That Sister, That New Bride!

Salt Flat Portraits

2009-12-31T11:05:00.000-08:00

I know I never post on here anymore... that's because I am no longer a bride!

But my mom (densieandersen.com) came down to Utah and took our portraits which turned out amazing.

Check them out here at my blog that I actually use!

The Carter Wedding (why yes I am one of the Carters!)

2009-10-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

My new hubby and I got married on July 25th, 2009 in Richland, WA. The fabulous Kelli Nichole came and shot the wonderful day, and of course the pictures came out just as beautiful as I thought they would!

First off my shoes, which I absolutely loved! The other shoe said "I do"

My dress that was from Alfred Angelo in Seattle, then the sleeves and pleats were added by a seamstress in Utah.

He is so cute, isn't he?!

I love the lighting on this shot!

My grandma made the pearl ring years ago, and my dad gave me a pearl necklace which I used as a bracelet.

I love this shot of me coming up behind him for the 'first look'

My crafty mom made this amazing bouquet and the clutch is my great-grandma's

I love the color of this shot... so gorgeous!!!

The Columbia River Temple, where we were married

The Andersen family with the new additions of boys

My gorgeous bridesmaids

I love this shot of the groomsmen. My groom looks so tough!!

The gorgeous centerpieces that are for sale here in Utah... email me if you have a question about them!

Entering the reception at Anthony's Event Center in Richland

Wow Vance really got telling stories to Kelli!

The Fabulous Kelli and Jenna (my sister). They are good friends. Kelli also photographed Jenna's wedding last October

My dad giving a toast. I am a daddy's girl

Kathy is probably reacting to something Jenna said ;)

Jenna toasting and saying that I better not have kids before her

My cute mom

I grabbed a big piece to shove in his mouth

Our adorable nephew Luke decorating the car

Max we know it is you!

The grand exit?

Why yes there are some Andersen Organic onions hanging from the back of my car.

The Wedding

2009-08-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

These photos are not by my fab photographer Kelli Nichole, but my sister and my mom took photos throughout the wedding, whenever they could. They gave me the files and then I edited them. So these photos do not necessarily represent their photography.

My mom is quite crafty and made many things for the wedding. My bouquet, the boutonnieres, the centerpieces, my veil & the bridesmaid's veils.

My mom had adorable shoes with the cutest sole!

My dad bought me pearls. They were so beautiful and perfect!!

This was my great-grandma's purse. I used to play with it all the time when I was little.

My husband gave me this perfume last Christmas, and I love it!

The only white rose in the wedding. Only for my hubby.

My veil and flower. I bought the flower at Mary's bridal in Salt Lake City, UT and my mom whipped up the veil.

I can't wait to see the pictures by Kelli Nichole!!

Prieview

2009-08-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

It's official... we are married! I don't have the professional pictures back yet, and won't for quite a while, but I will show a preview of what it was like.

This is all you get for now. I want to put a picture of my full dress up soon!

My bridesmaids

2009-07-19T02:14:00.000-07:00

So I never really thought that I would have a large wedding party, but wow there were so many girls that I really wanted to be there! The first important girl that came to mind was, of course, was my sister Jenni-Bo-Bo. As per true Jenna style she elected herself MOH. I would have done it anyway, but I love that she did.

This is the last picture I have with Jenna, due to the fact that I haven't seen her since she got married on October 11, 2008. I know... boo-hoo. But she married this wonderful Polish guy who wants to take her to Poland someday. And considering she is my only sibling and the center of our family, I am going to be sad when that day comes! But I get to see her in a week!!!!

This is a classic picture. I am on the left, my big sister in the middle, and my next bridesmaid on the right
Naturally my next girl was my cousin Aubree. When we were younger we looked like twins. One of our favorite past times was to switch clothes and trick our parents as to who we really were. Dan (my fiance) still cannot tell us apart in pictures when we were younger.
This is us now. We no longer look alike, not as much fun as tricking people ;)
Leslie and I went to school together pretty much until college. Well we even went to the same college, but of course we never even saw each other on campus. We became good friends in high school and when her husband went to Iraq last year we got to spend lots of time together.
This is her on her wedding day with her hubby Michael.
She is a stinking gorgeous girl! When we get together we act like teenagers once again. We laugh at pretty much everything and quote a lot of 'Friends'.
Liberty Baker. Isn't that pretty much the coolest name ever? She is just as adorable as her name is. She is not only one of my closest friends, but we share a room, a bathroom and even food. When I got engaged I was so worried about leaving her alone to live with some crazy roomates, but...she got engaged and is getting married two weeks after me! (And of course I was lucky enough to take their engagement pictures!)

