Darren & I got married on March 6, 2010 in The Netherlands. Our wedding planing was a long journey and eventually we decided to have a Rockabilly meets High Tea reception in The Netherlands. We did decide to have an all dressed up wedding, we didnt have a huge fancy reception afterwards. Just like we wanted it.

Getting ready...

Darren & I decided to sleep in my appartment the night before the wedding. Best decision ever; he made coffee and breakfast while I had a shower. He even helped me in my corset (I told you it would untraditional ;)) and we played loud Bob Marley songs while dancing in our livingroom. My hairdresser was here at 9am and Darren left to get ready at my parents place (where also out OOT guests stayed)

My 2 girlfriends would be at my place at 10am, but as you can see at the clock on the wall... No girls yet. I suprised myself by not let that stress me out, I just grabbed the phone and called Darren who told me they just woke up after 10am. I told him to send Cat over, she was the one to do my make-up (note: without a trial) By 10:30am our photographer was over and Cat showed up too. Quick make-up and it was done, Darren got back at my place soon too and our photog snapped our first look / embrace on the spot:

Our friend Kate gave Darren & me a little book before we took off to make our weddingpictures, we decided to pass this book along our friends who will get married next:

Some detail pics Ria made while waiting for all of us to be ready to go ;)

Our pro-ceremony pictures...

In the Netherlands it's usual for the couple to make the official pictures before the ceremony. Darren needed a moment to realise he wouldnt see me the first time as I would walk down the aisle, but afterwards he's really happy how we dealt with it. So it was our photographer Ria, our friend Cat and the 2 of us that left for pictures at 11am. Note: ceremony starts at 2pm, more about that later.
The forecasts were horrible: snow, cold, and no sun... We had sun, WIND and an outdoor tempeture of 4dgr Celsius at 3pm! So I guess it was about freezing in the morning, and the wind made it even feel more cold. But you wont notice cause the pictures are beautiful ;)

To start off with some groom & bride sep pictures:...

Bride & groom together:...

And I <3 these ones:...

Other location:...

And off we went to location #3

These pictures are taken at my/our favorite restaurant and bar "Guulke". We just walked in, had some coffee (me) and beer (he) and we made a lot of pictures there. While they were open! You should have seen the faces of the customers, they all enjoyed the show haha. We left Guulke at 01:15pm and thats when I started to get nervous, 45 minutes to go and where was everybody?!

Off to the cityhall to get married!!

(Some none pro pics)

This is getting fun! While we were making our last pictures, our friends gathered at my sisters place. Theyre all bikers (but so sweet!) and they offered to be our "escort" to the cityhall. A tradition to everyone who gets married in our group of friends, and I'm blessed by having them. I wish I could have been there with them, I heard they gave Darren great advices "The best advice for marriage is... dont". And having drinks, music and fun. They made 1 exception for our wedding, for once they would have flags at their Harleys; an US one and a Dutch one.

From my sisters house to my place will only take a couple of minutes, but how cool was it! 11 Harleys, a Ford Thunderbird, our friends in their cars along with everyone <3. They shoot a video while driving and I will try to post it on YouTube one day.

Ceremony time!

We decided to have everyone seated before we would enter the cityhall. While everyone got a seat we had "Sound in a Darkroom" playing by Telefon Tel Aviv. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYnmP8HOZ00

We had a private moment before we walked in, Ria caught this on cam:

Our entrance song was "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHTsc9PU2A

Our ceremony was in Dutch and English. There were poems (translated in English for Darren andn our OOT guests when needed). Our dear friend Cat and my mom read the "Blessing of the Hands" in 2 languages. There was a lot of laughter, tears and love. We had a small guestlist of 24 guests, but we invited all our other friends, family in to attend our ceremony. It was an awesome moment I cant describe in words.

Cat handed over our rings, our ringbox was the harddisk copy of "Warhawk" the Playstation3 game we both love and the reason that we met!
During the exchange of rings and signing the official papers we played "Our own love" by Anouk (The live version ;)) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByghM8O3XBw

And we're married!!!

