{ Curtain Call: Visit Seattle }

It is a bittersweet day today. My last day at my most favorite job of all time. While I have met and worked with great people throughout my career I never thought I would come across an organization with more passion, creativity, and impact than I did at Visit Seattle. It launched my career to new heights and a unique background I know will take me places I never imagined I could go. I am humbled to have worked with exceptional and passionate individuals who are truly the best in their field. To have created an economic impact to a city I love was a privilege. My co-workers have been so kind, supportive, sad, and thrilled for my next adventure…the love I feel from them is overwhelming. I am humbled as I move into this next chapter of my working career.

Fun-employment.

What’s next? I’m still not sure. But I am grateful for my husband who, without reservation, has stated he will support whatever decision I make under the condition that I am happy and I love what I do. As long as I don’t become the next Naked Cowboy playing guitar in Times Square.

10 days, sweet Seattle. NYC, you’re on deck.

office
Last day view from my office. Gotta love those grey Seattle skies!

{ 24 Days, sweet Seattle }

We’re in the last three weeks in our gray and rainy, but beloved, Northwest wonderland.

Not looking forward to the impending goodbyes (or as I prefer “see you soons!”) but the anticipation of what awaits us is a palpable joy that helps push through the sadness and stress of leaving Seattle.

We’ll see you soon, New York, New York…

cityscapes text quotes typography frank sinatra new york city lyrics monochrome survival 1920x120_www.wallpaperfo.com_16

{ 11.13.15 }

To say our wedding was the best day of our lives is an understatement. You can’t possibly compare it to any other day of your life to say it was “the best.” It is in a league of its own. It feels surreal, other worldly, a dream. I’ve written and rewritten my next thoughts several times but I can’t put it into words that do it justice. There truly isn’t a way to describe the actual day against what you’ve always dreamed it would be. When you wake up to your closest friends and family, people who make up the pieces of you, and they are there to help prepare you and send you off to become a family with the one, true love of your life…it’s inexplicable. That’s the kind of magic they should talk about in wedding blogs and magazines. Yes, those hanky planning details are important but it doesn’t compare to hugging and kissing those gems of friends before you walk out to see your fiancé moments before he becomes your husband. Then it’s the moment you see him and everything in the world makes sense. Your body is overwhelmed with inner peace that you’ve searched for your whole life. It’s just like Z said. “We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.” And in that moment you know it’s all really happening. You’re getting married.

Top 5 Moments of the Day 

  1. First Look. How couples get married without it is truly beyond my realm of comprehension. Every couple should do what’s right for them, but to be able to see Z and calm my nerves and anticipation was priceless. Those moments are precious and I will never forget the look on his face or the words he said as long as I live.
  2. Daddy & Daughter Moments. We are the only two people who don’t get to see any part of the ceremony until our grand entrance. But no one will ever know those special, private moments we had together waiting in the Bridal Suite and atop the hill before we ascended the stairs. It’s once in a lifetime.
  3. Vows. One of the best and most challenging things we did throughout our wedding planning process was write our own vows. To truly put your love and commitment into words is extraordinary. It was no easy task for either of us, but being able to say my words to Z and hear his words to me in front of the people we love most in the world was the best gift we will ever give each other. In fact, we read our vows to each other on our mini-moon and we gave each other printed copies as Christmas presents this year. Reading those will never ever get old.
  4. Speeches. Having my dad, Z’s mom, my best friend, Jess, Z’s best friend, Devin, and my sister, Jordan, share their thoughts on our love and relationship was better than my bridal brain imagined it would be. Each speech was as unique as it was thoughtful, and true to the person reading the words. My dad was sentimental and inappropriate (in the best way possible), Dorothy was poignant, sweet, and bursting with love, Jess’ was an advice column to Z from my “First Roommate” to my “Last Roommate”, Devin flew by the seat of his pants, sans written speech, but he completely nailed it, and Jordan stole the show with a co-written song to Zach and I to Meghan Trainor’s “Dear Future Husband.” I can’t wait to see the video and for it to instantaneously go viral.
  5. Dancing. All. Night. Long. Nobody loves being on a dance floor (or creating her own) more than me and all I wanted for my wedding was to create a dance party that would have guests of all ages dancing the night away. Not only did I get my wish, but the floor was packed all night and created some of the most epic party photos I have ever seen from a wedding. I can truly say I shared a dance moment with almost every guest from our wedding. My heart was full.

Our magical day was no accident. It took hours upon hours of meticulous planning but even more than that we had the fortune of working with some of the most talented wedding vendors in the Southern California area. I would have paid to have them travel if we got married anywhere else, they were that good. They took our vision and made it into a real-life dream.

Venue: Lake Oak Meadows

Photography: Lauren Scotti Photographer

Videographer: Forestry Films 

Floral Design: Wisteria Grove

Cake/Cupcakes: Truly Madly Sweetly

Wedding Coordination: Hayley Radford from Celebrations by Di

Dress: Gardenia by Claire Pettibone  from The Dress Theory

Hair & Make-Up: Prive Beauty Group

Catering: Temecula Catering Co.

Thank you to each of you for making it the day of our wildest dreams!

And to my husband, from venue searches to seating charts, to that first moment I saw you on 11.13.15. My gratitude for your partnership and love is infinite. I love doing life with you.

-Wife

 

{ Introducing the Harris’ }

It’s been 10 days since the absolute best day of our lives. I will post a longer post once we get our official wedding photos but to commemorate the occasion I had to share my thoughts on my first week of marriage.

