Saturday, October 6, 2012

Five Years Ago

Five years ago today, the Mister and I were at the hitchin' post.


The Mister hates to have his picture online but you can see me about to break out into the ugly cry in this shot. He was wearing his late grandfather's pinstriped suit and just like Doris Day said in the movie Calamity Jane, I was wearing my "frilled-up, flirtin', man-rustlin' petticoat" crinoline in bright red as my "something new". 

It was a beautiful Fall day just like today and he played the wedding march on accordion as I came down the aisle.
 

 
Well, I say "aisle" but it was just a green lawn!  We had a small wedding with only ten guests. With he and I both being the shy type, it was just perfect. We threw our own wedding so that we could keep things thrifty.

We had it planned so that when the preacher pronounced us husband and wife, a friend of ours would cue up the Victrola and one of our favorite songs would play.


Which of course went awry. We were having our first kiss as man and wife and the song started. But wouldn't you know that the victrola hadn't been cranked enough?



Before we could even complete the kiss, the record wound down and was kind of like, "Iiiiiiim braaaaanddddding myyyyyyy daaaaaaarliiiinnnnn...." and then went dead. Then the Mister ran over and cranked it up and came back so that we could recreate our first kiss. We all had a good laugh over that one! Oh, the best laid plans.

Oh, and our preacher was late to our wedding! Everyone was sitting outside in the direct sun waiting and I was nervously pacing in the house when he called saying that he was lost. And hello, he actually lived in that town! We had wanted to get a friend dressed in a bear suit to marry us and after that, we regretted scrapping the idea. A bear in the hand is worth two preachers lost in the bush.


I got a florist at home to make my bouquet and I carried it with me. My wedding dress came from eBay and oh what a mess. When it arrived, it was absolutely coated in nicotine. It wasn't white at all but a putrid shade of yellow. Oh, and the smell! I sat down and cried when I pulled it out of the box. I ended up finding an amazing cleaner here in town who got it spotless for me. And the good news was that the Seller refunded all of my money - so my wedding dress was free! Yee Haw! 

We rented a house way up on top of Lookout Mountain (about three hours from home) just up the road from Rock City and it was both the site of our night-before party, our wedding and the reception. Oh, and it was also our honeymoon cottage! I told you - thrifty. We had never seen the place in person before we went there for our wedding and were thoroughly relieved when we drove up.


It was so beautiful and had this big porch on the front where we all hung out each night. And even though it was Fall, all of the flowers were still brightly in bloom and the grass was like lush green velvet. We got really lucky. Our plan had been that we'd come back there every year for our anniversary but it never happened because the rental company sold the house the very next year.
So, every time that we go back up there, we ride past and stalk the house. Very romantic. 

When our guests came in the night before, some of them stayed with us to save money. I made an enormous pot of soup and these monsters made out of biscuits. Or maybe they're snakes.


Which makes me laugh now. We had seen these guys in a recipe book on Halloween treats at the register as we were buying the supplies for our soup and just had to make them! When I watch that TLC show where brides rate each others' weddings, I often wonder what they'd think about the Biscuit Monsters. I'm sure they'd find them incredibly droll but in all actuality, they were delicious! Their innards were made of delicious cheddar cheese. Yum!

We had really great food at the wedding. We got a cafe up the road to cater lots of sandwiches and salads for us and had a picnic on the lawn of the house.



My Mom brought a bunch of her quilts from home in South Carolina. She also brought pretty much every vintage table cloth that you see in these photos. And she let me pick out a quilt to keep as our " wedding quilt ". Everything but the chairs at our wedding either came from my house or my Mom's house. Finally our vintage hoards came in handy!



She also made our wedding cake - a homemade coconut one.


I can't believe that I asked her to lug a cake up from South Carolina - but her coconut cakes are legendarily delicious!  She also made those truffles down front and my sister-in-law brought amazing red velvet cupcakes. My new mother-in-law made sugar cookies shaped like hearts and wedding bells from cookie cutters that had belonged to her Mom. She brought those all the way from Kansas by car.  I tell you, there is nothing like having great cooks in the family. We had food coming in from everywhere! The wedding topper was found on eBay. There are SO many on eBay. It's seriously hard to choose if you're in the market.

