10.19.09 = one month!

it's been a blissful month. tim + i were talking last night about how being married doesn't seem unnatural at all. it feels like (almost) nothing changed, because the transitions from singlehood, to dating, to engagement, to marriage have been so timely... so right.

anyhow, i thought it was time to post some photos from the wedding. these were all taken by my dear friend, kim howe. she + her husband live in chicago. kim + i have been friends since high school + it made the day feel so much more complete to have her there, sharing in it with us.

if you were at the wedding + took pictures, we would LOVE to see them. please email them to ldkieffer@gmail.com. we'd so appreciate it!

tim + honor corps member, bud cushing

walking in to the church + looking quite handsome

the hair + beauty ninja, briana stone

she gives fantastic hair treatments at

euphoria salon in st. paul

http://www.euphoriasalon.info/

i'm so not the photogenic type

mama k, kim k + mama roth, laughing it up

mom heaner in the background, waiting her turn with the hair ninja

the prettier half of our pro-photographer team

tamrah ryan

check out their work at http://ctryan.com/blog

me + my pretty mama

she looked so fantastic because she IS so fantastic (and hot!)

the programs

they look like letters because tim + i have written so many to each other over the course of our relationship

the confetti was made from antique magazines + construction manuals

the birds were made from antique sheet music

that originally belonged to lisa's aunt whitney's mother

(her name was hayden)

the door + window were salvaged from old building

originally, tim was going to build a chuppah

it's a jewish wedding element that is meant to signify

God's covering over the couple

the home that they will build together

the four open walls of the chuppah

signify the couple welcoming others into their love

and inviting them under the covering of God

we didn't have time to build one... so the window + door are a stand-in

the communion table

the two books are the one tim used to propose to me

and an old leather-bound volume of poetry

that we found on one of our bookshop haunts

the flowers are three different varieties of cosmos, my favorite flower
tim planted, tended them + picked these for me on our wedding day

honor corps members + sisters

kimberly kieffer

melody oaks

so pretty. and this photo is just way too typical of them!

honor corps members

melody oaks

bridgitte showell

again... with the gorgeousness

this is the breathless bride, waiting to walk down the aisle

from this point, everything was a beautiful, joy-infused blur

walking to meet The One

mom + dad met me at the end of the aisle

mom lifted my poorly-attached drop veil and...

WHOOPS!

off it came!

we had a good laugh... i'm not sure that anyone else even saw what happened.

taking a moment to take in

all the faces of our loved ones.

we are so lucky!

tim + i (with the help of mike, the pastor)

wrote every single word of the service

(except the pastor's charge to us + when he went "off script")

even the repeat-after-the-pastor vows

every single moment of that day was so full of meaning

this was part of that "off script" moment...

and, in my mind,

one of the most significant parts of the ceremony

i cry every time i think about it.

the ring

the kiss

SO happy.

cheesy married grins

man + wife!

costumes for the photo booth

one of the many board games available for our guests

flower arrangements by wedding warriors

abbey von gohren

robbie lewis

kari holmes

table arrangements by wedding warrior

rachel cushing

all the books, vases + candle holders were purchased

at thrift stores, yard sales or borrowed from friends

part of the dessert buffet

because what's a wedding without tootsie pops?

our "guestbook"
guests were asked to put a pin (with a little note)

in a spot that was special to them

we'll have the pinned-up version hanging in our living room.

all the notes will be pasted into our wedding album

the photo family tree

five generations of our history

the wedding favors were mix cd's

tim + i made about a jillion of these for each other while he was living in ohio

we thought we'd pass along some of the music we like best

the long hallway from the sanctuary to the reception hall

lined with borrowed mason jars that served as luminaries

it was a perfect evening.

perfect.

dotting the t's and crossing the i's

only ten days left. i'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around that spectacular fact. maybe i don't need to wrap my brain around it so much as i ought to just ride the wave.

i've completed just about everything that can possibly be completed ahead of time. still working on the programs. sewing up a few loose ends (literally + figuratively).

