Recap of the wedding:
I posted this to Facebook on July 16, 2024.
"Alright. Here is the post everyone has been waiting for. Probably.
Ben and I had about two years to plan this wedding, so we had lots of time to think about the details we wanted to include for our special day.
Ben has had my ring since 2016. This was three years into our relations, and we moved in together that same year. He told me my ring has been hiding in both our houses we shared and his mother's house in Bonney Lake. During those years, he feared that I would find it...but I didn't. He also hid it very well, but I also didn't look for it.
Ben chose his ring. Both rings came from JC Penney's.
Asking my Dad: Ben wanted to be respectful and yes, he did as my Dad if he could marry me after they went shooting at the gun range near Maytown. My Dad said yes, but you (Ben and I) were not moving in with them (my parents). My Dad has a dry sense of humor.
The proposal: He worked with the historical society in Leavenworth and several local geocachers in the area to set up an Adventure Lab. It was five different locations where I would have to answer questions on my phone to get certain letter and once, I collected them all, it would spell out a phrase. We took a couple days off of work into the weekend, and we traveled on over to Leavenworth. We stayed in a cabin next to the Icicle River, ate food and explored town. The scrambled letters spelled out, Will You Marry Me? He got down on one knee and presented me with the ring and a heartfelt speech. It was adorable. I said yes, we celebrated with beer and some more geocaching.
I proposed to Ben at the Cougar statue outside of Martin Stadium in Pullman this past spring. Of course, he said yes.
From there, we planned out everything on an easel that somehow made its way into my possession that came from Amy and Josh before they moved to Pennsylvania.
The venue we chose: The Barn on Jackson. It was within our budget, it was close to home (very close for some of our guests), it had an AirBnB on site (which we took full advantage of, including the swimming pool, lol), and the venue included many perks such as a warehouse packed with decorations, we also took advantage of. The could who owned both places were very accommodating and showed up to help us when we had questions.
Bridesmaids and groomsmen: Both Ben and I struggled here. We had lots of friends to choose from. We originally were going to do four but ended up choosing three on each side instead. Since I have a sister, I picked Erika to be my maid of honor. She was surprised that I picked her and not one of my friends. I wasn't going to let her off the hook. Haha. Sadly, Ben doesn't have a brother, so he picked his good friend Josh, who he met at the casino while they worked there.
My bridesmaids were Nicole and originally Lindsay, but life changed, and I was able to go with Megan, who was going to be my fourth bridesmaid, but we weren't sure if shew as going to be able to do it. I was extremely happy when she was able to do it on such short notice.
Ben's groomsmen were Michael and Del. Both were excited to be a part of Ben's big day.
We thank each of you for accepting the roles because we did have wayyyy too much fun. Dollar bills and lap dances for days!
The colors: green and blue. Ben wouldn't let me have crimson and gray, so I agreed to green and blue. They were Seahawk and Sounders colors and fell into the pacific northwest tapestry. Blue sky and water and green trees.
The theme and decorations: outdoor, woods, hiking, camping and exploring. This is why there were geocaches, wood rounds, pinecones and greenery from trees spread all over the venue. We also put some of our personal touches on some of the decorations such as the photos of us throughout the years, Ben's fire helmet, WSU, the college I went to and remembering our loved ones who would have loved to attend our wedding but sadly couldn't.
Erika made the bouquets. I didn't want real flowers.
The invites: we didn't want to spend a ton of money on these, so we got ours made at Walmart. I bought the envelopes on Amazon and made the RSVP cards with cardstock, an ink pad and borrowed the address stamp from Mom. The postage stamps we got at Costco. We though the RSVP postcards fit our personalities to a "T". I know many of you loved them.
The guest book and guest stickers: we wanted a unique guest book. Jericho made us our guest book and we had everyone sign it with paint markers. Please let us know if you didn't get a chance to sign it. We can make it happen if you are local. I made stickers for people to take home as a souvenir. If you didn't get one and want one, make sure you let us know.
The suits, dress and shoes: we chose navy because they looked good as suits with the emerald accents. My dress came from Macy's, I spent $40 on it. The bottom hem of my dress was a piece from my Mom's wedding dress she wore in 1982. I borrowed Erika's veil. The tennis shoes were something Ben and I planned on doing very early in the wedding discussions.
