Have you ever heard of the place called Poulsbo in Washington State? Poulsbo is a charming little town in the northern part of Kitsap County. A beautiful ferry ride from Seattle and then a quick drive to town makes this spot a great place for a weekend trip. And what better time to take a weekend trip than to celebrate one of your friends getting married?! (because we all know girls weekends are the best weekends)
The four of us stayed at the most beautiful modern farm house that was close to town to celebrate our bride. We decorated the house with all the classic bachelorette things, ate a ton of bomb food, played some games and danced and talked all day and night.
The weather was incredible! It was our first taste of Seattle summer and we couldn’t get enough of the sun. We started the morning by meditating together in the grass to get us awake and energized for the day. Blankets, pillows, sunshine, your girlfriends…what else do you need.
Later we surprised the bride with a virtual tarot card reading over Zoom. This was a first experience for me and I loved it! Each of us had very different readings with one main connection, that we are all on a journey to find joy and happiness in life. The woman told me my mantra is to Following the Callings, so this is something I will take away from the weekend. If you have never done a tarot card reading before, I highly recommend! It’s all about perception and reflection. To me, it’s where you think about what each card could mean or represent for your life in this moment and then determine how you want to move forward with those ideas. Check out RaDonna Reed if you are interested in using the same Tarot Reader.
After our tarot card reading we packed up a picnic and headed to the beach called Point No Point. I highly recommend checking out this beach if you are in the area. It’s HUGE with plenty of space to spread out away from others and so very beautiful.
Later in the evening we played some of the classic inappropriate bachelorette games, (won’t be sharing those photos here 😉) put on our cozy matching outfits, drank lots of wine and had a dance party. It was a perfect bachelorette weekend celebrating the bride-to-be with some of my favorite girlfriends!
I didn’t shared many detail photos of our wedding last year and since my husband and I recently celebrated our 1 year anniversary I thought I would now. Plus, I created this blog as a way to look back and remember my adventures and this is definitely a day that I want to remember every detail from 🙂 (FYI long post ahead).
Details
Venue: Trinity Tree Farm – We got married at The Lodge at Trinity Tree Farm in Issaquah, WA and felt this was a perfect venue for us. An outdoor ceremony with Christmas trees as the backdrop and an indoor reception with classic white lights and plenty of space for our guests. We loved the PNW vibe mixed with a romantic and elegant feel.
Catering: The Tall Chef – Tommy and I love to cook together. One of our favorite things to make is tacos because they are so delicious and also so easy to make. This led to an easy decision to have a taco bar at our wedding and it did not disappoint. (Jack from The Tall Chef is very talented – we have already used his catering services again for special occasions and a few of our friends are using him for their upcoming 2021 weddings).
Dessert: My husband had two best men at our wedding. He has known them and their families since elementary school. One of their moms is an amazing baker and created our wedding cake. She also made cupcakes for dessert. It was so much fun going to ‘tastings’ at her home. It felt so special to us that she was part of our day, since she is like Tommy’s second mom. And the cake was absolutely DELICIOUS!
Florals: Bloom – Tara our florist was amazing! She sent us a mood board and completely nailed our my (lol) vision with blush and green tones. Fun fact, we met her about 4 years who when we first got our dog Edgar. She owns an indoor/outdoor Dog Park + Bar (check out my postDogwood Play Park to learn more about her space). She created the bridal bouquets and gorgeous arbor. For our centerpieces, boutonnieres and sweetheart table, one of my bridesmaid’s mom was kind enough to make these. She is a master gardener and is incredible at what she does. The garden at her home looks like it could be out of a magazine. We felt so grateful she did this for us.
My grandma passed away in 2015 and left me her wedding ring which I tied to my bouquet.
