Our wedding pt.1: Preparations

So, now I want to show you everything we have documented about our big celebration. Oh, what a journey this has been for us. We've learned so much about ourselves. For better and for worse. Getting married is really not just a happy occasion, I have to admit that. It can really be exhausting too! But if we look away from that, It's also wonderful and a very unique and special moment that cannot be compared with anything else. To get married was more than tying the knot with the man I love. It was a groundbreaking change maker for me. And this I really want to share with you. First out is the process that led up to this big day. 

Our original plans was to find a location where we could hire tents, have live music and have people staying there in tents and cabins. And we did. But when these plans fell apart because the owner got sick, we found a barn (Hustveitlåven) cirka 50 minutes outside of Kongsberg where the owner could drive our guests back and forward with his bus.  So everything that fell apart, fortunately got put back together again very fast. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Heddal in Telemark is really a beautiful place. And we would recommend this place to everyone!

For me, this place was like my canvas. I was never completely sure how I would decorate it, but I knew what kind of style I wanted. And I decided to make some loose plans and see what worked out as we begun to decorate. It was a really dark room, so I knew that we needed a lot of light. And I knew that I needed to tone down the country theme they had going on to get that natural, bohemian/hippie kind of feel that I wanted. This photo is taken earlier in spring when we drove out to plan table settings, to see how many tables we had available and what kind of table cloths we wanted, and etc. 

During the process, I had a big book that I had categorised every plan we had and all the assignments we delegated to the people we needed help from. This could be everything from cake baking, the brides maids tasks, drinks, the gift table and so on. I also categorised our own assignments by months up until the week before the wedding. Basically, everything that needed to be done. I wrote down messages from the catering firm, the barn, the photographer and everyone we had hired, so no misunderstandings would occur along the way. I did this because I juggled my studies, planning the festivities, gathering RSVP's, and everything else that needed to be in order. And that was a lot of work for both of us. We decided to do a lot of things on our own and didn't hire a place where the owners did all the work for us. Therefore, I needed to be in control of everything that needed to be done all the way. I guess it made me seem like a control freak for everyone around me, but I discovered really fast that you can't be in control of every detail without putting it into a system.

So, when the week before the wedding came, there was around ten people living in our house (and outside it, since my sister and her man came with their caravan). The house was mildly chaotic. My two sisters with their men, my uncle, my mom, my maid of honour, Håvard, myself and our niece and nephew stayed here on our 99 square meters. Also, my long-time buddy from Narvik was in a sudden need for a place to sleep this weekend when his sleep over plans got cancelled, so we put him on the floor with a mattress too. Every bed and every couch was occupied. But where there's love, there's room. Growing up in a BIG family, I'm used to these circumstances. I love a house with a lot of energy! 

I think there was clothes hanging in every corner, and presents, sheets, pillows and toys everywhere. I watched it and thought of my father and how he would have loved to be there with all of us. Even though he didn't care that much for so many people crowded up in a small space over time. But this was truly a special time and a heartwarming circumstance to experience. And having all of his family there at once to celebrate love. Well, that's something.. Especially when everybody was having fun!

My mom was baking cakes like a hero and drove around town to pick up both things and people all week long! Like a champion! 

My uncle travelled by busses and trains all the way from North Norway, for over 24 hours, to get here. I was really impressed by that. 

And eating dinner together, or just standing around the kitchen island talking and laughing.. That's really what I miss all year long, living so far away from my family. There was a lot of love in the room, even though I was extremely stressed out. Maybe too stressed out to appreciate it all at the moment. Because, yes, I really get easily stressed out! It's one of my flaws! But looking back on these photos, I get that good warm feeling in my gut. I'm blessed. 

I made all of my brides maids bouquet by myself. I made them with Ruscus and Chrystanthemum, and another kind of flower I always seem to forget the name of. (Eldrid, can you please help me remember this? ;). 

I know that this bohemian thing is really in style at the moment (luckily for me, it made the access for inspiration a lot easier), but for me this was not trend based. I wanted the decorations and this celebration to reflect who I am, who Håvard is, and who we are as a couple. And of course the decorations reflected myself more than it did Håvard, but I never did anything that he didn't agree to do. We agreed on everything we did, which made things very easy for us both. We both love music, summer, festivals and nature. And I have loved the 1960s, the 1970s and Woodstock since I watched my fathers copy of the Woodstock documentary when I was like 11 or 12. And also, that period has influenced me ever so much since I grew up with music from that time, and my father being a musician. So that needed to shine through. And I LOVE to decorate. Of course I was gonna go bananas?! But, everybody expected that from me anyways! 

As I said, being really stressed out, I never got the chance to photograph the process like I had planned to begin with. And I never got to photograph the details like I wanted. But I can sum it up in a short a short section (and you will get to see some other photos of the venue during the series of blog posts I have planned to write):

1. We used one evening to nail this fabric to the ceiling. I used around 100 meters of fabric all around the venue, to soften and lighten it up. I wanted to balance the wood with natural colours and greens. I bought this fabric here. Or if you need, I have another 100 meters for sale that has not been used. 
2. The owners didn't have the kind of table cloths that I needed for the look I was going for. And since we HAD to use the fabric they had on the chairs, I wanted to tone down all the white. So I went for two colours of grey linen that we bought at IKEA. The table cloths are for sale, if you plan on getting married during the next year, and live in Norway. Email me for more information. 
3. I wanted ALOT of flowers and greens, so we used fake greens and branches from the woods to decorate the lamps and door openings. I really wanted to transform the venue. 
4. I decorated the tables with simple, petite flowers in different kinds of vases.
5. We printed out band logos of the bands we love the most, and used them instead of numbers.
6. And I used hundreds of candles. We were hardly in need of electrical lightning during the dinner.
7. We bought a lot of string lights, but the barn already had them in their venue. They made a special kind of romantic mood. I love how lights does that!

You can't see it in these photos, but we were really a lot of people working here. Our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, friends, nieces nephews, brother in-laws, maid of honour, toastmaster.. Everyone was so great. Everyone was working really hard to help us. They should have a diploma mailed to them for their effort, because my inner bridezilla exploded the day before the wedding. Basically exploded out of exhaustion. I would NOT recommend working that hard the day before your wedding. Believe me, it's not fun to be tired before your big day! 

We used simple decorations outside. I feel that we didn't need that much decor when we had THAT view. The weather was really great, and we had our hopes up for sun on that Saturday. But unfortunately, we had pouring rain on our wedding day, and sun the day before and after. Typical!

This part was used for the reception. The venue wasn't open for the guest's before dinner. Here they could relax, have some hour d'oeuvres, welcome drinks and and mingle. 

This view itself, was a good enough reason to have our big day here. If it's one thing that I miss in our home, it's the view of mother nature. I grew up with the view of a big fjord, great mountains and ships coming in every day. So I really miss looking out my own window and see mountains and forests. 

The next part will be all about the day before our wedding. Stay tuned!