The cake/cupcakes, cake stand, the Funko pops and the hatchet: we ordered the cake and cupcakes from Brooks Baked Goods out of Onalaska. I found it hilarious because the cake and cupcakes came from the town of one of my most hated rivals in high school. Ben made the cake stand with his friend Jericho and was very proud of his craftsmanship. I saw that the Funko's had wedding themed characters, so I created the best versions of ourselves with our kitties, with the options that we had. The hatchet was almost a last-minute decision. We had the cake server but nothing to cut it with. Ben jokingly said, let's cut it with a hatchet! I told him, I've never been to a wedding where they cut the cake with a hatchet. Let's do it! Plus, it went with the outdoor theme.
The photographers: PNW Nemeths. They are a couple out of Portland, Oregon. We loved their portfolio.
I had my Grandma Karen make us a table runner for our table. I went shop hopping with her and Mom two years ago and I saw some fabric with trees on it that I wanted to use in the wedding. Plus, I wanted to involve Grandma in some way. It turned out fabulous.
The jewelry: I wore the pearls that my Mom had Josh (Amy's Josh) bring back from Bangladesh some years ago on his travels with the military. I borrowed Ben's mom's pearl bracelet I wore on my left wrist.
The ceremony reserved chairs: we also had an underlying theme, honoring where you came from. I spent a few months gathering items our loved ones who passed away, owned, touched or used. We wanted them to be with us at our ceremony because they were people who made us who we are today. On my side I had lost my Grandpa Doug in a horrific car accident back in the late 1970's. I was not able to meet him. I had his bible sitting in the spot he should have been in. I lost Grandpa Dennis in the fall of 2022 and snagged one of his many button up flannel shirts he wore. That was draped on the back of where he should have been sitting. The bright yellow jacket that Grammie wore out (I think she's had that jacket since the late 1980's) was draped on the back of her chair she was supposed to be sitting in. We lost her late summer 2018 and she would have loved this wedding.
On Ben's side, he chose one of his dad's many concert shirts, specifically the Motley Crew one, that he draped on the back of the chair he was supposed to be in. He and Ben shared many concerts together. His Grandpa Chuck was a golfer, and we had a par of golf gloves where he was supposed to be sitting. Grandma Bonnie loved teddy bears. His aunt Shelly gave us one of her many bears to keep to remember her by. Her bear sat in chair she was supposed to be. His Grandpa James, also passed away in the 1970's, Ben did not get to meet him. We had one of his bowling trophies sitting in the spot he should have been in. A pillow cover with a rose on it, was his Grandma Rose's item that sat where she was supposed to be. Ben thought it was a great idea to include them in the wedding.
Ben's hair, my hair and make up: we would like to personally thank Celeste for doing our hair and make up. I have known her for many years, and I am a client at her salon in Olympia. In fact, most of the people I know go see her when they need a new do, a color or a brow wax. She does a great job and needs to be celebrated!
The food: we love BBQ and Ben found a caterer through Jericho. I thought Paul and his company, The Original Northwest BBQ Company, did a great job and the food was delicious. Ben and I provided the fruit as an extra option.
The drinks: the beef came from Dick's Brewing in Centralia. It was local and easy to pick up. We had two kinds of beer, a pale ale and a red. The white wine came from Total Wine and the cranberry came from the Westport Winery where Ben's mom's friend works. The soda, seltzer and water came from Costco.
My drink: I really didn't want to drive to Seattle to get some of the Cougar beef: Ol' Crimson Legendary Lager. I was so thankful The White Horse Tavern in Yelm had some two weeks before the wedding. I immediately grabbed Mom and we drove to Yelm to get a can or two.
The ceremony: it was very important to me that Willmarth did our ceremony. He is a huge part of my life, and I wanted him to be included in our wedding. I am so happy he agreed to do our ceremony. It was perfect.
I was super nervous the entire time I was up there. I am not the center of attention, and I do not do well speaking in front of people. The fact that I held it together that well was utterly amazing.