Dress + Shoes: My wedding dress was from Dolce Bleu and I am so grateful for their help. Long story short, I found a dress at their store that fit me perfectly that they no longer carried. They offered to have the dress dry-cleaned since it was the store sample. When I picked up my dress it had a yellowish tint to it. They called around other boutiques, found the same dress/designer (Martina Liana) and ordered me a brand new one. It was definitely an ordeal but it all worked out in the end. My reception dress was from BHLDN and shoes were Jeffery Campbell.
Hair + Makeup: Since I had 7 bridesmaids + my mom and mother-in-law, we needed a couple of people to help us with our hair and makeup. Joey Van Pelt and my friend Alana did makeup and helped with hair. I met Joey about 8 years ago through a friend of a friend. Random fact, she was on Big Brother Season 16. She and Alana were great (love you Alana!). Leah from Zo and Co Styling did my hair. A couple of weeks before our wedding date, I got a ‘trim’ at a new salon nearby. The lady took off way more than a trim so I used Luxy Hair extensions and Leah ensured everything was blended and looked natural. We started hair and makeup early…I can’t remember the exact time but I want to say like 6am early. All worth it though especially since I got to spend even more time with my besties the morning of my wedding day!
Wanted to add some portraits of my hubby because he looks so good! He def did not wake up at 6am to get ready. Probably woke up around 10 or so, showered, got dressed and was ready to go.
DJ + Photo booth: DJ Daron – I think a great DJ or Band is important for a wedding because they help keep things moving and keep the party going. Our DJ also offered photo booth services and this was such a blast. I have always loved photo booths at weddings, plus the photostrips make a great keepsake for guests.
Stationary: I used a template off Etsy to design our invitations and then printed them on CatPrint (much cheaper than Minted and great quality). I made the menus, fans and signs using the same template and just printed on my home printer with card stock. My favorite sign I made was our signature drink The Edgar because I wanted to somehow include our pup on our special day. Dogs were allowed at our venue but if you know Edgar you know that would have been a disaster waiting to happen.
Gifts: The girls were given Bridesmaid Robes and Jean Jackets (check out my blog postHand Painted Denim Jacketsto read about how I made them). The boys were given Duke Cufflinks to honor one of Tommy’s best friend who passed away in 2015. My mom and dad were given Mother + Father Handkerchiefs. I gave my mom, step-mom and mother-in-law necklaces from one of my favorite jewelry shops, GLDN. We gave our officiant (Tommy’s friend growing up) this Custom Officiant Flask with his face on it.
Little Details: I think all the little details in a wedding make it that much more special. Some of my favorite from ours are: Advice for MarriageBook – My 2nd grade students wrote us marriage advice. I turned their advice into a book and absolutely cherish this. Corn Hole – My father-in-law designed and built this for us. Edgar’s Cantina Bar Sign – Because we love going to Mariner’s Games and we love our dog Edgar (I used my Cricut to make this). Kappa 2 Kanuch Sign – The first picture of Tommy and I taken together when we were 19 at a college house party. A gift from one of my best friends that now hangs in our home (didn’t get a pic of this). T+N Wine Glasses – A gift from my maid of honor which we now use for special occasions.
Lodging + Transportation: We stayed at The Marriot hotel in Bellevue because it was close to our venue. The night before our wedding, we got drinks in the lobby and went out to a restaurant close by with our bridal party and family. On our actual wedding day after we left the reception, a bunch of us went out to a bar close to the hotel to keep the party going. This made for a fun little wedding weekend. We used BMC Limos for transportation to and from The Tree Farm.
Photographer + Videographer: All the pictures I’m sharing on this post are from Luke and Mallory. Our friend Jens Bracht was our videographer. We are so happy with how our photos and video turned out! Below is our wedding video.
If you made it to the end of this blog post…wow, congrats because it was a long one! Hopefully if you are a bride in WA reading this, you found it helpful in planning your special day (I tried to link everything). I especially enjoyed writing this post because it brought me right back to our wedding day and gave me all the feels. Cheers to marriage. Cheers to planning weddings. And cheers to all the future brides. 🙂
I wanted to give my bridesmaids something special for being part of our wedding day. Whenever we’re together, it seems like there is always one of us wearing a denim jacket (#DenimCrew) so I thought this would be the perfect gift to surprise them with.