After the ceremony we would go home and have our private reception with our guests, so our friends & fam decided to give us a little receiving line at the entrance of the cityhall to give us their best wishes. We ended up getting hugged, squeezed and kissed by everyone LOL.

After we stepped outside and got a warm welcome:...

The end...

We got so many pictures (about 300, but that is ENOUGH to doubt which one is your favorite) that there had to be some for the giggles. Well here we go:

"How to squeeze myself in a car while wearing a wedding dress" by Sandra

"The jump" by Darren & Sandra

"I will carry you inside babes" by Darren

"Artsy" ;)

"I like to be me" by Sandra

"Lets walk in that supermarket and make some fun pics" by Ria

"So beautiful" by Sandra

Internet is the best invention since I was born. If it wouldn't have been here, I guess Darren & I wouldnt have met each other.

Darren & I have both been gamers since we were little. I have owned many game consoles, and my latest gadget is my Playstation3. With my PS3 I jumped into the world of online gaming, and I was (and am) a big fan of the game Warhawk. The game is launched Summer 2007, and I have been playing it since November 2007. I have always been interested in forums and online communities, so soon I became a part of the Warhawk Community.
Playing the same game, miles away from the NL, was Darren. Same kinda story as mine. We met true his uncle who also plays the game and who gave me the link to a chatbox where a lot of WH players were chatting.

There we first met: PLUSWON & Lady_Y. Besides playing Warhawk we had a lot more in comment. We both were getting over a break-up with our ex-BF and GF, we like to DJ (he with a computer, I do vinyl) and more. And from the chatbox, we started to talk on MySpace/MSN, we both bought a webcam so we could do a video conference on the Playstation3.

2008 was a rough year for me, so I decided to go on a vacation to the Dominican republic in August. It was awesome and I enjoyed myself every single day. Especially the night that I bought a pre-paid card to spend $10,- on a 9 minutes call with Darren.
After I came back I had to tell him that I missed talking to him so bad during my time at the Dominican, and that I wanted to meet up with him. His "Sandra, I got a big crush on you too" will be remembered always.

November 2008 was the first time we actually met in person, although we already talked to each other every single night for hours & hours. The moment I heard his voice (much softer as over my tv :P), was able to hug him (so soft and sweet) and our first kiss was perfect. I knew that I wanted to spend my life with this person.

Darren & Sandra @ Lake Pontchartrain (April 2009)

The Groom

Name: Darren

Born: 1981 New Orleans (LA) USA

Loves: music, food & videogames.

Music: Darren used to sing in a band called Fuego http://www.myspace.com/fuegoroots, they played a tour with other bands on the East Coast of the US and he loved every tiny bit of it. Check a small video of one of his gigs here:

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/aloN_Photography/nightlife/Fuego at The Bar/?action=view&current=DSCF5717.flv

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/aloN_Photography/nightlife/Fuego at The Bar/?action=view&current=DSCF5718.flv

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r153/aloN_Photography/nightlife/Fuego at The Bar/?action=view&current=DSCF5719.flv

(Copy / paste entire link in your web browser) 

Food: he loves everything as long as its spicey, hot and Southern. On my first trip to Louisiana he gave me a present, I copy of the River Road Receipe Book. Southern home-made food on it's best. So far I'm in love with the pecan bars *yumm*

Videogames: He's hooked up to consoles ever since he got born, thats why we love each other. He plays all kinda games, online most of the times. Tried his best to get his 1st platinum trophy on PSN and finally got it for FallOut3.

His wedding look: he didnt want to wear a suit or a tuxedo and seemed to be relieved when I told him I was not expecting him to. He could live with my wish not to wear a Hawaiian shirt, and he loves the idea of wearing flip-flops.

His look so far:

* Grey linen dressed pants by H&M
* White slimfit shirt by JCPenney

(Ooow did I mention that he LOVES hats in general ;)))

The Bride

Name: Sandra P.S.M. J.

Born: January 30, 1984. Weert (LB) The Netherlands

Loves: music, yoga and videogames.

