both our photographer (jocelyn) and florist (ellen) posted some great recaps of our wedding. thank you so much, you guys! you are both fantastic people and i will definitely recommend you to anyone i possibly can. check out jocelyn’s post here and ellen’s post here.

i went ahead and updated the “photos” page with two videos: one of our first dance, and one that jocelyn put together using photos and video clips taken during the wedding. go check it out!

as for the married life: i love introducing cory as my husband! and keep on the lookout for updates on our upcoming honeymoon soon.

our photographer also sent us details about how you can get an additional 10% off your order if you choose to purchase prints or anything else:

“Your family and friends can use the code “nathalieandcory” at my Instaproofs storefront and receive an additional 10% off their order. With each order, you’ll earn a 10% credit of their order total, and you can use that towards purchasing prints and other products as you wish.”

we all win! there’s also a 20% off sale going on until next week, so if you order soon you can get up to 30% off your order. awesome.

right now we’re figuring out which 300 photos are our favorites since proofs of them will be printed and slipped into our wedding album by the photographer. it’s so hard to choose! we’ve picked the absolute best ones (in our opinion) and it’s still at 378. eek!

enjoy the photos!

though the professional wedding photos aren’t ready yet (duh), here is a link to our engagement session photos for purchase (make sure you scroll down to “nathalie & cory”). we’ve already picked out a couple to have printed for ourselves really soon!

i’ve collected several links where guests have already posted rehearsal dinner and wedding photos. i originally was going to make a flickr group for people to upload their photos to, but you guys are too fast!

so, indulge yourself in wedding madness:

Jacob Cecil:
wedding ceremony + reception

Ramsey Beyer:
pre-wedding, wedding ceremony + reception, post-wedding (click the thumbnail on the right to continue)
pre-wedding, wedding ceremony + reception, post-wedding (the same photos, but on facebook)

Karly Fae:
wedding ceremony + reception

Jess Wilson:
rehearsal dinner
wedding ceremony + reception
rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony + reception (the same photos, but on facebook: part 1 / part 2

Mary Griffin:
wedding ceremony + reception: part 1
wedding ceremony + reception: part 2

Tyler Cone:
general wedding photos

Jessica Benyo:
rehearsal dinner
wedding ceremony + reception: part 1
wedding reception: part 2

Sue Benyo:
wedding ceremony + reception

Brandon Herzog
rehearsal dinner
wedding ceremony
wedding reception

—

if you are a guest at the wedding, LISTEN UP. i have a few things to tell you. i’ll be emailing you this information as well.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24
on friday, we (nathalie, cory, cory’s best man tyler, nathalie’s maid of honor jess, and tyler’s girlfriend andrea) are going out to mick o’shea’s to have a mini-celebration. our ceremony musician is playing with his band whale show at 9:30 pm so we’re going to stop by, say hi, have a drink or two and enjoy the music. there is a $3 cover. if you’d like to join us please come by around 9:00 pm. we’ll probably be outta there around 11 pm, depending on how the night is going. so, it’s not required, but come by if you’re in the area! click here for a map.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25
the rehearsal dinner in the hotel’s courtyard is at 6:00 pm and anyone that wants to stop by can do so if they’d like. it’s primarily a family gathering but if you’re coming in from out-of-town and you’re at the hotel you should definitely come down to the courtyard and join us. as for later that night: i have a feeling we might still be working on some last minute projects and i think we’ll just want to relax before the big day, but we’ll play it by ear.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26
we reserved a shuttle for the wedding day for anyone staying at the hotel. it’s going to be a burgundy-colored school bus. it’s awesome. the shuttle will be picking guests up from the hotel at around 3:15 pm. please be outside at that time so that you can get a ride to woodend sanctuary. otherwise you’re gonna have to find yourself a cab or something.

that same shuttle will be bringing people back to the hotel later on that night so that no one is driving drunk. the first pick-up time is at 8:50 pm. this give people at least an hour to dance and meet with people (dancing begins at 7:30 pm). the second pick-up time is at 9:50 pm. the reception ends at 9:30 pm, so we figured people might stick around a little longer to say their goodbyes before getting on the bus.

(so, long story short: shuttle picks hotel guests up at 3:15 pm and brings them to woodend. shuttle makes pick-ups from woodend back to hotel at both 8:50 pm and 9:50 pm. take your pick.)

after the reception on sunday night, we will be congregating at rock bottom, a restaurant/bar that is just a 10 minute walk away from the hotel. we’d like to meet everyone there around 10:45 pm or 11:00 pm so that we can drink and have some fun a little bit longer. please come by if you can, even if it’s for just a few minutes. we’d love to see you there! click here for a map, though we might all be walking over there as a group.

