At last, they’re here! Well…truthfully we saw them a few months ago, but now we finally have the shareable files! Many of you were so sweet in asking to see photos of our wedding, and I didn’t want you all to think I wasn’t going to deliver on that promise.

Looking back on them now, almost 5 months after our wedding, I can barely believe it all happened and whirled by so quickly. I didn’t think I could feel more grateful, but each time I look through the photos, my heart grows two sizes.

I know everyone says this about their wedding, but honest to god, we know the best people. They hauled and sewed and ironed and cleaned and arranged and sweated and saved the day about a thousand times a minute on our wedding day, and all the months before.

Thank you, every one of you. The gift you gave us is one we can never repay.

As I mentioned here, we had planned for an all-outdoor wedding from the start (one of the few things I felt strongly about, not having been a planning-since-I-was-five type!). The forecast was clear, clear, clear right up until the morning of, when, I kid you not, a monsoon suddenly swept through Ann Arbor. I just remember looking out the floor-to-ceiling window at the salon and watching these huge raindrops smacking the pavement. My makeup artist turned my chair around quickly so I wouldn’t have to look at the rain anymore.

So what to do? Step 1: have a good cry. Step 2: fix it. After my salon appointment, I trekked through the mall, dead-set on buying myself a very cute, very expensive pair of rain boots that would work with my dress. Jarrett was a nervous wreck, too, and as soon as he texted “Want me to come to you?,” I felt better. He picked me up, and we sat in the mall parking lot, laughing, crying, laughing some more over how caught up we’d gotten in making the day “perfect.” We were definitely those people that got buried in the details.

It was kind of hilarious that it was our wedding day, and we were sitting in our sweats in a mall parking lot. I think that’s what made me feel better–that I could spend a few minutes alone with this guy and not have to give a hoot about all the fuss of the wedding, because we were getting married that day no matter what fell out of the sky.

So, when people ask me what my favorite moment of the day was, it was that very unglamorous moment in the parking lot. It’s not in these photos, but it’s still one I’ll never forget. And after all that, the rains ended up passing and we were able to have most of the wedding outdoors anyway!

Now, enough with the cheez whiz, here are the photos! As you’ll see, we had to move the ceremony into the barn on account of that rain, but we still got to have dinner outside after the skies cleared, which made me very, very happy. All of that was thanks to the unstoppable force of our friends and vendors who were hauling our entire wedding around while Jarrett and I sad-giggled in a parked car.

And before anyone asks if I’d have an outdoor wedding again: yes. One thousand times yes.

A huge thank you to Dustin Stockel of Dustin Francis Photography, for capturing the memories of our day!

And that’s a wrap! 🙂

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What I’m Reading This Week:

Two Bloggers Who “Burned It All Down” with Risky Writing (Dianne Jacob): This is such a fascinating topic for discussion–Dianne shares the stories of two food bloggers who got deeply personal and asks whether there’s a place for that rawness in blogging. I couldn’t resist and left my own comment on the discussion, but I’m curious to hear how other blog readers feel about highly personal writing!

Book Marketing Resources for Authors: The Best of 2016 (Jane Friedman): A fantastic roundup of book marketing basics, updated for the here and now. Bookmark it and come back to it whenever you’re feeling stumped.

What It’s Like to be a Cookbook Ghostwriter (Katherine Martinelli for Bon Appetit): There’s a lot of shrouded mystery (couldn’t help the pun…) around cookbook ghostwriting. But I get asked about it all the time, by chefs and writers alike, so this is the piece I’ll start pointing them to.

Paying Rent with Words (Susan Shapiro for City Lab): “Departing from a focus on pure craft, more schools are helping students learn how to turn a profit.” Hallelujah. The less you need to do other stuff to pay the rent, the more you can write.

Publishing a Cookbook: Photography (Part One) (Thriving Home): My lovely authors Polly and Rachel have been writing a fantastic behind-the-scenes series on publishing their cookbook, From Freezer to Table. This post will not only tell you what to expect when staging a cookbook lifestyle shoot, but it will also make you smile at how cute their families are.

How Much Does Facebook Advertising Cost? The Complete Guide to Facebook Ads Pricing (Alfred Lua for Buffer): Thinking about taking out a few Facebook ads for your book or other product? Here’s a handy primer to lead the way.

Building a Platform to Land a Book Deal: Why It Often Fails (Jane Friedman): “Platform building doesn’t stop if you do land a book deal. Your journey has just begun. The good news is that authors can build a platform by engaging in activities that are most enjoyable to them—because if they’re not enjoyable, you won’t continue doing them for the time required to see any kind of pay off. If you build platform only as a means to an end, it generally fails, and that’s why I tend to get cynical when authors try to do it only in service of securing a book deal. It doesn’t reflect an understanding of the much bigger picture: the tremendous value of being visible to your audience.” Amen.

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What We’re Cooking This Week:

It’s a NYC week for me, so here’s the gritty truth:

Monday: Burrito bowls (made by Jarrett!).

Tuesday: Rice and beans at my Yaya’s!

Wednesday: Scavenge.

Thursday: Soup on the train, if I’m really lucky.

Friday: Jarrett’s been left very specific instructions to make BBQ chicken drumsticks and brussels sprouts for us to eat before we takeoff to the airport. (We’re in Ann Arbor for the long weekend!) Let’s all send positive thoughts his way.

Cheers!