Wedding Bales: Strike A Pose: Getting Cozy

Please tell me you all saw that and immediately thought Madonna?  Ok, ok I know ridiculous. Moving along. After Mr. Farmer and I finally saw each other for the first time we got all smoochy, cozy and snapped some photos together. One of the main reasons for our first look was so that we could get photos taken, without having to eat into our cocktail hour.

OK so I am going to get real with you all. There are a few things that I regret about our wedding and a lot of it is my fault. First things first. Let's address one of my biggest regrets - those damned heinous tan lines! All summer long I wore a strapless bikini and a strapless sun dress so that I wouldn't get any tan lines. Any time K or R had a softball/baseball game I sat in the shade and wore sunscreen like crazy. I was doing really, really well until the weekend before the wedding. K had a softball tournament and sadly there was no shade for me to retreat to. The sun was glaring hot and I got sun burnt, really badly. Had I thought ahead I would have worn a strapless top but I didn't realize there was no shade. I attempted to fix it by sitting outside wearing a strapless dress however it was too late. I tried some self tanner in hopes that would even it out and it helped a little bit, but still not enough that you can't see them. I cringe looking at my wedding photos.

The second regret? My dress. I loved my dress dearly, however there are a few things that I would have changed. I have severe back problems from a growth spurt gone wrong, and as a result I have an uneven rib cage. I knew that a corset back dress was the only way it was going to stay secure without "slipping" down my torso. Looking at all my photos I realized that it fell a lot further than I even thought about. The solution? Straps. I should have had a small strap sewn into my dress to prevent the "slippage". I agreed that I didn't need any additional length added to my dress because when I tried it on in the store, it felt plenty long enough and everyone said I shouldn't need it - I should have known better. I have always ordered the longer length in any other dress that I special ordered. Had I gotten it in the longer length I would have been able to adjust my dress without having it look too short.

I absolutely love our photos, however when I look at myself in these photos I get a bit sad - Mr. Farmer too. There are so many things I should have done differently and Mr. Farmer agrees. He too wishes we would have picked a different attire choice. His Hugo suit we got for the rehearsal dinner looked much better on him than the rented tux and we should have known better. A lot of the decisions we made were made with the thought "oh it's good enough". Well, I can tell you sometimes it's not just good enough.

Looking back there are a lot of mistakes I made. Hindsight is always 20/20 but it still makes me sad. Thankfully a few things can be fixed with Photoshop, and some creative photo editing, but it still doesn't take away from the feelings I have looking back.

Ok so with that huge disclaimer out of the way, let's look at some photos huh?

Photos by Kyle Zempel Photography

Mr. Farmer was intently listening to me blab on and on about how excited I was to finally see him and get married. I believed there was even a squeal!

I love this photo of Mr. Farmer. So many times photographers get photos of the groom kissing the bride and I love that I have one the other way around. This is actually Mr. Farmer's caller ID photo because I love it so much. 

Mr. Farmer and I have a photo like this that we took in Cozumel, so we wanted to recreate one of our favorite photos at our wedding. I couldn't decide which one I loved more, so you get both. 

This could possibly be my favorite wedding portrait that we have. This was actually taken after the ceremony mid-way through dinner and I think you can see how relaxed we are in this photo. I love it. Despite being so much taller than Mr. Farmer, when it came time to take our photos, I wasn't nearly as self conscience as I thought I would be. I know this photo accentuates how much taller than Mr. Farmer I am but I still love it. 

Ok I am sure you are sick of starring at photos of Mr. Farmer and me, but no recap would be complete without them. Mr. Farmer didn't want to spend a lot of time in front of the camera lens so we kept our portraits to a minimum and I was A-OK with that. I wanted to spend the time talking to our friends and family and I think we captured plenty of photos that we can display in our home, after a little photo editing.

Did you have any unexpected favorite pictures? When did you take your photos - before or after the ceremony? Did anyone else struggle with a bit of regret?

Missed a recap? Catch up here:

• Wedding Bales: Let’s Get The Party Started
• Wedding Bales: Special Cargo
• Wedding Bales: Rehearsing it All
• Wedding Bales: Food and Friends
• Wedding Bales: Friends in Low Places
• Wedding Bales: Getting Pretty
• Wedding Bales: Boys Will Be Boys
• Wedding Bales: Special Gifts
• Wedding Bales: Becoming a Bride
• Wedding Bales: Looking at Forever

Wedding Bales: Looking at Forever

First and foremost, huge shout out to my girl Border Collie as she gets married to her love today. SO excited for you!