Music: I loooove music, always played instruments and even took music classes in high school. I did several workshops in singing pop & jazz, and eventually bought my own set of turntables. I love the tunes of vocal house music, I been to more raves (>10.000 people) then I can remember, and I can be found on 2 DVD's of them ;)
I played once in a club, I felt sick all night cause of the nerves and never went back out there. My DJ name used to be: La Ziva http://partyflock.nl/artist/41076:La_Ziva.html was known around the Southern of Holland rave scene as LadyY http://partyflock.nl/user/263575:Lady_Y.html

Yoga: my dream and desire, to bring back yoga in my life. It makes me feel at eased, comfortable, I dont feel stress and my spirit is 1 with my body. I used to take yoga classes at this small studio, when I worked at my former job. My teacher was Janneke, and I adored her. http://www.deyogastudio.nl/ Now I live 40 miles away from the studio, and still thinking to go back there and take classes once a week.
My ultimate dream is to go on a Yoga Vacation; spending my days taking lessons, relax, healthy food and environment.

Videogames: I'm a geek and I love it! Have been playing videogames since I was 10years old and always kept on doing it. Made me find the man of my dreams too! Hooked up to the Playstation3 for 2 years by now, and even made it to Warhawk Legend: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=warhawk&message.id=986948&query.id=189929#M986948

Her wedding look: bridal, but not over the top. White dress: yes, but nothing to princess-like or so. My pictures can be found under "The Dress II" what will be pop-up when we're buddies. Feel free to send me a friends request, note: you have to have an active profile to be accepted :).

More pictures of him & her:

And with our good friends Jason & Kate, who are hopefully will be able to attend to our The Netherlands wedding, and will be Darrens witnesses :)

High tea:...

 (by Allposters.com)

Rockabilly:...

And more here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2041081&id=1060392597&l=be911205ea

Our rock-side of the wedding so far:

His hair like it used to be:

My inspiration:

Thanks to the lovely Mrs. C. Norton for letting me borrow her pic!

Our invitation inspiration:

By: http://www.uber-angel.co.uk
Our invites will be designed by our dear friend Jeremy: http://www.jeremyrdowns.com/

Our escort to teh courthouse (credits to my sis friends!)

I wish that my sis & bf still had this car!!

Sooo...

I'm considering to have a very "untraditional" wedding look for the Netherlands wedding. I did think of it before, but I think that all the American people would faint at our wedding, if they would see me like that ;) So now we're officially planning 2 weddings, and our NL wedding is so off-weddingish already...

Note to Darren, the dear FI: (Cause I know you read our/my profile every now and then lol)

Its just a crazy idea, nothing is set & done yet. So dont freak out loooool.

** The Dress

Can be found under "The Dress II"

** The Shoes

  

** The Hair

 

Credits: Fuller Edge Photography
More eye candy: http://fulleredgeblog.com/post-151/Angel-Craig-Calgary-Wedding-Photographer

Credits: Vivian Hui
More eye candy: http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2009/08/the-eyes-have-it/

Credits: ???
More eye candy: http://offbeatbride.com/2009/07/rockabilly-wedding#more-2550

** The Make-up:

Details here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091114142042AAQ9slv

At www.babble.com

**UPDATE 27/10/09**

I have to confess, Im not such a big fan anylonger of my colour palet. Dont get me wrong I still love the popping hot pink, but the black/white/damask turns out to be too classic and stylish for us I guess. And we also had to change our wedding date from Spring to Fall. So Im trying to get inspired by non-traditional Fall colours, without having pumpkins and caramel apples spread around everywhere.

Darren & I are both loving this one, so Im trying to see if we can make our own inspiration board out of it :)

** To be continued **

With help from my lovely friend Cat, I managed to make my own inspiration board. The colors that are a big inspiration to me are: black-grey / white and hot pink/

I won't get married in a black or hot pink dress, no worries ;). But i'm trying to come up with some nice adds to let the other colours come back in it (I love the coloured heels some of the PW brides wear, maybe that would be something for me too?) I tried to convince my FI that a slightly hot pink won't be a big deal for his tie, but he said he refuses to wear any pink in his suit lol.

