From The Bride and Groom
Inspiration behind the day: The venue, see 1st paragraph.
Favorite Memory: Jamie/ Walking down the aisle flanked by mom and dad, seeing Jesse smiling at the end. Jesse/ seeing Jamie walk down the aisle. Both/ boogie’n down to Barry White surrounded in a circle by friends and family.
Any advice you have for brides planning now: Stay true to what you want you want the day to be, it is all about what you and your groom want. If something doesn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to happen, let it go! Relish every moment planning with family and friends - they are really trying to help.
Jesse and I wanted to have a wedding that was as adventurous in spirit as we are, and the Hideout venue was the perfect locale. The Hideout offered different vignettes for each of the stages of our wedding. The rustic ceremony site was perfect with split logs for guest seating and a handmade arch built by the owners. The authentic saloon made an excellent watering hole. The main house was spectacular, it sat on a lake surrounded by granite boulders (and a 30 person hot tub built into the rocks for after hour entertainment). The winin’, dinin’, and dancin’ was located under a grove of pine trees (which was lit up with lights and lanterns strung by my uncle and the bridesmaids).
The whole wedding was a DIY project orchestrated by my amazing mom. Many of our ideas came from internet blogs and magazines.
Tables: My mom and I shopped at thrift stores for all the vases used for the flowers and the candy bar. We also got all the fabric used as the runners on the tables, and she hand sewed each and every piece (she is truly amazing).
Flowers: We told our florist, ArtInBloom, that we wanted rustic romantic and she nailed it!
Dessert Bar: Although quite popular these days, Jesse and I wanted to go with the candy bar/dessert table because we both love candy (all our favorites made up the spread). The cookies, brownies, and cupcakes were made by the Russell family, out of Russell’s Deli and Bakery in Minden, Nevada. My dad hand stamped all the candy bags with a custom stamp we had made “Jesse and Jamie 7.24.2010, Love is Sweet, Take A Treat”. My mom made the cupcake and cake stands, and the bark wrapped candles from an idea off OnceWed — they were spectacular.
Guest Book: We used antique skis from my family for our “guest book” and are so excited to hang these on our wall at home.
Wedding Photos: At the ceremony site, we placed pictures of all the married couples from each of our families. Both our parents are still married and set examples of longevity that we hope to follow. The pictures of our grandparents and siblings also made for beautiful nostalgia.
Stationary: My maid of honor and her husband made our Save the Dates, Invitations, and Programs, which are truly one of a kind. They also set up the highly utilized self-portrait station, where we got some hilarious pictures of all of our family and friends. Our mountain table name cards and stamped escort cards were handmade with care (and lots of wine) by myself, the Giordano’s and bridesmaid Jenni Adams.
Attire: My dress was La Sposa. I found it in a small family owned bridal shop in Lodi, Gonzalez Bridal. My flower headpiece was from Nordstroms (at the last minute I decided to wear my hair down and bridesmaid Jenni Adams and I walked into the store on Wednesday evening she picked out and we were off 5 minutes later). My wedding present to myself was a pair of cobalt blue Frye cowboy boots, which were awesome for the all night dance party, and I expect to put them to good use for a long time to come. The ladies were dressed in coral JCrew dresses. The gifts to my ladies were a pair of Tony Lama boots and a handmade charm necklace (made by me and my mom).
Jesse looked quite dapper in a light grey J.Crew suit and white vest. He and his groomsmen wore Vans shoes (as did our dads). The guys were styled in plaid grey pants, with grey vests.
Oh yeah, I can’t forget about the ring bearer – our dog Tyson was decked out in a Tuxedo t-shirt that read “Mr. Charming”.
Having a best friend/bridesmaid as a professional stylist also made things easy. Diana Ingalls, army of 1, transformed me from plain Jane to wedding day glamorous – she worked her tail off!
Jesse and I loved everything about our wedding. It was perfect, thanks to the work of our family, friends, vendors, and owners of the Hideout, Tom and BJ Hoover and their staff.