i had my "wedding hair trial" the other day with the always fabulous briana. we darkened my hair just a touch + came up with some truly amazing ideas (i didn't know you could DO that with hair in general, much less my hair in specific). i love briana. she's a hair ninja + a fantastically fun individual.

the family tree is finished, as is the "guestbook." we've got costumes galore for the photobooth (though i am still looking for a remote shutter button -- i'm so out of it, i can't even remember the real name of the thing). board games - check. books - check. a mind-boggling array of bud vases, mason jars, votive holders, lanterns, hurricanes, teacups and candles - check. myriad friends baking up all kinds of yumminess - check, check + check.

last saturday, some of the wedding warriors and i set out for the lyndale farmer's market with one objective: pick out the flowers + get them ordered. little did i know how complicated this seemingly insignificant task would prove. abbey, robbie and kari were amazing, though (no surprise there), and we came up with the most beautiful ideas. let me be the first to say: if you can possibly get away with it, buy all your wedding flowers at the farmer's market. we picked out everything we wanted... no scrimping whatsoever + the total was still surprisingly low. i can't wait to see how everything turns out. i have such amazing friends.

OH! i can't believe i forgot to mention this: tim started his new (old) job on tuesday. he was promptly dispatched on a three-day trip to fargo, minot + several other points west. it's a little silly to me that i can spend so much time with the guy but still instantly miss him the moment he's gone. anyway... he has a job. a good one. thank you, God, for your provision + timing!

on sunday we sat down with mike spencer, who will be performing the ceremony, and wrote out the whole service. every single word. well, you know... with the exception of the homily + the charge to the couple. mike has to (i mean, GETS to) come up with that on his own. it was such fun working on our vows. after we had pieced them all together, i asked tim to read them back to me so i could copy them down in one spot. of course, i started just crying. every single word is so chock full of meaning. not only that, but i honestly mean every single word with every cell in my body. it's not like, "yeah... i guess i can agree with that." it's like, "HECK YES! HECK YES! HECK YES!" no holds barred. no shrinking uncertainty. just joy + excitement + hope + peace.

yes, i'm finally beginning to think that everything might just fall into place... yes. yes, indeed.

just because it's friday...

i thought i'd post some lovelies to celebrate the end of the longest week in the history of the world. good grief, i'm glad it's friday!

enjoy...

okay... so, normally i'm opposed to cutting up perfectly good books.

but some of mine are beginning to show mold spots.

this would be a lovely way to repurpose them

rather than just throwing them away.

plus, come on... seriously?

books + plants = gorgeous

the most adorable garden stationery suite i've ever seen.

+ wouldn't that butterfly bouquet be PERFECT for a flower girl?

* sigh *

so lovely + whimsical.

i love the shapeliness + simplicity of the vases + the white

so airy.

original cake ideas rock.

this is tim's IDEAL wedding cake.

such a fun idea!

trees are old friends.

wouldn't it be fantastic to be able to pull something like this off

at an indoor venue?

long, swirly veils = love

this is going to be us in less than a month + a half!

happy weekend!!!

hot, sunny days = pent up creativity

it's a beautiful day in minneapolis. sunny + 85 (it was 30 three nights ago).

i want to be outside. by a lake. on a blanket. drawing or reading. sunglasses at the ready (to reduce the white-paged glare that often disturbs the outdoor reading/writing/drawing thing).

instead, i'm auditing claim after claim in a stuffy office building. the office atmosphere isn't stuffy... just the air in the building. i am grateful to have a job. but... there are honestly days where i'd rather be doing anything else.

so to stave off i'm-stuck-at-the-office blues, i'm posting some ideas that i stumbled upon during the weekend. hope you enjoy!

i really like the color scheme + bell jars. the old clock is adorable.

yummy summer-y treats!

i think i'll do something akin to the image on the left

with the tall cocktail tables at my reception.

though, i'll use a different color ribbon...

hello?

vegetables as centerpieces = genius

*sigh*

my friend, abbey, sent me this photo + the next

of some lovely summer arrangements she made.
love.

love, love.

love, love, love, love...

LOVE!