The flowers that I adore are gerbera daisies, although I'm not sure if I would like a bouquet full of it. But thats the reason the flowers are also in my inspiration board. I also love the barok theme, and it goes well with the fleur-de-lys what's really important to my FI (he's from the New Orleans area and a big Saints fan)

** Picture of the inspiration board will be here soon!! **

The picture automatically crops, if you wanna see the fullsize *heavy* picture click this link: http://www.projectwedding.com/photo/show/902888

After viewing blogs, websites, sending out e-mails to over 15 photographers we got in contact with Elizabeth Ray. She is a photographer who recently moved from San Francisco back to New Orleans. I was right away blown away by her pictures, and had to show Darren.

Darren had tears welling up in his eyes when he viewed her pictures and he told me I had to try to book her. Elizabeth is really helpful by email and on the phone. She was willing to work with our budget and informed us about the packaged she has.
Great plus; she was also recommended by other respective photographers who were out of our budget! They told me she is a sweet woman, great photographer and easy to work with (this photographer couple let Elizabeth take pictures of them when they were down in New Orleans)

So we're proud to set our date officially now *eeks* on October 1, 2010! And our amazing photographer Elizabeth Ray will be our photographer!

http://www.erayphoto.com

and also check out her shop at Etsy >> http://flywithme.etsy.com

All pictures by Elizabeth Ray, please credit her when using these pictures!!!!

 Elizabeth started a blog with wedding coordinator Liddy! I just found out last night, and Im already a big fan! If you wanna see more of her work (and theirs together!) visit: http://rockthediamond.wordpress.com/

The veil (Dec 5th - 2009)

A lovely friend LeeAnn offered me her left-over bridal tule from her own wedding, to make my own veil out of it. At first I was ready to assign my mom to do the job, but why not making an attempt myself? I found a really easy guide online and Im sure I can pull it off!

http://www.weddingbee.com/2009/03/24/diy-veil-with-lacey-afterthoughts/

I always hearted the mantilla veil, and this guide makes it so easy to even add lace to the veil. So I found the address of the fabric shop my mom used to take me when I was a kid and Im pretty sure they will have nice laces.

• White bridal tule
• Lace
• Sewing thread & Needle
• Hair combs

** Update Dec 11th - 09 **

Im done with the veil, although its too plain and I need to finish off the haircomb. Dont look the ruffle-edging that it has now, not sure if I'll add an flower to it, or just a ribbon or something. I wanna add tiny pearls to the bottom of the veil, need to find those at teh craft store around town. Tried to make a picture of myself wearing the veil, but that was a fail lol. So far the pics of my veil:

Even picked up my own sewing machine from my parents house yesterday to start to be really crafty, cause to follow are:

The grooms vest ( ?? ?? - 20??)

The crinoline skirt ( ?? ?? - 20??)

Soon to be updated!

I don't know yet what kind of dress I wanna wear, I haven't visit any bridal shops yet, although I wish to visit a few soon. My sister & I went to this meeting: http://www.trouwplannen.nl/love_marriage_beurs_utrecht.php where bridal shops, jewelry shops, cakes, honeymoon, weddingplanners etc. showed their merchandise. There was an option to try on some dresses, and this is the one that I liked most (although it didnt fit that well, it was a size too big). So girls it ain't my chosen dress! ;)

[April 24th, 2009] What I think my dress should have:

Colour: off-white / champagne
Style: A-line wedding dress / strapless - corset

My inspiration:

The dresses at this website: http://www.lanova.nl are inexpensive (between $540 - $ 750) and would be a great deal, our budget ain't that big. I want to make an appointment with them soon to try on some and see the quality of the dresses. These are the dresses I wanna try:

Beau (although Im not sure about the "pick-up-details" at the skirt)

I tried a dress that looked like this one this afternoon (June 4th 2009) and it didnt do anything for me. The pick-ups made me look even shorter (I'm 5"3) and took all the attention of my small waistline. So I guess the first dress I felt in love with (this one) is not gonna be my beauty.

