After a bit of a hiatus to MOVE into our new house — which is still a major work in progress — I’m back to share more about our wedding day! Today is all about the details in getting ready for the day — what we wore, etc!
At our venue, Armstrong Farms Fieldstone, they have a farm house on the property where you stay for the whole weekend, which made things so much more relaxing! We woke up, got some coffee brewing, and my sisters headed out to a local cafe for more coffee and breakfast as I ran over to the venue to finish a few finishing touches on decor. My only task for when they got back was to shower and dry my hair — EASY! Then my wonderful photographer (Amanda Brisco Photography) arrived along with my best friend, Lex, and we got going with making ourselves beautiful!
My main focus for my wedding was staying true to me, which meant COZY and relaxed — SIMPLE! This meant a dress that was easy to maneuver in and super soft, a natural makeup look, comfy shoes, and simple accessories.
Here are a few photos of the girls getting ready at the Fieldstone House on the same property as the venue. I got each of the girls (and the mothers) all matching hoodies from my favorite hoodie company, Evy’s Tree (the style is the Ava in Lilac — not currently available), to wear while getting ready, along with handmade mugs for coffee in the morning (with some added Bailey’s, of course)!
My sister, Lauren, did my hair, and my best friend, Lex, did my makeup, which made getting ready slightly nerve-wracking for them but nice and relaxing for me!
My dress was from BHLDN (exact dress here — it’s no longer available), and my headpiece was from Etsy. We all wore TOMS to stay comfortable through the day — theirs had a darker turquoise background full of sparkle with light teal crochet details (similar to these), and mine were a lighter minty teal lace (the exact shoe is here, but no longer available on the TOMS website).
My earrings I borrowed from Alex’s grandma (Gramma V — who has a wonderful jewelry collection), and the pearl necklace turned bracelet was Alex’s great-grandmother’s.
Alex and I designed both my engagement ring and wedding ring together along with his mom, and the awesome jeweler at Benvenuto’s Jewelers locally here in Maryland brought our vision to life. This was a labor of love for us, as each part means something — the diamond in my engagement ring was given to Alex by Alex’s late grandfather, and the braided band style of my ring was based off a ring my mom had in college that I LOVE. We chose Alexandrite as the stones because they change colors based on the light, from blue to purple to turquoise, which are all of our favorites, and HELLO, it’s named for Alex, duh! 😉 We also used a couple little diamonds in my wedding band to make it match my engagement ring.
Alex’s ring took us a while to settle on what he wanted — he originally wanted Tungsten, but he didn’t like the bright shine of the light silver color. We ended up picking a black ceramic ring from TC Rings that has a color changing inlay — blues, purples, and teals — so it goes with my rings nicely.
Here was the tutorial I found for inspiration for my hair — my sister did it perfectly, and it went so well with my headpiece placed over top.
For makeup, here’s a list of products we used — Lex and I combined our makeup arsenals to create my look — we were going for as natural as possible:
Urban Decay Pore Perfecting Primer (discontinued, closest primer is the De-Slick Complexion Primer)
Too Faced Born This Way Foundation in Snow (yes, I am the palest color, haha!!)
Becca Pressed Highlighter in Opal
Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder
it Cosmetics Blush and Bronzer
Urban Decay Naked3 Eyeshadow Palette — we used the colors nooner and liar for my crease
Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow Palette — we used the color half baked on my lid
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Zephyr — we used this for my brow bone, corner of eye, and along my water line
Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Interstellar — we used this over half baked on my lid
Morphe 35S-35 Color Smoky Eyeshadow Palette — we used the light pink to go over half baked and under interstellar on my lid
Urban Decay Brow Beater Brow Pencil in dark
Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel in 03 medium
Revlon Colorstay Eye Liner in Black/Brown — my ALL TIME favorite eyeliner ever
L’Oreal Paris Voluminous Feline Mascara in Black/Brown — needed something waterproof!
Too Faced Melted Matte Lipstick in holy chic! — we used this for a base layer of lipstick
Colour Pop Ultra Matte Lip in times square — we used this for my top layer of lipstick! The holy chic! softened the times square slightly so it didn’t look too crazy, since I don’t generally wear lipstick
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
…now that I list that all out, it looks kinda crazy for a girl that doesn’t often wear makeup!! 😛
While I was getting ready, they presented me with a book of letters that my sister, Jenny, organized. It contained letters from all the ladies in my life giving me advice or sharing memories to prepare me for my wedding day — letters from my friends, family, and even my first grade teacher!
I actually did NOT get to read it while I was getting ready because we were a little pressed for time, but I’ll be honest, I’m glad I didn’t read it right then — those letters made me both laugh and cry a little too much to continue to be presentable, haha!
My mom, grandmas, Alex’s mom, and my aunt all piled into the room to watch me open it, and instead they ended up just watching Lex do my makeup, which I’m sure was not nerve wracking at ALL for Lex to have such an audience, haha!!
For the girls’ dresses, I gave them only two requirements — grey and lace. Jenny picked a sheath dress from BHLDN in a darker grey, and Lauren and Lex both picked dresses from JCrew in a lighter grey. I had them do their hair however they wanted, and the same went for jewelry and any accessories. I only cared about the dress and shoes!
For the boys, we asked them to each wear a medium grey suit and whatever dress shoes they already owned, and surpringly, they all ended up having matching suits! We got them all shirts and ties from Men’s Wearhouse so those would coordinate. They all wore the Awearness Kenneth Cole Lavender Slim Fit Dress Shirt. The groomsmen wore Pronto Uomo blue ties and Alex wore a Pronto Uomo purple plaid tie. Alex’s suit is a 3-piece vested suit from the Men’s Wearhouse own brand, and his shoes are Clark’s.
For the ceremony, I wore a beautiful shawl that I purchased in Denmark last summer that had a white background with blue and purple flowers. I am SO in love with it and was prepared to wear it the whole day, expecting rainy and chilly weather. The sun ended up being out the whole day, so I only wore it for the ceremony and then removed it.
Lex wore a shawl that we got for my sister, Lauren’s wedding back in November from Target, and Jenny and Lauren wore their hoodies through the night. 🙂
So there you have it, all about getting ready and what we wore! Next up is FLOWERS and decor!
For other wedding posts, here is the complete list:
Overview
Stationary
Getting Ready and What We Wore
Flowers + Decor
Food + Drinks
Ceremony + Music
Favors