"Oh man. I am loving this. If only that stupid horse hadn't stepped on me. But its okay, I'm tough. I'm just gonna take a little break over here off the trail. I'll be ready to go in a sec."
(Don't worry, that's not his address. It got returned to me; that's the only reason I have it!)
For the invitations, I just the same paper and similar fonts as the little announcements. Again, these were formatted by me and printed on my friend's laser printer. She was so kind to offer and it was kinda fun to have some company doing wedding stuff. The envelopes were printed too, with the same font as the body of the invite.
The maps were printed on the back of the invites. I hemmed and hawed about this decision for quite a while, trying to determine whether it would be tacky or not. I wasn't planning on doing maps, but I found an online tutorial (weddingmapper.com) that gave me the idea, so I was determined to do it. But, I wasn't sure if I would have enough paper to print the maps separately. Also, I had calculated postage for my proposed invites to be standard (47 cents) and was afraid adding another piece of paper would increase my postage. Printing on the back turned out to be a good idea, making the invite all inclusive. The map was actually really easy to design. They looked really plain compared so some other wedding maps I'd seen, but honestly, that's all there is to Nipomo! In the end, their simplicity tied in with the rest of the paper goods.
The invitations were printed two to a page. I then trekked to Staples and used their paper cutter (again, and not for the last time). After being cut down to size, I corner punched the eyelet design using a punch I got at Michaels. I really loved the final look. It was exactly what I was going for. Simple, clean, a little bit country, but still pretty classy.
The RSVPs were also formatted and printed at home. These were printed four to a page and designed to be postcards. I counted on Staples once again to cut them out, then rounded the corners using another punch from Michaels. The back was stamped with our address and a cute little fruit stamp was put in the corner.
I didn't want the typical run-of-the-mill responses (too cookie cutter for this wedding). In keeping with the "vibe" of the celebration I came up with my own. I'm glad I did because a lot of people wrote little notes ("Can't wait", "Getting excited") that made me smile. I gave me hope that the type of celebration I wanted (FUN!) was going to be possible.
Footnote: The horseshoe logos(?) were designed by a very talented and good friend of mine. He came up with what would become our "monogram" and I had it made into a rubber stamp (along with a smaller single horseshoe one). These suckers were used EVERYWHERE and really tied everything together. Head's up: our wedding ended up having a horseshoe theme.
Up next, Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes! and more food stuffs!
At the Santa Barbara Courthouse, in the sunken courtyard, 11:30 in the morning on Friday, May 30, 2008. By some officiant lady we had never met but was the first one on the courthouse-provided list to answer the phone. With no rings, no dress, no flowers, no tux, no witnesses. Surrounded by a bunch of elementary school kids on a field trip eating their lunches and yelling.
It was perfect.
There was no final vendor payments, no drama over wedding party members, no worries over someone drinking too much, no stress about there not being enough food, no panic over the flowers being the wrong color.
It was us, our vows, our commitment and our love.
Ready, together: Awwwwwwww.
I know, puke.
(The only pic of us the day we got married)
To celebrate, we broke the bank by eating lunch at a historic deli on State Street. Then we held hands and walked on the pier (again: puke, sorry). That night we yee-hawed from the stands at the local rodeo.
The next three days were spent at the beach. Cowboy H was introduced to surfing (see below) and I to kayaking (see below). We also ate clam chowder bread bowls and cinnamon rolls every day.
Cowboy H
Mama H (with hoodie)
Cowboy H doing all the work
We survived!
One year later I ruined it all and hosted a big ole (almost) traditional wedding.
This is the actual day we met. How sick/gross/love story is this: some random person took this picture of us together on the very day that we met. Later on, that person came back out to the stables and dropped it off, for some reason that we will never know. We have no idea who the person was.
Focus. Back to the story. Cowboy H was working (and living) here and I came for the weekend to work as well. It was the weekend of Frank Bogert's Annual Birthday Ride. I was helping a couple take care of their driving ponies they had brought to participate in the festivities with. Cowboy H was Frank's personal attendant that year.
After the ride, Cowboy H invited me to join the other wranglers for ribs (excuse me, where are the ribs? oh, they're gone? oh.) and such. By the end of the day, numbers were exchanged and I went off to my hotel room to shower and sleep. Since I had worked a 10 hour shift at my emergency pet hospital then driven straight to the desert and worked all day, I was pooped.
However, I met with the wranglers at... wait for it... Denny's (with a bar!) for dinner that night and was invited by them to come out and ride the next day. And thus, my stint as a part-time wrangler began.
A sweet (innocent, friendly) relationship also began between Cowboy H and I. Seriously, that was it. You see, I was engaged when we met. Engaged to be married. Married to someone else. Gasp! The horror!
So, I would drive to the desert on the weekends, ride the ponies, eat some dinner with Cowboy H and crash out in his room while he slept on the porch. Meanwhile, my relationship with my soon-to-be (and my family) was crumbling.
I'll spare you all the details, but somewhere within those months, I realized that I should not be marrying the man I was planning on marrying. I called off the wedding. And the relationship. I then retreated to the mountains and taught stinky pre-pubescent immature boy scouts how to ride horses for 3 months. I needed a nice long breath of fresh air. You know, clear my head.
Through it all, my relationship with Cowboy H deepened. And blossomed. And budded. And flourished. And, and, and... basically, sparks flew, fireworks exploded, flame erupted. And then we rode off into the sunset and got married.
The end.
P.S. The day I met Cowboy H, I knew he was the man I should be marrying, but never imagined that I actually would marry him. (Uh, hello? You were marrying someone else then, remember? Oh. Yeah. That.)
Lots and lots and lots of veggies, either raw, steamed or roasted.
Spinach, glorious spinach.
Not shown: Fresh fruit.
Foods not recommended?
All of the above.
Not shown: The fudge, toffee bars and peanut butter chocoloate chip oatmeal cookies that I spent all evening baking as a Thank You gift for someone.
Cowboy H loves the beach.
