(Wedding Recap) Exchanging Gifts

After the bridal party shots, we headed back to The Carnegie Institution to cool down, take some family portraits, exchange gifts and sign the ketubah (Jewish marriage contract).

 

 Oh, and kick our heels up, apprently.

The first thing I gave Mike were his cufflinks & personalized handkerchief. In the hotel room where he got ready, I left these gifts on display for him to find.  

The handkerchief reads, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" in Hebrew.

The cufflinks have our wedding date on the back-side.

 A year before our wedding date, I framed the article about our engagement at the zoo.  I then stored the finished product in my trunk for a long while, then wised up and hid it at a fellow-teacher's house.  I was beyond excited to give him this gift after having it so long!

I think he liked it (and I do too!!).

(We still need to hang it in our house...)

Mike added on to my Pandora bracelet with a wedding cake charm! It's so sweet and cute and makes me smile every time I look at it. One of those "aww" moments.

I love it!

But then Mike shared something with me he worked on for over a year.  When he first launched into the explanation, my excitement and shock looked like this:

Then this:

and this too:

because he turned my blog into a book!

But because he wanted to get every last post included, right up to the wedding, he told me we would actually create it together.  And we did. It came in the mail recently and I LOVE it.

Best. gift. ever.

Oh, and this is my favorite wedding picture. ever.

so romantic.

so fabulous.

{all fab photos by Studio Juno}