—

thanks to a gift from both of my bosses, i had the most pleasant experience at renew organic day spa today. i went in for an ancient body ritual and absolutely loved it. missy gave my whole body a good scrubbing, a deep, relaxing massage, coated me in shea butter, wrapped me up and then let it soak in for about 10 minutes. oh man, my skin has never felt so soft before. it feels like i’ve molted. unfortunately renew is closing soon because one of the owners is retiring, but missy and shelley (the esthetician there who does a great job with eyebrow waxing) are opening up their own shop right across the street. i can’t wait to get a massage at the new place.

my hair won’t look like that anymore, but it will be somewhat close. my hair will be gathered more towards the bottom of my head so that the veil’s comb can be stuck into a hidden portion of my hair there for optimal birdcage veil positioning.

i’m still debating whether or not i should wear the flower at the ceremony since the veil is pretty busy already. and if i do want to wear the flower, is it okay to wear it on top of the veil and to the side of my head? i don’t think i want it sitting square on the back of my head where the comb will be placed. the flower is too “flat” for that (you can see that i tried that in the photo). i might just end up wearing the veil for the ceremony, taking it off, and then putting on the flower before the bridal party introductions and reception.

cory’s suit situation got worked out. he visited a tailor in town that we found through citypaper and she is making the men’s wearhouse suit work just fine. cory said she just put in a few pins and made the suit look incredible on him. she also took a look at the thrift store suit and said it would be fine to wear to more casual social situations, but that the men’s wearhouse suit was of good quality and should definitely be worn for a wedding. i’m so glad that’s taken care of. he’s picking it up on wednesday.

i’m worried about a petticoat i ordered online in the beginning of april. it still hasn’t come in and i need it, like, now. i gotta remember to give them a call first thing monday morning.

today we did a bunch of wedding shopping and i finally got down to business with some of the projects that needed to be taken care of. i stamped our jam jar favors after realizing burlap would not work on such tiny little jars (they’re only 1 oz):

and i stained the wooden numbers that will go on each of the reception tables:

we also found this little chalkboard we’ll be using in our makeshift photobooth so that people can write messages on it when getting their picture taken:

fun, right? jocelyn (our photographer) is helping us out by bringing her own big standing chalkboard to indicate that the photobooth is indeed a photobooth. it’s gonna be so cool.

i’ve been checking the weather as much as possible ever since i was able to access the ten-day forecast. here’s what was predicted when i checked it yesterday:

!!!

other things that are done: hair trial, makeup practice (i’ll be doing my own), seating arrangement (cory did a fantastic job) and the program and menu design. (will be printing those tomorrow. thanks, kat and whit!)

with exactly two weeks to go until the wedding, you can imagine there’s been a LOT going on. well, there has been. up until today we’ve both been keeping pretty calm about the whole thing, but now we’re starting to panic a little more whenever we think about how all the details are going to come together in the end (i think i’m the one panicking a little more, though). i keep having dreams (nightmares?) where i just show up at the wedding and wonder if anyone will notice that nothing is actually done yet. i really don’t like that i’m so worried about it when, in reality, no one will actually notice if one shade of green perfectly matches another shade of green. in the end i really just want everyone to have a good time.

our officiant has written up a really great ceremony that speaks to how important art has been in bringing cory and me together. susan has been so understanding of exactly the kind of ceremony we wanted. i’m really excited for it. now we just need to finish (okay, start) our vows and the ceremony will be ready to go.

oh man, yesterday the best thing happened. we were at the thrift store looking for fabrics for the makeshift photo booth our photographer is helping us put together (found a beautiful yellow sheet and a green berry patterned sheet). i started looking around at the housewares section when cory called me over to the suits. there was an almost exact replica of his current wedding suit, except in a darker grey. when he put it on we realized it fit him even better than the suit he has right now (there’s something wrong with the shoulders that we were going to ask the tailor about tomorrow). we decided to buy the thrift store suit just in case. and why not? it was only TEN FREAKIN’ DOLLARS. it’s seriously perfect on him and it looks 100% brand new. we’d just need to get it dry cleaned. i hope he ends up wearing it. how cool would that be?!

