wedding: part II

The best party that I have ever and will ever host went down at our wedding reception and it was perfect. My reception venue was probably my favorite that I've ever encountered. I first visited John Wright for dinner over Christmas break with my parents, and of all the places we later looked at for potential venues, I couldn't stop thinking about this one. The setting was unreal and fit our vision perfectly. The building itself was so cool with lots of exposed brick and pipes that I knew would compliment my décor so well. But then THE VIEWS, MAN. You'll see what I mean later on, but the restaurant sat right on the Susquehanna River and was the perfect backdrop for the event.

If there was one detail about my wedding that I loved most of all (other than being sealed and having a husband forever), it would be my dress. I probably explained how it came to be at least 40  different times that night, but I will do so one last time for y'all. The dress itself is a strapless bhldn from a few seasons ago. I fell in love with it as soon as I first saw it online many moons ago, and told myself that I would get married in it. I miraculously found the dress whilst dress shopping in Georgetown and there was one more left in stock in my size AND on sale, so of course I ordered it A$AP. Can you say meant2b?!? Next was the tricky 'how do I make this modest without looking heinous' debacle that all us morms can attest to. I found a beautiful lace bolero on Etsy and brought it to a seamstress here in Utah who not only lined it but attached a sash to the bottom of it to make it look like one single ensemble. The last touch was the veil which I designed at Sweetheart Bridal. And VOILA! It was so unique and beautiful and the one comment I got the most was "it is so you!" Maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's the only nice thing they could think of, but I 100% agree. I wouldn't have been able to pick out a more "me" dress if I tried. 

What did I tell you about the view. AH I cannot. The brick building overlooking the river was just too much for me. From the venue itself there were also some pretty picturesque views of the farm land that my hometown is famous for, so I'm glad my wedding could reflect that as well. It was the most perfect day and the outdoor pictures turned out beautifully!! We were seriously so #blessed with wonderful weather (aka lighting) all weekend long. I have a testimony of the power of prayer! But really. I had been praying for nice weather for a while before the wedding and it was calling for a 90% chance of thunderstorms the entire week leading up to it in both D.C. and Wrightsville. Die weather apps, you have no power over my wedding. 

If you've read any of my other posts (so flattered if you do!), then you are probably aware of my love for antiques, vintage markets, and decorating. Naturally, I wanted my wedding to reflect my love for these things. Thanks to the help of Fiffer Raush, Betsy Kohr, and of course my mother, we were able to make my dream reception a reality. I was smitten with all the little details that came together so perfectly. I think I was most proud of that flower wall. Our house was a paper flower making factory as my mom and I worked on them for hours on end during the week prior to the reception. Look familiar to anyone?! My friends made similar ones at my bridal shower and I loved them so much that we recreated them for my reception. So thank you to my girl Carly for the idea!

One of the more ~tender~ moments of the evening was our first dance as Mr. & Mrs. Tekulve. We chose Q&A by Kishi Bashi because I guess you could say it's our jam. Kishi is our jam in general, and we both have a lot of fond memories involving his music. His concert in L.A. last summer was one of the first we ever attended together, and we even deemed his album Lighght as the anthem of summer 2k14. That summer dating each other and going on so many adventures was one of my favorites ever (second only to this past summer because hi, I got married). The lyrics are TOO precious, as Kishi wrote them about his own wife. It was the perfect song for us and dancing with Drew then, and always, is one of my all-time favorite things <3

For the full effect, feel free to listen to our dance mix HERE as you peruse these photos. This was by far my favorite part of the night because I ~*LIVE 2 DANCE*~. Both Drew and I love tearing it up at parties, weddings, or even in our apartment, so we knew that our own wedding would have to top them all. And in my opinion, it totally did. Because we are both very passionate about music, we made the cocktail/dinner playlist and the dance mix ourselves to assure that only the very best and our very favorites were played. We gave our DJs the biggest headaches for giving them such specific instructions and for not actually letting them do their job, but I have no regrets. Nobody likes a sub-par dance playlist with only five people pity-dancing. Highlights of the mix included everyone losing their SHIZ to Countdown, belting out Burnin' Up with my fellow JoBro super fans (you know who you are), and playing Time of My Life as our "exit" song, because it was the closest I could get to fulfilling my childhood dream of remaking the Dirty Dancing finale at my wedding.

Welp, that's all folks. Thank you to Monika and Jordan for flying out so you could work your magic behind the camera to capture this weekend in pictures and video for us to keep forever. Thank you to our bridal party for traveling so far and looking so fly in your matching outfits. Thank you to all of our friends for your outpouring of love and support. Thank you to my wonderful family for giving us the most perfect wedding. Thank you to Drew for being mine forever. And thank you for reading!!!

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!!!

kaua'i

Someone please tell me how it is already August 25th. This really was the quickest and happiest month of my life. Here's how it went: On the 1st, I flew home to Lancaster. Went through the DC Temple. Got married in the DC Temple to my sweet boo on August 7th. Partied in Wrightsville with my favorite people at our reception. Flew to Kaua'i for a blissful eight day honeymoon. Flew back to the mainland to play in LA, San Diego, and set up for our open house at the Tekulve residence in Yorba Linda that took place this past Saturday. The very next day we drove all the way back to Provo to start real life in our new apartment. I am exhausted and our place is a mess but I am too happy to care.