This picture just makes me want to say "oh my!" Ashley is being fake proposed to by her boyfriend Ra. Ashley and I were next door neighbors our freshman year in college, then roomates our sophmore year. We had so much fun living together and eating our gluten free diets.
For Halloween one year we were rodeo queens. She totally has rodeo queen hair!
And this little bundle of joy is Molly. She is so fun and happy about life. We used to love to go dancing every Thursday. One of my favorite things to do, dance! Molly lived two floors below Ashley and I, and then our second semester we convinced her to move in with us.
Last but not least, Tawnee! We worked summer of 08 in the fields in Washington state, where we are both from. Sadly I don't have pictures of us so tan and dirty working in the fields. When you work all day in the middle of a field, you tend to get bored and talk about anything, and everything. You reveal your deepest darkest secrets. Not like either of us had much of those, if any, but we kept busy talking or singing to our iPods.

She is gorgeous to photograph as well.

Pretty much I have 7 gorgeous girls to show me up on my wedding day ;)
I am so excited that they will be there with me!

You should thank Annie @ MarryYouMe for asking me to post something again. It was all her doing.

I choose....

2009-07-10T01:12:00.000-07:00

P.S. I chose this hairstyle! I am so excited about it!

My good friend Kimmy Taylor helped me decide and we are going to do a test run on Tuesday to see how it works. She is going to do my hair for the portraits my mom is going to take of us on the Salt Flats in Utah. Kimmy is my hairstylist and I have never loved my hair as much as when she does it. Seriously I am not just saying that!

Columbia River Temple

2009-06-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is the gorgeous and sacred place that Daniel and I will be getting married. I am so excited for July 25th!!

The Columbia River Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

If you are curious to learn more about this gorgeous building and what will happen for us on July 25th head on over to That Wife, she is much better with words than I am!

Hairstyle

2009-06-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

I have no idea which hairstyle I want. I know I want something low, that is all I know. I found some hairstyles that I like.

I love the waviness in these two.

I think this might be my favorite. Classic bun with a twist.

I love the placement of this bun on her head.

I also like this, but it might be too Utah for me.

I think I love the photography of this one.

So much...

2009-05-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

I never realized how much work it is to plan a wedding. There are so many things to get done. I have to get a passport, get the crack on my car fixed before I change insurance, go see like 20 doctors, and do all the wedding things. The other day I printed and cut 300 invitations (all by myself, I love being independent). Now I am just waiting for my mom to bring the belly bands from Washington and take our engagement pictures. My mom is coming down on Sunday and we have almost a week to go shopping and figure an insane amount of things out. I love the idea of getting as much done now. I am so excited for July 25th!

Last weekend my fiance graduated.. yey! Hopefully he will want to get his masters degree in Utah for the in state tuition and of course for me to finish school up here. He is so cute!!

I look like an idiot because I am trying not to show my teeth. I had stitches in the front on my mouth and it looks pretty gross.

Overweight?

2009-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

I am using FitDay to track my food intake. Because I am allergic to so many foods, it is hard for me to eat enough calories in a day. The minimum intake is 1,200. I sturggle to eat that much! I am shooting for 1,600 at least. Part of FitDay is to track your weight. There is a graph that has an arrow and points to where your weight, height and age (BMI) falls. The four catergories are underweight, healthy weight, overweight & obese. What do you think I am?

I don't have any other pictures that show all of me. I tried to pick one that is realistic, not one where I think I look skinny. So I have some meat on my bones, but I am not overweight! I hate BMI!!

Invitations... again

2009-05-11T16:02:00.001-07:00

I tested out the printing to see how things are coming together, and I think I am almost there! Almost to the part of actually printing and cutting all the invites! I smudged the ink due to impatience. This is a rough draft, hopefully the last rough draft!

Bridesmaid shoes

2009-05-09T15:16:00.001-07:00

I have been looking for some sage colored shoes for the bridesmaids... almost impossible, unless I want to pay $200 a pair. My shoes didn't even cost that much, I am not buying possibly 7 girls $200 shoes. I love my girls, but I do have a budget.
I just went with my roomie and b-maid Libby to Target and found these cute babies! I love them! The picture doesn't do them justice, but they are adorable on!
Not only do I think these shoes are adorable, but I think they will be a good mix of my bridesmaids' styles. Not too high for one, not too low for another. Just perfect.