Since gnomes are a huge part of Rock City, the Mister and I personalized gnomes for each guest and also gave gifts of boxes of regional chocolates like goo-goo clusters and moon pies. Fancy! 






Did you know that Jones Soda will put any photo on bottles of soda for you? 
We saved a bottle to have with our anniversary wedding cake a year later.

Then we headed further up the hill to Rock City and took photos and explored the park. 
I love this shot from one of the caves. 


We had our friend, Libby take photos at the wedding and also brought our laptop and borrowed all of our guests' camera cards on that last night and stole their photos too. Talk about super cheap wedding pictures! -  and it was fun to see photos of the event from each guests' points of view. 

Rock City was actually where we fell in love way back in 2004 so we knew that we had to have our wedding up there. Here is a shot from that first day that we ever went there.  I think that was our third date. 

Look at those young punks!  

When we met, he had bleached his hair the color of a baby chick and gah, I can't even tell what color mine was. Something with "cherry" in the name, I'm sure. I remember that it was a ridiculously hot day in July and he had no air conditioning in his car. We got stuck for hours behind a wreck on the interstate and as it was the only way home and we were melting, he finally drove the wrong way up the exit ramp (I know, totally uncool...I told you - punks!) and we hung out at a Western Sizzlin' salad bar, bought tons of fireworks and sat in a field watching goats.  Oh, the heart wants what the heart wants. Our love potion was in part goat smell, croutons and those fireworks where flames shoot out of paper chickens' butts.

Anyway, I've overshared enough. I'm sure y'all feel like you're trapped in someone's living room and being forced to watch their vacation slides. Anyhoo, here's to my hubs! 

Who is quite obviously the one for me. 

I'll leave you with our wedding song as it should have been played.  This one goes out to my honey. And to all you young lovers and long-timed together couples out there. And heck, to those of you who are even moderately interested in pitchin' woo. This is the song for you.


Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha







47 comments:

Barbara said...

Oh. My. God. Eartha! I was so hoping you'd tell about your wedding! Will you promise me that if I ever am lucky enough to leave spinsterhood that you will personally plan and execute my wedding? Yours is almost my perfect wedding (I'm pretty sure the music would be more Barry White). Everything was perfect and silly but never stupid. The gnomes are AWESOME!

Of course, we'd have to have meat, but you don't have to touch it. And you found the dress on ebay? I can never find a cool one to fit my posterior region. Oh, so jealous.

Why can't more people do it this way? A groom playing the wedding march on the accordian? You cannot get more perfect than that.

EVER.

Dana@Mid2Mod said...

Happy anniversary, you two! I'm still laughing about your wedding song winding down, and I'm listening to it playing correctly as I type this. :)

Crystal in Texas said...

Such a lovely story about your wedding! It all sounds quite perfect, imperfections and all! Happy, happy Anniversary!

Susie Q. said...

I loved every detail of your story, it's so sweet! Thanks for sharing--
Susie Q.

Maureen said...

Wow, you made me cry! What a beautiful wedding, I loved reading about it. You looked gorgeous, what an amazing dress.

LaurenT said...

What a great day! I love it. Your personal touches were great, and I think red is an awesome color for a wedding. And the song is really neat!--LaurenT

Kelly said...

So sweet. Loved reading this. And great song!

Lesley Jean said...

This made my heart smile!! I love hearing about/seeing weddings that are so obviously filled with love and attention to the details that matter most to the couple. It all looks so lovely! I think the monster biscuits looked quite delicious, too. Such a wonderful slew of memories. Thank you for sharing!

houndstooth said...

What a fabulous wedding! I saw Barbara's post about your wedding and had to stop and see for myself. If I ever get married again, I'm doing so many things differently! :) Love your dress!

Beta Mike said...

Eartha, this is just the sweetest thing ever! What a perfect wedding, you both are so perfect together!

In a fun way, this is really my anniversary of knowing you as I stumbled upon your Flickr photos of Rock City some time ago (maybe right after the hitchin!). Fate is amazing about how it pulls people together like that, and I believe that's exactly why you and Mister are like Peanut butter and jelly.

