Because 2 days is never enough.

A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of attending Kate and Eric’s wedding in Massachusetts.  One of the coolest things about the wedding, to me, was that most of their guests were put to work decorating, setting tables, tying ribbons.  The wedding made me feel like I was raising a barn.  In fact, whenever I see them, I feel oddly, and inappropriately, like I’m slightly responsible for their successful marriage (of course, this has nothing to do with me, but still).

So, when I was trying to decide if it was appropriate to put our friends to work for our wedding, I thought about how good it felt to be so hands on at Kate and Eric’s wedding. In the end, we were shameless about exploiting our ridiculously talented friends and family. Either our friends are amazing actors, or they were actually happy to help.  Honestly, no wedding gift could have meant more to me than the creative labors of our nearest and dearest.

Drum roll please:

Save the Dates:  My brother, Ethan, is an awesome illustrator. Since we were little kids, he’s had a style of drawing that I love. He creates these crazy, detailed drawings with all sorts of little objects interacting in surprising ways. Looking at them is like going on a scavenger hunt.  He drew a piece for our save the dates that pulled together all kinds of things that made him think of Karl and me. It was so well done, but also so sweet and funny. It is currently framed in our house and we keep discovering new elements. I seriously love my brother.  And if you ever need any illustration, he’s totally your man.

Invites: Debi is one of the most creative people I know. Sometimes I feel like everything she touches turns to gold. Check out her Etsy site here.  We planned the wedding pretty quickly, so the invites were one of the first things we did and really set the tone for the rest of the wedding. We talked about wanting something with a vintage feel, like old office supplies at a flea market.  And Debi, in all her genius, stumbled upon a true treasure: an old telegram.

This was the inspiration for our awesome invitations. They seemed so unique, but so appropriate for the vibe of our wedding.
Debi is brilliant and if you ever want a museum exhibit, a knitted creature, or some graphic design, call her. Seriously.  (images to come)  My mom also donated all the printing in her shop in Santa Barbara, which was so awesome.

Guestbook:  Tyler is an artist, and art teacher, and a great friend. He used to be a regular at our dinner table and now that he’s moved to Portland, we rarely get to see him. For our wedding, he created the most unique and beautiful guest book I have ever seen, really.  I was so impressed I almost didn’t want people to write in it!

 Flowers: Jackie is one of those jack-of-all trades kind of ladies, to the point that it is actually humbling to be around her. Every time you talk to her you’re like, “wha?? she’s also a ship captain???” So, anyway, luckily for us among this girl’s endless supply of skills is flower arranging.  She took me down to the wholesale flower market a bunch of times and taught me all about flowers: what’s in season, what looks good together, how to get a good price, etc. Flowers are, it turns out, finicky friends – the need all sorts of loving to look just right on their big day. So there was Jackie, tirelessly pampering the flowers in our living room, setting me up with spray bottles and flower food, instructions, buckets; later she made the most beautiful bouquet and awesome table arrangments. I couldn’t have been happier with the flowers, they were so beautiful.  Also, I learned a ton, and didn’t end up in scary wedding industry land, spending a fortune and getting bullied.

Photos: Shane may be the nicest person I ever met. He literally saves kittens, that nice. On top of that, he’s also a sick cinematographer and photographer.  Of everyone I know, he may be the one who loves what he does most.  He’s constantly on the run working on amazing projects. So, the fact that he shot our wedding was unbelievable. He was so generous, offering to shoot all day, so understated, so patient. Of all of our rad helpers, he was the only one who’s contribution may have interfered with his enjoyment of our wedding. However, he did manage to write a sweet country song at the bar. You should ask him about it.   So I hope that means he had fun.

Cake:  Mindy, in all her awesome baking glory actually managed to bake us a three tiered wedding cake. First off all, that seems like a engineering feat beyond measure, second of all, oh.my.god was it delicious. It was ginger with ginger cream cheese frosting (I don’t like chocolate and am a huge pain to bake for).  We wrapped up the third tier to eat on our first wedding anniversary (which is seriously incentive to stave off divorce for at least a year). But every day I come home expecting to find Karl peering out of the freezer with a guilty look on his face and ginger cream cheese frosting across his cheeks. That’s how yummy is was.

Lots of other friends pitched in, making phone calls, play lists, giving toasts, carrying things around. It was such a good feeling.

Thanks one and all.

love.