allison: WHEW, okay. If you made it through our wedding week post yesterday, you know we had quite the build up to this day. And on the morning of September 25, 2016, I woke up with a start. Like, all night long. I had this flutter in my belly that jolted me awake over and over–it was simultaneously this “WEEEEEE!” feeling and also a “LET ME SLEEP” rage. But morning finally came and I woke up so well rested. I took a long shower and headed over to Spokenmoto, our reception venue. I was helping everyone set up when who should appear but THAT GUY JOHNNY. He had arranged to meet all his guys there to go out to our ceremony site, and he also happened to be the only one of the two of us who cared that we didn’t see other that day. SO, this meant me…in a closet. Sulking. It’s fine. I actually thought that he was one of the managers at one point and came out to thank him for all his help, until I realized, nope that’s my groom and dropped to the floor beneath the counter. Which was very very funny. We finished setting up as much as we could, and I headed to my family’s cottages to meet my people and get ready. And thus began this beautiful, crazy day.

allison: I’m not normally a detailsdetailsdetails kinda person, but this photo makes me so happy. It’s all the things! It’s my mama’s veil and the bracelet J’s mom got me and our invitation booklet and my fave perfume and the chanel lipstain that makes me feel fancy and the headpiece my friend Lauren let me borrow, la la la. It’s crazy to me that little things can make you feel so much.

allison: I gave all my bridesmaids the same gift — a custom necklace from Navone Jewelry, little goodies from Austin Street Apothecary, and a hankie that says, “No Ugly Crying.” And a unicorn card, just for fun.

allison: My friend and biz partner, Lauren, did my make up and it was soooooo fun to have her sweet, calm energy by my side all morning. Plus, she was the only person who would yell at me to actually sit still.

allison: We’d originally planned on getting ready at our new apartment, but it ended up not being ready in time. At first I was super disappointed because I’d been imagining a quiet, serene place to get ready. But in the end, getting ready at my parents’ airbnb was soooo fun. The kiddies were running around and I got to see my brothers–all things I realize now that I would’ve missed.

johnny: I woke up on our wedding day feeling euphoric, and it took my brain a few moments to remember why. I was up late the previous night finishing my vows (I don’t recommend doing that), but I felt wide awake as I climbed out of bed to start the day we’d planned for months. My responsibility that morning was to lead the charge in moving twenty benches to our reception site (which Allison and I had actually cleared with a pair of scissors and knife two weeks before–I also don’t recommend doing that). I went to meet the dudes at Spokenmoto and, bless his heart, my brother-in-law had brought beef jerky, which covered my mistake of forgetting to eat something beforehand. While I was waiting for everybody to show up, people kept coming up to me telling me that Allison was waiting for me to leave. By the third or forth, I knew she meant business. Me and my small crew carried the benches a quarter mile down a dusty river trail hoping no goons (or elk) would mess with them. Once our duties were complete, my buddies piled into the car and listened to Rage Against the Machine the whole way to breakfast, since I could finally let go of the anxiety that had been tingling in my noggin all week. We grabbed a late breakfast at Jackson’s before I went to the house my parents were renting to shower and change into my wedding getup. I passed out gifts to my groomsmen, told them why I liked them (which dudes don’t do enough), and showed off my suit to my fam. Then my dad led a round of tequila shots before I left to go see my gal in her new dress.

johnny: Not staged in the slightest.

johnny: Initially, I bought each of my groomsmen a basic black tie but a day later got bored of that idea and decided to go bolo.

allison: When I’m shooting a wedding, one of my favorite moments is when the bride puts on her dress–there’s just so much anticipation and glee. So when the time came I was feeeeeeling it.

Also, SURPRISE! My dress was in two parts! I was on the struggle bus looking for something I loved for foreverrrr, and finally found the top of a short dress I loved and a flowy skirt I could attach to it (thanks to a handy family friend who is an amazing seamstress…and thanks to BHLDN for making separates).

allison: One of my favorite moments from the whole day was opening my gift from Johnny. He got me a completed set of some skeleton bride-groom ornaments we had bought in Santa Fe (which was crazy because I had gotten him a bracelet he’d wanted from Santa Fe, weeeeird), but he’d also included a card that said, “You’re the Kim to my Kanye” and proceeded to tell the story of how he almost didn’t get the ornaments in time because the first one broke, then the artist had a heart attack, etc. etc. I WAS DYING. I ended up reading it all to everyone in the room because it was such a crazy story and we were all just laughing soo hard. (The artist is recovering very well, we’ve heard.)

allison: Then I was able to give my parents their gifts and letters–such a special, special moment for us.

allison: and THEN!! I got in the car to drive to see bae. I was a nervous wreck–so anxious to see him. I probably said, “I just want to see him” about 80 times on the way there.

johnny: I was just really giddy–it felt like everything came down to this moment. And it also felt like I was finally at the point where someone else was just going to tell me where I needed to be for the rest of the day.

allison: I am in love with this bouquet–we actually chose our date on a Sunday just so we could have Hart Floral be there. WE LOVE HER THAT MUCH.

Jillian & James took us around the river and shot our portraits, and then we headed to meet up with our wedding party. We’d debated even having wedding party or not, but we couldn’t imagine not having these photos + memories with these goons.

johnny: My little twin sisters love kids, but I think they found their match in Jane, who months later still talks about her twins.

allison: Fun fact–no one would let me sit in the grass and my legs were soo tired, so in the photo below my sister is sitting in the grass and I’m sitting in her lap. Because we’re classy! (Also, Harper was obsessed with me for once in her life and I loveeeed it.)

johnny: While Allison was tucked away I was saying hi to a few friends–generally just not knowing what to do with myself. But once Aaron started playing “Come Thou Fount” and I looked around at all the people who’d come so far to be a part of what was about to happen, I felt so full and peaceful.

allison: I was hiding back in the trees when I heard the music shift to our song–“Somewhere Only We Know” by Lily Allen. My dad and I stepped out and I’ll never ever forget the way the light looked right then. Everyone was so beautifully backlit and my brother’s beautiful voice was resonating across the field–and then I locked eyes with Johnny…and yep, I cried prettyyy hard.

johnny: Our officiant was Sam Adams, who has been a professor to both of us, a rock climbing mentor, and we deeply admire him for his influence in our lives. Our ceremony was one of the most profound articulations of love and community that I’ve ever heard. And he didn’t even use the mawwiage joke even though he threatened to on multiple occasions.

allison: We wrote each other vows and actually had really similar ones, even though I just found out in working on this post that Johnny wrote his the night before, haha! But he opened by saying, “I started loving you far before we ever dated.” And that line still makes me soo weepy.

johnny: FIRST KISS! jk jk

allison: let’s just talk for a second about the rose petals that went STRAIGHT into my mouth, courtesy of my brother-in-law. But it made for suuuch a beautiful photo afterward.

SO MARRIED RIGHT NOW.

allison: And there ya have it! PART ONE of our most favorite day together. The original plan was to post part two later today–buuuut, life happens and maybe it’ll be next week?! Either way, follow along to find out! I’m @allisonharp and he’s @johnnyoehler on insta.

 

in case ya missed it:
WELCOME TO AXJ | WEDDING WEEK

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photography: Jillian Zamora | dress: BHLDN | suit: ASOS | florals: Hart | hair make up: Lauren Apel | hairpiece: Mignonne Handmade | video: Miles Albritton