Over the years I've had the pleasure to call you both a friend and just thank my lucky stars each day that you both are in my life.

Happy anniversary to you both!

susie said...

How lovely! It wouldn't be a wedding if things didn't go wrong left and right before all coming together in the end, right? The deer on the cake...want to steal, er...borrow, that idea! :-D

Anonymous said...

Oh Eartha!!! Happy Anniversary... Your story is so perfectly sweet! We wish you both the best for many years to come!! Love u, Holly Joy

Jackie Jardine said...

Gorgeous photos and a wonderful wedding story, Eartha. I always love hearing how couples make their wedding day their own. And your was so thrifty, kitschy, vintage and personalized. I love it!

Happy Anniversary!

<3 Jackie @ Let's Go Thrifting
http://LetsGoThrifting.blogspot.com

Jenny said...

Oh, you had the most perfect wedding ever! So beautiful.

Cassie said...

You have the sweetest wedding story EVER <3! You put a big smile on my face.

Anonymous said...

Happy Happy Anniversary, and many more to come!

SusieQT said...

That is so cool. We had a big, traditional wedding and if we had to do it all over again, it would be more like yours! Congrats!

Karen/Small Earth Vintage said...

Perfect wedding. That is all.

cheshirecat666 said...

What a wonderful posts,thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

If I had my wedding to do over....

Anyway, looks like great memories were made and you truly found the perfect mister. Thanks for sharing your story.

Happy Anniversary!

P.S. I totally thought of Paper Moon when I saw the cave silhouette : )

Kelli Davidson said...

I've been following you for a while and I don't believe I've ever commented - but today I want to. Thank you so much for sharing your wedding - I am so impressed! My wedding dress too, came from eBay. It was an officer's wife's Luau dress from Hawaii made the year I was born. The song you chose is from one of my father's favorite bands - they are famous here in Oklahoma. Your table cloths are exquisite and your mom's cake? so lovely! I truly enjoyed this. Thank you.

Sara In AZ said...

I LOVE that song!!!!

Our wedding was so similar to yours it's almost eeire!!! We had it in Mike's parents backyard, under tents, and played our own music too. I got my dress (a 40s wedding gown) at an antique store for $70 and I remember the sales lady being shocked that I was actually going to wear it as my wedding dress. We even had a bunch of old tablecloths on all of the tables too!

I'll bet your wedding was just amazing........I would have loved to have been there.

And I NEED some of those biscuit monsters like now!!!!

chutti said...

Awwwww-a big ol' Happy Anniversary to you.

Your wedding sounds fab. We just celebrated 6 years, and had a potluck picnic in the park with (gasp!)pie. I Lurve your story about the record winding down.

We are biiiig Gene Autry fans, so made our guests recite the cowboy code with us as the ceremony. Favors included a CD with great old songs-our fave like that is "little white house with you inside" by riders of the purple sage. Jack Guthrie sounds swell.

I truly believe there is some sort of inverse equation with the amount of $$ spent on a wedding and the amount of fun it is. Looks like you got it right.

Congrats-it's always fun to see glimpses of your happiness.

Rae - Say It Aint So said...

such a great wedding. i love that first picture! Your facei is so sweet and full of emotion. and i love that bob on you!
if i had it to do all over again i would have done something much smaller and done it myself so my mom wasn't in charge. your wedding looks like it fit your perfectly!

jason said...

congrats!
I just love your blog btw :)

Unknown said...

wow 5 years already I remember it the pictures are grand time flies when your having fun and winning pudding cash and remodeling a house .it will be 10 before you know it . go dancein with your darlin to the Tennessee Waltz.

sherree said...

Your wedding was beautiful. I loved every detail :-)
Thanks for sharing. I love your blog, too.

erin said...

sooooo great! that cave picture RULES! happy ann, y'all!

me and the other me said...

I felt so honored to be a part of it. My sister_gurl!

Rita said...

Love this post. Love weddings that truly reflect the people being married, that couldn't have been anyone else's wedding. That's surely what yours was. Gnomes? Victrola? Biscuit creatures? Yeah: Only you and your mister. Thanks for the virtual invitation. :-)

Mr. Tiny said...

