Wedding Day First Look

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**To read the post before this, about getting ready on the morning of the wedding, click here**

**Photos courtesy of Daniel Peter Photo, www.danielpeter.com.**

**Hover over the bottom right corner of each image to Pin to Pinterest!**

On the day of our wedding, my husband and I decided to do a "first look." While the age old tradition says a groom shouldn't see his bride until the ceremony, we decided to go with the more contemporary trend of not only seeing each other before the ceremony, but also spending time together and taking a limitless amount of pictures. After reading Britta's post about first looks, I was convinced.

I cannot explain how glad I am that we did it this way! It allowed us to relax and enjoy each other's company, and it kept the stress level down because it reminded us both of the true meaning of the day. After all, we were choosing each other for life because we know that we make each other better. I know that Justin brings me back down to earth and makes my fervently excitable (and sometimes a bit ADD and overwhelming) heart a little more calm. In contrast, I know that I help soften a sometimes very serious Justin. What could be better to ease the anxiety on your wedding day than seeing the ONE who you have chosen, the one who makes you better? 

After getting ready all morning, we finally had our first look around 3:30pm. There was some nice green space outside of our hotel, and the photographers suggested that it could be a great area for the first look.

I waited in the center of a small and shaded green park. One of our photographers walked Justin around to the other side of the building and then set him free to find his bride!

I knew he would look handsome, but it is still a whole different thing to see it in person! I thought I would be a crier in this situation, seeing my almost-husband in his tux for the first time on our wedding day, but I was simply beaming from ear to ear.

Having a first look made everything more real to us, but perhaps more importantly, it helped us feel calm and relieved. Instead of having so much tension build throughout the day, we were able to spend even more of it with the one we love.

Our bridesmaids and groomsmen had watched from behind the trees as we "found" each other for the first time! We then took a few more pictures and some video footage before loading up into the bus to head over to our venue, Bridgeport Art Center.

Once we got there, we took a lot of pictures outside. We made sure to get as many combinations as we could think of... the bride with her bridesmaids, bride with each bridesmaids, groom with groomsmen, everyone together, bride's family, bride's siblings, groom's family, groom's siblings... so on and so forth. 

At one point, it turned into a long string of solo shots of me, with everyone else lounging around and most people watching. 

After shooting for an hour or so, it was time to head inside to prepare for the ceremony. A few of our guests had already arrived, and we were T-30 Minutes until the processional began!

Vendor List:
Bride's Dress: Jim Hjelm via Volle's Bridal
Bridesmaids Dresses: J. Crew
Tuxes: Formally Modern
Flowers: Ashland Addison Florists
First Look Location: Hyatt Regency McCormick Place
Venue Photos: Bridgeport Art Center Skyline Loft

5 Tips For Alternative Christmas Decor

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When it comes to Christmas decorations, I'm non-traditional. So, some of you will hate this post because you swear by the red and green decor, the Santa figurines, the stuffed animal reindeer. Try not to hate me! We're all different.

When it comes to finding alternative, modern ways to decorate your home (or apartment) for a Christmas party without becoming swallowed up in the red and green, here are a few tips!

1. Globe Lights

First, purchasing interesting lights will help with the nontraditional vibe. Look for large globe lights, or the larger oval bulks. Consider stuffing a few of the lights into a mason jar (I found a blue mason jar a few months ago and it worked beautifully here).

(Large globe lights stuffed into a beautiful blue mason jar)

2. Homemade Signage

Then, to up the ante, make your own festive signage. I posted a tutorial over the past few weeks to show you how to make the sign pictured above. I'd suggest decorating with doilies, stamps, or anything you can glue on (I seriously considered Mod Podging glitter all over the place, but didn't want to end up with an obscene amount of glitter on my couch, because we all know glitter tends to spread like, well, let's go with the flu and keep it PG).

3. Framed Signage

For those of you who don't have the time to put together a homemade sign (or perhaps you can't find a good place to put it), there's also a much easier way to include special quotes or phrases. In particular, this works well for quotes that are too long to put on a sign, like lines from poems or music.

Justin and I love this line from a traditional Christian hymn, so I wrote it out and framed it. It's not exactly in the holiday spirit, but it's a good reminder to keep your thoughts on what the holiday is all about.

4. Ornament Display
Instead of displaying all of your ornaments on your tree, create a festive display on a countertop by placing a few ornaments in a small (or large!) bowl or glass. I suggest going with ornaments that are in a similar color scheme. You can work with your existing collection, or stop by Home Depot to pick up a package of ornaments in the same color family.

I put the ornaments in a thrift store bought, Kate Spade-esque bowl that was a gift from my Aunt Betsy and Unka Toby as at my housewarming party.

5. Unconventional Colors
You may have noticed as you browsed the images in this post that my color scheme for Christmas decor is somewhat unconventional. To replace the traditional red and green, I used blues, silvers, and other "cool" hues to keep things fresh. In picking these colors, I was inspired by snow and ice, by songs like "White Christmas" "Let It Snow."

I also played around with a new Christmas tree idea. For those of you who, like me, are renters and city dwellers, sometimes it's just a big hassle to get a live Christmas tree in the city, haul it to your place (or pay for it to be delivered), and then deal with disposing of it afterward. Instead, we went with a small, shiny white tree from my mother and decorated it with blue Christmas ornaments.

We also strung blue ornaments in front of the windows, to add a bit of festive flair without making things too cluttered.