you & i

Hello, friends!

So obviously I'm not considered a "blogger". I rarely make it over here and when I do, all of my posts seem to consist of recent photos taken on Instagram.

But....as for today, I would like to share with you something special and dear to my heart.

Our wedding.

It's funny that my last post had to do with a quaint little visit to Portland to visit my, then, handsome boyfriend. It has looped around to more than a year now and that long distance boyfriend of mine is now my amazingly sweet and handsome husband! My, how time flies!

I'll try my hardest to make a long story short.


May 18, 2012:
Joshua Stephen Donaldson, love of my life, showed up in my California born and raised hometown, whipped a blindfold off of my face, got down on one knee on the Ventura Pier at about midnight, and asked me to do the honors of becoming his wife.
Swoon!
It was a magical moment as my family sweetly stood by watching with smiles and tears in their eyes.

Photo by Laura Reyes


Skip forward to a year later after months of crafty planning and stress about wedding finances to June 23, 2013:
Josh and I spent the most lovely wedding day together with the most amazing people we could have ever imagined. The weather was amazing, I had my favorite girls and family at fingertip's reach, and everything looked absolutely perfect! It overall was the most perfect day of my life. My maids (Mina, Tristin, Erin, Rachel, Eleanor) and my Mama made the day go so well for me. It was as smooth as a bride could want. At least whatever problems did arise....I was not made aware. They did such an incredible job. I couldn't have asked for any better girls to surround me on such a special day. And so many of them helped complete all the crafty projects I had going on a couple weeks out from the wedding!

The food was so tasty. Mediterranean bliss. And more than half of our...17 cakes?...were deliciously homemade my my new sweet Mom Donaldson. I am so blessed and thankful for her and all of her hard work for the rehearsal dinner and the day of.
The flowers and centerpieces were all so beautiful thanks to my ladies and especially thanks to Alex Schauer who is a friend and a closet florist apparently! She helped purchase and put together flowers and housed them in a craft room at her house. Alex and her husband have been such amazing people to know over the years.
Lauren Calef was also another amazing girl on the big day! She coordinated and worked her butt off for us! And yet she was pleasant and all smiles to groom and I all night. I'm sure she went home that night and crashed hard after that wild ride!
Linda Shutske of Hot Philosophy took care of our amazing photo booth pictures as well. She did a lovely job! I will make sure to do another post with those fun ones. My mother-in-law acquired an old green chalkboard and my maid of honor and I used some ChalkInk pens and made some floral magic happen! We used the photo booth backdrop for our ceremony backdrop as well. It was perfect for my teachery self.

The bouquets....words alone cannot state their beauty. My Mama did such an incredible job piecing them together like a work of art. I allowed all the maids to pick out one peony and whatever flowers they wanted to surround them as she bound them together. A favorite moment of mine was asking my Mama to make my bouquet however she wanted. It was so special knowing that she helped create my life and the amazing bouquet that I carried into the beginning of my new life.

Well....It was a glorious day full of love, laughter, emotion, family, and friends. I am still so grateful for the blissful day we had with everyone. So...enjoy our photos! All of the photos below were taken by the sweetest, Jesus loving couple in the world, Joshua and Hannah Adams, who are expecting! Yay! If you have any questions, feel free to comment!

This was an ultimate DIY wedding for us So much fun!
PS....I will do another post on my beauteous photo booth pictures soon so stay tuned!

Thanks for taking a look!

-Courtney Leigh