Our Wedding // The Reception

Style Me Pretty summed it up best as ‘Dallas meets New Orleans meets heaven in wedding form.’ That’s exactly what it felt like for us. Being outside, underneath the stars, with the Dallas skyline as the backdrop as we danced in this historic part of our city. Everything about it.

We ate dinner at a secluded table where we could watch our guests arrive. Then, the horn section of the band lead us to the dance floor for our first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery.

J’s first gift to me was records from Justin Townes Earle (fourth date band) and the Fruit Bats.  When we figured out that we both wanted ‘Beautiful Morning Light’ to be the first song we dance to after we’re married, it was, well, just another cheesy moment where we think the same thing.  The only video I have of us dancing to it is from my cousin, from her shaky phone, while she’s correcting her kiddo.  So, if you happen to have a little video of our night and want to share, I’ll bake you cookies.  That’s probably not very enticing, because I don’t like the kitchen, so I’ll….plan your wedding…maybe.  Also, we’re both afraid of spiders (wait. was that relationship code?!) Anyway, check out this awesome band.  You won’t regret it.

I made the bar menu. There were probably four drafts of it. ‘Raspberry’ is really tricky to spell. Spiked Raspberry Lemonade is wonderful and amazing and you should always order extra.

That cake. Schmoly cow. We kinda cheated and ate it as soon as we found out we were moving to Belgium. I mean, we didn’t have an address to ship to and it had been taunting us in the freezer for four whole months and we couldn’t just have THAT cake floating around..too risky. It was delicious. Raspberry champagne filling with white cake (because J would not even hear of having a wedding cake in any other color..on the inside, no less) and the frosting……crap – what are we going to do on Sunday? Wait. Belgian chocolate. Okay, we’re good. Back on track.

In addition to learning our obscure, little Fruit Bats song, our band also learned the Second Line – a brass band tradition in New Orleans. Hence the umbrellas. It was kickass.

The horns lead us out to the tune of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’ It was the most incredible, sparkly night of our lives. And we’ve enjoyed sharing it with you this week oh so much.

And that, my friends, (plus a little move abroad) is how MontgomeryFest came to be.

Photography: Taylor Lord Photography | Wedding Planning: After Yes | Floral & design: Bows & Arrows | Reception Venue: Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park | Band: The Walton Stout Band | Lighting: Astounding Sounds | Photobooth: Premier Booth | Calligraphy: The Left Handed Calligrapher | Catering: Two Sisters Catering | Wedding Cake: Dallas Affaires Cake Co. | Umbrellas: New Orleans Umbrella Co.

Our Wedding // The Church

You just want a quick glance? Okay:

|1| I love velvet ribbon  |2| I did a painting of this here  |3| I told you…love. and gold. lots of gold  |4| we’re always reaching for each other  |5| there are no words for this moment  |6| can we just take a moment for this  photography. thank you.  |7| my girls  |8| well, hi there, handsome  |9| are these two not the cutest ring shots you ever did see?  |10| I’m holding on to that pillow for your day, buddy  |11| mama moment  |12| Flower Power  |13| insight into the future Montgomery fam?  |14| perspective  |15| majestic

For those of you who like a good story, I’ve got a few for you:

Deacon Tim – Officiant, friend, future Costa Rican retirement neighbor.
As soon as we got engaged, we set out to find a priest with whom we were comfortable. Our then church had older priests who rotated a lot and we never formed a relationship with any of them.  We went to multiple masses per Sunday all over Dallas and asked our friends who grew up there for recommendations. We called it stalking church. Well, somewhere along the process, we met Deacon Tim.  We kept talking about how much we both loved his words and the way he treated us so kindly and respectfully. So, after a couple more weeks of stalking, we finally got up the courage to ask if he’d  like to officiate our wedding. As a deacon, he can choose who he will marry. He invited us over to meet his wonderful wife and get to know us and why we knew we were ready for the Sacrament of Marriage. Of all of the pretty details going on around us, it was Deacon Tim who led us through the preparation and now the act of marriage. It makes my heart swell to think about how thankful I am they are in our lives, even if we only hang out for baptisms (in 5+ years) and, of course, when we retire on the beach.

