Category: Wedding

Pictures of me on my Wedding Day

5/1/2017

Well here they finally are, pictures of me on my wedding day!
I am so excited to show these to you, because I absolutely adore all these amazing pictures that were taken of me on one of the happiest days of my life. I feel like they capture how truly glowing from the inside out I was!
You can find links to the rest of our wedding pictures at the bottom of this post.

I hope you enjoyed!
If you want to see the rest of our pictures here they all are!

-Our Posed Pictures
-Our getting ready Pictures
-Our Reception
-Our Reception Part 2
-Our 50's Diner Photoshoot
-Our Wedding Ceremony
-Our Wedding Video

Peace Love and My Wedding Day
Jess <3

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Our Wedding Pictures

11/14/2016

3 Comments

Our wedding was almost a year and a half ago! Crazy to believe!
I have already written about; our wedding ceremony, getting ready for our wedding, our wedding video, our 50's diner wedding pictures, and two posts about our reception!
So now I have for you our posed wedding pictures (there are a couple of my posed pictures in here, but I will have a post later of all of my posed pictures)!

I took this picture myself; it's our save the date, and our invitations! And yes, each invitation came with tickets!

Our photographer was Graham River Productions

Peace Love and Our Wedding Pictures
Jess <3

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Bridesmaid Dresses

11/7/2016

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**Huge thank you to Style Dress for sponsoring this post!**

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Today we're going to be talking about bridesmaid dresses!
I was just a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding last month, so I know how much of a hassle it can be for everyone! Trying to align everyone's schedules, getting all of the bridesmaids together, pawing through all the dresses on the store's rack, trying on a zillion different dresses, and then having everyone agree on a dress! Not to mention how expensive these dresses are!

Thankfully, Style Dress has offered an alternative to this time consuming and stressful process!
Their website has eighty beautiful and affordable bridesmaid dresses to choose from.
Every dress has a sizing chart, along with a measuring guide, so forget about those expensive alteration charges you'll be paying if you get your bridesmaid dress from a dress store! The dress comes to you with a perfect fit!
There is also a dizzying array of colors to choose from, and you can choose the same color for every dress, so no worry if you let your bridesmaids pick different dresses, they'll all be the exact same shade!
Be sure to check it out, I guarantee you will find your perfect bridesmaid dress!

Peace Love and Bridesmaid Dresses
Jess <3

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Our Wedding Reception...Part 2!

5/23/2016

6 Comments

Happy Monday everyone! It is a beautiful day here in Massillon, Ohio, and I am sitting here inside a Starbucks, truly thankful and grateful for my life! I am so just so excited that I get to share my life with you guys every week! I love pouring out my heart on the internet, and knowing that you are there to read it! Ok anyways! End rant! And begin blog post! I have today, another wedding post for you guys! Wohoooo!!! The last one was part one of our wedding reception, the decorations and food and all that. Today's post is all about the activities of our wedding reception, and all the special moments captured!

First off we had the speeches and toasts. I of course cried at all of them! This is my little sister giving her heartfelt and amazing speech.

My Dad saying the prayer before we ate. He of course cried also!

The Father Daughter dance!
I am such a daddy's girl, so I am so happy that we did the father daughter dance!
We danced to "My Girl" by the Temptations. We even did a little routine!
After the dance was over, the record skips, and on comes, "The Twist" by Chubby Checker. I look at my dad, and he breaks into the dance! I was shocked! My dad is not a dancer! I was impressed enough that I got him to do the father daughter dance, and here he is shakin' his booty, doin' the Twist!!! So we got to dance two dances together! His little surprise was such a hit, absolutely everyone loved it and was talking about it! He told me later that he would go outside every night, and practice doing the twist! My Dad is just the greatest!

Right as my Dad started twistin',and me losing it! I love this picture!

Our first dance
*Sigh*

We danced to our song, "Only You" by the Platters.
It was romantic and sweet, and absolutely perfect.

