Ahhhh, the wedding.
[in the which a sister shows a hundred pictures of wedding and details and fond memories]
Or, should I say, The Wedding!
What an incredibly lovely day. A wedding among weddings [if I may say so myself, it being my sister’s wedding].
I’ve been wanting to post pictures for almost two weeks now, but due to having some time in bed due to too-early contractions one week, and a computer at the shop due to a virus last week, I’m finally back trying to play catchup. And bear with me, this is my first sister’s wedding, so there are many pictures and details. :)
The weeks surrounding it were full of planning and a bridal shower and preparation and program making & editing and lots and lots and lots of work. :)
The week prior to it was extra busy for me ~ I had gone to Pennsylvania almost two weeks before the wedding, with Ben planning to join me after about a week. The day he planned to leave there was a tragic death in his extended family in South Georgia, and he ended up staying in the south until the day of the wedding, arriving in time to watch the girls as the bridal party took pictures. It was a crazy week for both of us because of all that,
But The Wedding! A sister’s wedding is so much fun! My first sister to be married ~ what an exciting event!
There was much preparation for months in advance.
Zoe and Olivia were asked to be flower girls, along with another two girls, and they were wildly excited, even though they weren’t sure what all being flower girls even meant. :) I made some flowers and pillows and accessory things for Jana for the wedding, and so the months before were busy with sewing and pretty-making and outfit-hunting and phone calls and all sorts of things! This was a wedding of details ~ from the planning to the carrying out of the plans, there was detail to be found everywhere by Jana.
The Preparation
It was so very fun for me to make some little things for Jana from across the distance. If we’d be living in the same area I know I would have been over a lot to help her. But since I wasn’t and couldn’t, I told her I would still help her out in any way I could. It was very little in the grand scheme of things, but made me feel like a part of it at least. :)
[lots of flowers pins in plum & charcoal & burlap & mustard]
[little dress made out of a girls’ top from Old Navy and altered]
[wristlets for the girl servers]
There was pillow making. I made 7 pillows of charcoal and plum, and these were given as gifts to the bridesmaids and a cousin. I dubbed myself ‘The Pillow Factory.’
And I forgot to take pictures of two burlap pillows that say ‘MR’ and ‘MRS’… [shown on the photographer’s site]
There were little shoes to embellish, just for fun…
We bought these shoes at Old Navy and Kmart, respectively. But they looked like they needed just a little extra sparkle.
Sooooo, some thread, some pretty beads, and a hot glue gun…
And several hot glue gun re-attachments as we tried out the shoes, and some changes made, we were satisfied. However, on the silver shoes so many of the little beads popped off with the first use,
that I removed them all except for the big rhinestone and added a strip of lace on either side across the toe.
Pretty does still have to be practical. :)
Day before the wedding…
Some of the bridesmaids and friends went with Jana to get our nails done. I took Zoe with me, and it was her first time at a salon where SHE got her nails painted. She was open-mouthed and speechless with excitement. :)
Zoe chose three little flowers on each hand. And was she ever proud of those little flowers. It was precious!
The Day of the Wedding!
A bright and crisp day, but clear and windless.
Pennsylvania had been having some very windy weather which would have made pictures challenging as well as very uncomfortable. The weather that day was an answer to prayer!
Photo credits for quite a few of the bridal party & wedding day pictures go Danae, one of Jana’s personal attendants. ” She grabbed my camera and took pictures when it was impossible for me to do so!
[bride’s preparation]
Mr. & Mrs! Jana married Anthony Swartzentruber, a wonderful godly man, and an accomplished musician! We are so excited to have him join our family! You can listen to a few of his songs here.
Sadly, I have so few pictures of the two of them together.
The Bridal Party!
Bridesmaids ~ what a fun group of beautiful ladies.
Sisters! It’s a given, we are all in each other’s bridal parties. No questions asked. :)
Jana asked me to be her matron on honor, and I was very honored.
It’s not every bride that wants a pregnant bridesmaid 3 weeks from her due date!
All of us sisters are now either married, engaged, or dating. :) Just so much fun!
The Six of Us! How I love being part of a big family!
The whole Barkman family. We’re expanding by leaps and bounds. :)
My dad with Olivia, and our two girls with their daddy whom they hadn’t seen in 10 days.
Little Girls of Mine…
Their hair was so beautiful done for the 2pm wedding… at 9am in the morning. Big mistake. Within an hour you couldn’t tell a thing had been done to it! And all day I was running around behind them trying to make them look like they did indeed belong to someone who cared. :)
Barn Reception Details!
Like I said, this was the Wedding of Details. Also, the Wedding of DIY. She created the wedding theme & decor style and made almost all the decorations herself, spending weeks on various projects! And in honor of Anthony’s love of music, there was various musical accents in the wedding and reception.
[reception tables detail]
Table
Style #1:
Jana made these twig centerpieces herself – painted the clay pots and freehanded the roman numerals, cut out the little birds out of music sheets, and gathered the twigs from a surrounding orchard after they had trimmed the trees. They were beautiful, especially in the evening candlelight reception.
These were set on pages of sheet music and surrounded by moss, on burlap squares.
Table Style #2:
Tall cylinder vases with rocks on the bottom, filled with water and lemons, topped with hydrangea and curly twigs, set on a blanket of sheet music and moss with plum taffeta.
[bridal table details]
Old doors were borrowed from friends and placed behind the bridal table. The wreaths on them were made by friends.
The tissue paper balls and coffee filter balls were made by a friend of Jana’s, and were hung on three old ladders suspended from the ceiling. We filled in with paper lanterns, glass globes and candles, and 3 chandeliers. Jana created & organized the style of decor she wanted to hang from the ladders. She also cut up sheet music and put it into hanging glass ornament balls. She asked me to collect Spanish Moss from the south and that added a mystical feel.
It took forever to hang them all. It was gorgeous. :) I do think this was my favorite part of the entire reception, this whole ladder thing. (This was her idea)
Daylight [before] and Candlelight [during]
The Dessert Bar [and behind it, in the which we put up old doors and shutters and sconces and chandeliers and all sorts of things… :)]
Reception candids…
Ahhhhh, what a beautiful day!
Jana chose one of the best photographers in her area, so if you want to see even more pictures, you can visit Char’s blog. She is fantastic ~ her work is just out-of-this-world beautiful.
To the newly-weds… I wish you a marriage even more beautiful than your perfect wedding day!
A wonderful week beginning to you all!
~clarita