Oh, that was just back story. The wedding: I was a nervous wreck when people started showing up. Handling that many people is not my forte and the mimosas had worn off. J and I snuck off to a private section of the church to catch our breath. Deacon Tim came to find us. I remember him sitting us down so calmly and telling us how confident he was in us. I mean, phew. That was it – it was just the three of us that needed to make this thing happen. He also asked if we had seen The Princess Bride – neither of us had (weird. I know). Then, he, again calmly, asked if we were ready to walk in, as if we had all the time in the world to say ‘more time please’ but we didn’t need to anymore. We were ready to get married. More than ready. Throughout the ceremony he kept making me laugh, so hard that people later kept asking me if I was crying, even J since he was holding me up while I was shaking/giggling. ‘Wove Twue wove.’ It’s now our favorite movie and one of three we brought overseas – including our wedding video and SATC, of course.

Cute story coming up in 3, 2, 1..
Gavin, the adorable ring bearer up there, kept coming up to me before the ceremony to tell me he didn’t know what to do. He was so nervous, but trying not to show it. I kept reassuring him that it would be as easy as the night before at the rehearsal and that he just got to walk with his little cousin down the aisle. Easy peasy, you got this. He was still nervous. Fast forward to after the ceremony when the wedding party all met back in The Bride’s Room. All I remember were masses of people hugging and poking me with their boutonnières and Gavin. Little Man pushed his way through the grown-ups to tell me ‘That was nothin’!’ He was so proud. Gavin, you rocked your role on our special day.

That 3rd to last row of photos is kinda a secret from J. I edited those two in after he read the post. Because he’s so straight-forward, he’ll probably think some of this story is inappropriate. C’est la vie avec Anne (that was my French name in high school and my birth name and one of the names J called me before he had the courage to ask me out since he couldn’t figure out how I pronounced it – apparently, I was Annie-Anne for the longest). Anyway, I can’t look at that first pic without hearing ‘I love your pretty dress’ in my favorite little high-pitched voice. I tried to get the girls to do a ‘1, 2, 3, Flower Power!’ with me every time I had the three of them rounded up. They just looked at me like I was crazy. I probably was. AND THAT GROUP SHOT – I debated whether I wanted my mother to see that because even though she has 11 (!!) grand-bébés, J and I are still being constantly asked if it’s time. To which my response is decidedly, ‘I want to see Bora Bora first’ that way it’s on J’s plate and there’s a perfectly sensible way to take it off. wink.. 

Do we have time for one more?

Okay, I’ll make it a good one.

You might have caught that we walked down the aisle together. It’s my favorite part. Like the bells chiming when I said ‘Yes.’ While we were indulging in homemade chocolate chip cookies at Deacon Tim’s house, he asked us if we’d like to walk down the aisle together. He said it’s something he’s asked all of his couples and none had taken him up on it. I have to tell you, this was a soft spot for our plans. I had trouble  envisioning someone strong enough to hand me off to Justin. Symbolically and figuratively..sheesh. Not to mention, I was wearing high, high  heels and had to practice standing without locking my knees. Anyway, I remember we both looked at each other. Like – um, oh, hmmmm. The subject was dropped and days later, we were getting ready for the day and I asked him how he felt about the idea. As conservative as he is, I assumed he’d say he wanted the image of me walking toward him. I was wrong. He thought it was a great idea. At that point, words started pouring out of my mouth (as they do) about how meaningful it would be to see our ceremony through the same perspective. That he was the one I trusted with everything…including my high, high heel uneasiness. How perfectly us it is that we would be inseparable and bold enough to break the tradition.

DONE!
I mean, unless you want to talk more about weddings in the comments. Because I’ve been smiling profusely all week because of your sweet comments.

Reception fun tomorrow – à demain!

Photography: Taylor Lord Photography | Wedding Planning: After Yes | Floral & design: Bows & Arrows | Ceremony Venue: Christ the King Catholic Church | Bridesmaid Dresses: Amsale | Ring Bearer Pillow: BHLDN

Our Wedding // Getting Ready

Typical girls day getting ready :: Mimosas, hairspray, girl tunes in the background. We woke up (okay, fine. a little hung over from the rehearsal dinner rowdiness), ordered room service, girl chatted in bed. Slowly visitors started showing up. Hair and makeup got started. It was the perfect day of calm, quality time with my lovelies and prettiness – the best kind of distraction from having to spend an entire day away from him. I had a heavy breathe the entire day..I just couldn’t catch it for some reason. Until I was with him again. (First look photos coming up tomorrow) Then our photographer showed up and it felt real. The time passed much more quickly and before I knew it, I had my dress on and was leaving for the church.