For the dancing we didn't want a bunch of people bumpin' and grindin' all up on each other, and plus, we wanted to keep with the 1950's theme. So! We had a professional dance instructor (above [who also happens to be our good friend, and the dj's wife]), teach everyone a couple of retro dances! It was such an amazing time! Everyone got to learn something new, and it was a blast to see the past coming to life, by people doing the twist, the stroll, and swing! Take a look at how much fun we had!

And we will end our big day with our grand exit!
We wanted to do something different than the usual bubbles or sparklers, so everyone threw sprinkles at us instead!
Me, my mom, and my sister spent hours filling plastic sandwich baggies with sprinkles, then tying them shut with pieces of lace! It was adorable, and these pictures turned out great!

And that was our reception!
All images were captured by Graham River Productions.
Thanks so much for stopping by and looking! If you enjoyed it don't forget to share it around!
P.S if you haven't seen my wedding video yet, I highly recommend it!

Peace Love and My Reception
Jess <3

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14 Must Have Wedding Pictures You'll Regret not Taking

4/4/2016

4 Comments

14 Must Have Wedding Pictures You'll Regret not Taking

Now obviously, there are more than 14 pictures you should make sure to have on your wedding day! You need the traditional and obvious pictures of you walking down the aisle, your first kiss as man and wife, your groom's face as he sees you for the first time, you and your family, etc. etc!
Those are not the pictures I'm talking about today.
Today I have here for you, 14 pictures from my own wedding, that I loved so much, I wanted to make sure everyone else had the chance to see them, and if they liked them, put them on their "wedding must-have photos" list! When I was getting ready for my own wedding, I went through Bridal magazines, and websites, looking at hundreds of pictures, trying to figure out what shots I wanted for my big day, so I thought this could be a much more condensed list for you to go through! So go through these pictures, see what you think, and add them to your list if you like them!

1. A picture that makes you feel like the sexy and beautiful bride you are.

2. A full body shot of you in your dress.

3. You sitting in your dress.

4. A b-a picture of your groom and his boys.

5. Similarly, a b-a picture of you and your girls.

6. Your groom sweeping you off your feet. Literally.

7. A serious and cool picture of the whole bridal party.
You know, the one that makes you look like the cover of a boy band album.

8. A silly picture of the entire bridal party.
The one that makes you look like the bunch of hoodlums you really are.

9. A faraway shot of the ceremony. Hint, if you have a balcony, use it!
Close-ups are great, and necessary, but having the faraway shot that captures everyone all at once, during the ceremony, is just magical!

10. The shot that makes you guys look like models on the cover of a Bridal Magazine.

11. Everyone always wants a picture of the joy on the groom's face. What about yours?

12. Let the Sunshine in!
On your wedding day, your face will already be glowing, so why not let the sun's light accent that glow!

13. A picture that shows off how cool your wedding venue is.
We got married in a 100 year old theatre, so this picture of us sitting in the audience was so great! Just think about what you like best about your venue, or what is the coolest part about it, and incorporate that into a couple of pictures!

14. A few well placed black and whites.
Everything looks stunning in black and white, especially wedding pictures!

What do you think of my list of must have wedding pictures? What are some of your must-have wedding pictures? Let me know in the comments below! And don't forget to use those handy little buttons below to share these must have wedding pictures with everyone!

Peace Love and Must-Have Shots
Jess <3

Wedding Makeup for Pale Girls

1/1/2016

6 Comments

I am a pale girl (And I embrace it).
So for my wedding day, I knew there was no other way to go, than to work that paleness! But not everyone agreed with me, people were absolutely horrified that I wasn't going tanning before my big day! "What? You're actually going to look like yourself, and accept how you look?!!" I could almost hear people shouting at me!
If you're a pasty lady, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about! So just ignore all those orange, wrinkled, and leathery people who keep telling you that you need to be tan on your wedding day!
I was the palest I've ever been (I carried an umbrella with me everywhere I went for months before the wedding), wore a bright white dress, and I looked fabulous! Here is how you can too!

This was me on my wedding day. Not too bad for someone that people like to make fun of because I'm pale!

When I was planning my wedding, I went to a professional makeup artist and had her do a trial run on me. When I got there, not only did she not have any foundation that was pale enough for me, but she didn't do my makeup anything like I wanted it!
This is what I left there looking like...