  1. Having complete solitude for prayer and reflection the morning of the wedding helped me keep an inner peace and calm that I’ve never felt before. I kept saying I was “eerily calm” all day. It allowed me to stay present for each moment of the day instead of anticipating the next step. By the time it was time for our “First Look” I was so ready to see Z. I expected to be overly emotional and tearful all day but the calm kept sweeping over me. I just wanted to see my fiancé one last time before we became husband and wife. It is the same calm and inner peace that has also provoked gratitude instead of the rumored “post-wedding blues.” image4
  2. You can never say the words “husband” and “wife” enough. I thought fiancé sounded good. Being called “wife” and saying “husband” is a whole new level of music to my ears.
  3. The first time a complete stranger referred to me as Mrs. Harris it was equal parts strange as it was sweet. While I am beyond thrilled to be Z’s Mrs. I am still a little wistful about letting go of my maiden name. The sadness is quickly forgotten when I see how happy it makes Z to see my name with his.image3
  4. The level of joy you feel the night you get married is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. You didn’t know your heart could feel that level of happy. Happy isn’t even the right word. It is a feeling unique only to the first few hours of wedded bliss. We will never forget it as long as we live. image5
  5. I’ve been asked a lot if it feels different yet. Admittedly I think the leap from boyfriend/girlfriend status to engaged is the biggest. Emotionally we can feel the connection and love has changed in a bigger, more complex, and incredible way now that we’re married. Physically, seeing a ring on my husband’s hand (See? I told ya. You can never say husband enough!) is the best difference of all.image6

Here’s to our first 10 days of marriage, Z. Marrying you is already the best thing I’ve ever done in all my life.

{ One Month to Go! }

Today marks the last 30 days of my life as a “Jack”…

I have mixed emotions about this but they are easily forgotten when my future husband makes comments like this:

(Last weekend at my cousin’s wedding, as we sit down for dinner)

joanna jack name card

Me: “Hey, won’t it be so crazy when we go to these things and my name card will say ‘Joanna Harris’ on it instead of ‘Joanna Jack’?”

Fiancé: “I can’t wait until it does. I’m looking forward to it.”

Swoon.

{ Traveling from Miss to Mrs. }

This past Saturday was a day I will never forget. The last and final event before the wedding was my Seattle Bridal Shower. My mom and her friend, Nancy, flew up for the occasion and we had a ball together the whole weekend. When the three of us walked into my future in-laws home, whom hosted the shower, we were blown away. There are few moments in life that truly take your breath away and this was most certainly one of them.

The theme was “Traveling from Miss to Mrs”. It was so clever and so appropriate for Z and I. The room had a traveling photo album of all the places we’ve lived and visited, landmarks of our relationship.

5 3426

Each place was paired with food that represented that location. Punta Cana had a Caribeean salad, plantain chips, and carrot slaw salad. San Diego had a taco bar and Seattle was bagels and lox. Santorini, Greece had lamb meatballs with tzatziki sauce and Greek salad cucumber bites. Lastly, New York ,our new home come January 2016, had homemade NY cheesecake pops made special by my future mother-in-law and sister-in-law. I was completely blown away by the thoughtful and creative concept. It was like nothing I had ever seen!

12

The photo booth tied perfectly into the theme. A postcard cut out with “Traveling from Miss to Mrs” and a custom stamp with our names and wedding date. SO many awesome photos but here are a few to share!

10 11

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day either. Seattle is embracing fall and the cool, crisp air coupled with sunny blue skies made a perfect backdrop for the day. After eating and breaking into several bottles of champagne (of course) the presents began. Each guest wrote down their favorite memory of Z and I and I was to draw those memories out of a basket, read the memory aloud, and the person who wrote it was the next gift I opened. It was such a clever and fun way to open the gifts (which can admittedly be a very boring task for the guests) and to keep everyone engaged. It was such a fun walk down memory lane! Those memories are all going to be arranged as the border to this gorgeous, large photo frame of one of our engagement photos for us to have for always. Every moment of this day was so carefully thought out and planned…I felt humbled and honored to be loved by such an incredible room of women.

1

The icing on the cake was my groom who arrived towards the end of the party to socialize and thank everyone for helping to celebrate me and us. He is such an awesome man, my Z. It was a great way to end the party and all the guests loved getting to see him, too!

13 14

I am so glad my mom was there to share all the moments. We were both so overwhelmed with how much work and love went into the planning and the execution of the party. My mom said that as a the mother of the bride, it was so special for her to see her daughter’s extended Seattle family and friends love her daughter so much. Plus since this was one of the few wedding planning tasks she wasn’t directly involved with she could sit back and take it all in. As a result, she said it really hit her, “you’re getting married!” For me, I was in awe of this life I had created for myself in the Northwest and how grateful I am for the special women in my life. Lucky doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Thank you to Dorothy, Renee, Alyssa, Erica, and Malia for creating such an incredible day. I will never forget it as long as I live. And thank you to all the women who came to celebrate and “shower” me with love. I am so grateful for each of you!
IMG_5179

{ 49 days }

We are inching closer and closer to that 30 day countdown before our wedding. I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by; the reality of a wedding in our very near future is more exciting than words can say. I’m nostalgic with memories from years past and that fateful day when we met.

We’ve come so far, my love, and only a little ways left to go before our adventure as Mr. and Mrs. begins.

Note to self: Inhale the weight of this precious time and let it all soak in. Exhale the joy and gratitude for this life we’ve created together.

151113eng-094