The songs: we had Willmarth and the wedding party pick out what song they wanted to walk into the ceremony with. Ben chose his, which was Kickstart My Heart, by Motley Crew and I went with the piano version of the WSU fight song. My Cougar friends and fans thought it was awesome and so did I.
The vows: I kid you not, we kept our vows a secret from each other. The only person who read them beforehand was his mom. It was so uncanny how similar they were. I had to use my L&I telephone voice to annunciate, so I did not rush through it, and you could understand what I was saying. I hope you all enjoyed them.
The speeches: Ben's best man, Josh, was the only one who prepared his speech. The rest of the party and extra people in the crowd decided to wing it. Even though my brother and sister started off their speech by stating I was a jerk as a kid wasn't too far off because most siblings as kids are jerks to each other. It did make me tear up when they both told me that I was reliable and there for them when they needed it the most. I looked out to the crowd when they said that and saw that several people nodded their head. I had to really try to keep myself composed. Just so everyone knows, Ben's sister is autistic and has a hard time articulating words and feelings out loud. Ben does not touch his sister. It came out wrong and it was intended to be said like that.
The choreographed dance: This was another thing that I was super nervous about. I am not a dancer. Ben wanted to do this one thing, and I learned it for him. It took 3-4 months of learning each move to all of the songs. We wanted to incorporate some of our favorite genres and different dance styles. When I grabbed my Dad to dance with him, he was like, I haven't danced in a really long time. this is nice. Ben said when he danced with his mom, both he and she had a hard time not crying. Yes, we learned the Powerline Dace to A Goofy Movie. It is one of our favorite movies growing up in the 90's.
The DJ: Early in the wedding process, we learned that Nicole's stepdad was a DJ. We booked Solid Sound DJ right away. He and Barb did a great job, and we had a ton of fun dancing. If you need a DJ for an event or wedding, hit them up.
The bartenders: We asked Randy and Issac to be our bartenders and from what it sounds like, everyone enjoyed getting drinks from them. A huge thank you to you guys for putting in the time to help us with drinks.
The guests: You are all very special people to us, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you were able to be there with us on a day we have been looking forward to for years. I had a great time visiting, catching up and talking to as many of you as I possibly could. I apologize if I was not able to make it to your table or your group. As the bride, I was being pulled in many different directions at once. I appreciate every single one of you who made the travel plans to come to our wedding to be with us. We had guests who live minutes away to guest who lived across the country.
For those of you who could not make it, we get that life throws a lot of curve balls and things happen. I hope we are able to catch up soon in a different setting when you are able to.
What I learned about planning and having a wedding:
It is extremely hard to plan an event for 150-200 guests. I am only good at planning for maybe 20 at most.
Life throws you surprises and so do your friends and family.
Ben and I wish that our grandparents and his dad could have been there. It was the only sad moment of the day.
Things aren't perfect and just go with the flow. Our cake melted on top of the cake stand. I didn't let it bother me because it was just cake.
Trust the process and the people helping you. Thank you, Shari, for coming and helping set up the day before. Thank you, Heather and Eliane, for contributing your part during the weekend. We appreciate you!
Enjoy the day because I sure did. You all saw Ben's smile the entire day.
That I should have actually slept the night before instead of worrying about everything. Yes, I got two hours of sleep, and I ran on adrenaline most of my wedding day.
Don't trust the weather forecast. They said it was going to be 82 and it turned out to be 90 by the end of the day. I apologize if I gave you a sweaty hug.
Accept compliments. The selfie that Ben took before the ceremony and posted it on Facebook. After he posted it, I asked him, who is that girl in the picture with you? I added, we've never seen her before, she looks pretty good!
Thank you everyone for the nice compliments, I sure appreciated them. Plus, I know all of you have never seen me done up like that and I told Ben jokingly, that many people will come just to see me done up and in a dress.
Two funny things: When my Dad first saw me, he looked at me and said, you look like a tennis player. I laughed really hard and said, well, isn't Wimbledon being played right now?
When my Dad saw Doug's outfit for the first time (you will see it in the family pictures when we get them from our photographers) he said, Doug looks like an 80's coke dealer. I just died laughing. I had not seen him before he said that. Once I did, you could not unsee it.
Lastly, thank you all so much for making our day awesome!
Next Adventure: The Wedding Process
