New Blog and Website!

I am SO excited to announce that we have a new website and blog! We love them and hope you do too!

We will keep this blog up so that you can see old posts, but all new posts will be on our new blog: www.joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/

Please update your RSS feeds, google reader or subscription status.

We hope you have a joy-filled day!

4 Years Ago...

Four Years Ago Today…

*I woke up much earlier than I wanted to. The butterflies shaking up my stomach just would not let me sleep.

*It was sprinkling as I left to go to my hair and makeup appointments. I had to remind myself at this point that I had to let go of control.

*I felt more beautiful than any other time in my life.

*As my best friends and family surrounded me in our hotel room at The St Regis, I felt overwhelmed  with love and was so ridiculously grateful for the amazing people in my life.

*I met up with the man I would spend the rest of my life with on the beach. When he saw me approaching, he sprinted toward me with more joy than I have ever seen.

*I relished that hour together, giddy with excitement for what was to come.

*We met up with our best friends and family for photos and were greeted with cheers. We felt like celebrities.

*The church coordinator forgot to line us girls up and get us ready, so after the guys and family entered, there was a good 4 minutes of nothing. Our guitarist just kept playing and playing. We did not even realize that the ceremony had started. David wondered if I was standing him up 

*My adorable niece fell asleep and had to be carried down the aisle, with a cookie in my brother’s hand for when she woke up.

*I honored those who had been an important part of my life by having them piece together my bouquet as I walked down the aisle. I shared a special moment with each one: childhood friends, college mentors, impactful teachers, cancer doctors and nurses, my aunt and uncle. As my dad stood by my side, my mom tied together the bouquet once I reached the front of the lawn.

*I grasped onto my love’s hand with more love than ever before.

*I promised not only to be faithful, love him fully, support and respect him, but also to have fun with him everyday.

*He tried to kiss me right after our vows.

*The cloudy sky parted and the sun shone down on us right as we all were singing one of our favorite worship songs.

*We became husband and wife.

*We exited to “When I’m 64″ by the Beatles

*We took the largest family photo ever. Seriously- ever. It was quite an ordeal.

*We had our grand entrance to “Everything in it’s Right Place” by Radiohead. This made my husband’s day.

*I experienced one of the most magical moments of my life, dancing with my new husband to “Love Me Tender” by Norah Jones

*I did not eat any food. Only cake.

*We were surrounded by more love and support than we had ever felt in our lives. So cool to have everyone important to you in one place at one time.

*We danced. A lot.

*One of my maids of honor wrote us a poem for her speech. It was amazing.

*My husband surprised his mom by writing and recording a song for their mother son dance. Many tears were shed.

*Everything did not go as planned, but we did not know or care. We had the time of our lives. Treasuring every moment that passed while excited for our future.

photo by Docuvitae

Today, I love my husband 4,000 times more than I did on that day. Next year, it will likely by 5,000 times more. Being at weddings almost every weekend, I am continually reminded of the emotions and memories of September 9th, 2005.

I love you David.

Date posted: September 9, 2009

Andy and Tracy's Engagement Photos at Pelican Hill

So sorry for the silence this week... I am excited to announce that our new website and blog is just about ready to launch. SOOO happy! Be on the look out at the beginning of next week. I just love it.

Because of that, I have been holding posts for the new blog, but I decided I wanted to get one last post up on here. Let me introduce you to Tracy and Andy:

These two are getting married at The Island Hotel in Newport Beach in November and I am looking forward to their wonderfully stylish day! I am especially looking forward to working with their photographer, Trista Lerit, for the first time. Here are some more of the beautiful engagement photos she took while running around Pelican Hill with Andy and Tracy.

You can see more on Trista's blog. 

Make sure to check back next week: new website, new blog, new weddings, new inspiration. I can hardly wait! Happy labor day weekend!

Anthropologie Deal Alert!!

