A Foxy Fête: Tatted Up

When it came to the wedding, I had a tendency to tell pretty much anyone all they wanted to know (and more) about the food, details, ceremony, attire, etc. Not much was unknown.

However, I did mange to keep at least one thing relatively quiet. Any ideas..?!

All photos by Exclamation Imagery unless otherwise noted.

If you guessed "personalized temporary tattoos", then you win a prize!!*

About two and a half weeks out from the wedding, I read Mrs. Funnel Cake's post about the temporary tattoos she had made for her wedding, and I absolutely fell in love with the idea.

For one, it's awesome and unexpected, and two, Foxy and I already have real matching tattoos. Needless to say, this idea went from inspiration to reality in about an hour (well, a few days if you count delivery time). I whipped up a quick design on my computer (with some elements borrowed from Mrs. FC, since we're both lucky enough to share initial's with our husbands), put my order in with Tattoo Manufacturing, and got 150 of these bad boys delivered about four days before the wedding.

The sign reads: 

Love tattoos but hate the pain?

Love the pain but hate tattoos? (That's.. weird.)

Either way.. Grab a tattoo and spice up your skin!

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You may recognize this little symbol. While it resembles the sign for infinity, it's also two S's intertwined. Both Steph and Scot have this tattooed on their bodies to represent their love and commitment to each other!

We had everything set up on a small table next to the photo booth, including a bowl of water, some paper towels, and a trash bin to enable easy application for our guests!

I totally loved seeing everyone sport their new tats throughout the evening - people really seemed to get a kick out of it.

personal photo | photo by Mrs. Pony

Even baby Joey got in on the action!

The only sucky part is that we still have at least 75 of the tattoos left over. So if you won the prize mentioned above: *you get 75 temporary tattoos left over from our wedding! Yay you!!

Are you adding any unexpected or random elements to your wedding??

Miss a recap? Catch yourself up!

It's Wedding Week! - The week of the wedding started out pretty hectic, but we made it through (relatively) unscathed.

We're Cool People (who had to deal with a slight change of plans) - On Friday, we made our way to the venue, had a relatable moment on the radio, and learned about some last minute changes that we made an effort to take in stride.

Practice Makes Perfect.. And Crabs Don't Hurt, Either - After most everyone was settled in on Friday evening, we had our rehearsal followed by the best dinner ever - a Maryland crab feast!

Rise and Shine! - Wedding morning was soon upon us, and I woke up at the crack of dawn ready to get prettified.

Pretty Women - Over the course of the next several hours, myself and the girls hung out, got our hair and makeup done, had a photo shoot, and drank champagne.

Dressing Up - Soon enough, it was time for me to slip into my dress!

Dapper Dudes - At the same time, Foxy and his guys were ironing and getting into their suites - and Foxy was opening his wedding day gift!

The First of Many Looks - We had our first look, and both felt so much better after being able to see each other for the first time that day.

A School Bus Photoshoot - Our vehicle of choice for the day was a school bus, which we turned into a photo op both inside and out!

Smiles and Sun - The photos continued by the lighthouse and pier.. with sunglasses and a few funny stories along the way.

ALL The Family - We then met up with family at the lock house for even more pictures, and I started getting a bit antsy and having problems with my dress.

And Then There's Us - I kinda-sorta-maybe forgot all about couple and bridal pictures. Thank goodness for our amazing photog reminding us!

Final Touches - Slight chaos then ensued in the minutes before the ceremony started, consisting of me getting sewn into my dress and the boys getting their bouts pinned on at the last minute.

And So It Begins - The guests arrive, the wedding party lines up, and the ceremony space is revealed - complete with programs, white knots, and bubbles!

All I Want Is You, Will You Be My Bride? - The time had finally come - we all made our way down the aisle while my stepdad and stepbro played and sang a beautiful, acoustic version of "All I Want Is You".

Take Me By The Hand and Stand By My Side - In other words.. the ceremony!

Bubbles and Bustles and Beverages, Oh My! - Bubbles are blown, my bustle is tied in, and cocktail hour commences with lots of love, hugs, and drinks.

The Guestbook - The final version & reveal of our fingerprint guestbook - and some tips, should you want them!

I'd Do Anything For You - The reception kicked off with our oh-so-intricate first dance sway to Wake Up by Coheed and Cambria, which our guests joined in on halfway through.

Make 'em Laugh, Make 'em Cry - Which is exactly what we did, thanks to our bestest friends' amazing and beautiful toasts.

Food & Details - All the details about our cocktail-style reception and rustic decor.

Good Times, Bad Touch - Our guests got down with their bad selves on the dance floor with a lot of finger pointing, interpretive dance, and.. our very own rendition of Bad Touch. 

Faux-to Booth Fun! - We said no to veggies and yes to a sorta last-minute DIY photo booth!

Miss Fox, LMT, TB

((That doesn't mean I have tuberculosis. It actually stands for: Miss Fox, Licensed Massage Therapist, Tattooed Bride.))

While we're on the topic of tattoos..

..you may have noticed that I have a few visible ones. If you guessed neck, foot, forearm, and wrist, you win the Where's Waldo prize!

Now I have no idea if I've already mentioned this, but I'm not planning on covering any of them up for the big day. Many a friend/family member/fellow bride has stared at me all googley eyed over this decision.. but it really wasn't a decision for me as much as it was a give in.