I looked nothing like myself, and not at all what I wanted to look like for my big day!
So after that experience, I decided to do my own makeup, and it was one of the best decisions I made for my wedding! I ended up looking like a better version of myself, and that's exactly how it should be!
So all you Casper the Ghost Complexioned women, I have two videos showing you exactly how I did my makeup for my wedding!

So that was video one, and now
...here's video 2!

The products I used for My Wedding Day:

-Primer
Pixi Redness Reducing Primer.

-Foundation
Urban Decay Naked Foundation, shade .05.

-Concealer
Pixi Undercover Crayon

-Powder
Physicians Formula

-Blush
How to Make Your Face Wow

-Eyeliner
Wet n Wild H20 Proof Liquid Eyeliner.
I used the brush from Wet n Wild Mega Liner liquid eyeliner.

-Mascara
I don't even remember what kind I used. It didn't really matter what kind, because I had fake eyelashes, so I didn't need mascara that lengthened my lashes. All that mattered is that it was waterproof!

-Lip Primer
M.A.C Prep + Prime.

-Lipstick
Doutzens Nude 600 Loreal Colour Riche.

So whether you have an upcoming wedding, you are planning to one day, or just want really pretty makeup for daily use, try this out, and see what you think!

(All my wedding photos were taken by Graham River Productions.)

Peace Love and Wedding Makeup
Jess <3

Our Wedding Reception Part 1!

11/16/2015

10 Comments

I'm back again, with more wedding pictures!
Hooray!

Our wedding reception was just wonderfully, and completely perfect!
We had our reception at the Oaks Club, which is a little rental hall.
This is one big way to save money on your wedding; have the reception at a rental hall, not a wedding rental hall! The reason for this, is that by adding the word wedding, it automatically makes everything so much more expensive! All the wedding rental halls we looked at, made you use their caterer and bar services for an outrageous price! The rental hall we used, cost only $450 to rent, and they let us bring in our own food, alcohol, and decorations! The result was a much cheaper wedding reception, and a reception that looked exactly how I wanted it to look, not how thousands of other bride's receptions looked!
I do have to brag a little bit here, because Nick was absolutely amazing when it came time to get the hall decorated! He (along with our wedding party) did everything possible to make it look exactly how I dreamed my wedding would look!

The decorations!
Our reception was lots of lace, pearls, and vinyl, with some superhero thrown in!
It was exactly what I wanted! Take a look!

The Food!
We had Chinese food for our reception! It was so fantastic! Everybody loved it, I'm still having people come up to me and tell me, that it was the best food they've ever had at a wedding!
We had General Tso's, sweet and sour chicken, lo mein, white rice, fried rice, eggrolls, crab rangoons, and vegetable chicken! Yum!

The Cake!
I am absolutely smitten with our cake!
I have dreamed of this cake since I was a little girl, and it was everything I dreamed of!
It was a five tiered cake stand (that me and Nick made), stacked with Krispy Kreme Donuts!!! It had lace, pearls, and black and white fake roses intertwined with the donuts. I wanted it to look like a super fancy wedding cake, except it's not fancy at all, cuz it's donuts!
The top tier was a delicious vanilla cake that we cut and smashed into each other's faces.
The cake toppers were a Spiderman action figure holding a Batgirl action figure!
So perfect!!!
Take a look!

So that was the first part of my reception!
Stay tuned for the rest... :)
(Photos by Graham River Productions)

Peace Love and Our Wedding Reception
Jess <3

Our 50's Diner Wedding Shoot!

8/26/2015

2 Comments

I am so absolutely, completely in love with this set of wedding pictures that we did!

Even though I was the one who came up with the idea for us to do this shoot, I was still absolutely astounded at how wonderfully nostalgic and whimsical they turned out!

After our wedding, me and my brand new husband made our way over to Kremeland, in Navarre, where our photographer from Graham River Productions was waiting with a milkshake and a booth! I just want to give a quick shout-out to Kremeland. They were very accommodating, and they have a magnificent establishment! If you are ever in Navarre Ohio, make sure to visit them!
Here are the indoor shots we did!