Target.com

I think I am going to get my bridesmaids these shoes and then they get to wear a black dress of their own. Then they are individual, yet still cohesive somehow. I will give the MOH something to distinguish her. Jen how about a flower clip that matches mine? I have so many ideas and they change all the time.... because everything is about wedding planning!

I love comments

2009-05-09T00:39:00.001-07:00

I love when you write comments about my posts. So keep it up! Or else I don't know if I could keep up the writing, feeling like no one even cares. But you do!!
I realize that I have a lot of expectations to live up to, being Mrs. Avocado's sister, but I feel like so far I am doing pretty good!

Just because I can't do a post without a picture, here is a gorgeous couple I photographed yesterday!

Invitations Updated

2009-05-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

I have updated my invitation and am close to starting to print them. The wording isn't complete, but I am liking the fonts especially! The lines aren't part of the invites, but currently there for cutting purposes.

These slips will sit in front of the announcement in a stair-like manner.

This is the announcement itself. I love it. I love how simple it is.

I hope this is all I need on the RSVP card!

What do you think? I will get a mock up of it all printed out in the next day on here.

Me.

2009-05-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

I just realized that maybe I should tell you a little bit more about me. You will get to know my style through my wedding planning, but obviously there is more to me than that.

I am from a small farm town in Washington state. There are so many things I love about it there.

1. The sunsets.
2. The fact that a tractor driving on the highway is extremely normal
3. No matter which direction I walk from my parent's home there are no houses or people for at least a mile, just nature and farm land.
4. My dog is able to run free, and we do not have to pick up her poop in the park
5. Working in the dirt. There are not many things more satisfying than working 12 hours a day under the sun and being so exhausted that you sleep so well. Plus you get a great tan!
6. Country music. I actually didn't listen to country music all growing up. Middle school & high school was all about rap for me, but this last year I once again found my love for it.

This list could go on and on, but I will stop now. For the last 3 years I have being going to college in Utah. I discovered that when the grocery store is not 40 miles away from your house, you can go pick something up whenever you want it! Even if you are just craving Chex Mix muddy buddies!

When I first started school I planned on majoring in Photography. I love photography. It is my passion. There are actually a lot of factors that made me change my mind about majoring in photography. I think the first one is the fact that I was diagnosed with lots of food allergies the day before I first left for college. The second being the fact that to be a photographer you don't need a degree. A lot of the best wedding photographers don't have a degree, they have the eye and the talent. I am currently working on building my business down in Utah. I am going to start advertising my website soon in some magazines. My specialty is weddings and children.

I took Nutrition 100 my fist year in school and found how much I loved it! I love learning about food and the nutrients that your body needs. I have finally decided that I am going to major in Exercise Science and go on to get my Masters Degree in Dietetics. I want to specialize in Food Allergies & Intolerances. I have had a hard time adjusting to being allergic to so many things.

1. Dairy
2. Eggs
3. Cane sugar
4. Wheat & Gluten (Celiac Disease)
5. And other random things like blueberries, cucumber & lamb.

My Celiac Disease was the biggest adjustment for me to make. You don't realize how many things have gluten in them! A couple months ago I accidentally had some gluten at a restaurant and it made me so sick for three weeks. I missed so much work. Luckily my job is really flexible and worked with me. I gain 10 lbs over night and am in so much pain. I want to be able to help people feel better by learning what they can and can't eat when they have special circumstances.

Because you know I love pictures.. here are some that show you more about me!

Many of you will recognize That Bride in the middle
This is me on the left, My sister in the middle and my cousin on the right.
We grew up doing everything together.

Doing one of my favorite things! Photographing a bride & groom

This is how it turned out, well one of the shots.

I have been a bride before, no not married before, just a model for my mom.

I have a gorgeous family. And a gorgeous picture of us thanks to the wonderful Kelli Nichole.
Hopefully she will be my photographerI am a total Daddy's Girl. So much so that I farmed a field of black beans with my dad last summer.
These are some of my favorite girls. They are the ones who helped me figure out how to live a gluten free life. They are both Celiacs. And some of my closest friends.

This is my roomie and bestest farm-girl friend!