Ok, so, the debate about whether to peek or not has been widely debated over the last few years as more and more couples are taking part in a "First Look". Whether it be for logistical reasons, emotional ones, or simply to create beautiful photographs, there are a lot of people who decide this is the route that works for them. We were one of those couples. We knew that we wanted to take part in our cocktail hour and we didn't want to have to spend the entirety of it taking photos. 

Stepdaughter K was first up to see her daddy because she wanted to witness the first look between her daddy and me. She got herself all ready and Mr. Farmer got into position. While she was doing her first look, I was devouring a sandwich and attempting to keep calm. I succeeded for the most part until she returned and I knew I was up. Anyways, back to looking.

Mr. Farmer turned around and this was his reaction:

He told me that he was so shocked when he saw her, he exclaimed "HEY" because he was so blown away he didn't know what else to say. 

Big hugs for her daddy! It was at about this time that Mr. Farmer couldn't take it anymore and the emotions and waterworks started for him. This photo was the photo sweet K used this past weekend in a lovely IG post to honor her daddy's birthday. So special (I am such a sap)!

Since Kyle is a one man show he was only able to capture Mr. Farmer's reaction, or at least that's what I thought when I first saw these photos. At first I thought it was odd that he didn't get any of K's face, until he later confided in me that K didn't want her face shown. Apparently as soon as she started walking outside with Kyle she started crying and told Kyle she didn't want him to photograph her reaction and he respectfully agreed not to. 

She did however approve an after photo. Even with red and puffy eyes she is still beautiful. 

K came back to the room to get me and left her daddy waiting in his spot. Well, K came back just in time to help me into my dress, however nobody told me that Mr. Farmer was still outside waiting. So poor Mr. Farmer ended up waiting a good 15 minutes instead of the 5 he thought he would. He started to get a little curious and told me that he was getting a little nervous. Whoops!

photo personal

It was pretty magical entering the gardens. The Florian Gardens had the most beautiful music playing through their sound system and it only added to the experience. Kyle had me stop halfway so he could capture a picture and just as he did a gust of wind came up from behind me. Mr. Farmer said he could tell I was behind him because he caught a whiff of my perfume and could smell me. He told me he started to get butterflies knowing that I was so close and that he couldn't see me. So, I got as close as I could before I couldn't take it anymore and made him turn around. 

Surprise!  I love you guys so I zoomed in so you could get a better look at his expression since it's so perfect.

Mr. Farmer said he was speechless. K was so excited to capture the moment. She had been talking about our first look for quite some time and it was one of the things she had been looking forward to the most. 

Clearly Mr. Farmer's emotions were quite high because he started crying again. I teared up a little bit but I was so excited to see him all put together and to just BE with him that I was all kinds of giddy. The moment I saw him, it was like everything just got better. I was excited but not in the nervous way I had been before. Having him around just calms me down, so I was glad we decided on the first look. 

He pulled himself together and it was all smiles by everyone. We had quite the audience, which I hadn't even thought about when we decided to do a first look. We knew that K wanted to be a part of it, but besides her we hadn't given much thought to anyone else. Almost all of my bridesmaids were standing behind me and a handful of Mr. Farmer's groomsmen wanted in on the action. After our moment of shock and awe, everyone started to cheer for us and it was only appropriate that I asked him, "Ready to get married?"

I will say, it was nice to have all our friends and family there, because one of my favorite pictures from our first look was captured by Fluff.

When I asked Mr. Farmer about this picture he told me, "You took my breath away". As a bride, I don't think I could think of a more perfect reaction to seeing each other for the first time. 

Which camp were you in - first look or down the aisle? What was your fiance's reaction to seeing you for the first time?