Donna (I don't fancy the red embroidery, I would prefer another color)

Layla (I would like to have the dress strapless, and maybe in a different color)

Will collect other pictures soon and update this bio-page!

Okay, now I bought my dress I will post the pics I didnt want to share before cause I might buy one of those...

I decided to make one of my pages for friends only. I accidently gave the link to PW to my fiancé when I was showing him the guide to the DIY-hoodie. And I signed-up at PW with the exact same ID as he knows me, LadyY. So 1 + 1 = seeing my to be wedding dress for the wedding.

Tried on already:

Jason Alexander 8266

This dress has a beautiful line and it worked out well amazing for me. I'm only 5 3" and I got a small waist. The lbeading on the waist line was great, and the low bust part was sexy, tho not sleezy. The dress gave good support. The dress comes with a chapel train, what might be too long for our outside wedding. The dress was for sale in an outlet shop for €899,- / $1255,- and thats over my budget.

 A Maggie Sottero Candice season 2007? I tried it on, and I felt in love with all the lace details. The dress is only maximum my budget already, dress & alts would be $1610. So thats without the veil, bridal undergarment and all of that. I opened a thread about this dress on the "The Dress" board, feel free to comment :)

A dress out of the Bruidsmode Selectief collection:

The dress is out of the 2009 collection of the brand Bruidsmode Selectief, and only a few bridal shops in the NL are official retailers. So it's a pretty much unique dress in the NL, original price €1450 / $2020,- but they told me I can have it for €1200,- / $1671,- The prize would be incl. alterations (sp?) The dress was 2 sizes too big for me, so the picture doesnt works for it that well. What I totally LOVED abotu this dress is that it was easy to wear, the fabric was so light, but the skirt part was still wide.
I decided for myself to not buy the dress, cause its just way too much money. But I will def. go for this style, so I can smuck it up with a manilla style veil *huge smile* 

*** I accidently gave the link to PW to my fiancé, tho not a big deal but i dont want him to see my dress. So if you want to see "The Dress II" send me a message / friend request please, it's for friends eyes only ***

The Dress!!!

** UPDATE 10/24/09 **

I took her home with me yesterday, so happy to finally wear her!

And my first shots with her at home::...

and smile & pose LOOOOOL:

Darren & I decided to have 2 weddings!! So while visiting Davids Bridal for my BM's I tried on a few Sale-dresses, and I found my 2nd dress. And that for a steal-price of $99,- My MOH will keep her at her place 'till our US-wedding on October 1st 2010.

~ The dress comes with halter straps and I will have that altered, in this picture I have them tucked in on top.

~ The front (Didnt bought a veil / headpiece yet)

~ The back, I only need a simple bustle and a crinoline and off I go. 

Ever since I got active on Project Wedding I felt in love with the coloured heels. I never have seen a bride in the NL with coloured shoes, and I would def love to do it myself. I can walk on some pretty high heels (I guess 4" is my max) but I also love my flat flip-flops. So I guess I'm gonna end up with some coloured heels, and some nice flashy flip-flops just in case ;)

THE HEELS   **Update Dec 11th -09**

I received my heels in October from my dear FI, when we were on our vacation in Boston. Since then Ive been looking out for something to add to them, a little bling or so. Found these lovely candle pins (!!!!!) for $3 at a store and pinned them on my heels. I did bend the last part and tadaaaah! I even have one pin left just incase I need another one.

My high heel inspiration:

White - high heel - peeptoe - leather @ Wehkamp €59,95 / $83,52

Fuchsia - high heel 4 ¼" - peeptoe - satin @ Zappos €63,88 / $89,-

http://www.zappos.com/product/7436625/color/77658

Fuchsia - high heel 3 ¼" - peeptoe - satin @ Zappos €63,88 / $89,-

http://www.zappos.com/product/7406480/color/12664

Way too expensive but hella cute :)!!

