Pretty Pretty Bridal Pictures

So many of the photos that Claire took are the best pictures I've ever seen of myself, so I guess I do get say that I was darn pretty for our wedding!

This picture is one of my favorites and don't let the photo fool you, that horse was HUGE!

These last two are my probably my absolute favorites because they make me think of the beginning of a fairy tale.  Love them!

Slow-Cooker Sundays: Turkey Chili & Cornbread

So this is actually the first time I've ever made chili from scratch and it turned out pretty well! It had just the right amount of spice and flavor but it lacked body, if that makes any sense. I based my recipe off of the Cuisinart Slow-Cooker Cookbook, but made some changes based on the things we like and don't like. I keep reading that "real chili" doesn't have beans in it, but that's always been my favorite part! You can't have chili without cornbread and honey butter, so we took this recipe from Gluten Free Girl and altered it just a bit.  Recipes are below...

Turkey Chili

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 lbs ground turkey thigh meat
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/4 medium sweet onions, chopped
1/6 cup chili powder
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground allspice
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp ground oregano
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can of kidney beans
1 green bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch squares
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp fresh ground sea salt

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook until browned.
Transfer turkey and any remaining liquid in pan to the slow-cooker pot.
Add and heat remaining 2 tbsp olive oil to the skillet on medium heat.
Add the garlic and onion to the skillet and cook until translucent and softened.
Add chili powder, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, coriander, oregano, and ginger to the skillet and heat on low heat until fragrant.
Transfer the onion mixture to the slow-cooker pot.
Add and stir in the diced tomatoes, green pepper, chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, bay leaf, and sea salt to the slow-cooker pot.
Cover and set the slow-cooker for 6 hours at low heat.


Gluten Free Cornbread
From Gluten Free Girl's Website - with my changes in Blue

1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup corn flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup yellow cornmeal


Preheat the oven to 425°.
Combine the flours by sifting them into a large bowl. Add the remaining dry ingredients and stir.
Combine the eggs, melted butter, and coconut milk in a small bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid. Stir with a rubber spatula until everything is combined.
Stir in the cornmeal, whisking fast, until it is just combined. Do not over stir.
Pour into a greased 9 by 9 by 2-inch pan. Slide it into the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sides of the cornbread are slightly shrinking from the pan and a toothpick comes out clean.

Getting Ready - On the Brides Side

So I can't do my own hair in any special way, in fact I don't even know how how to really use a curling iron.  Our wedding coordinator found Alisa from Heidi's Studio and she did a great job with what I wanted.

I did however do my own makeup after taking a lesson at the Source Spa & Salon in Ballard.  And I actually did a great job!

Us ladies all ended up being ready about 40 minutes early so we had some time to relax and eat some guacamole and chips.  We hung around in the kimono style cotton robes that I purchased for us all from Pretty Plum Sugar.

I also got to spend some time with my mom, which was absolutely wonderful.  She was a very helpful and calming influence in the morning, which I am so appreciative of.  What a great mom!

She helped me get all zipped up and set in my dress, which I'm sure wasn't as complicated as most wedding dresses, but it still required zipping assistance.

Overall, it was a very easy and relaxing morning.  We did have over 40 minutes of downtime after getting ready.  I felt sort of anxious the whole time because I just wanted things to start moving.

My Awesome Dress & Gear

I got my awesome dress custom made by Amanda Archer. It was a long process (if you remember the original sketch was quite different) but in the end it turned out absolutely perfect!  I wanted a dress that I could really dance in and twirl.  The color is also more of a cream then a white and that band in the middle is a midnight blue. At the bottom is one layer of custom tulle as well. 

For the ceremony, I wore Reef flip flops.  The ladies had the same ones but with brown straps rather than cream colored.

I didn't wear a vail and the only thing I wore in my hair was a single blue cornflower made out of an ultralight clay that was custom designed and made by Midori Designs.

After dinner I changed into some flats to prepare for dancing.  I found these on sale at DSW, they were so cute and comfortable and just a little flashy!

Our Wedding Rings

We got our wedding rings from the same place that my engagement ring was from, Brilliant Earth. Both are recycled platinum and hammered.  My ring has a line of Australian sapphires set in a channel.

Our Flowers

Our wedding coordinator recommended our florist, Floral Design by Reina, to us and we couldn't have been happier with her!  Reina was incredibly generous with us and our budget, had amazing ideas, and ended up saving the day when things didn't work out as planned.

After we got engaged and started thinking about flowers, the only thing we knew we wanted for sure was pampas grass, and then we got some other ideas that we posted about here and here. And I knew for sure that I didn't want a big poofy bridal bouquet because I'm not really big on flowers to begin with. Reina was able to come up with some great ideas and flowers we had never heard of.

And then it was the night of our rehearsal dinner and our wedding coordinator, Beth, had a phone call for us from Reina. Poor Reina had to explain to us that due to the unusually cold weather she wasn't able to get the California poppies and blue cornflowers that we had wanted.  But, she had already come up with a back-up plan which even involved altering some other blue flowers to individually look like the blue cornflowers.

To be honest, when we got the call and Reina explained what had happened, it was totally disappointing.  And when the flowers arrived the next day, it was a little disappointing not to see the flowers we had pictured for our wedding. But in the end it totally didn't matter and I certainly was not thinking about our flowers while I was eating our delicious food or dancing my heart out on the dance floor!

Our Photo Booth

We had an idea that we wanted to do a photo booth at the wedding, specifically to give our guests a fun little activity to spend some time at during the reception.  However, this was something that really didn't come together too well until just before the wedding.

It all started with the gorgeous wedding quilt that my mom made us.  We wanted to display it and do something special with it at the reception.

We also happen to own a GoPro camera that we were able to set up and program to take still images every 10 seconds.  It has a bit of a fish-eye lens to it as well, so it gives a funny picture.

Trying to figure out a way to set it up was a challenge until a very obvious solution dawned on us.  We bought a bamboo garment rack back when we first moved to Seattle because we didn't have any closets. Since we moved into our new place, we've just been storing it down in the garage.  So we set up the rack and then zip tied a long wooden dowl to the top of the rack and then just hung the quilt over the top.  The quilt is big enough for a California King bed, so it has plenty of weight on it.

On a whim, I ordered some paper cut-out glasses from the Little Retreats Etsy Store and I'm so happy we did.  They were adorable and so much fun!  It was fun to see in the pictures which ones were the most popular.

The last piece of the puzzle was a little instructional sign.  We wrote, designed, and printed it ourselves and then placed it in same sign holders that we created out of driftwood gathered on the Washington State coast.

Stay tuned for a post with all of the wonderful photos that we got out of our photo booth!