My Community Bio
	Knot Name:  bensuswed
	Wedding Role:  Bride
	Wedding Date:  April 02, 1999
	Location:  Seattle, WA
	What I do when I'm not on The Knot (occupation): Contracts
	Where you'll find me on The Knot (favorite board): Planning & Etiquette
	About our wedding: ---------------------------------------------------- Front of house on our moving day - it was beautiful!! SOLD! The floorplan (almost - our kitchen has a pantry and more counter space, and all of the rooms are 1 foot wider) The kitchen Kitchen Dining Area and Solarium Windows The great room with our brand new couch! The back of the house The back yard - before The back yard - in work! Looking from the kitchen/dining area to the front entry and formal living room Our stairs The upstairs landing...there is a master bed/bath, 2 smaller bedrooms, a bonus room, and a second full bath upstairs. Upstairs Hall Bath Double Doors to Master Bedroom Master Bath The bonus room - before The bonus room - after paint! So excited to have a laundry room - with a SINK! Wedding Day Recap: Our wedding day, despite some minor mishaps with the weather, was absolutely PERFECT! We managed to get most of our formal pictures done before the rain started, then we moved under the cover of the gazebo at our site for the rest of our pictures... Getting ready...     My adorable flower girls getting ready...   I was STARVING! :-)   Our first sight...             With my three sisters and bridesmaids...     When people started to arrive, they gathered with us under the gazebo (so much for the surprise of seeing the bride walk down the aisle!). It was raining way too hard to do the ceremony outside, but we had hope that it may die off in awhile, so we decided to change our schedule for the day and did cocktail hour first!! It worked out GREAT - everyone had a blast hanging out with us before the ceremony, and it was very relaxing for Ben and I. Everyone kept commenting about how fun it was to see us before the ceremony and get to know both of us a bit - it made everyone feel more a part of the big day. There were piles of umbrellas EVERYWHERE...   But our favorite was this great big sunflower umbrella that my Uncle brought!   When the rain didn't stop, we decided we would have to do the ceremony under the gazebo too. Our DJ (erinlindsey's husband!) made an announcement that we needed to move all the chairs from the planned site:   to our new site. Everyone pitched in and grabbed chairs in the rain - it was great!!   Our ceremony was an interfaith, Jewish/Christian wedding that we wrote ourselves. We incorporated many traditions from both sides including the chuppah, the unity candle, the wine ceremony, breaking the glass, etc. Everyone stood under the gazebo which made for a very intimate setting. Although it was not what we planned, it was absolutely perfect. Everything was relaxed and fun, and it made it feel like what it truly was - a celebration!   My niece and nephew lit a memorial candle for our grandparents...               Ben breaking the glass!   After the ceremony, Ben and I spent about 10 minutes alone to "take it all in" - it was one of my favorite moments of the day. It's so amazing when you finally realize that after all the planning, etc, you're actually married! What a great feeling!   The food was amazing! We used Seasoned in Seattle, and they were so helpful, friendly, and easy to work with. We had so many compliments on how amazing the food was, and their prices were very reasonable too!   This is the best picture I have of our centerpieces. We used a ceramic pot filled with grass and put a paper cut out of a daisy in the center with the table name on it. The tables were all named after places we had been together, and then we also put a picture in a white frame of us in that place. Everyone loved seeing all the places we had been!   During Ben's brother's toast...   All of my nieces and nephews toasting us!   During my Dad's toast   During our first dance - we danced to Jim Brickman's "The Love I Found in You"       My dad and I danced to Ray Allaire's "Song For My Daughter" Dad Dance   Dad dance   Ben and his mom danced to "What a Wonderful World"   Our cake table... We had pictures of our parents cutting the cakes at their weddings and two Ginny McGavin cakes!   This cake was chocolate with chocolate ganache and chocolate covered strawberries - it was delicious and beautiful! :-)   We did have a bit of a mishap with our second cake - it was supposed to be 3 tiers, but the bottom tier collapsed in delivery. :-( We put it up on a box to raise it up a bit, and the bottom layer was still edible, so we still served it from the back! It worked out just fine, and no one noticed the difference!   The flower girls had a great time dancing!   More dancing   We didn't get on chairs for the Hava Nagila (stupid folding chairs!), but we still had a great time!     Dancing into the night!   Honeymoon Review We went to Greece for our honeymoon, and had an amazing time! Here we are at the Parthenon!   In the Ancient Agora in Athens   Dinner in Athens   The first island we went to was Naxos - it was so much fun and so beautiful!   The sunsets were amazing...   The beaches were great too!   Next we went to Santorini - incredible!!   We took a sunset cruise to the volcano and the hot springs on the Bella Aurora - it was such a blast!     View of Oia from the boat...   On the rooftop balcony of one of our hotels...     Our balcony at the Hotel Esperas   The town of Oia   Beautiful blue domed churches   Lunch with a view!   Sunset from our balcony     Dinner at 1800 - great food and views!   View of Fira       Our engagement story! My fiance proposed to me on the ferry! This picture was taken on one of our first ferry rides together - it was the first place I told my fiance that he was the one I wanted to marry - he returned the favor in the same spot a few years later! After he proposed, the captain of the boat made an announcement, and all of the cars honked on their way off the boat!   Showing off the ring!   The site for both the wedding and reception...   I hope to set up our ceremony like this...   We might do tulle on the aisle like this too - I love the petals in it...   The dress (Davids Bridal)   My favorite half up, half down hair-do...   For Flowers, I am leaning towards gerbera daisies or dahlias in red, orange and yellow... I love the way these bouquets are tied...   And I love the long ribbon on this one...   Another nice bouquet...   This is the greatest idea for the bridal party bouquets at the head table...   We are putting 5 of these (clear) on each table, around the centerpieces The famous I DO letters for the cake table...   My fiance and I both love this cake - not sure if we will have this as our main cake, or a smaller version as a grooms cake...   If we dont have the chocolate cake, we will probably go with something like this, but not round...   I like the square shape off this one, and the off center layers...   We are using some of these lanterns for decorations...   Our invites...   I love these programs, but in red and white   Great idea for Out of Town guest bags...   The WebCounter says that you are visitor number
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