More than anyone else, I love this guy, my fiance. He is so tired in this picture, but I love how gorgeous his eyes are!

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!!!

2009-05-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know that I love shoes! I have so many that sometimes some get negleted and don't get worn for months (even when they are in season), or even an entire year. I guess that is normal for some people, but not any people I really know.
For my wedding, my shoes have got to be amazing! There are some Manolo Blahniks that I love. I found them on another bride, years ago. I want those shoes, but I can't find anywhere that still sells them!
I am sorry I don't have the link, I found these at least a year ago, so I have no idea where! I want them... I want the feathers!

Due to the fact that I cannot find them I have ordered some other shoes. I saw them at Nordstrom's and looked them up the other night online and bought them and had them shipped to my apartment in Utah. They might be there already, I don't know. I am up in Washington visiting my parents for a few weeks, but will be back in Utah on Thursday. I can't wait to see my fiance again! We got engaged, then two days later I was photographing a wedding in Seattle and stayed up here to do wedding planning (considering the wedding will be in WA). I can't wait to go home and see him! Only four more days! Anyways.... the shoes I bought!Picture from Zappos.com

I love the texture of these! These are pictured in white, but I found them in Ivory at Musthaveshoes.com. Free shipping made for a great bonus!

What do you think? I like the peep toe because it is summer. They are a little different, but still a classy shoe. In decorations I am going mainly monochromatic with ivory, so I love that these are all ivory and will go with my off-white dress.

But look how amazing to Manolo Blahniks are.... I love them. I wish they were mine.
(I am doing feathers throughout my wedding so they would be so perfect!)

Dress Shopping in Seattle

2009-05-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Seattle is one of my favorite places! Dress shopping there would be so fun, I knew I would find amazing desses. The first place we went was Alfred Angelo in Tukwila.

This was the first dress I tried on, my mom really liked it. I obviously look so excited about it. There was a lot of beading on the train and some on the bodice. That meant a no for me.

Then we went to La Bella Reve in Bellevue. It was an amazing boutique.

I did not care for this dress really, but I love how it drapes and hits the floor at the bottom.

I love this collar on this dress! It is different, and so cute!

I love that this dress has pleats at the top and the bottom! I love pleats!

This dress was gorgeous. My expression is so lovely due to just seeing that it is a $6,000 dress. Extremely out of my budget!!

This was my favorite dress at this store! I loved the bolero

This was the detail on the bottom portion.

I finally know what I want in a dress after going to these places. I know I definitely don't want a $6,000 dress. There is no dress that I would ever love that much! I also know that I need to figure out my health so I can get back to exercising!

Invitations Mock-Up

2009-04-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

I never cared much for invitations. Okay, so I think that statement is wrong. My sister (Mrs. Avacado/That Wife) had these gorgeous invitations, but they were so much work for her.

She even sewed the pages together, literally sewed them!
You can check out her blog when she was That Bride to see more of her invites.

Going into being engaged I didn't think I wanted to do all these things that would take so much work. As planning goes on I am excited to do all these little details. Being engaged really brings out this excitement in me! I have had a lot of health problems for the past while so my excitement isn't as apparent as it used to be, so I think it is harder for my family and those who know me well to see. What is this post even about? I got distracted by my tangent, back to.... invitations! I do want my invitations to be simple and gorgeous. I finally have a template that I think I love. What do you think?

Designed by me in Photoshop
p.s. the dots at the bottom are thrown on there, more for concept.

Veils & headpieces

2009-04-27T21:20:00.004-07:00

What to wear for your veil...some people know exactly what they want. That is not me.

I love the feathers and pears in this one!

I also love that you can flip it out of your face

But I love this little hat!!

It would be so adorable!! I don't know if it will fit the dress I choose though. I guess it will depend on the dress. Or... maybe I should pick a dress that will look adorable with the hat!

Drake's Flowers

2009-04-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in the last post that I was very particular about having white roses.
This little boy is why.

This is Drake Andrew. He was born on January 26, 1993, and died that same day. I was almost four years old. I did not understand why my mom was crying and hugging my sister. Why didn't she want to hug me? Apparently as a four year old I did not understand the concept of death. My brother would not be coming home with us.
As a gift of remembrance my grandma gave our family a rose bush. White. It represented the purity that he had as he left this life. It was also an inspiration to become pure ourselves so that we can be with him again.
Drake is why white roses in my wedding are so important. It is a way to honor him.