I am a big fan of deals. Especially when they involve my favorite store, Anthropologie. While browsing their site yesterday, I came across a winner! One of my favorite items in my kitchen are my latte bowls from Anthro. Eating cereal in them makes me happy every morning. And ice cream at night, you can only imagine my joy!

Right now, they have a set of 6 on sale for $7.95!! That is right- $7.95 for 6!  (Normally $24). These would make such a great shower, hostess, thank you or just for yourself gift.


If only I did not already have 12....

Matt and Ashley's Engagement Photos

Matt and Ashley are such an awesome couple and I am so excited to start working with them on their rustic vintage-inspired wedding at the Bernardo Winery next June! If it is anything like these two, it is going to be a.maz.ing!

Here are some of their engagement photos taken by Elsworth Photography. They are beautiful!

You can check out more on the EP Love blog. 

Lauren and Scott: Sneak Peak from Wedding Chicks

Oh, how I loved Lauren and Scott's wedding! Totally my style: vintage, feminine, stylish and all about the details. I had so much fun designing everything with Lauren.

The Wedding Chicks featured their wedding today in two wonderful posts. You can see the posts here and here. Thanks ladies!! 

Here are a few of the beautiful photos from the wonderful Amy Squires:

I will have a full post once I have more photos, but for now, you can see vendor information and details on the Wedding Chicks.

Happy monday!

Sneak peak on Wedding Chicks

Last weekend, one of my favorite weddings to date came to life. A vintage, backyard wedding filled to the brim with sweet handmade details. I cannot wait to share it with you! You won't have to wait long- it will be featured on the Wedding Chicks on monday.

In the meantime, they have posted a sneak peak photo on their main page. It is on the right side right under WC Brides. A little teaser of one of the cute details: mason jars holding their signature drink: "sweetheart lemonade".

Be sure to check Wedding Chicks on monday. Just wait until you see the gorgeously stylish bride and their beautiful intimate backyard celebration.

In other exciting news... be on the look out for our new website and blog launch next week! I am so so so excited to share our new look with you.

Gift alert: Lisa Leonard Designs

I have been a long time fan of Lisa Leonard Designs. Lisa and I met back when I was a little high schooler and it has been so fun to see her business grow and her style develop over the years. She has a great blog- full of inspiration for the everyday and showcasing her adorable jewelry designs. I have a few of her pieces and I wear them all the time. Literally- look at my wrist at every wedding and you'll see a bracelets that she designed for me. It says "joyful" and reminds me of my purpose and motivation for every day of my life.

Today, she posted THE cutest necklace. It would be such a great gift for an engagement party or bridal shower. 

Oh, I just love it!

You can find lots of other goodness on Lisa's site. One of my brides had custom necklaces made as a gift for each of her bridesmaids. My sister in law gifted us with a personalized silver spoon for my son. I even had Lisa custom make a decal that I attached to an iphone case for my husband. Endless options. 

In perfect timing, Hostess with the Mostess is giving away one of Lisa's designs! Click here to enter the giveaway.

I'm alive and Michelle's cute invites

Sorry I disappeared from the blog world for a week and a half there... Two big weddings and a midweek camping trip with my family stole me away from my computer. I am back now and have some great inspiration and weddings to share with you!

First up, Michelle's super cute invitations. In my last post, I shared her save the dates with you. Today, I am going to brag about her crafting skills even more. Check out these adorable invites that she and the hubby to be created 100% on their own:

For more details and information, you can see her post on weddingbee.

Can I just tell you how excited I am for their wedding in a few weeks? It is going to be beautiful! And, bonus points: the venue is only 5 minutes from my house! Win win!

Super cute Save the Dates!

One of our September brides, Michelle, is super creative and crafty. One of the first things we bonded over was our love for our Cricuts. At our design meeting, she pulled out her inspiration for her save the dates and we got to chat about ideas on how she could bring her vision to life.

She recently posted the finished product on Wedding Bee and look at how cute they turned out:

She also posted a tutorial on how to make them. As I am sure you can tell from these, her wedding is going to be adorable!