Harold's Renovation Blog: #54: What We’d Change About Our $4000 Backyard Wedding

Back in July of 2007, we couldn’t imagine getting married any other way than exactly how we did: a small sweet wedding held in our very own backyard. But fast forward ten years and there are a few things we’d do differently in hindsight. So we’re diving into those details, along with sharing the special way we rang in our 10th anniversary (some old habits never die). Plus we reveal what home purchase we’re arguing about these days, and why I need an intervention when it comes to a certain accessory that I’ve been married to longer than Sherry.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Overcast, and TuneIn Radio – or listen to it below! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you might have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

As we mentioned in this week’s episode, we stole away for a few days to celebrate our 10-year anniversary in Puerto Rico, and it was the perfect mix of relaxation (pool and beachside swimming, eating, and reading), adventure (kayaking, hiking, paddleboarding), and culture (touring Old San Juan). We’ll share more details (and about ten million photos) in an upcoming post, but here are a few peeks.

You can also read about our honeymoon to Alaska back in 2007, which definitely skewed more adventure than relaxation.

What’s Not

If you want to read more about the trademarked colors I quizzed Sherry on, here’s a list from Mental Floss and another from Business Insider (and the reference to Ikea’s color combo being rejected).

Our Wedding

If you want the whole scoop on our backyard wedding (budget included!) and to see tons of photos from the event, you can read our virtual wedding album.

You can also see how Sherry dyed her wedding dress grey to wear to other people’s weddings.
And, if you’re feeling really sappy, here’s our engagement story and a look back at how we’ve celebrated our past anniversaries (including the cake tasting we did for our 7th).

We’re Digging

Above are the four couches that Sherry is imagining in our living room (not necessarily in these colors): 1 – Andres, 2 – Harmony, 3 – Shelter, 4 – Antwerp Slipcover
And here’s the best photographic evidence (from our 2012 book tour – yes, five years ago) of the weird pairing of my sometimes business-y attire and my always college-y backpack. It’s the bag that has simultaneously lugged our laptop to speaking events over the last several years and still joins me at the gym every week. Heck, it even accompanied me to my triathlon last month. #squadgoals

And here are some of the bags I mentioned having my eye on – but I’m totally looking for suggestions too. The Rickshaw bags (1, 2) are a little pricier, but may feel more polished than the billboard vinyl versions from Rareform (3, 4). Thoughts? I clearly still like the idea of it being a backpack (not a briefcase or a messenger bag), just less “I’ve-had-this-since-college-and-it-shows.”

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes.

And lastly, a big thank you to Modsy for sponsoring this episode. Visit Modsy.com/YHL to see our home office reimagined as a modern living room! Really it’s so trip to see that “alternate reality” of our space. Their computer renderings are crazy realistic – and it’s so helpful to see everything to scale. Don’t forget to use the code YHL20 to get 20% off your first Modsy room.