other random things we’ve taken care of: picked up our marriage license, wrote out the reception’s timeline (we threw tradition to the wind to make sure we had as much non-stop dancing as possible), attended my make-up trial, set up an appointment with our caterer and site manager to finalize tiny details, set up an appointment at the salon for a hair trial, dropped off the wood slices and mason jars at our florist’s workplace, purchased a bunch of accessories for both cory and myself (we tried really hard to find items at our local antique stores but came up with nothing) and finalized program and menu card designs. i also put in a last-minute order for a custom clutch purse on etsy! it can be frustrating to find something exactly as you’ve imagined it, so getting it custom made is sometimes the best solution. it usually turns out to be cheaper anyway and you’ll end up being a lot happier with it.

as for the website: we got rid of the “local activities” section. that is just not gonna happen. sorry!

With the brilliance of a shooting star,
Two artists lives merged from afar.
The union’s bond began to grow,
From a small cramped dwell we all did know.

Educations wisdom honed they’re skills,
Struggling Artists, love & two strong wills
Grew & grew for us to see
A union destined for infamy.

Two young artists, tough world to defeat,
Unified strength, together, complete.
You will win the life challenge test,
Grow, love, create, make our world better Struggling Artists

—

i am such a lucky girl. on friday luci, my boss at ladderback design, told me we needed to go to a client meeting in canton at 5 pm. when we walked into helen’s garden to meet the client, i was, instead, greeted by a smiling kat and whit (my boss and co-worker at gilah press + design) at one of the upstairs dinner tables. extremely confused, i took a quick look around and saw a huge box with a bow on it and a big bouquet of flowers next to that. a surprise bridal shower! again! of course i started crying since i was so flattered and taken aback. we talked and ate lots of amazing appetizers: hummus, shrimp al ajillo, fruit and fromage and gorgonzola artichoke spinach dip. each one was insanely tasty. a couple hours later and our boys came over to meet up with us. they enjoyed burgers while we sipped on many more glasses of red and white wine. my gift from kat and luci was a gift certificate for an ancient body ritual service at renew organic day spa. luci remembered how much i loved it at renew when i got my eyebrows and nails done there. here’s the description for the service:

This indulgent ritual begins with a traditional moisturizing body scrub to remove dry and damaged skin cells, while nourishing the deeper layers of healthy skin. Once your skin is polished to perfection, you will be guided into deep relaxation with a soothing massage. Next, a mask of herbs, spices, and essential oils will be applied to your entire body, followed by an aromatic skin moisturizing treatment.

sounds good, right? i’m definitely planning on doing the treatment close to the wedding day to help me escape a little.

and though beth (other co-worker at gilah press) couldn’t make it to the shower, she and whit had gone in together on the gift in the big box. when i unwrapped the first item i realized they had gotten me the 8″, 10″ and 12″ martha stewart porcelain cake stands that we wanted to use for the cupcakes at our wedding! they are so freakin’ pretty in person.

since our new friends chung and alex were nearby, jacob (whit’s husband) called them and asked if we could all come over and keep the fun going at his place. of course they were ready for us with more yummy drinks and poker. so awesome.

saturday was the day of our engagement session! it all began with an early morning blow dry/straighten at padma salon. next was a quick shopping trip to cloud 9 clothing where i picked up a cute new blue coat. then we had our engagement session with jocelyn of studio mathewes, our wedding photographer, up and down howard street, in lexington market, near the rita’s at the inner harbor and in and around downtown baltimore. it was cold and misty out but we managed to stick it out with smiles on our faces. she even managed to get a few of the photos online already before leaving for the week. they are SO beautiful. i can’t stop looking at them! check them out here! isn’t she the best? (oh, and that cute new blue coat was purchased specifically for these photos!)

—

random things:

we finally dropped our garments off at the tailor. my dress will be ready next tuesday and cory’s suit will be ready next wednesday. that was the biggest thing i was worried about, and i’m so glad both of those things are being taken care of so quickly.

i had a makeup consultation last friday. it was very fun and educational. i’ve been putting makeup on everyday because it’s too easy not to, especially since it makes a huge difference!

i have a few emails to respond to (the florist, officiant, and DJ are all waiting to hear from me!), so i’m hoping to get back to all of them before the end of the day friday. i also need to call the caterer and clear up some additional confusion regarding setup/breakdown times. it’s the little things that have started to get to me. i just need to take a deep breath, tell myself to stop being so lazy and get them out of the way!