Hot pink - high heel 3" - peep toe - satin @ Zappos €323,- / $450,-

http://www.zappos.com/product/7505713/color/12664

** UPDATE 7/19/09**

I bought these cute heels from D1rty, and I'm so happy with them. FI will be soon have his first wedding item to stock at his house, till I get there in November LOL

They are still for sale over here: http://www.endless.com

My flip-flop inspiration:

Darren & I are both great music lovers, from the moment we wake-up we breath music. In the beginning when we first started to talk to each other, we used music as our personal messenger. Well, thats how it seems to me now, listening back to the music we played for each other.

Not sure how we want to make all those songs a part of our wedding ceremony / reception, but I told myself to list up the songs that mean something special to us. In that way I hope we won't forget one when the big day finally arrives!

 Before the ceremony

• Sound in a Darkroom - Telefon Tel Aviv
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYnmP8HOZ00
• Nothing is worth losing this - Telefon Tel Aviv
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-YG_O7Kx_8

During the ceremony

• Love you More - Racoon
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1I1FNZKaxA
• Our own Love - Anouk
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByghM8O3XBw
• Hallelujah - Lisa
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6PQFOCGYdI
• Feel my Love - Adele
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnn9JlqqTE4

The first dance

• When I fall in Love - Miles Davis
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8sJL68txcE

The reception

• Three little Birds - Bob Marley
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjtbhmQhsXg

To show that a wedding doesnt has to be expensive to make it worth dreaming for. Darren & I decided to have 2 weddings, while living apart from each other, and everything on a budget. To give a little inside look in our Budget-Wonderful-Wedding in the Netherlands:

Clothing :

Dress: Pronovias Laica (bought over preownedweddingdresses.com) €275,-
Heels: Unlisted (bought from PWer D1rty) €30,-
Undergarment: Poirier (new) €120,- // gift from friends
Cardigan: WE Women (On clearance) €14,95
Hairflower: Market €2,95

Pants: H&M (On clearance) €24,90
Shirt: V&D (On clearance) €8,- // JCPennys (On clearance) €15,-
Vest: JCPennys (On clearance) €22,-

Tie: V&D (On clearance) €7,-
Shoes: Converse All Stars (On clearance) € 44,95

Total:  €564,75

Paperwork:

Copy of birthcertificate: €11,-
2 Apostilles: €29,-
Secured shipping: €20,-
Costs for a Saturday ceremony: €275,-

Invitations:     * Design by our friend Jeremy Downs http://www.jeremyrdowns.com for FREE
                    * Prints by http://www.drukwerkdeal.nl €45,-
                    * Envelopes: Hallmark €4,50
                    * Stamps: appr. €7,-

Total: €391,50

Rings:

Engagement ring: Zales $...
His wedding band: Local jewelry shop $160,-
Her wedding band: Gift from a dear friend (Resizing cost €30,-)

Total: €146,-

Flowers:

Bouquet: Local flowershop, made by my aunt € ....
Boutonniere: Local flowershop, made by my aunt € ....
Ribbon: Michaels €5,-

Total: +/- €60,-

Photographer:

Ria Kneepkens by Woodstock Fotografie http://www.woodstockfotografie.nl/main.php For pictures before the wedding and during ceremony. All pics high-res on CD, and copies of her favourites.

Total: €350,-

Hairstylist / MUA:

Hair >> A friend: trial / day off, €70,- (But a gift from my parents!)
Make-up >> A friend: FREE

Total: FREE

Decor/decorations:

High tea decor: goodwill shop €32,- // borrowing from family & friends
Candles/votives: IKEA €30,-
Flags: internet shops €20,-
Table linens: € ....
Tables/chairs: FREE

Total: €82,- so far

Food:

Undecided yet...

Total: € ....

The rest:

Hotel at our wedding night: ???? a friend arranged this € FREE
Car-service: Ford Thunderbird '65 € FREE
Honeymoon: Undecided €....



Grand total so far: € 1594,25 // $ 2190,28