our day of love.






i have wanted to sit down for awhile now & really write to you about our wedding day. in the midst of wedding plans, i rarely used this space for wedding inspiration. instead, i sort of wanted to separate my thoughts from the wedding... my writing & blog were sort of an oasis free from to do lists, color themes, and everything else that comes with planning an important event.




but i really have wanted to share our story with you because it is really special. now, after almost eight months of being a newlywed, my thoughts are finally starting to come together & i can write to you.



so to begin, i would like to let you know that at the age of twenty, i never thought i would be married. in fact, before meeting luke, i was totally opposed to marriage until i had traveled the world, experienced single hood in large doses, and met a wide variety of people. but after meeting this rosy-cheeked, lanky & handsome boy, my thoughts swiftly changed. lots of things happened, we began to grow as individuals & together, and realized that we could experience life & all of its adventures... together.



we knew that we wanted our wedding to be small & intimate, surrounded by the ones we love. we also wished for our day to reflect the quirkiness of our personalities & the simplicity of the life we were making together.



so we asked our brothers & sisters to be a part of our wedding party, knowing that they know the good & bad of us & love us regardless.



i also asked my best friend, {tori} to be my maid-of-honor. she has been there for me since grade school, knowing me at my most awkward stages & keeping my deepest secrets. she's a part of me despite the many miles between us.



as for attire, we wanted to be very simple, expressing little bits of ourselves throughout. he purchased a vintage vest & jacket from a local thrift shop & wore his best vintage suede shoes with stripped green & cream socks.



i decided to wear a simple gown from a local wedding shop with a feathered headband instead of a veil. i wore my grandmother's diamond earrings & a locket that luke gave me during our rehearsal dinner.



our friend, jeremy, designed & created the bouquets & boutonnieres. they were beautiful with natural & neutral tones & a mix of mosses & berries throughout. he weaved the sweetest little bird's nest into my bouquet, which i absolutely adored.



we are definitely "foodies" so we wanted delicious food at our reception. we asked uprise bakery to create our cake & cater the food for our wedding. a family friend helped us with the stump for the bottom of the cake & the twigs were found during one of our walks while traveling. we also asked a local ice cream shop to make us a custom ice cream flavor for our wedding. the flavor was honey lemon & so amazingly delicious.



for favors, i preserved little jars of jam for our guests. we made tags that said "spread the love" & everyone really loved them. it was worth the hard work & time put into all of it. we also had a candy bar with old-fashioned candy & cupcakes made by my mom.



we hung memorable photos with string from dried willow branches on the guests' table, too.



we surprised our guests with mustache chocolate suckers made by us. mustaches are a part of an inside joke between luke & me. while dating, i had {& still do!} an obsession with mustaches. sadly, luke could never grow one although he attempted on several occasions. the 'stache pops were in honor of him & his loving attempts.



because we couldn't personally thank everyone at the reception for being such a wonderful part of our lives, we made a little note for each place setting & included our new address for friends & family to write to us. luke's brother, joel, made a linoleum print of our engagement photo & hand-stamped {he's amazing} each note.



but most of all, our wedding was about coming together as one & celebrating the beautiful life we were making together.



to be honest, though, it can be so easy to get caught up in every little detail of the day, desperately hoping that everything is perfect. but in the end, it is about being with the ones you love & embarking on the new adventures to come.


luke & i are still very young & know that there are so many things to be learned & much room to grow. but in the end, we also know that we will grow together, travel together, enjoy delicious meals together, & savor every moment together.


thank you for reading.


love, natalie

16 comments:

juillet said...

So

So

So

So

Damn

Beautiful.

God Bless your hearts.

Luke Freeman said...

I feel like I'm reliving our wedding day. It was so beautiful, moving and overwhelming. I regret nothing. We were meant to be together. It's so good to be reminded of that. Our marriage is something larger than ourselves.

You are the love of my life, Natalie.

bright lights, big cities said...

c'est beau! for some reason some french came out for this one.

Anonymous said...

natalie. it's so beautiful to see this..

I get married in 4 weeks, and getting so pumped. I will be 22, and many think we are too young. Like you I had no intention to get married for many years, but now i couldn't think of anything else i would rather do than to share my life with morgan.

I will try blog some pics after the wedding. Its gonna be a simple, vintage handmade wedding.

ps. I love your blog.

Anonymous said...

you had a beauutiful wedding day!!! i love all the details of your day & the special touches that made it yours. two thumbs up to marrying young -- the more time to grow together :]

Unknown said...

It was nice that you wanted to share your wedding day stuff wid us. It was very beautiful. Simply loved it. God bless you both.

miss_bethana said...

Oh wow. After reading about your day and scrolling down to see Lukes comment, my heart is overwhelmed. I wish for your hearts and love to grow closer and stronger through the years.

Megan said...

Such a beautiful wedding story. And that second photo where you and Luke are kissing is the sweetest thing ever.

shari said...

so special.

Katja said...

So beautiful! I love everything about your wedding - all the beautiful and unique details and how it looks like it was a personal and intimate day, a true celebration with everything done so beautifully but nothing too big and flashy to take the focus off the most important thing :) and your dress + hair, so perfect! :) Minna and I still have our wedding day ahead of us but I dream that it will be as beautiful as yours was.

Ida said...

Beautiful photos, I've seen some of these before. You look so happy, and I love the first family portrait. May you have a long and happy life together. Best wishes, Ida

katrina said...

this is a beautiful post.
what a perfect wedding.

jess said...

this was the most beautiful post - i could feel the love in the air - and the photos - exceptional!

Andrea said...

how very very lovely! it seems like a beautiful day and I love all of your little touches to the day :)

HomeCollection. said...

Beautiful!
A lot of good ideas # funny moustache and lovely feathers!

Liss said...

Hi Natalie,
I came your way via "tend" via amy a few weeks ago. I've been reading your blog, chronologically backwards, ever since. I've thought about commenting a few times, but this time I just *have* to.
I want to tell you to take heart. Take courage. You & Luke are young, but you have everything you need for a happy & successful marriage.
Like you, I was skeptical of the institution until I met my soul's twin and threw caution to the wind and marriage relatively young (23). Eleven years later, we are living the dream, have a simple but comfortable life, and are now sharing it with our sweet toddler child. I look back on our early years, when we had no idea what we were doing, where we were going, and had ZERO money, with so much fondness. Poverty made us creative and made us value every beautiful moment. I see you doing that, too. And I am so delighted to know that there is another couple out there doing their work, walking the walk, together. Wishing you all the best. xo

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