Liz & Jimmy's Wedding - March 2, 2013

Congratulations to Liz and Jimmy Buckley, who were married last month!  I can't believe it's been that long already!  Here are some pictures from the ceremony and reception - and the prep:

Christina hard at work

Christina and I went early to help the girls get ready - 3 bridesmaids, 2 moms, an aunt, the bride, and the 2 of us running around with curling irons and bobby pins.  It was a lot of fun. 

We also had to put together the bouquets, which were Queen Anne's Lace with some burgundy mums, purple sparkle sprays, and baling twine for Liz.  Very pretty.

I actually missed the entry into the church because Becca Buckley and I were tying off the last bouquets, and I suddenly realized I was still wearing my snow boots....so I snuck in as soon as Mr. & Mrs. Harvey and Liz were far enough up the aisle.



Here comes the bride!

 Liz wore her Mom's veil, which has a lace headpiece and a double layer veil.  It has changed color slightly with age, so it matched her cream dress perfectly.

She fell in love with the dress I've been using for advertising for the last year, so I made her one in her size.  For me, it was super nice to have a local bride to work with!  All my previous brides have either been Canadian or marrying one, which, while funny, especially since I was born over there, makes doing fittings rather interesting.

The pictures do not show the real color of the dress very well - both cameras didn't like the lighting in the church very much.  The dress is a soft buttercream color, with a lace upper bodice and side skirt inset.  There is additional lace at the back of the train.  Liz has very pretty dark red hair, so the colors worked beautifully together.

She also had the cutest purple suede shoes...



Mr. & Mrs. James Buckley

 The wedding started at 3 pm and lasted about an hour.  Bridesmaids were Liz's friend Lindsey, Becca Buckley, and Becca Harvey as maid of honor.  Groomsmen were Nate Harvey, John Buckley, and Jimmy's friend Nate as best man.  The bridesmaids had long wine-purple chiffon dresses, and the groomsmen wore light blue bow ties.



The Harvey Family: 
Becca, Abby, Mrs. Harvey, Liz, Jimmy, Mr. Harvey, John, & Nate



The Buckley Family:
Becca, Emily, Mrs. Buckley, Olivia, Liz, Jimmy, Mr. Buckley, Samuel, & John

Both Liz and Jimmy are from the Port Huron area, Michigan.  My family has known the Harveys for about as long as we've lived up here (6 years) but we didn't really meet the Buckley's - including Jimmy! - until the wedding itself.  We just knew Liz was being courted, and then engaged...all by this Jimmy guy who was reported to be tall and dark haired.

Liz & Colleen:  Bride & Designer


It is always so much fun to make a dress for someone you've known for a while - it's almost like making a dress for a sister or cousin.  I am so happy Liz asked me to make her dress; I think we had a pretty good time doing it, too.  Plus it gave us an excuse to hang out more...

The cake:  Liz holding a lamb & Jimmy with a pitchfork

For the cake they had a giant cupcake, with clay statues of Liz and Jimmy in their farmer roles - except I can't quite picture them out in the barn in those clothes!  The clay statue of Liz even had similar details to her dress, down to the flowers in her hair.  I thought that was really neat.

I think the dog is supposed to be Shawna, the Harvey's dog. 

There were chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for everyone else - very yummy.  All the food was good, too.  The reception was in the attached church hall, where they'd set up lots of purple balloons.



Cutting the cake



Liz & Jimmy are also talented - they managed to feed each other cake without making a mess!

Then everybody danced at the reception, and at the end we made a long arch out to their car, which somebody had covered with streamers and balloons. 

While the cleanup crew got started, all the kids went to town popping balloons.  I admit I did a few, myself...there were a LOT of balloons.

For the dancing, they had one of those kaleidoscope light balls, and the boys' band alternated with songs from CD's.  I really liked the song they played for the Father-Daughter dance, but I don't know the name of it.

First dance under the balloons

The whole wedding was a lot of fun for me.  It was nice and simple, relaxed, and I think everybody had a good time.  For the reception, they played some funny question games, and dance game where couples are eliminated based on how long they have been married.  I think the pastor's parents won - although it was a pretty close run with some of the grandparents!