joey + yuki

The main event of our California road trip was the wedding of our dear friends Joey and Yuki. Since I had the honor of being in the bridal party, these pictures were taken by Drew per my request. But he's not going to share them, so it is my duty to do so! :)

On the night before the sealing, we celebrated the couple at the beautiful Nelson home in Brea with tacos, ice cream, and a kickass dance party with music brought to you by Drew. If you need someone to make you a wedding mix that will consist of only the best, Drew is your guy! (jk, he is so sick of me volunteering him to do these for our friends-- he has done four weddings now-- so maybe ask him first lol)

 Mr. & Mrs. Nelson // May 20, 2017 // Los Angeles Temple

Story time! Yuki is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Her family moved to my hometown and home ward in Lancaster when I was 11 years old(? I think? I just remember being in senior primary and wishing I could be in Beehives with her. How CUTE is that?!) It didn't take long for us to become friends, and our families got along so well too. I was so sad when the Dorffs moved to Washington a few short years later, but we became loyal pen-pals. I didn't see her again until I flew out one summer to attend EFY together in Oregon when I was 15. To this day, we laugh about what a ridiculous and weird week that was, but it is still one of my fondest memories with Yuki. A few years later, she transferred to BYU Provo the same semester that I started my freshman year and we've been close ever since. Yuki is someone I know will be my friend for years to come, because it has never been hard for us to stay connected despite where our lives take us. I am STOKED that she married Joey. We love hanging out with them. Another fun fact! Drew and Joey have known each other since their freshman year at BYU eight years ago. So like, collectively, we have known this couple for a longgg time and can't wait for all the double dates in the future!

Bridesman, bridesmaids, bride, groom, groomsmen, groomswomen

Ethnically diverse bridal party? Check.

Photo courtesy of the groom himself! lol.

After the sealing we enjoyed an intimate and beautiful dinner in Topanga Canyon with family and friends of the bride and groom. The view, the venue, and the décor was all so dreamy. I cannot wait to see how their (also our ;)) wedding photographer extraordinaire, Moni, captured everything. But in the meantime, I'm pretty fond of the moments that Drew captured too :)

Thank you for letting us be a part of your special day! Big congrats and best wishes to the newly married joeynelson_official & yukinelson_official! I know you hate that joke by now, but I still love it. And I love you two! <3

wedding: part III

Bet you thought you heard the last of my wedding by now, huh?? HA JOKES ON U. But guess what?! Our wedding video is finally finally DONE. It really is a Christmas miracle.  I have been waiting for this finished product for almost four months now and after watching it as many times as I have (too many to count), I can honestly say it was worth the wait. It brings back so many joyous/hilarious/tender memories of what was the happiest August weekend.

There's not much else to say about the video other than it's perfect, but I will anyway because there are people I need to thank! Firstly, I have to give my sweet husband a lot of credit, because I have been constantly nagging him for the past few months to get this effing thing done. I've been so annoying and Drew has been so awesome. Even though I give him a hard time about it, I really am very thankful he's been too busy to work on this sooner. He's been hired on for so many other projects this past semester, not to mention the fact that he recently accepted a new job where he will soon be working full-time, all while finishing up his last semester of college. He works so hard and I am so proud of him! I am constantly impressed whenever I get to see his finished projects. He is so creative and talented. Hire him! ;) 

And of course, the work of our trusty camera man for the weekend cannot go unnoticed! Jordan was such a champ throughout the entire wedding and we were so glad that he was able to fly out to document these special events for us. He captured all of the best moments and I would be lying if I told you I didn't spend hours upon hours watching the raw footage he first gave us, all of which I loved just the same! He was so fun to work with and I was so happy with how well he worked with our fabulous photographer, Monika :) You guys are the bomb.