I decided to paint 7 different colored flowers for the jackets, a different color for each bridesmaid. I looked up images of flowers online and imagined what I wanted them to look like. Then I went to Michaels and bought a variety of acrylic paints (thinking back I should have added fabric medium since this was going on denim and not canvas). Surprisingly though the paint went straight on and I had no issues with this.
I used my Cricut machine to cut out ‘babe’ and ironed the vinyl on the jackets. I highly recommend purchasing a Cricut for projects. I’ve used it to cut vinyl for t-shirts, make birthday + wedding signs, cut out letters for my classroom, pictures for anchor charts, etc. It works for a variety of things!
I love how these jackets came out! Each a little different and each made with love. And a fun keepsake to continue to wear beyond the wedding day.
Today my sister-in-law texted me a video of us from a year ago. It was nighttime, 78 degrees outside, all dressed up, sitting in a cycle rickshaw (where the person pedals on the bike and you are in the back), smiling, laughing, celebrating my bachelorette in Austin, Texas! It’s crazy to think one whole year has already passed since we were there. I can’t wait until we can take another girls trip. In the meantime though I thought I would write a quick blog post from that weekend reminiscing on my time in Austin with some of my besties.Also, because who says you can’t write a blog about a fun trip that happened in the past. 😊
My friends surprised me and organized everything. From planning, communicating with each other, getting the house, tickets, food, goody-bags..just everything. They are amazing! We stayed in a big house with a pool (quirky place with an elevator to get to the main living space) in between Lake Travis and downtown Austin.
One day we rented a huge boat (and I do mean HUGE, I think the boat holds around 20-30 people). The driver took us all around Lake Travis which was a blast. Another day was spent at the pool, floating around, drinking mojitos and playing games.
At night we went out to Sixth Street and it reminded me a little like Mardi Gras; craziness. Highlights from the nights include: Delicious dinner, Champagne Bottles, Bull Riding, Table Dancing, Photo Booths, Unlimited Free Drinks, Strip Club Stories and Cracking up with my best friends.
It’s hard to capture everything when you are having so much fun but below is a video of a glimpse of our weekend (with some of the footage that was appropriate enough to share 😜).
I would love to travel back here again someday (and listen to live music since we never got around to this!). Definitely recommend traveling to Austin, Texas because there is something there for everyone. But really, anywhere you go as long as you are surrounded by the people you love will be amazing.
I’ve had this blog post written and saved for a while now but it never felt like the right time to share with all the coronavirus news out there. I decided today that I would share anyway in case someone is looking for a distraction from the news or looking to read about something other than corona. Enjoy!
Any excuse to plan something (birthday, night out, weekend with friends, vacation, etc.) gets me excited and this was the same for our rehearsal dinner. We decided to have our rehearsal dinner at our wedding venue at Trinity Tree Farm since we could easily do our wedding day walk through and then enjoy the rest of the time with our closest friends and family.
Rentals: Our venue supplied the tables and chairs for our outdoor dinner. We used Miller’s Rent-All in Edmonds to rent our dishes, silverware, napkins and tablecloths. Super easy to pick up/drop off and would recommend if you ever need to rent something for a party or event.
Flowers: One of my bridesmaids mom is a Master Gardener (her yard looks like something out of The Secret Garden, it is seriously so magical and so amazing). She offered to make centerpieces with flowers picked from her garden and they turned out BEAUTIFUL!
Catering/Bartender: We used Crescent Moon Cateringand decided on The Pacific North West Feast. We had salmon tarts (my fav item), caprese bites, green salad, roasted potatoes, mixed veggies, salmon fillets and rolls. The food felt elegant, healthy and was affordable. We had the bartender set everything up in warming trays to save money. She also helped break everything down, cleaned up and gave us boxes of the leftover food. I would definitely recommend this catering company! They have a lot of options to choose from and prices that reflect delicious food. For drinks we bought beer, wine and champagne from Costco and had our bartender serve that.