Reception Inspiration

2009-04-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

I am looking at what I think I would like for reception decorations. I love my color palette more as I look at pictures.

I want these chairs at my reception. I hate chair covers, so a chair that is pretty by itself, well that makes it easier, cheaper, and prettier!

I love this monochromatic look. So much white, very weddingy and elegant.

I am extrememly particular about having white roses in my arrangement so I love how this includes them, but not too florally and standard.

What is this curly thing? I love it!

Dress Shopping in Utah

2009-04-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start dress shopping to get an idea of what looks good on me. My roomie Libby came with me to tell me what she thought and of course, to take pictures!

I love the idea of a lace dress. Gorgeous texture, it would photograph amazingly.

The bodice of this dress was so flattering on me and covered my flappy arms. I like that.

I did NOT like how huge the bottom was. The train was also ridiculously long.

So I tried on a shorter version, but I have a huge scar down my right calf, so no shorter dresses for me.

This was my favorite dress of the day. I loved the ruffle detail in it. I also love the buttons down the back. It is simple, and the shape is good.

I am sorry for not touching up the photos. I am a photographer so it drives me nuts to have these photos on my blog! Working and wedding planning doesn't leave much time to play with photos all the time.

Dress Inspiration

2009-04-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

I am super pickey when it comes to clothes, so when it comes to wedding dresses... it is ridiculous! There is so many things I don't like.
1. sequins/beading
2. big poufy dresses
3. Pick-ups in the skirt
Things I want
1. mermaid/trumpet fit
2. sleeves, I hate my arms, they look fat in pictures
3. Rouching or something to camoflage my stomach
4. Something that is a little bit vintage
Through my many hours searching the internet to find something that I like, I have found some things that I really like.

I love the rouching and the v-neck on this dress. Although I do think the bust needs to be a little bit more perky.

I LOVE this vintage look!!!

This little jacket makes this such a relaxed and chill dress.

I love this neckline. So glam, vintage.

I found this on Nordstrom.com and thought it was so cute. I went into Nordstrom the next day and one of the associates looked it up on the computer for me and
there were only 2 left in my size out of all the stores. So we went ahead and ordered it. l got it in the mail and put it on as fast as could, then took it off even faster! It looks so pretty in this picture. It is not the same on. I took it back without taking pictures of it on because it was so unflattering on me.

Now dress shopping to find a dress I like, without having to alter it too much, now that will be difficult.

I had this dress photos on file, so I don't have the source. Sorry!

Color Pallette

2009-04-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

The colors I want to go with are off-white, black & greens. My dad is an organic farmer, so I love the greens. I also love vintage. I love the birdcage veil in this first inspiration board, as well as the boutonniere.

I love how clean and crisp this one is.

But, Oh how I love this glam. The ring is even like mine!

This is making me love the tented reception, with chandeliers hanging. I wanted a simple wedding, but as I look at things I realized how gorgeous things are and how I kind of want this gorgeous wedding!

(Inspiration Boards from Style Me Pretty)

Engaged!

2009-04-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

I am engaged! I am so excited! Dan totally surprised me. I actually went up to Salt Lake (I live about 40 minutes south of SLC in Provo) to take pictures of these adorable girls! Hallie is 3 and Bella is almost 1 1/2. They are such cute girls! I am Aunt Shay and love it!

To see more pictures of these cuties go to shaylenerene.wordpress.com

Kathy (Dan's mom) wanted to take me and the girls to her friend's boutique to get some super cute shots there. We were there for like 5 minutes and then left because Bella did not have her binky. We picked up some food and then went back to the house. Dan was being really funny about me opening the gift his mom had gotten for my birthday. My birthday was the day before. So finally we sat down and opene the present. It was a large box and there was a small black box inside. I knew that box the moment I saw it. It was the box that held the little black velvet box that my ring was in. I opened it up and there was a note inside that said there was a box that I would like more. I didn't know if it was real! I got up and walked outside with Dan, Kathy and the little girls following me. There were roses that lead me to the velvet box that I knew held my ring. Dan stepped in front of me and got down on one knee. In that moment I felt so... I can't even describe it. It just wasn't even real! I was in shock.

Of course one of the first things I did was take pictures of my gorgeous ring!

This is the spot where Dan proposed to me.

Now I am in wedding planning mode. So much to get done!