wedding in the woods - getting ready
Yesterday we celebrated our 3 month wedding anniversary! I can't believe it has been 3 months already since I saw Stefan in his suit for the first time, it still feels like it was yesterday. You have been waiting for this post for the same 3 months now and now it's time for you to read the full story and look at a LOT of pictures! 
My first post (yes, there will be more.. :) ) is all about the getting ready on our big day, the 28th of June. This is really 'our' day, we got together on 28-06-06, so on our wedding day we also celebrated our 8 year anniversary.
Most of the decorating was done on Friday, the day before our wedding. And of course, a lot of work was done by me and Stefan in the year before that. We thrifted all the vintage tableware, blankets&props, driving around with our firevan. I illustrated the save the dates, invitations, rsvp cards and other stationery pieces. Stefan built a ceremony backdrop with branches from our garden, he stripped and burned drawings into them, to make them personal. We cut a pile of fabrics into garlands, put together a 5h music list on Spotify (which we didn't really use because we sat down at the campfire all night!), searched for lights, pompoms, decoration and or course, the perfect venue, team, dress, suit and accessoires. Everything about our wedding was planned and designed by us and realized by us, our dreamteam, friends and family. They all helped to create a magical wedding weekend and for that, we are so grateful and feel so loved!
Amazing Danique, Bart, Jamy, Femke&Eddy, you were the best vendors we could have wished for. And more than that! Thank you for everything you did, we couldn't have done it without you! <3
Doesn't our firevan looks cute? My friend Margriet made this cool illustration before our guests arrived. She was quite the busy bee, helping me with getting ready, working on the final details for the tablesetting (aka cutting twigs from a tree), doing my sister's hair and make-up, and the make-up for our friend Anne. And who knows what more! Everybody worked their butts off that morning, we had to promise we would never do this again!
Sweet Femke from Hééérlijk made my bridal bouquet. She actually thought I was taking care of that, while I was thinking she would do it. I texted her from the car Friday night, on our way home and found out there weren't enough flowers for my bouquet. So we stopped at a flowery field and starting collecting daisies and other wild flowers in the middle of the night. And Stefan bought some extra flowers at the market on Saturday morning. No stress at all, because I trusted Femke, she knew exactly what I liked and made an amazing bouquet!! Freestyle :)
I enjoyed the preperations for our wedding, I loved illustrating again, searching for all that vintage tableware&props, but it was quite a stressful time too. And I couldn't have done it all without the support of the love of my life. Thank you for putting up with me, helping me, giving feedback on my designs, being patient at thriftstores and comforting me when I thought I would NEVER find a wedding dress! :)
I did find that dress though, a beautiful Pronovias dress with embroidered leaves. It feels vintage and has love for nature written all over it! It wasn't love at first sight, because the kranky sales lady commented: "Oh, this colour does nothing for you" and walked away instantly to search for a new dress to try on. But after she left I listened to myself and I slowly starting loving this dress. And I couldn't think of a more perfect dress for me and for our day. So I bought it :) Most expensive and best thing I ever bought! Oh and I requested for a different sales lady for the first&final fitting, she was super nice and friendly :)
As mentioned in a earlier blogpost, we were supposed to write our vows the week before the wedding. But we didn't have the time then, so Stefan wrote his sweet vows the night before. I tried too write them, but I was too stressed out, I felt ill/feverish and lost my voice because of that, I just couldn't focus on writing something cohesive. Not having any vows made me panic even more, so I didn't sleep at all that night. I woke up Stefan somewhere early in the morning, he was the sweetest, trying to calm me down and comforting me. I still couldn't sleep, but I felt more relaxed.
Saturday morning I still sounded like a squeeking mouse, but I felt better when our good friends Maarten&Lizette picked me up at the hairdresser. They just said 'wow' when they saw me with my hair and make-up done. After we arrived at our venue, I locked myself in my friends room and wrote my vows without stopping even once. And finally I felt like everything would be just right. After all, what's a better way to find peace than sitting silently a beautiful forest, while your best friends are realizing your dream day? :)
Look at my gorgeous man! He picked his suit with his parents&best friend Maarten and they choose a great one! I ordered the cuff links without knowing what Stefan would wear, but I made sure they matched my outfit. But yay, they looked great with his suit too! I had Margriet deliver my little present to Stefan, because we weren't supposed to see each other untill the first look. We could hear each other though, he was only a few doors away. Ohhhh, the nerves!! 
Isn't the dress to die for? At least, that's what I think. I love how it's flowy, transparant, detailed, subtle and well, just beautiful! I had a few tiny alterations done and they turned out great (like cutting off the butterfly sleeves and lowering the neckline of the slip dress).
My mother in law and friends Margriet and Anne were by my side when I was getting ready, all crying happy tears. I felt so special and emotional, also because I still didn't know what my future husband looked like and what he would think of my dress and how I looked..
Sorry guys, this is it for now.. Next post: the first look!! :) <3
Missed my first post about our wedding? Check it out here! Wedding in the Woods - the making of
Our day was captured perfectly by Danique van Kesteren (88forever) and her love/second shooter/my old classmate Bart van Dalen!