Pastors, Photographers and Music Masters

January

Once we had the date picked and the place picked out, we had to double check with the church to make sure we had a pastor – which was slightly nerve racking! While the church had the weekend open, there was the smallest issue – our pastor was leaving in May, and they weren’t sure if we would have another by September 19^th!! The interim assured me that if they didn’t have a new pastor in Kimball by then, he could come back and perform the ceremony. (My mom’s friends with the mayor of a nearby tiny town, Reliance – and in SD she could legally perform the ceremony. Back up plan? Check.)

Right after we got engaged, I asked a buddy of mine to DJ. He originally told me that he didn’t want to DJ friend’s weddings anymore (he wanted to be able to enjoy them instead)– two days later, he texted me that he would do it(they had several requests for that date)! I was ecstatic – not only is he an outstanding DJ, but he is married to an excellent photographer! We were pretty excited about their package deal, and booked them right away!  You can check them out  at http://www.dacmusicproductions.com/ and http://3cordphotography.com/ 

(If you book them, tell them you heard about them from Sarah and Jay!!)







Erin and Drysen were very easy to work with and made our entire experience personalized from start to finish. Our engagement photo session was out at Jay's family ranch in June. The pictures Erin took turned out amazing - and she made Jay and I super comfortable in front of the camera; plus she was willing to go along with all our crazy ideas - and had some of her own! It was very important to me to have a professional photographer with wedding experience that would take awesome pictures while making the picture process fun - and Erin blew all of our expectations out of the water! 

In early January, I made my first wedding related purchase. It wasn't decorations, a dress or anything of that nature... I bought myself the boots I had been eyeballing for almost a year!! I always knew I wanted to wear boots with my wedding dress - I can't walk in heels to save my life! (and let's be real ladies, who doesn't want new boots!!) I bought a pair of gorgeous Corral's in cognac and turquoise - we had already decided on turquoise for one of our wedding colors, and these boots are just too pretty not to use for a wedding! 

My boots!! 

Some more of our pretty engagement pictures! 

Two of the things that mean the most to me - My Engagement ring and my saddle!! 

Stay tuned - Next week I am blogging about wedding dress shopping!!

Western Wedding Wednesday!

Western Wedding Wednesday

Jay boy and I got married over two months ago – eek!! Since then, many friends, family and people I don’t even know have asked about our wedding day, planning and how we pulled it all off – so I decided to start a Wedding Wednesday section of my blog (which I realize has been non-existent for like a year - !!)  So I will go all the way back and start at the beginning J Enjoy!

My pretty engagement ring with our new brand! 

It was December 22^nd – a Monday. I had been out of town for two weeks, working in Storm Lake IA. I was ready for a break, and was going to spend the whole week with my fiance and family. Jay had been acting goofy for a few days, but I figured that he had some big joke planned or something along those lines (he tends to be onrey like that), but when he left one morning without saying goodbye, I was slightly sad. Later that day, when we got home from doing chores out at the farm, he told me that he had to do some stuff in his pickup and I should just carry all his stuff up for him. I hardly noticed – I had rearranged that morning and was all excited to show him, so I didn’t pay much attention to him. I was bouncing around, all excited to show what I had accomplished – until he grabbed me around the waist, and was whispering sweet stuff in my ear, being all cute – then he popped the question!! 

Once we settled down from the excitement of getting engaged and Christmas celebrations, it was time to start planning. The first topic of discussion was when and where – we figured that September would work best as it fell between wheat and corn harvest (#truckerprobs), and that we wanted to have it in my hometown of Kimball. Both of us feel more connected to God when we are outside, so we wanted an outdoor wedding, and we really would like an outdoor reception too. Our list included – near town, so our friends and family wouldn’t have far to drive; a pretty setting; and a place for our wedding party to sleep – and the easiest place to pick was the Konechne’s Red Barn Hunting Retreats!

Photo cred: 3 Cord Photography

This lodge is located near Kimball, SD and is owned by the Konechne family in the middle of pheasant country. This barn was brought in during the 1990s and was renovated into a lodge. It features 10 rooms with 33 beds, a full kitchen and dining area, and all sorts of space for pheasant hunting. The rustic feel was felt perfect for our wedding day! For more info on the lodge, visit redbarnhunting.com or facebook.com/redbarnhunting.

 (I'm only going to let you see one wedding picture this week. My friends and family have seen them. Everyone else has to wait!!)

Photo Cred: 3 Cord Photography