The Ceremony - Pro Pics

So I totally forgot to give MAJOR, MAJOR credit to Kate Whitney Lucey for my awesome, awesome pro-pics in my last post. I have a vendor recommendation post in the works that will more fully outline how wonderful it was to work with her, but in the meantime, I give her major props...

Previously: Getting Ready Pro-Pics

Now on to the ceremony pics!


























Since it was so windy when I arrived at the Fort, the site coordinator allowed me to go inside the 'barracks' until it was time to come out. If you recall, our wedding was going on at the same time as the Civil War Reenactment so the barracks were set up for a 'General' and his wife to stay there. They were both very nice and so excited for me and Mr Corn. It was definitely a surreal moment.

























I love this picture because it is pretty much the only one I have of my veil looking like what it was supposed to look like!!


















Mr Corn gets his boutonniere.


























The boys looking s-h-a-r-p!!



















A great shot of the cannon that was shot just after we were announced as husband and wife.


















My dad was apparently in his tux by 12:00 noon...the wedding was at 5! Since he is disabled, he waited for me at the top of the aisle and the Revolutionary War Reenactors escorted me from the fort to him.


























Mr Corn watching the processional.


























Mr Corn's mom and dad. Both mothers carried nosegay's of the flowers they carried at their own weddings.


























My beautiful, beautiful mom and her dapper escort :)


























Our lovely bridesmaids! I was so pleased with their outfits; it was exactly the way I imagined it would be!


















Being escorted from the fort...we contracted for four soldiers and at least eight showed up! The same guys who do this stuff also do the Civil War Reenacting, so we figure they all just got excited about pulling out their Revolutionary garb and showed up anyway. It was such a great touch!


























After getting presented to my dad, I absolutely do not remember walking down the aisle one bit. If I could recommend anything to anyone, it would be to take a second before you head down the aisle and LOOK at your guests to see who is there and where they are sitting!



































My MOH, Sara, had to hold onto my veil so that it would stop whipping Mr Corn!! I loved the white hydrangea bouquets that my florist provided!


















You can see the garnet pinkie ring that I borrowed from my mom in this picture.


















A crowd shot...there were some people standing in the back because they arrived late. I will have to post more about that later.


















I love how you can see the whole wedding here; the party, the guests, the reception tent and the fort!

















Almost there.....

























KISS! KISS!!

















YAY!! We're Mr and Mrs Corn!!! As we recessed, my veil floated over our guests; I LOVE Mr Corn's reaction in this picture!

Getting ready pro-pics

The flowers arrived soon after my veil was on. Since I hadn't given the florist an incredible amount of 'vision' I really didn't know exactly what to expect. I was so happy when they were delivered and were so very, very beautiful.

Taking one last moment to breathe before getting into the dress...you can see a half-finished margarita in the background and the Sketchers box was for my in-case-my-shoes-start-to-kill-me-during-the-reception back-up flip-flops.

The obligatory shoe shot...I wish I had taken out the foot petals before this was taken. Incidentally, the foot petals worked fairly well at keeping my feet comfy...but the Insolias saved my night!!


Ok...so I KNOW you are supposed to wear a button down shirt when you are getting ready for your wedding so that you don't have to take your shirt over your head but I had other plans. I worked at Disney in entertainment for four years after college and the v-neck T is a staple for any role that requires makeup and/or wigs. I HAD to wear my ratty, old, threadbare shirt for getting ready for my wedding day, and when it was time to take it off, I just had my bridesmaid, Kristy, cut it off me. It was actually bittersweet, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

So this picture really makes me laugh, because I never realized how complex it would be to get me in my dress until this moment. Since my hair and makeup was done and the veil was on, I couldn't dive into the dress. But if I had my crinoline on, I couldn't step into the dress either. So we took the crinoline off and I stepped into the dress. Then I held the dress up while my bridesmaids helped me step into the crinoline. Then they held the dress while my mom fastened the crinoline. Finally they let go of the dress while my mom laced me up! It is a wonder I wasn't exhausted after all that!!

My mom was in charge of lacing me up...she did a great job!



This was the last time that my dress was laced so loosely. I lost a bit of weight just before the wedding and my dress already fit perfectly. I noticed that whenever I walked around, my dress would shift and fall a bit and my bra could be seen!! Rather than have that happen while walking down the aisle, I had my mom cinch the dress as tightly as she could as soon as we got to the Fort. It meant having some 'bat-wing' overhang, but at least I didn't walk down the aisle with my bra showing!

