Sharp/Smothers Wedding Part 2

Onto the sanctuary and the wedding party today!

Photos by: Stone Photography, Oskaloosa IA
Flowers by: Shelly Sarver, Pella IA
Hair by: Sonja Morris
Make-up by: Susie Rouse

As guests entered the sanctuary they were greeted by ushers dressed in black on black pin stripped suits, with fantastic boutonnieres designed by Shelly Sarver in Pella, IA.  They included: Cinnomon sticks, evergreenry, lemongrass, sage along with saworski green crystals. Very masculine while still having a little bit of "bling" and glitz!  They smelled heavenly!!!  A close up picture of my handsome groom and his suit, and boutonniere -

Heres a picture of all the guys together, enjoying themselves!


Each row of pews was lit by 3 tiered candles, 2 vanilla cream candles and one cider mill scent from Pilgrim's Primatives (best scent ever!!!!) 
The runner was already pre-laid and pinned to the floor, so guests were seated from the outside rather than seated from the aisle. 

The stage was lined with full length mirrors that were purchased at Walmart and the frames were painted metallic gold.  Various candles filled the mirrors. 

The front of the stage was our unity candle table which held two arrangements of evergreenry, ostrich feathers, cream hydrangeas, spider mums, and cream roses.  (funny tidbit- these got burned by our candles, thankfully they didnt catch on fire!!!)

The 3 tiered candles were on stands that Shawn and his dad welded together.  They were covered with various cream colored draped fabric (I got on clearance at Walmart, and raided my mothers fabric stash!)


In the last blog posting I shared my love of my grandmas church lighting candles together and singing Silent Night...  So... we asked our guests to join in lighting candles around the church while Shawn and I lit our unity candle to signify everyone uniting us in marriage.  It was beautiful to look out into the church and see all the candles lit by our friends and family members!

 Our flower girl and ring bearer were dressed in semi casual clothes, we wanted them to be comfortable, as well as have outfits that could be worn later on as well.  Practical?  YES!!!!! 

Flower girl wore an outfit from the Gap, a red silk plaid skirt, a jean jacket with a cream fur vest.

She pulled a sled that was my fathers down the aisle, adorned with evergreenry and candles that were battery operated, safety first!

 Our ring bearer wore black cords, denium button shirt with a cream colored cable knit sweater.  He carried a red lantern with a candle (battery operated) inside.

 

Our bridesmaids wore sage green charmuse satin dresses that were just downright SEXY!!!!  Along with gold peep toe shoes, with a HOT 4" heel.  Oh my stars... the ladies looked HOT that night!  My mother in law sewed a fur wrap for them for when they went outside.  They wore a necklace made of 8 strands of creamy fresh water pearls, pearl earrings, a pearl neckalce with swaroski crystals. 

 They carried a pomander ball made of ostrich feathers, evergreenry, cream roses and hydrangeas, cinnomon sticks, rosemeary and sage. 
Their arrangements were embellished with their initial made from Swaroski Crystal. 

 My brother flew in from Seattle WA from his military post to walk me down the aisle.  He said it was a very difficult thing for him to do, but he was honored to have the priveledge. 

He carried a candle down the aisle in memory of my father, which was handed over to my mom when we got to the end of the aisle.  It was a very symbolic way to have my father with me on our special day.

My something borrowed: a brooch from my grandma, it was attached in my flowers.

My something New: My dress

My Something Blue: My initials were on the bottom of my shoes in blue glitter

My bridesmaids, mothers, and others participating in our wedding wrote letters of best wishes and pinned them to the underside of my dress... sending me down the aisle with their love and optimism for a long lasting partnership with Shawn!

My flowers were cream hydrangeas and roses, evergreenry, ostrich feathers and had large rhinestone inserts for the bling.  a picture of my father was also included with my flowers.  See he did walk with me down the aisle!

My hairstyle was inspired by the 1940 finger waves and pin up curls.  I wore crystal inserts in lieu of a veil.  I could never find a veil that complimented my dress, so I skipped the traditional route and showed off my girlfriends amazing talent!  Sonja Morris, you did an outstanding job!!!! 

After the ceremony our guests were given sparklers and matches that read "Come on Baby, Light my Fire!" I am big fan of The Doors, so it was a great way to add a little bit of them to the ceremony. 

  

 

Here we are in the limo after the ceremony!  It was my first limo ride, and I was super excited!!!! 

To be continued.......