Fun and Unique Engagement and Wedding Things

I thought it would be fun to share some of the more fun and unique things we did throughout our engagement, wedding planning, and wedding day. If you know me you know I'm not a fan of doing things just because they're expected or tradition, and I tried to carry that as much into the wedding as I could. It was much more meaningful to do things we actually wanted and thought were cool and not just do them because they were expected. We also added some less common and a dance things in, 'cause that definitely fits us!

Non-traditional
Snowball
Doing a first dance is normal, but the song right after we did a snowball. For those in the lindy hop community, you more than likely know what that is, but for those who don't it's where two people start dancing and when the announcer shouts "SNOWBALL!", the people who are already dancing find a new partner who isn't already dancing. It's a really fun way to dance with new people and to get everyone on the dance floor.

Not Wearing Makeup
Other than lipstick (the Stila Stay All Day Lipstick in Beso to be exact), I didn't wear any makeup on my wedding day. Outside of lipstick, I literally never wear makeup, so it would've felt weird to put in on to just to get married and I wouldn't have been as happy looking back at the photos as I wouldn't feel like I looked like myself. I'd much rather be me, and especially so on my wedding day! Plus Kaleb is more than supportive of my no-makeup ways, so it was honestly never even a question.

I did made sure to take good care of my skin leading up to the wedding though. For me that meant cutting out sugar and starting a skincare routine. I don't like super complex or complected routines, and I honestly don't believe that using tons of products on your skin is necessarily a good thing when it comes to healthy skin, but I added a few Cocokind products to my daily routine and wow, they made a world of a difference. I'm a huge fan as they don't use a lot of chemicals, so they're actually good for your body, but that they are also effective. The Rosewater Facial Toner, Facial Repair Oil, and Turmeric Spot Treatment all work amazing on their own, but even better together. I gave a set of these to all of my bridesmaids and even though they each largely used only one product regularly, they all have been helping clear up their skin so much.
Didn't open presents at bridal shower
When Carrie offered to host and plan my bridal shower, I gave her free reign, I only asked for two things: that I don't open gifts at the party and to only do a couple of games. I really wanted to enjoy spending time with all the people who have been an important part of my life, and for them to all have a chance to get to meet each other. Just having a lot of time for people to mingle and catch up was so much more meaningful for me than everyone starting at me as I open presents. My love language is quality time, so I'm sure that's not surprising! I ended up opening the gifts back in my apartment in my pajamas with my sisters, mom, Amy, and Kaleb via video chat as he was in Ohio for work.

Pizza pool party for rehearsal dinner
The weather didn't quite cooperate, so we ended up with just pizza without the pool part. But we wanted something casual and low stress, so we rented The Clubhouse at our apartment complex, ordered way too many pizzas, and just hung out and played games with everyone. I enjoyed that so much more then going to a noisy restaurant and it was easier and cheaper since we had several people with allergies (we got Mod Pizza for those with sensitivities, and Costco pizza for everyone else.

Shim Sham
I mean, this is more common at swing dancers weddings, but for other people not as much. We had asked the band to play 'Tain't What You Do the traditional Shim Sham song (a solo jazz routine regularly done at social dances), at the beginning of the second set and all of our dance friends and us did the Shim Sham. This was one of my favorite parts of the day and I'm so glad we decided to do it! 

Unique
Looking Back During the Ceremony
This was an idea we got from Jeremy and Audrey Roloff from the Behind the Scenes Podcast, Episode 41. They talked about how during their wedding ceremony when they were up at the alter, they had a moment where their officiant had them turn around and look at all the faces of friends and family that have been and will continue to be there to love and support them. We really liked this idea and I'm so glad we added it! It's also the only point in the day when literally everyone is in the same spot, so there's definitely something special about seeing all the important people in your life there for you as we began this new journey together.

DIY Bouquets
Though doing flowers for your own wedding isn't that rare, it's still uncommon enough that I thought it was worthy of putting in the "unique" category. Bouquets and floral arrangements isn't something that I wanted that much money to go towards, plus I like doing crafty projects, so it wasn't even a question if I was going to do the flowers.

Re-reading Vows on Honeymoon
This wasn't something we had planned on doing, but we thought of and did while we were on our honeymoon. It the rush of the wedding day, it's hard to fully let the words spoken during the ceremony sink in, especially when you're like me and don't get very emotional when you're excited. When we re-read them, there were definitely way more tears then when I was at the alter.

Fun Things
Personalized Ring Dish
Once we got engaged, I knew I needed somewhere safe to keep my ring at night ('cause I'll definitely loose that thing if I'm not careful), so after browsing Etsy for a bit I found this really cute handmade ring dish from The Painted Press. I love the uniqueness of the dish and the size is nice and small so it doesn't hog too much space. Something like this would also make a great bridal shower gift!

Special Date Day

We blocked out the Saturday the weekend before our wedding to do brunch together, just Kaleb and I. My idea was that it would be nice to have a little break from the craziness of wedding planning as we got closer, and I was definitely right. We went to brunch at The Commons in Woodinville and extended our trip to browsing Flower World afterwards.

Fierce Marriage Podcast
Listening to podcasts is something I've gotten into as I'm commuting to and from the chiropractor (nearly all of our engagement I was going three time a week, so I had a bit of time in the car). Kaleb and I also enjoy listening to some of the same podcasts and talking about them. Without a doubt my favorite relationship related podcast is Fierce Marriage. I'm assuming their book is just as good, though I haven't read it yet as we just got it as a gift on our wedding day. 

Nerdy Socks
The guys doing fun socks is pretty common theses days, but it's still a cool way to add some personality to the guys attire. Kaleb ended up with Pikachu socks and he got all of the groomsmen ones with their favorite video games on them.