So without further ado, here's the video! You'll laugh, you'll cry...because you're laughing so hard (#namethatquote)

Videographer: Jordan Wheeler
Editor: Drew Tekulve
Song 1: Samskeyti by Sigur Rós
Song 2: The Ballad of Mr. Steak by Kishi Bashi

PS- if you care to see more of our wedding in pictures, hop on over here and here! bye!

i could dance to this beat

Hiiiii remember me and how I said I had a bajillion things to blog about from the month of August? Here's the last of it, I promise. After our perfect wedding weekend and our equally perfect honeymoon in Kaua'i, we flew to California for honeymoon week pt. 2 if you will, before starting real life in Provo. It started off with a few days of recuperating, followed by a day in San Diego, a day in L.A., and concluded with our open house. I just got all the pictures back from our open house, so I figured this was as good a time as any to talk about all of it.

After fighting off the jet-lag for two days, we decided it was time to leave the house. The San Diego Temple was high up there on my list of temples I want to visit, so our first day consisted of just that. We went for an endowment session in the early afternoon and it was completely empty. Considering it was an August day in California, we were pretty surprised. Shouldn't there be weddings going on left and right? Well, lucky for us we got the whole place to ourselves which was a really cool experience, plus we got a private tour of the sealing rooms. That temple is, in my opinion, the second prettiest temple of our church. Nothing beats D.C. though. Obviously ;) The architect is actually Catholic, which makes total sense because it is the most castle/cathedral-like of all our temples today. Similar to the D.C. Temple, it just pops up out of nowhere as you're driving on the freeway and is the most stunning and regal site.

 The next day was spent in L.A. as I anxiously awaited the main event of the week...Taylor Swift's 1989 tour at the Staples Center!!! (Hence this blog post title being T-swift lyrics. But which one?! 10 points to Gryffindor if you can finish them). It is a very long and convoluted story as to how I miraculously got my hands on a ticket the day before the concert, so HMU if you want to hear about it. In the meantime, we stopped by to play at the The Getty Center. This place is an architectural marvel. I was honestly more captivated by the buildings themselves than the actual artwork inside. And I'm a museum lover, so that is saying something! After walking around for a few hours, we hit up a chic little Thai-Japanese fusion restaurant in Santa Monica and then I said goodbye to Drew as he dropped me off at the Staples Center to party with Tay all by myself. Thanks Dad!! Seriously though, Drew earned so many dad points that night. Luckily he spent the majority of the concert hanging out with some old friends who live in L.A., but having to navigate back to pick me up amidst the insane post-concert traffic must have been brutal. It brought me back to the days of my own daddy dropping us (me, Ynna, and whichever friends came with us) off at Jonas Brothers concerts and having to kill three hours before picking us up again. So sorry guys. Good thing I married someone so patient and kind who knew how much attending this concert meant to me :)

But about the concert...it was such a party and I loved every second of it. Here's the thing, I have a weird relationship with Taylor where I actually think she'd be extremely annoying in person. Her girl next door, adorkable, gift-giving, cat-loving persona seems a little more forced each day, but I still love her and her music and her glam squad of friends. Say what you will about her, but she's a genius in the industry. Not to mention the fact that she puts on a great show. I've never witnessed so many pyrotechnics, moving stages, back-up dancers, or costume changes in one concert. It didn't even matter that I was dancing and singing by myself, THAT'S how much fun I had. I did however wish I had my mom or Ynna sitting next to me (the biggest T-swift fans I know), but I'm glad that by the end of the 1989 tour, we can all say we were in attendance at one of her shows in our respective cities.

The real reason we were in California was to get everything ready for our open house which took place in the Tekulve's backyard. Besides our families, we had so many people come to help during the day to set up and it was all thanks to them that it turned out so beautifully. It was such a pleasant evening meeting so many of Drew's friends from his home ward or high school that I had heard so much about before. It was so awesome to see everyone that wasn't able to attend the wedding come by to offer their love and support for us! *Bonus*: it gave me another excuse to wear my wedding dress <3

All open house pictures by Kylie Chevalier

Welp, that concludes my stories about August and all the craziness and happiness that it was. Definitely the best summer of my life thus far. Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll have some fabulous upcoming posts all about ~*newlywed wife*~ so stay tuned if you're into that kind of thing.