LOVE IT!!! Small weddings are the BEST! The cave picture is awesome and I have all of those gnomes. You can find plenty of gnomes around, but that style is my favorite. When my sister got married, all my mom's friends made layer cakes (my favorite being my grandma's coconut). We used my entire collection of vintage tablecloths and had old-timey music playing. That house you stayed in looks perfect and now I'm hungry for biscuit monsters!!!

Lisa said...

Oh my goodness, this is the sweetest post ever. I LOVE. YOUR WEDDING. You're going to re-inspire me to get hitched! So personal and so sweet and so YOU! The dress was worth all the worry, because it looked SO BEAUTIFUL in the end! The personalized gnomes, I think, are actually killing me. Happy, happy five years!

Jen said...

Oh, Eartha, this is the best post ever! Happy anniversary to both of you! If it makes you feel better, I got all teary and choked up reading it. What wonderful pictures and memories—i love that everybody brought up goodies for the wedding. It's so marvellous! *sniff* And the monsters. I love them! Those are great!

That coconut cake looks delicious. I hope your mom makes another for your tenth anniversary. Do you still have your cake topper? I kept ours, of course. You're right, they're hard to choose from ebay with the awesome selection.

Gosh, this is the best post ever. I love it so much. xooxoxoxxo to both of you!

A Day in the Life of One Girl said...

oh - how lovely. Just plain lovely. You look beautiful and what a pretty day too!! Wow - the food...the quilts...perfect

Cindy said...

I already love your blog, but this is my absolute favorite post! Thank you so much for sharing. Also, I really want to send you an anniversary gift consisting of Dr. Enuf and MoonPies.

Pat said...

Happy Anniversary! I loved reading about your wedding memories; thanks for sharing. Your blog is one of my favorites since I found it a few months ago.

Laura said...

Happy, happy anniversary! To think I was eating Moon Pies on my vacation this weekend and would come home to a post as sweet as this one, Moon Pies included. What wonderful reading about two wonderful people (well, honestly I don't know much about the Mister, but I figure if he's married to you he must be really smart and in possession of excellent taste). Congratulations to both of you, and I wish you many more!

Anonymous said...

What a great unique vintage wedding! I had a small budget wedding 22 yrs ago...I never wanted some fancy dancy pricey affair like everyone seems to be doing. Carp, all that money can go for a down payment on a house! Even mine seemed a bit too much for me but the in-laws wanted certain things & their friends & I had to oblige.

j. wilson said...

aw shucks! thank you for sharing yer wedding story. sounds like a wedding after my own heart. frugality, close friends and vintage. yup. happy anniversary!

Adrienne said...

I really and truly loved this post! What a beautful wedding you had, I love all of the personal touches. Goat smell, croutons, firework chicken butts-I LOLd. :)

Adrienne
What Lola Wants

little rosy runabout said...

This was such an enormously perfect post it made me cry a little bit! Happy Anniversary to two of my favorite peeps!

The Curious Holts said...

I cried a little too.

what a beautiful, delicious wedding.

My dh and i got married all by our lonesome out in the woods. I thought it was cool at the time, but now I wish we'd had friends.

sniff.

Oh, that dress...swoon.

And a man who plays the accordion...double swoon.

Betty Crafter said...

Happy Anniversary!! It looks like you had a perfect wedding. I thought mine was great, but if I had to do it all over again I would totally steal a few ideas from your wedding.

Kitty Cat Stevens said...

this is the best post ever! i was seriously laughing out loud at the biscuit monsters. happy anniversary to you both— i love this beautiful small wedding!

user said...

How wonderfully sweet and perfect! Here's to many many many more years to you two :D

Dottie said...

Oh! That is just simply the most marvelous sweet sweet wedding! Your dress is perfection and just the whole day sounds utterly heavenly--especially that coconut cake! Tee hee!

Thanks so much for sharing, lady!

xo

Unknown said...

This looked perfect. Love the gnomes and the jones soda!!! I'm mentally stealing all these ideas for my future nuptuals