My MOH, Sara, was kind enough to put my shoes on for me.


This is the first time I was getting to see the 'whole package'. I actually rented the mirror from Party by Design, a large-scale event production company in Boston that also does rentals. I knew the condo didn't have a full length mirror, so I am glad that I had the foresight to rent a mirror!!

I scheduled some extra time for us to take some pictures of the bridesmaids and I walking down Thames Street in Newport. I am really glad I did that because I loved getting to walk down the street and be a bride!!



This is my favorite picture of the bunch on Thames Street. Just before this shot was taken, I saw my reflection in the window and my immediate reaction was "ooooh, look! A bride!"

Soon after this shot, we headed out to the Fort!

The morning of - pics below

7:00am - Saturday, September 8, 2007 - 7-11 convenience store in Newport, RI

Male Cashier: Thanks. Have a nice day
Miss Corn:(beaming, as she picks up the stack of trashy tabloid magazines she just purchased) Thank you! (pause) IMGETTINGMARRIEDTODAY!!!
Male Cashier: Congratulations! Have a great day!!

I was so excited the morning of the wedding, I couldn't sleep past 6:00am! One of my bridesmaids, Kristy, and I headed out to go get some munchies to eat and on the way we stopped at the 7-11 to get some cash and pick up some tabloid mags.

Because Mr Corn and I are from Boston, and not Newport, we decided to rent a condo for two nights. This way, the girls and I could get ready in a nice, comfortable, non-hotel atmosphere and afterwards, Mr Corn and I could have a nice place to stay for our wedding night.

The condo was a really great idea and actually pretty cost effective when we factored in the cost of hotel rooms in Newport during the season!

Below are some of the non-pro pics of all of us getting ready for wedding. Enjoy.

The living area of the condo was perfect for all of us to get ready.


Breakfast of Champions :)

Texting Mr Corn

I was the first to sit with the hair stylist...to get my rollers put in.

My lovely bridesmaid, Kristy, looks like a model!

At lunch time, a few of my closest friends stopped by with lunch and to hang out.

My AMAZING makeup artist, Mary, gets started on my foundation.

Back to the chair to get the rollers out and finish the hair.

Meredith, the hairstylist, was so great; we all loved working with her!

She was told to spray the HECK out of it since we knew it would be windy.

Final result! Sooooo pretty!

Mama Corn gets her makeup. She looked S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G!!

Back to the chair for my final makeup (so glad we had so much time to do all of this!)

Time for the veil! I think she got me with a bobby pin in this pic!

Once the veil was on the rest of the day FLEW by!

The girl's flowers and our photographer showed up just after this picture was taken so the rest of my wedding day pics are all pro! Can't wait to share them with ya!

Assigned seating

The wedding that Mr Corn and I attended in Seattle last weekend was on the larger side of medium...I believe there were around 180 people in attendance. This was the first wedding I have ever attended where there were no assigned seats or tables.

When planning for our wedding, Mr Corn often mentioned that he just didn't understand why we needed to spend so much time on certain things. One of those 'things' were the escort cards and place cards.

Last weekend, as we milled around with a bazillion other people in a surreal game of musical chairs trying to scope out two seats together that weren't saved by chairs with coats hanging over them or balanced on tables, I turned to Mr Corn, smiled, and said, 'this is why we spent so much time on escort cards and place cards'.

In all seriousness, there were some pretty tense moments as the immediate families of the bride and groom tried to find places to sit until they were eventually directed to a few tables up front that said 'reserved' on them.

With so many options out there for seating arrangements, running the gamut from ornate seating charts to creative favors/escort cards to a pack of pre-cut cardstock from Staples, it really doesn't make any sense to leave it out of your wedding, regardless of your budget or style. In then end, it will definitely make your wedding a much less stressful event for your guests.

More on the iPod wedding

So my post about iPod receptions garnered lots of feedback; mostly from people who support using an iPod over using a DJ. I figured this was a good time for a poll!! (my first one :))

Are you planning on using an iPod/Laptop, a DJ or a band for your reception?

iPod/Laptop
DJ
Band
Other
Undecided

Most of the comments on my post centered around lame DJs and lengthy do-not-play lists as the primary bonus of using an iPod/Laptop. But what if you are considering a band?

Would you choose an iPod over a band?

yes
no

Please share your reasons in the comments below.