I have approximately a gazillion pictures from all of the above that I want to share eventually, but I'll start with our honeymoon. The flight from Philly --> LAX --> Lihue is a very long one if you weren't aware. Our jet lag was so bad, we slept from 5 PM-4 AM on our second day. But that didn't stop us from adventuring all day every day. We stayed in a beautiful resort in Kapaa for the week. which is located on the east side of the island. Because the island of Kaua'i is so small, we really got to experience every part of it during our stay. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Sunrise view from our resort//Poipu Beach

helicopter gram of Waimea Canyon//Drew feelin' it at Lydgate Beach 

helicopter grams of Mount Wai'ale'ale

Queen's Bath lol get it

foggy Waimea Canyon//avocados & mangoes the size of my head so YEAH heaven is real

Na Pali Coast boat tour of cliffs & caves

Kapaa ward building//crazy coincidence: we ran into a senior missionary couple from Drew's mission in St. Petersburg the day before on our boat tour and met up with them at church the next day!

 

Our Sunday night flight was cancelled which meant a free night's stay at the Marriott resort, an extra day on the island, and eating our last meal at the legendary Duke's. Not mad about it.

If you love tropical climates, hikes with breathtaking #natureshots, rich Hawaiian culture, pretty beaches, and yummy fresh food markets, visit Kaua'i sometime in your life. It is a beautiful place and I recommend it to anyone in need of a vacation. This was just one of the many adventures from the past few weeks so check back in soon because there are more posts comin' atcha!

from lp with love

Not having cell service for a weekend can really do a person good. Especially when there is wake-boarding, tubing, jet-skiing, kayaking, and hiking to get done. This past weekend was spent at beautiful Lake Powell in Page, AZ with Drew's family and friends on their houseboat. This was my second annual visit to LP with the Tekulve's, but sadly our stay was much shorter this time around. Due to dumb school and dumb work we couldn't stay for the full week, but packed every activity we possibly could in 48 hours, resulting in having to live in our incredibly sore, tan/burnt, tired bodies at work the following Monday. Highlights of the weekend included the glow stick dance party on the top deck the first night we arrived, sleeping under the many many stars that can only be witnessed at Powell, and hiking up to Rainbow Bridge which made Delicate Arch look like a joke.

Truthfully, these are pretty much the only pictures from the whole weekend. In fact, I didn't even take them. I asked Drew to take a few for me and the rest of the time our phones were tucked away. This was partially due to the fact that the entire lake looked like this (beautiful, blue water, red rocks, sky for miles...YAWN) so there wasn't much else to document. Unless you wanted to see my siiiiiick wake-boarding skills...in which case I apologize because they are non-existent. Also, I'm trying this thing where I am not constantly taking pictures of my whereabouts. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in 'pics or it didn't happen', but sometimes when you witness something so beautiful in nature, a picture just doesn't do it justice. It's best to just keep the snapshot of it in your mind and save it in its truest form in your memory bank. Furthermore, Snapchatting or Tweeting pictures of every tidbit of your day loses the intimacy of whatever moment you shared with those people in the present. Enjoy the time you have at the place you're at, with the people you're with and just take the necessary pictures. You're only going to Instagram the best one anyway.

Until next year LP!

all the feels.

I am a very nostalgic person. I keep every note, letter, postcard, and invite I receive in a toolbox I found at a vintage market. I keep a numbered list of every concert I've ever attended with the date, location, and opening acts featured ( PS- I reached #50 last week at Chromeo ft. ODESZA and it rocked). Speaking of vintage markets, I also love visiting those things more than life itself. Something about old artifacts/clothes/straight up junk make my heart sing. I look back at old photos and watch old videos on my phone more often than I care to admit. Recently, everything has been making me nostalgic and I just want time to stop. Please?

Desiree's 21st birthday soiree // Cori's backyard bridal shower

Freshman year in David John Hall feels like forever ago, and yet recent e-mails back and forth to my freshman roommate Lindsay (who is currently serving in Cebu, Philippines and will be home in one month--yes, I am the worst for just now e-mailing her) and updating her on my life makes three years seem very short at the same time. This summer, everything really is changing. Girls are getting married (like me?!? LOLWUT?!) Best friends are leaving on missions, people are graduating and moving away and getting real-life jobs and I don't understand how any of us are old enough for this! I know this happens all the time to everyone because life, but this is the first time it has been so applicable and personal to me. This morning I saw my dear Abby for the last time for at least 18 months, who is now at the Provo Missionary Training Center as we speak. She will be the coolest and classiest sister missionary that ever graced Kansas. She is my most glam friend and will be my "A" date forever. I know she will change the lives of so many people and everyone she comes in contact with will feel of her sweet spirit.

Remember when she quoted Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" in her farewell talk? We all do.

Everything about this summer and beyond makes me nervous, but excited (#namethatquote). My thoughts are mostly consumed by my own wedding, but all of my friends are embarking on new, scary, and amazing adventures and I don't know when we'll all be together again, especially my little Wyview Crew that I have grown so close to after meeting at the beginning of our freshman year. Hearing about their stories via e-mails/Instagram posts and not being together to chat until 3 AM is just not the same! BRB crying. Not to mention life AFTER the wedding?? Ha ha ha yeah that is uncharted territory. I am thrilled beyond belief/on the brink of tears whenever I think about all the things that go with it. Just a lot of feelings right now. Mostly I just want time to stop so I can sit back, breathe, and then probably cry some more. So if that could happen, I would greatly appreciate it. THX BAIII.