Typical guys day getting ready :: Buddies drinking beer, hanging out.

The deets :: For my dress, I wanted something that complimented both my and Justin’s totally different tastes (I did worry a little that it wasn’t fully white!) and found it on my first trip to BHLDN, which I had been itching to make my first purchase from ever since they opened earlier in the year. It was simple and modern with lovely unexpected touches. I probably had a different pair of earrings shipped every week until I finally decided on the Kate Spade beauties. Justin insisted on having matching wedding bands. So, on a trip to New York (to prepare for Belgian citizenship), we grabbed breakfast and ate it outside of Tiffany’s until it opened (such tourists) and we got our classic gold bands. I love the mix of metals with my white gold engagement ring – that he designed himself! My veil still makes me smile – I needed something to help fill in the grandness of the church and Vera Wang knows just how to do that! And for the guys, J ordered cufflinks with their initials. The rest of the wedding had muted colors for a base – gray bridesmaid dresses, classic tuxes – and then as many pops of glitter and light as we could fit in!

Photography: Taylor Lord Photography | Bride’s Hotel: Park Cities Hilton | Groom’s Hotel: The Magnolia | Robes: Silk and More | Wedding Dress // Belt // ‘To My Groom on our Wedding Day’ Card: BHLDN | Shoes: J.Crew | Earrings: Kate Spade | Veil: Vera Wang | Hair and Makeup: Amy Kraus | Cufflinks: Plate Links

The Planning Post

We loved hearing the engagement stories we received yesterday, keep ’em coming! Today we’re featuring the details that went into the planning. And details there were a plenty. Planning our wedding was one of the most fun things we’ve ever gotten to do. The system was pretty much: I came up with a ton of ideas, Justin would edit and we’d figure out how it worked for us, and then we’d devote our weekends to scouring Dallas to make it work. We were such a great team – props to us. We had plans to move abroad in the Fall, so we planned a Spring event in six months. It was the perfect length. Although I miss working on every detail with my teammate, it was better that we gave my ideas a time limit – more time would mean more details, and really, there were SO many already, who would even notice them?

Music plays such a big part in our relationship (most of our first dates, the first gifts we gave each other, when we cross-countried to Bonnaroo the first time and were inseparable there-after) that it was only fitting that it would play throughout our big event.

Let’s kick this off with a few of our favorites from our E-sesh with Taylor Lord Photography..

This is going to get a little lengthy because I love a good paper product and it showed. But, I had the hardest time figuring out where and how to do it all, so maybe, just maybe another bride might find something in here helpful. Oh, and of course it’s eye candy.

Firstly, we started on Save the Dates. With only six months, they needed to go out asap. We scoured Half Price Books for 45″ vinyl records. One of our little Junior Groomsmen (age 12, future rockstar) gave us an impromptu photo shoot. We ordered 45″ white sleeves and stamped them with a custom-made stamp from a local shop of “You are my sunshine” because, well, he is and it made the album. Had a custom-made (are you seeing a theme here?) return-address stamp made, packaged those suckers up pretty, got a few more muscles and splinters, and shipped them out the door.

These later tied in with our appropriately titled album favors – CDs with a playlist including songs from different artists we saw together throughout our 11 month super fun courtship. Our sweet, sweet friend designed the CD label for us. We ordered the sleeves with the playlist printed on them, tied them up with velvet ribbon (duh.), except for one and put it on repeat.

Our invitations. I think we set a record for visiting our stationer. Papyrus  helped us design something that was funky, but still traditional, and most definitely letterpress. Something that fit us. The Left Handed Calligrapher took care of the envelopes addressed in her gorgeous calligraphy.

More paper products. More stamps. We had stamps made for the rehearsal dinner invites that J’s mom graciously took care of for us and a monogram that I drew for the programs, rehearsal dinner menus, and guest bag welcome letters.