*All photos courtesy of Kyle Zempel Photography unless noted

Missed a recap? Catch up here:

Wedding Bales: Let’s Get The Party Started

Wedding Bales: Special Cargo

Wedding Bales: Rehearsing it All

Wedding Bales: Food and Friends

Wedding Bales: Friends in Low Places

Wedding Bales: Getting Pretty 

Wedding Bales: Boys Will Be Boys

Wedding Bales: Special Gifts

Wedding Bales: Becoming a Bride

Wedding Bales: Becoming a Bride

There is something magical about putting on your wedding dress the day of your wedding. All the bits and pieces that you have so purposefully picked out, coming together to make up your bridal look - it's special. I wanted it to be special (because I am a sap like that), so I only let Mama Barn and stepdaughter K help me into my dress. I don't know what it is, but having photos of your mother helping you into your wedding dress get me every time and are always some of my favorite. These are no different.

Photos - Kyle Zempel Photography

Mama Barn is smiling at me and trying very hard NOT to cry. She succeeded for a little bit.

Stepdaughter K practiced quite a few times putting me into my dress and was really excited to get to be a part of this special tradition. I asked her a while back what her favorite moments from the wedding were and this one was on the top of her list. Every time she would visit Mama Farmer with me (where my dress was located for a time being), she would ask if I could put my dress on so that she could practice doing the laces. Mama Barn quickly consulted Fluff and they were ready to start lacing me in for the day.

I made sure to put my hands on my hips! Thanks for the tips fellow Bees.

At this point I was getting really excited and Mama Barn was getting overly excited tightening those ribbons.

As you can see, I needed to brace myself they were tugging on them so hard! Clearly we also didn't notice that it was a tad crooked, oh well. I can assure you that I didn't wear it like that the whole day. K is concentrating very hard to make sure that she got it done perfectly.

The earrings I am wearing were picked out by stepdaughter K on a last minute trip to Claire's (I know, I know). I wasn't going to spend an arm and a leg on something that I wouldn't wear a lot of, so I went cheap. The fact that K picked them makes them special to me nonetheless. My jewelry was something that I didn't give much thought about. It was one of those last minute, "oh I better do something about that" moments.

I didn't talk much about my veil because there wasn't too much to say about it. Back when I spent the weekend in WI crafting, Mama Barn and I grabbed the supplies required to make your own veil. Both her and I are incredibly skilled in the sewing department so I knew that I could make something that would work just as well. So while I spent the evening pinning flowers into a Styrofoam ball, she stitched my veil. Total cost? $12 which included an additional hair comb (because I could only get them in a two pack). You can't see it but the tulle actually has little crystals in it which matched my dress perfectly. We snagged the material for 50% off with a Jo-Ann's coupon.

Mama Barn was so nervous, she put my veil in extra hard and stabbed me in the back of the head. I immediately shouted, "holy canoli, watch it mom!" Everyone needed a moment to collect themselves afterwards. Don't ask it was the first thing that popped in my head.

I totally forgot to get a picture of my accessories so I apologize in advance. The necklace that I am wearing was my something borrowed from my grandmother. She presented it to me at my shower and was so over the moon excited that she found this in her jewelry box - I just had to wear it. Seeing how excited she was about it, I knew it was the right choice and it matched beautifully.

The final part of my attire were my garters. The ones on my left leg came as a set that I ordered last minute from a fabulous etsy shop, GarterBoutique and the one on my right leg was a very special one that I had made for Mr. Farmer, who absolutely loves his Minnesota Vikings. As much as it pained me to order it and actually WEAR it, I managed. The things you do for love people, I tell ya!

I wasn't the only bride getting ready either. I cannot forget about my miniature bride/flowergirl K. For the shyest little girl I have ever met, she took her bridal role very seriously.

K had her mommy help her into her dress, just like I did because, well - "that's what brides do mom." And, with that, all the brides of the Barn crew were ready to see the groom and get this show on the road.

Up next our first look!

Did you have anyone special help you into your dress? Was it a special moment for you? What kind of emotions did you experience?

**I promise I did fix my dress before seeing Mr. Farmer.

Missed a recap? Catch up here:

Wedding Bales: Let’s Get The Party Started
Wedding Bales: Special Cargo
Wedding Bales: Rehearsing it All
Wedding Bales: Food and Friends
Wedding Bales: Friends in Low Places
Wedding Bales: Getting Pretty 
Wedding Bales: Boys Will Be Boys
Wedding Bales: Special Gifts