wedding: part I

Why do we girls have blogs if not to shamelessly post pictures/stories/details of our wedding after we get married? Am I right?? But hey, you volunteered to be here so I can be as obnoxious as I want! August 7th, 2015 was the day I was sealed for time and all eternity to Drew Tekulve in the Washington D.C. Temple. Our wonderful photographer Monika Ottehenning documented this special occasion and I am THRILLED with how the pictures turned out. She did a fantastic job all weekend and I am so happy that we have such beautiful photos to cherish for the rest of our lives.

The D.C. temple is one of my favorite places on Earth. I mean, how could it not be? LOOK AT IT. I think it is the prettiest building ever and will always hold a special place in my heart. Being sealed in any temple to the person you love most is one of the most unique and beautiful feelings in the world. It's difficult to put into words the way I felt that day. All I know is that marriage rules, guys. 5/5 dentists would recommend.

Can I just say that bouquet was so heavy? Major workout carrying that thing but I didn't complain because LOOK AT IT. Fun fact: my mother/wedding planner extraordinaire planned most of my wedding in less than six months while I was on the opposite side of the country. I obviously had a say in most aspects of the event, but she was the one who had to deal with the vendors, caterers, decorators, etc. I never met or even talked to the florist and most people involved in making my wedding what it was. With that said, I was so pleasantly surprised with how the flowers turned out because all I told my mom back in February were what my colors were and flowers I liked and I wanted ribbon trails and the end. And then BAM they came up with this masterpiece and I was so in love. Holla at Splints & Daisies for my beautiful bouquet plus all the other floral arrangements at the wedding. I wish I could've kept them forever.

I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude to everyone who made it out for our wedding. We had so many family members and friends travel in from all over the country to show their love and support for us. Not to mention the fact that I made everyone drive from Maryland to Pennsylvania and back again during that two day extravaganza. Sorry I made everything as difficult as possible. Thank you to those who housed any of our friends and family members from out of town too! I'm sure every single person involved thought I was a nightmare to deal with at some point, so thank you for still loving me. Guaranteed your wedding will cause you stress, but having so many sweet people to rely on made things a little less hectic for me. :)

Moment of silence in remembrance of how HELLA FLY my bridal party looked all weekend long. I couldn't be happier with how well the outfits came together. I get that the trendy thing to do now is just have your bridesmaids pick their own outfits in your color palette and I'm sure that would've been the nice and easy way to go, but I am fairly confident I succeeded in choosing an outfit that looked beautiful on everyone AND they all liked it. Holla at me if you disagree and/or secretly hate me for forcing you to wear it, and I will edit this out. A lot of people asked where I got these outfits and the skirts were actually handmade by someone from my hometown (shirts were from Loft though!) It was just impossible to find the perfect tulle skirt in the right color/style/price range so yeah, I opted for custom-made. The boys though!! I've always wanted QP Collections for my bridal party and I die for floral ties, so the choice was obvious. Plus look at lil Harvey in his matching bowtie! I cannot. Thanks for agreeing to wear matching outfits all weekend guys, you pulled it off so so well.

After the temple shenanigans, everyone who came to the sealing dined with us at Mrs. K's Tollhouse. Same place Ynna had her wedding luncheon because I guess it's the thing to do. But really, it was the quaintest little restaurant with the perfect setting for a relaxed, and delicious(!) dinner with friends and family. The weekend was mostly chaos, but these few hours let me enjoy my people, which was much needed since this was my only chance to see them for a very long time because we live hundreds of miles away from most of them (trying vv hard to not cry rn). We laughed, we cried, we ate too many macarons and it was the happiest time.

PHEWF. I'm so impressed if you're still here. I don't want to break any records for writing the longest known blog entry, so I'm saving the reception photos for a separate post. I am so so excited to finally share these pictures with anyone who cares, so thanks for reading and stay tuned for even more wedding happiness!!!