Wedding Wednesday: Getting Ready

Hayley Paige Wedding DressI’m back for another Wedding Wednesday post! I was originally going to focus on the ceremony, but I thought I would start with some of the general planning information as well as details from our morning getting ready and what the guys were up to (it wasn’t your typical pre-wedding activity).

I should also preface this post with that fact that yes I love weddings, but wow was I overwhelmed during the process. We had 10 other weddings that summer (I might have lost count because I think we had 10 last year, too), and we were traveling for the bachelor/bachelorette parties, bridal showers and the weddings. It was probably the best summer we’ve ever had because we were with our best friends all of the time celebrating other great friends (we called it the #summeroflove), but it was a lot: a lot of decisions, a lot of stress, just a lot. I had a few (read: too many) nights where I went into what I called the black hole of wedding planning. I swear there were times when I emailed about 20 photographers in a row. I reached a point where I knew we needed help to navigate all of the decisions, and Amanda of The Bride Consultant came to our rescue. I found her while stalking every.single.wedding in Wisconsin on Style Me Pretty. If you’re at the I’m-really-overwhelmed-and-can’t-make-any-more-decisions point in the wedding process and are able, I would highly recommend working with a wedding planner, even if it’s a day-of coordinator. It will start to alleviate some of the stress knowing you have even more support. My sister and mom were incredibly helpful along the way, but I loved knowing that they wouldn’t have to worry as much leading up to September 5.

I’ll get into more detail about our vendors in another post because I don’t want this to turn into a novel, but wanted to at least give you that background information. If you’re a bride and reading this, seriously everything works out (and this is coming from someone who got the flu on her wedding day). All that matters is that you’re marrying your best friend. So take a deep breath, maybe enjoy a glass of wine, and you’ll be a-okay!

All righty, back to the fun stuff. We started the morning at my parents’ house and then met at Erik of Norway to get our hair and makeup done. Because our wedding was in our hometown (Mequon, WI), everything was nearby, and the salon was on the way to our wedding venue. The night before, I gave my bridesmaids, flower girl, mom and mother-in-law shirts to wear while we got ready the next day.

Getting Ready Monogram Wedding ShirtsGetting Ready Monogram Wedding Shirts Getting Ready Monogram Wedding ShirtsFlower Girl Monogram ShirtI got this button down for my cute little flower girl and these shirts for my bridesmaids, mom and mother-in-law. I loved that my shirt matched my flower girl’s (how cute is she?!) with the writing on the cuffs. I first saw the top I wore on Taylor’s blog (here’s a link to her original post), and instantly loved it. My shirt style is slightly different than hers, but it’s from the same Etsy shop.

While we were getting ready, all of the guys (Bill, the groomsmen, my father-in-law, Bill’s cousins, uncles and other friends) were playing hockey. Yes, we were probably crazy when we planned this, but that was how Bill was connected to many of the groomsmen. They played at the rink in our hometown where most of them grew up playing together since they were little kids. So even though it was very likely that something could have gone wrong, it was a really memorable (albeit exhausting) morning.

At our rehearsal dinner, we handed out jerseys for all of the guys (our little ring bearer got one too). On the front, they all had ‘Rittsman’ and then we had their nicknames and their high school or college number on the back. Bill and his dad did all of the work on these, and I absolutely loved them.

While they were wrapping up at the rink, we were getting ready at our wedding venue. I couldn’t wait to get my dress on and see everything come together. I actually combined two dresses and worked really closely with a seamstress in the area to make some magic happen. My mom and I went to a Hayley Paige trunk show at Bliss Bridal with the goal of deciding what silhouette I wanted. I really didn’t anticipate to buy anything that day, plus we hadn’t even booked our venue yet. I fell in love with the skirt of one dress but wasn’t crazy about the top, and when I tried on the next dress, I told them that I wish I could combine them. Well, we put on both dresses (thanks for your patience, Sam!), and it seemed perfect. We didn’t have one of those moments where we both teared up, which I kind of thought would happen, but I think we both couldn’t believe I would actually leave with the dress.

Wedding UpdoMy hair was a complete accident. I went back and forth on keeping my hair down or going with an updo. Once I got my dress, I fell in love with the detail in the back and didn’t want to cover it up and knew I wanted an updo. I brought this photo for inspiration. We went with that style, and while I was getting my makeup done, pieces kept falling out. My hairdresser took it out and said let’s just go with what your hair wants to do and voila. I could not have loved it more. Plus, it was h-o-t the day of our wedding so I cannot imagine what my hair would have looked like by the time the ceremony started if it were down and curled.

J.Crew Wedding ShoesJ.Crew Wedding ShoesJ.Crew Wedding Shoes J.Crew Wedding ShoesMy something old was my grandma’s necklace. After my grandma (my mom’s mom) passed away, they created four equal sections of her ring and made them into necklaces for my mom, aunt, sister and me. I placed the necklace in my bouquet so it was with me during the ceremony.

My something borrowed were my earrings (thank you, Megan!!).

My something blue was my second wedding band that has diamonds and sapphire.White and Blush Bridal Bouquet White and Blush Bridal BouquetHayley Paige Wedding DressSolataire Wedding Ring

I grew up Irish dancing with my bridesmaid Amanda, and we recreated a photo from when we were getting ready for an dance competition. I love how Quyen perfectly captured this moment. Bride and Flower Girl Getting ReadyWhen my dress arrived, they sent extra lace since I had combined two pieces. My aunt made my flower girl’s belt and the ring bearer’s pillow with the same lace as the top of my dress, which was extremely special (thank you, Chris!). She even made my mom an ornament with the same lace that year.

If you actually made it to the end of the post, wow, thank you! That was longer than anticipated. And, if you have any specific planning questions, feel free to comment below or send me an email. I’m more than happy to include any additional information in the upcoming Wedding Wednesday posts.

the pretty little details:

Wedding Dress: Hayley Paige / Bridesmaid Dress: Lulus / Mother-of-the-bride Dress: Tadashi Shoji / Bridesmaid Earrings: Loren Hope / Wedding Shoes: J.Crew

Photos by June & Jae Photography

7 Comments

  1. Lauren wrote:

    Thanks for sharing! As a bride to be I love reading your wedding Wednesday posts.

    Posted 2.8.17
    • So happy to hear that! I hope planning is going well for you!

      Posted 2.8.17
  2. natasha wrote:

    Absolutely love your hair! I also wore my hair up and was so happy I did…yours is so gorgeous! And that dress…!!!

    Posted 2.8.17
  3. Meghan wrote:

    Your wedding posts are wonderful! I love reading about all of the special details you incorporated. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Posted 2.8.17
    • Thank you so much! I love to hear that because I’ve had so much fun working on the posts.

      Posted 2.10.17
  4. Love your hair!

    Posted 2.27.17

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