I had to guide my way through our budget and available resources to turn it into a reality.


I knew I wanted my colors to be Yellow and Green. (done)
I knew I wanted my dress to be very simple. (a beautifully modest creation)
I knew our reception would be held at the cultural hall, but I didn't want it to look like a basket ball court. (ribbon and tea lights made the transformation possible)
I knew I wanted simple, light food: sandwiches, salads, and fruit. (all made by women in our ward)
I knew I wanted our Bridesmaids to be able to wear their dresses again. (purchased from Windsor and covers from Macy's)
I wanted a fun, edible favor for our guests. (M&M's in a Michael's container)
I wanted a very specific wedding cake and a fun grooms cake. (took a picture at the crazy expensive bakery, and showed it to the delicious "cake shop" in Barstow)
I wanted the perfect photographer. (and Amelia Lyon fit perfectly!)
I was even blessed enough to have a very good friend (Alicia Danielle) give us videography as a gift!

(the video she gave us was a beautiful 45min keepsake, but I shortened it to about 8min, and added music  for time's sake)

And our lovely images by Amelia Lyon.

There are just a few things I wish I would have known:

• I wish I knew I could have colorful shoes and bouquet. I thought that EVERYTHING had to be white on the bride.
• I wish I didn't put so much time or money into the invitations. We ended up running out of our "specially ordered" invitations, and ran down to Michaels and printed some up on the computer... that worked out just fine.
• I wish I would have registered places other than Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. Those places are ok, but we just went there because thats where EVERYONE went.
• I wish the guys had funky socks or ties or something fun. In fact, there was really no need for them to rent tuxes.
• I wish I had a photo booth at our reception. They are awesome.

The things I specifically loved about my wedding:

• I am so very grateful we were Sealed in the Temple.
• I adore my family for coming to the Temple, even if they couldn't attend the ceremony.
• I love that we had so much time in between our sealing and our reception. It gave us ample time for pictures and time to take everything in.
• I am thankful we did a ring ceremony right before the reception, and that my parents were there.
• I am also thankful that Blake's grandfather (who Sealed us and performed the ring ceremony) made it clear during the ring ceremony that we were already married.
• I love that I was completely lost in my husband's eyes during our first dance.
• I love that my grandmother made my veil.
• I ADORED our "memory table"
• I am so thankful we didn't do a "line."  Instead, Blake and I went from table to table and greeted everyone that way. 
• Our cake and garter traditions rocked.
• I love that we were guided to our "get away" car by bubbles and our loved ones.

That was my LDS Wedding.

and I loved it!
-The Vendor line up-

*Temple: Newport Beach Temple

*Venue: LDS Church Building

*Florist: Family/Friends

*Bakery: The Cake Shop

*Photography: Amelia Lyon (her original blog post of our wedding)

*Videography: Alicia Danielle 

*Paper Goods: Michaels 

*Beauty: Main Frame (hair) and Athena (my aunt, did my makeup)

*Gown: Beautifully Modest (*Shoes: Bridal People)

*DJ: Dahl Brothers

*Decor: Family/Friends