*Sigh*
See what did I tell you? Magical!
After our indoor session was complete, we headed outside to complete our photos before scurrying off to the reception.

Yay!
I hope you love them as much as we do, they turned out exactly as I imagined in my head!

So we are now halfway through all our wedding pictures!
Still coming up; Our wedding reception part 1, Our wedding reception part 2, and Posed portraits!
Stay tuned!

(^^^Need a DJ? Try Synchronicity Sound Productions! I swear by them!^^^)

Peace Love and 50's Diners
Jess <3

10 LITTLE Ways to Save BIG on Your Wedding!

8/17/2015

4 Comments

Hello future brides! My name is China Barbie, and I am here to tell you; "Your wedding does not have to bankrupt you!"
I got married in June, and I paid full price for almost nothing for my entire wedding! So I have here the tips and tricks I used for my wedding, that helped me save BIG!
You can use one of them, or you can use them all! Either way, get ready to save some money!

Tip #1- Work for your Vendors!
I have a friend who worked at a country club for a couple years while going to college. The only reason she worked there? So she could get a discount on her wedding reception!
I worked a second job at a Chinese Restaurant for a year while I was engaged, just so I could get a 30% discount from them on our food!
I worked for our photographer whenever he needed help, to get money taken off the total cost.
I also got the kegs of beer for our reception at cost because I got them from the sports bar I work at!!!
I put this tip as #1, because this tip saved me almost $1,000!!!
This is a very simple, and very smart move! And! If you get a second job, you can put your paychecks from that job directly towards your wedding!

Tip #2- Become a Crazy Coupon-ing Bride!
This is one of my favorite tips I used for my wedding! While I was planning my wedding, I never went into Joann Fabrics without at least one coupon on me, and it saved me a ton!
Here are my biggest bridal coupon-ing secrets!

-Go to www.joann.com/coupon any time before you go to Joann Fabrics (which is the best place to buy wedding stuff!), or sign up for their text alerts by texting 56266.

-For our Save the Dates, I just printed out our picture in postcard sizes at Office Max. I receive coupons from them bi-monthly, so I got 20% off of my entire Save the Date Prints!

-I bought a lot of fun wedding stuff from Oriental Trade (you know, that awesome bulk-buying magazine you used to get as a kid, that had a bunch of themed party supplies, and glowsticks?!!). Well, they actually have a lot of nice wedding stuff!!!
Go todealcatcher, or retailmenot, search Oriental Trade (or any online store you're looking to buy from), and get your free coupon codes!!!

Tip #3- Rent!
Renting is one of the biggest ways you can save on your wedding (and not have 100 glass jars sitting in the back of your closet for the next ten years!)!
I do have my own wedding rental business (here), but you don't have to go with mine, check out any rental business in your area, and start saving!

Tip #4- Pay in Cash!
When I bought my wedding dress, I received ten percent off for paying in cash, and another ten percent off for paying in full!!! I saved over $200 by paying in cash!
Whenever you're paying for a big ticket item, simply ask if they offer a cash discount! The worst that can happen is they say no, you say ok, and you move on!

Tip #5- Make it Yourself
Diy-ing your wedding ensures that not only will you spend less money, but that your special day will truly be special and unique, and not look like every other wedding you see on Pinterest!
I made (ok my fiance helped out too!) our centerpieces, all the flower bouquets, our cake stand, my garter, the table runners, my veil, the flower girl's basket, our guest book, the hairbow I wore to the reception, and the bridesmaids purple ribbon wraps!
This tip saved us such a large amount of money! Plus, it was super fun!

Tip #6- Buy in bulk
I went to Zinck's, an Amish outlet fabric store, and bought the roll of lace you see above, for $5.00!!! The lace was over 200 yards long!!!!
I used this lace for everything! That's the great thing about buying in bulk, it (very inexpensively) helps seamlessly blend all the elements of your wedding together!

#7. Use your bartering skills
Nick actually tattoed our officiant for his services!
I received a discount from our videographer, and day-of wedding coordinator in exchange for advertising their businesses on this blog!
Just figure out what you're good at that people want, and offer it! Just be sure that when you ask, be super nice about it, and make sure that neither of you come away feeling ripped off!