Oh yeah, guests! Both of our families lived in different states, so the majority of our guest list needed hotel rooms. We toured hotels (super fun) in downtown Dallas trying to find one that fit our style. The Magnolia was cozy, stylish and had gorgeous views of the city. The room block list was a challenge but suited my accountant side. Now we needed a way to welcome our guests to our city. We ordered canvas bags and had a stamp made that said ‘Bienvenue’ with our date. We both have French heritage and made little references to that throughout that ended with our thank you cards. Then, stuffed them with local treats since we’d be so busy that week and couldn’t properly welcome everyone.

All photos are by Taylor Lord. 

Photography: Taylor Lord Photography | Floral & design: Bows & Arrows | Invitations: Elum via Papyrus | Thank You cards: Checkerboard | Calligraphy: The Left Handed Calligrapher | Custom Stamps: Acme Stamp | CD Sleeves: Kraft and Jute

The Proposal

In honor of our one year anniversary coming up, I’m going to flood the blog this week with how the Montgomery Wedding Fest went down. First up, the proposal..

Friday, October 7th, 2011. We were planning on heading to the LSU/Florida game in Baton Rouge that weekend, so we took off a little early to introduce J to New Orleans for the first time. The Florida game is always the 2nd Saturday in October, so it’ll be easy for me to remember our date…J’s on his own on this one. We were supposed to catch our flight Thursday night around 8pm and have a little night in NOLA. After shutting down the Dallas Love Field Chili’s bar, we finally boarded after midnight and got to our hotel around 3am. Needless to say, I was exhausted and rather confused why he woke me up ready to see the city at 8am on Friday..not our traveling style.

From his point of view: It was THE day. It had to be New Orleans, she loves the atmosphere. She was preoccupied with the LSU game and wouldn’t see this coming. So, how could I sleep in? It was tough to get ready that morning. I hid the ring in my shaving kit, that she likes to keep her toothbrush in. Crap. This is harder than I planned..hurry up and move the bag, but slyly, so she doesn’t notice. Phew. We’re out the door.

We went to grab brunch in Jackson’s Square, the middle of NOLA, at Stanley’s. Yum. We decided we’d take a carriage ride to be cute. When we walked outside, we took a detour to the cathedral just across the square from the carriages. I remember there were little girls in school uniforms that passed us in a line, singing. Way mignon. Then, we crossed through the square continuing our plan, when J stopped near the middle and started hugging me.

The original plan was to ask her that night. But I had this diamond in my pocket. I was nervous. I had to let her know.

He was telling me about his love for me and us and being completely mushy. At first I didn’t think anything of it because he’s very affectionate and we have grossly cute impromptu moments all the time. But, he kept going. Why were we stopping in the middle of the park for so long. The words kept coming. And then,

“I guess what I’m trying to say is..”

Onto his knee. Pulls out THE ring and reaches for my hand..

“Will you marry me?”

The cathedral bells chimed at noon. (chills.)

“Yes! Yes, yes. Yes! yes….”

I just remember it was all I could get out…and showing him the correct finger. You’d think after months of playing with that one finger (and he thought I wasn’t noticing…girls, who wouldn’t notice that?!), he’d have gone to it immediately. Precious.

After standing there for half an hour, we moved to the nearby benches…I guess we thought we’d look more normal there. And then started on the phone calls. 

We finally got around to that carriage ride around the French Quarter. Completely giddy. The tour guide must have thought we were crazy because he’d turn around to see why we weren’t laughing at his cheesy jokes and there we were, plastered smiles, staring at each other. It was the funnest day. I’m so glad he got nervous and asked early in the day, so we could be giddy and soak it in longer.

We drank fancy drinks on a patio off of Canal Street and reserved dinner at some ritzy joint, and then had desert at the hotel resto. Always making sure they knew what happened that day. 

Oh, and of course LSU won. I wish I could bottle up J’s reaction to seeing Death Valley for the first time..impressed doesn’t reach it for him and proud doesn’t reach it for me.

Congrats for making it through that sappy thing. but, I’m glad we have it in writing. I’ve already forgotten some of the details and I want to be able to tell it when we’re fully gray – ‘When Harry Met Sally’ opening montage style.

I’m a sucker for engagement stories (and J pretends to be for my sake), we’d love to hear how your journey began..

Tomorrow we’ll be sharing a few engagement photos and the paper products that took over our lives!