Under a lucky day of sunshine in a beautiful state park on the Olympic Peninsula Jake, my boyfriend of 5 years, and I tied the knot a few weeks ago. Whippee!! We are officially married =)

Man. What can I say about getting married. Only that despite thinking I had some idea of what it would be like from watching my good friends get married- I had absolutely no clue (and neither will you until you get married). Months of planning, prepping, calling, testing, trying, making, organizing and re-organizing come crashing down in the final hours prior to the wedding. Things are lost, time is definitely disappearing and you discover an hour before you've got to be ready that your shoes have gotten wet and dyed your feet BRIGHT orange and it looks like you had a horrible self-tanning accident.

And, it's all worth it =)

On the day of our 4 year anniversary we had to move. Exhausted after packing, Jake snatched me off the couch and insisted we go find a delicious Italian dinner somewhere. After a seriously unexpected one-of-the-best-meals-of-my-life in a live Jazz restaurant he swooped me up and lead me behind closed gates and into a beautiful park under a sky full of stars. In front of the glassy lake and giant stumps Jake dropped to a knee and proposed. What can I say? What a guy =)

So! Then begins the crazzyness. The fun part is when you went to photography school and have loads of crazy talented photographer friends who will take your engagement photos for you. A year prior, I jetted on up to Orcas to make this video with my good friend Anika. She was engaged at the time and we spent one of those Only-In-The-San-Jauns evenings taking some engagement photos under apple trees and on docks.

So when the time came for our photos- I asked Anika of course.

And boy did she do a good job.

Especially because we chose the most rainy, gray, wet day right in-between fall and winter, when all of the leaves have fallen to the ground and become mush and the snow hasn't yet blanketed the earth. Sorry Anika =)

Onto wedding dress shopping!

I had the bright idea in the beginning to make my wedding dress with my mom and gramma (both excellent seamstresses). After a few weeks I realized that the pressure bestowed upon a mom tasked with sewing her daughters wedding dress by hand is pretty insane, and opted instead to pick up an awesome white dress that just so happened to look just like a wedding dress.

No it was not from Nordstom's. Although they have some seriously inspiring gowns in there!

I'll skip the boring part where we compare venue rates and tour places all the way up to my first Bridal Shower. Yes, I was lucky enough to get two. The first being thrown by my adorable Aunties.

No matter wether your a girly girl or you like your whisky on the rocks- there's something about being treated like a straight-up princess surrounded by cake that puts you in a mighty good mood.

Maybe I haven't mentioned it before by my sister Kelly is a world class baker. She worked in a Scandinavian Bakery while in college and now that she's about to graduate, she's looking at working in another bakery where she lives that specializes in works of art in the form of cake. She made 4 entire perfect white cakes for my bridal shower where we did a blind taste test (Al LOT of cake on the floor and our faces, haha).

Some of my lovely lady relatives. My cousin Michelle, sister Kelly, Mom, cousin Julie, Me & my Auntie Ann.

Jake is the love of my life and the best person on earth, I truly believe. One thing he is not, however, is a fan of shopping. Just days before the big day we skedaddled on down to the Banana Republic Outlet and BINGO- first suit we tried on! Looking good Jakerz.

I have two loves of my life. My husband, and my best friend. When I say best friend, I mean BESTTTT. We have always been the dynamic duo, through teenage times to lost and confused times to now- both happier than clams and settled. Our story, however bursting at the seems with love, is also tragic, because we live on opposite sides of the country. Our lives, families and relationships have taken us to Seattle and Atlanta but our bond remains as strong as ever. We also talk on the phone 1-4 times a day.

So what does your awesome best friend do when you get married? She and her sweet-as-pie boyfriend fly up for a week to hang out, help out and hold you together. We got in hiking, a bridal shower, yoga, a bachelorette party, a rehearsal dinner, a wedding, an Italian dinner and a night spent in cabins and visited 4 cities. Booyahh.

Hannah, Her boyfriend Chris, Myself and Jake, on the ferry.

When I came down the stairs one day, this was waiting for me! Tea party Bridal shower. My mom's fine china (passed down), and silver (also passed down), set up in the adorable fashion of a tea-blending party. You might remember I threw one a while back for my 2013/14 Honest Winter Wonders Issue.

This bridal shower was a joint effort by Hannah, Jake's mom Annie and my mom.

Galen (Jake's sister) & Me

Kelly slaving away at THE CAKE!

After all of that there was only one more thing before the big day- the rehearsal dinner! Jake's mom Annie and his stepdad Tim threw us a beautiful, quiet gathering in one of Bainbridge Island's restored Old Log Cabins. We ate artisan pizza, homemade salads and salty sweet ice cream while we endlessly rehearsed our aisle order without ever getting all the way through it before distraction set it and we all started poking fun at one another.

My friend Katie & Myself making faces at the Rehearsal Dinner

So, I'll leave you here. With everything but the big day itself. That's coming! But probably before that, will be some photos from our epic honeymoon. Epic is not often a word one would use to describe a honeymoon but it just fits.

We jetted out of here on a 2 1/2 week road trip to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California & Oregon. Saw Bison and geysers blasting from the earth in yellowstone, hiked up the mighty Tetons, climbed our way around City of Rocks, slept in the quaking aspens, toured Zion, looked out into the Grand Canyon, Climbed right by a Tarantula in Red Rocks, saw 5 bears while we climbed the most classic place on earth- Yosemite, and slept in the peaceful pines in Oregon. Pretty epic.

On that note, better get to editing those images for the next post ;)

Enjoy this golden fall weather we're having while it lasts!

Wedding In The Works