The way I see it, if I didn't like my tattoos and/or thought I should cover them up at the wedding? Well shame on me, because I shouldn't have gotten them in the first place. Now of course this is a personal decision, but in my mind? They are a part of me and a part of the way I "express myself" - it's only natural that they will be out in proud display.

I personally find that placement is just as important as the actual tattoo. I actually kind of pride myself on my tattoos and my own tattoo placement; none of them were decided on or thought about lightly. There's a definite reason why I don't have one on my shoulder (yet), which is honestly the fact that that is one place I don't think I want ink to be seen on my wedding day. I would never get one around my ankle or on my calf/thigh because I simply don't think I'd like the look of it on myself - it's for some people, just not for me. As an aside, I also have this weird left/right thing.. like I need to balance my tattoos out. I got my clover on my left foot, stars on my right neck, infinity on my left wrist, Breathe on my right forearm, and cherry blossoms on my left torso. I like the symmetry..? Sure.


As for the man, he has more tattoos than I do, and plans on expanding the visible ones on his right arm to create the outline of a sleeve by the time we get married.

Remember these? ;)

So long story short.. yes, I am a tattooed bride (complete with tattooed groom!). And damn proud of it!

Are you or will you be a tattooed bride? Do you have differing opinions on the matter?

Rings & things

Back when Foxy and I first started talking about our respective ring bling, he was adamant about one thing.

Which was not actually wearing a ring.

He said he would be uncomfortable wearing one, since he's never really worn any kind of jewelry outside of a watch. Which makes a little bit of sense. But then again.. most guys don't wear much jewelry. Yet they still wear a wedding band. Touché, Mr. Future Husband.

So while he was against wearing a traditional band, he did say that he wanted to get a ring tattooed on his finger instead.

Image via Wedding Explore

I can't tell you why, exactly, but I wasn't too thrilled about this at first. I mean sure, it's flattering that he's willing to permanently ink himself with a representation of our love and marriage, but I think it's just that I don't like ring tattoos. I have nothing against them on other people, but I suppose I had it set in my head that Foxy would ultimately wear a "real" ring all the time, not just on special occasions (as he so said he would do). It was definitely a point of contention for us for a while - ring vs no ring? How important was it to me for him to have and regularly wear a physical ring in addition to or instead of the tattoo ring?

Lo and behold, ::spoiler alert!:: a few fortuitous things happened:

1. We spent some time with my FSIL's friend Tim who has had his ring tattoo since he was married almost 15 years ago.

And guys? It looked terrible. Really just a hot mess. Minus the hot. So.. a just a big ol'mess.

Now I know tattooed rings do indeed have the capacity to look good (see above)! This one just happened to fall in the other category, and I am SO FREAKING THANKFUL for that (sorry, Tim). The ring appeared to be tattooed slightly higher than a normal ring would sit on your finger, which made it look a bit awkward. I'm also pretty sure he never got the ring touched up at all, because it was insanely faded and honestly? Looked a bit like a bad magic marker sketch that wouldn't wash off all the way, a la the stamp from that club last Saturday night that I regret going to that is still on the back of my hand.

Anyway, one look at that bad boy and Scot was already debating his ring tattoo decision. Progress!

Moving on with the list..

2. Jared's

3. Titanium

4. Tungsten

So. Seeing as we got my e-ring at Jared's, it was only natural to go back and check out their wedding band selection for both myself and the man. All I really have to say here is thank sweet baby Jesus for whoever decided to make mens rings out of tungsten and titanium - the stuff is wicked durable and so freakishly light. Foxy decided to try on a couple of these little beauts while we were at the store:

Image via Jared Jewelers

Once he slipped them on, I swear to you it was like Cinderella had found her missing slipper. I could literally see the change of mind going on through his face and his eyes - a ring really could work! Especially since none of the rings he likes are over the $200 mark - stylish, cost effective, and sturdy? We might as well buy 10 of them while we're at it. (Kidding.) (Sort of.)

In the end, it looks like Foxy has decided to forego the tattoo ring route and still go with the "traditional" band.. just in time for me to have decided that I don't really mind either way. Hey, at least we have options now!

Does anyone have a ring tattoo or know someone who does? What are your thoughts on it?

Superstition shmuperstition

Right now, I have 5 tattoos. My third was this simplistic beaut on my left wrist.

An infinity sign, you say? Well, yes. But look a bit closer (hi kitty!).. it's really two S's intertwined. I'll give you a hint: both Mr. Foxy's name and mine also start with S's. Not exactly a coincidence.

I knew I wanted a tattoo that pertained to myself and Foxy in some way without having his name written in big letters across my stomach, thug life style.

Hah. How mad at me are you right now for posting this?!

Image via Family Rights

So I tried to come up with clever ways of intertwining two (or more) S's, since Foxy wanted to get one as well, as long as it was something he liked.

I, personally, eventually went with the most basic. And I love it. I think it wore on Foxy, because a few months later, he got the same thing, just bigger and on his arm instead of wrist.

So there you have it. We have matching tattoos that represent one another. Hopefully you don't think I jinxed our relationship by this, but if you do? I think that I am going to prove you wrong. Ink is permanent and I am 110% aware of that. I think this was the most "rational" tattoo I've gotten, and I love it :)

Anyone else with matchy matchy love tattoos? Or one to represent your SO?