#8. Go to a Bridal Show
Bridal Shows are so much fun to go to!!! You will eat way too many free samples of cake, get to see lots of adorable ideas of set-ups, get to meet with and talk to vendors face to face, and get bridal show coupons and discounts!!!
I got 20% off my entire bill at the rental business I got my tablecloths and coffee maker from, because I got their coupon at a local bridal show!

#9. Support Small Businesses
I am an avid supporter of small businesses in general, but for your wedding, it is actually a really smart move to go with a small business! When you hire a small business, not only are you getting their full attention, but they work extra hard to make sure that you're happy with their services! You can also most likely get a great price, because they don't have a lot of employees and overhead to pay for! I used mostly small businesses for my wedding vendors, and I was extremely happy with all of them! I have a complete list of my vendors at the bottom of the page!

#10. Don't Use "Wedding Services"
As soon as something is marked as "wedding", the price shoots way up!
For our reception hall, we used a rental hall, instead of a wedding rental hall. It only cost $450, and we could bring in our own food and drinks, which saved us a lot!
Our ceremony venue was a theatre, and we saved money by using that instead of a wedding venue!

So those are some of my tips to have your dream wedding on a budget!
And my last tip, is just to think outside the box! Sit down with a pen and paper, and write exactly what you want your wedding to look and feel like. Make sketches, and make a plan! Use that great brain of yours!

My Vendors!
These were all the vendors I used for our wedding, and I could not have asked for anything better! Take a look, I highly recommend all of them!

• Photographer:
Lisa Austin from Graham River Productions.
Our pictures turned out amaaaaazing (as you can tell here. And here!).
http://www.grahamriver.com

• Videographer:
Captured Occasions.
Not hiring a videographer is one of the top regret of brides! Make sure that's not one of yours! Watch ours here. This video literally made me cry! It was so incredible to be able to watch our big day together! Captured Occasions is a small business, the owner Rachel was the person who actually was at our wedding! She did absolutely incredible! I highly, highly recommend her!
http://www.reellifeonvideo.com

• Wedding Planner:
Perfectly Planned by Val. I planned my own wedding, but I hired Val for my Day-of-Coordinator. I very much recommend getting yourself a day of coordinator! It takes all the pressure off you on your big day! She yelled at everyone for me so that I didn't have to, and made sure everything ran perfectly!
http://www.perfectlyplannedbyval.com

• Ceremony Venue:
Lion's Lincoln Theatre
https://www.lionslincolntheatre.com

• Reception Venue:
The Oaks Club
http://www.the-oaks-club.com

• My Dress:
Unusual Junction's Universe Bridal and Prom
http://universebridalandprom.com/

• My Shoes:
White Converse All Stars

• My Headpiece:
I made my veil, and the bow I wore at the reception. I bought
the fabric for both of them at JoAnn Fabrics.

• My Jewellery:
My mom bought me my pearl necklace from a second hand store (not
sure if it's real or not, it was only $10 so I'm guessing not!),
and I bought my pearl bracelet from Eden Ministries, the organization
that I work with, that helps get women and young girls in China's red
light district help and an escape from prostitution. I also bought one
for my mom and mother in law.
https://edenministry.org

• My Hair:
Abby Warther Hair Studio. Bri Scott did my hair, and she did amazing!
I am absolutely obsessed with my wedding day hair! I get so happy every
time I see it!
http://www.awhairstudio.com

• My Make Up:
I did my own makeup. After a terrible experience with an airbrush artist
who made me look way too tan, and not look like myself at all, I decided
to just do my makeup myself. I was super nervous about it, but it turned
out perfect, I looked like me, and I am so glad I was true to myself and
did my own makeup!

• Groom’s Attire:
Hollister Slim Fit Jeans, a George long sleeved white button up shirt,
black and white OP shoes, black dickies perry suspenders, a black American
Commodore Tuxedo Jacket with tails that I bought him at a garage sale
for $.25 (!), and a V6 watch.

