One year

Image copyright Ursula Graham 2008. All Rights Reserved.

A year ago today, I married this amazing man. While I'm sure he often wonders who invited the Tasmanian Devil into his living room, on the whole he tolerates me very well. He even cleans! Much more than I do! He inspired me to leave a job I hated for a life I love, doing things I only would have dreamed of - if that - ten years ago. He's the reason I now get paid to write and make photos; he impressed upon me that life is way too short to not spend every day doing something you're passionate about.

But mostly he just holds my hand, and makes funny jokes, and plays with the cat and generally makes my world a much brighter place.

Happy first wedding anniversary, Kai. I love you more than you could ever know.

A Beautiful Day: Ursula Graham Photography

All photos copyright Ursula Graham Photography 2008. All rights reserved.

This wonderful man decided to make an honest woman out of me last month (Wednesday is our one month anniversary!). We wed in Grayton Beach, Florida, right on the Gulf of Mexico. Mother Nature was kind and gifted us with gorgeous weather and what turned out to be the last warm days of the season.

Ursula Graham was our photographer. She came from Pensacola, two hours away, and stayed with us for eight hours - what a trooper! Her prices were incredibly reasonable -- she charged a third of what others of comparable quality in the area charge, for twice as much time.

My father walked me down the aisle -- more specifically, through the sand to the water where my groom awaited.

We made our promises to each other...

And we're married! Our officiant was Alison Hand, who I also highly recommend. Contact me for her info if you're interested in having a non-denominational, meaningful ceremony full of love. She's game for anything -- I put together our entire ceremony and she loved it.

These were our delicious wedding cupcakes. I had every intention of making the cupcakes myself, ha ha ha. All of a sudden it was two days before the wedding and I knew there was no way on Earth cupcakes were going to be made. Publix to the rescue! They are not fancy $5-a-pop cupcakes that some bakeries will charge, but they were absolutely delicious. My new mother-in-law topped them with fruit for us.

My parents live on the Choctawatchee Bay, and have this old swing by the water -- perfect for a bridal portrait.


My new husband and his mother share a moment after the ceremony.

A detail shot of our wedding rings and my bouquet - roses, rononculous and chrysanthemums from Fifty Flowers. I got a ridiculous amount of flowers -- enough to make three large bouquets for me and two bridesmaids, smaller bouquets for my mother and the mother of the groom, and 12 table arrangements -- for $300. I highly recommend this flower vendor!

A fun shot outside of our reception tent! Luckily the cars didn't mind waiting.

And we walked into the sunset, to live our happily ever after.

Love, tweet love

I'm getting married in less than a month! While I'm not big on themes for weddings -- I was under the impression that "wedding" was a theme in and of itself -- I did decide early on that I wanted to use birds as an integral part of our decorating scheme.

Our wedding is small -- 40 guests -- and not overly formal, so a gardeny bird design is lovely for what we're planning. Plus, we are most definitely love birds  : )

My first purchase, and what really inspired it all, was our cake topper:

Photo: Wedding Favors and Gift Ideas

We are having key lime cupcakes, so ours will rest on top of the cupcake stand. I do love Ann Wood's birds, but the porcelain ones match our home design aesthetic better and we will be able to display them elsewhere after the wedding.

Photo: me! All rights reserved.

I handmade our invitations, using lovebirds as a header and a feather stamp on the back of the envelopes and on the response cards. (Please excuse the poor lighting of this photo; what appears to be yellow is actually a light cream textured cardstock.)

Photo: Martha Stewart

Our table settings will look very similar to this.  Ivory tablecloths, ivory china with gold rims, gold knives and forks, and double paper placemats on which I will stamp and pencil woodsy avian designs. The tables will further be decorated with votive candles and fresh dahlias arranged in blue Ball jars.

My dress is rather simple, so I wanted a dramatic necklace to set it off. I had this piece custom made by Morning Glory Designs on Etsy. The blue matches my beautiful sapphire engagement ring! My ladies will be gifted with garnet jewelry with delicate bird designs.

Photo: Rebecca Thuss

Inspired by this photo, I plan on having a mini tree (really just a nicely shaped branch) on our dessert table hung with lots of origami birds. I even found paper in our wedding colors: garnet with various shades of blue. I'll have tons of extras, so I will place one on each plate and make a garland with others.

I will probably have our flower children carry birds nests filled with petals.

A lovely way for two lovebirds to start their life together!