celebrating our first wedding anniversary

it is so hard to believe that sunday marks the one year anniversary of being married to my favorite person in the entire world. in honor of such a tremendous milestone i thought it only appropriate to pay homage to a few of my favorite details from our wedding that we got some really great deals on (mostly by recycling, calling in favors, using local vendors and online retailers, and of course i never forget the coupon codes). i hope you don't mind indulging me as i walk down memory lane...

below: custom stationary (program and seating cards pictured) designed and printed locally by my good friend and graphic designer christine giberson.

below: we made the seating chart using an old corkboard that we covered in fabric. cards were hung on ribbon using miniature clothespins from michaels. there are always coupons in the paper.

below: we had bottled water in the guest's welcome bags and on the buses to and from the ceremony and party. water is from grand springs with custom labels by graphic designer and colleague caroline mundt.

below: i love (and still use) these beer koozies from customink, one of my favorite sites for silly custom jobs like this. there are always coupon codes floating around the internets for things like $15 off orders of $100 or more.

below: guest book was custom-made using old photos and from our engagement session with (the absolute best and very talented) photographer jen lowe. the book is from snapfish, which runs regular promotions for things like $10 off and buy one get one free. i love to take the book out every so often to read all of the wonderful notes from our loved ones.

below: the ring bearer pillow was a surprise from my mom on my wedding day. she made it using the lace from her veil from her wedding day.

below: being that nick was definitely not loving that he now had to wear jewelry, we didn't want to spend very much on his wedding band. we got his titanium ring online for about $50. it's a good thing, too, considering he already lost it and had to order a new one. who "accidentally" drops their wedding band down a subway grate? my husband does, that's who.

below: my grandmother, a retired wedding florist, purchased the flowers wholesale and arranged everything the day before with the help of my wonderful aunts (they stored the flowers overnight in my mom's basement with the a/c jacked up). actually, a few of the flowers came from home depot.

below: we found all of the vases on sale from homegoods and CB2, and the candleholders are old ball jars (from my mom's canning days) wrapped with ribbon from michaels.

below: we opened a banana republic credit card when we bought nick's suit to receive 15% off, which certainly made a dent in the price (we were sure to pay it off immediately). the groomsmen wore really nice green shirts from charles tyrwhitt on sale for about $35 and pants from express men on sale for about $45.

below: all of the girls (myself included) wore these green polka dot heels by betsey johnson. we went through shoes.com, which always has coupons.

below: the bridesmaids and maid of honor wore white eyelet sundresses found at target for a mere $40. my mom sewed on the green sashes to add a little flair.

below: *sigh* i love love love my dress and totally wish it were ok to wear to work or out on the weekends. i found my diamond white dora dress by melissa sweet during a trunk show at saks, which meant a small yet appreciated discount.

thanks for indulging me...i think maaaaaybe i'll put on my wedding dress this weekend as part of our celebration.

photography by jen lowe. see more photos here.