Glassware: I just love those classic little champagne/martini/cocktail glasses (not exactly sure what they’re called) and wanted to use them at our rehearsal dinner. I went to Goodwill and found a bunch that were mixed for about $8.00. (I told the clerk these were for our wedding and he gave me a discount. They typically give a discount if you ask and are polite). I loved how they looked on the table. We used these mini glasses for a champagne toast and my mom said the most loving and heartfelt words (made me cry). You could probably find some on Offer Up or Marketplace as well.
Decorations: My sister-in-law surprised us with a bulletin board full of pictures of Tommy and I growing up. There were lots of hilarious photos and in some pictures it was hard to tell who was who (since we were both chubby, curly blonde hair, blue eyed babies). For the dinner menus I used the same design template from our wedding and just changed the food items. Template found here. I had some fresh lavender from the weekend before when I went to the Lavender Festival and tied it to the napkins. My father-in-law built us a Corn Hole set for our wedding day and we brought that as well.
Gifts: I also gave my bridesmaids part of their wedding gifts. I purchased plain denim jackets from Target. Used myCricut to design and cut out “Babe” letters and ironed on the gold vinyl. Then I hand painted the flower in different colors and similar designs (I just used acrylic paint from Michaels). I remember being so excited to give them these jackets and loved how they turned out!
Beautiful weather + location, bomb food + drinks, the best friends + family, handsome hubby. Couldn’t ask for anything more.
Today I was reminiscing and looking through photos of my bridal shower in June 2019 and thought I would share! My in-laws hosted the shower (my husbands cousins) at their moms home in Mercer Island and it was the perfect day.
I had my makeup done in the morning (for the first time ever besides one time when I got fake eye lashes glued on for Halloween). The makeup artist was the same artist who did my makeup for my wedding so this was my wedding day trial. I loved how it came out! (Future brides – I recommend scheduling your makeup trial the same day as you will be out and about. This way you can see how well it lasts and can show your friends/family.) Joey Van Pelt was amazing and made me feel so beautiful. Check her out if you are looking for a talented makeup artist in the Washington area.
My best friend picked me up and we drove to my in-laws house. Once we walked through the door, I was immediately greeted by my closest girlfriends and beautiful women in my family.
We drank champagne from the “Bubbly Bar” (because who doesn’t love a Bubbly Bar), mingled on the patio in the sunshine, took some photos (Dress is from Lulus-find it here) and played some games before sitting down to eat together.
My bridesmaids but together 3 games. 1. How Old Was The Bride? The girls guessed how old I was in each photo (even my mom had a hard time remember my age on some pictures) How Old Card Template found here. 2. Advice for the bride. We took a polaroid together and then they put all the photos and advice cards in a scrapbook. I also put all my cards in the book because I love saving cards and looking back on them. You can find the Advice Card Template here. 3. Does the Bride really know the Groom? I always get nervous being the center of attention but this was a fun game to play. And for the record I know Tommy pretty well 🙂 Bride knows the Groom Template found here.
We ate a delicious lunch and enjoyed each others company (my cousin in-law gave a little toast that made me tear up a bit). It felt so special to have had many of the important women in my life all eating together in one place.
Later I opened gifts in front of everyone in the living room. (Always nerve-racking being the center of attention but I felt at ease with my best friends there). I just remember feeling so grateful and so very loved.
We had dessert that my talented sister-in-law and mother-in-law made before saying goodbye to everyone. (I don’t have the exact dessert recipes but here is one that looks similar if you are interested). Then after the shower some of my girlfriends and I went out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in Edmonds, 190 Sunset for dinner and martinis.
To say I felt the love this day is an understatement. I will always cherish these memories and I feel so very lucky to have many beautiful women in my life who I can call my best friends and family.
Nicole Kanuch 