• Bridesmaid’s Dresses:
The bridesmaids wore black dresses and black shoes. They didn't
match at all, I just told them the requirements, and they bought
whatever shoes and dresses they wanted. My sister got her dress at a second
hand shop for $10! They also wore black and white scarves that I found
at vintage shops, tied around their necks, and purple ribbon tied around
their ankles.

• Cake:
The top tier of the cake stand was a delicious white cake made by Katy's
Kreations, and the donuts were from Krispy Kreme, which Katy from
Katy's Kreations picked up, dropped off, and arranged beautifully.
I have wanted a Krispy Kreme Donut Wedding Cake since I was a little
girl, and I was not disappointed one bit!
https://www.facebook.com/KatysKreations

• Flowers:
I made all my own flower bouquets and flower arrangements from fake
flowers I got at the Flower Factory.
https://www.flowerfactory.com/

• Stationery:
The invitations were party invitations from Party City. We made our
own Save the Dates and printed them out at Office Max.

• Caterers:
Ming Hing, a Chinese Restaurant that I worked at, was our caterer.
Everyone loved having Chinese food, we got so many compliments on it!
https://sites.google.com/site/minghingorrville/home

• DJ:
Our friend Kevin started his own dj company, Synchronicity Sound, and
he did so great!
https://www.facebook.com/synchronicitysound

Peace Love and Weddings
Jess <3

The Wedding Ceremony!

7/26/2015

4 Comments

Last week I shared with you pictures of everyone getting ready the day of the wedding.
Today I am going to share with you pictures from me and Nick's wedding ceremony!

We were married at the historic Lion's Lincoln Theatre, on Lincolnway in Massillon, Ohio.
The Lincoln Theatre opened its doors in 1915; we were married in a 100 year old piece of history!
This place is so breathtakingly beautiful, we didn't even have to decorate it!
We walked down the theatre's aisle, and were married on the stage!
The outdoor marquee boasted our names and wedding date, saying "Now starring Mr and Mrs LaPinta! Release Date: June 6, 2015". It was super neat to see our names in lights!

Before the ceremony, a slideshow of pictures of us played on the giant movie screen!
It was very cool!

Nick and my Momma

Nick and his Momma

The men

My sister in law Lauren

My friend Debie

My firend/next door neighbor Shauna

My little sister/best friend/Maid of Honor Magdalena

My sister in law/flower girl Holly

Here comes the bride!
I walked down the aisle to Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender". We were standing on the staircase waiting, and when I heard that song start, I knew it was time. It was such an exciting and emotional feeling!

My Daddy walked me down the aisle. This was one of the most special moments of the day for me. And I know for him too.

Nick's face when I was walking down the aisle.
One of my aunts told my mom that she's been to a lot of weddings, and she has never seen a groom looking any happier than Nick did! She said he had a look of such love, and joy, she's never seen anything like it!

As my Dad was giving me away, he said to Nick, "Take good care of her."
You can actually see him saying this to Nick in this picture!
It was absolutely wonderful.

During the ceremony, instead of doing the usual unity candle, or unity sand ceremony, we did a peanut butter and jelly unity sandwich ceremony!
We decided that we wanted to do something different, something that we had never seen at a wedding, to represent the uniting of our lives. So Nick came up with the idea of a unity sandwich!
During the ceremony, I spread peanut butter on a piece of bread while he put jelly on his slice. These represented our individual lives, and when we put the pieces together, represented the joining and uniting of our families, lives, and hearts. It was a very special ceremony, and everyone absolutely loved it!
Here are some pictures of the unity ceremony.

I had someone tell me that I looked like Christmas morning during the wedding ceremony, that I had such a huge smile on my face the entire time!
And I guess the following pictures of the rest of the ceremony prove that true!
I also kept giggling, I was just so happy and excited!

Makin' it official!

*SIGH* It was just so gosh darn magical!

Well that's it for today's post! Thank you so much for taking time to look at it, and I hope you enjoyed it, and felt like you were enjoying our ceremony with us!
All our wedding photos were taken by Graham River Productions, and our videography was done by Captured Occasions.