Honestly, I was so suprised that I wasn't able to sleep the night before my wedding. I wasn't nervous about marrying Preston and I was sooooo tired, but I think I just had TOO much in my head.
Amanda, my cousin and MOH showed up early to rouse me :) She brought me an adorable little case that she made full of wedding day needs!! (Side note:Amanda has an online shop where she makes handbags...and they are AH-MAZING. http://milkandhoneyhandbags.com/)
Manda drove out with me to the farm. We were met there by my Dad and his girlfriend Yvonne, my Aunts and Uncles, my cousin Jack, my bridesmaids, Trisha's parents, Preston's parents, and his friend Rich. Everyone helped in getting the decor set up. We had a lot of ground to cover, but with so many people helping...it was finished pretty quickly. Henry and Donna (Trisha's parents) assembled a beautiful archway that Henry made.
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| Here we go :D |
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| My bridesmaids so sweetly brought me this |
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| All set up inside!! |
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| Building centerpieces :D |
The girls and I went upstairs into the beautiful bridal suite and just kind of hung around together. I had given everyone DV Biologics (my company's) shirts: "It's not you. It's meiosis" #Nerdforlife ;) The make up artist ended up being nearly 2 hours late (omg) and arrived with a terrible attitude, but we didn't let her get us down!!
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| My reaction to the negative comments by the make up lady :P |
My dad and Yvonne brought us Roy Rogers (my fave!!) for lunch. We feasted and sipped champagne.
Since the make up lady was so late, we were really rushed to take pictures before the ceremony. We didn't get as many as I would have liked, but before I knew it...we were ready to go.
All day it had been drizzling and threatening to really rain, but as if by some miracle...it held off enough that we WERE married OUTSIDE. Yay!!
It's all a blur to me as I walked down the aisle towards Preston. I chose two really beautiful songs...the bridal party walked into an instrumental of "Shenandoah" and I walked in to The Princess Bride's "Storybook Love". I thought for SURE I'd be a balling mess, but somehow...I was resigned and held it together :) I kept my eye on the prize and went down the aisle.
(I STILL don't have our wedding pictures...and honestly they aren't very good....long story, but thankfully...Preston's mother's friend took some great shots)
Preston's neighbor and great family friend Dale married us in a ceremony he wrote based in poetry :) It was beautiful. At the end...he said that in our modern times, let it be the bride to kiss the groom :) I loved it!!
My Aunt Toni taped our vows!! What a treat :)
After the ceremony, we had an impromptu and unplanned receiving line. I hadn't really given it much thought, but I'm very glad it turned out that way because it gave us a chance to say a personal hello to all our guests...and I got like 100 hugs ;)
We took a bunch of group pictures...though, again, not as many as I had hoped (more on that later) and then went into the reception.
Preston had made an extensive playlist for the wedding. Music is one of his favorite things and he loves 'setting the vibe'. He did an awesome job!! The music list was made of timeless classics appealed to people of all ages.
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| My dad gave such a touching and great speech :D |
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| Manda also gave an incredible speech |
I was really pleased with the food...except, apparently, the hamburgers were raw (eek). The cake was amazing. We had a photobooth, which was loads of fun. I'd highly recommend that to anyone.
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| SMORES :D |
I think probably everyone thinks that their own wedding is great and I am not different. It was a beautiful setting, we were surrounded by SO much love, the music was phenomenal, the food was good, and we had a great time. Best of all...the rain held off. It may be cheesy, but I like to think this may have been my deceased Grandpa's gift to me. :)
We left amongst a shower of sparklers and departed in a private town car. As we piled in...all was quiet around the front of the farm house and Preston said, "I don't have my wallet or anything". The driver told us we could run back in to grab stuff if we wanted...so we sprinted across the yard and into the empty house doing a dash and grab for all our stuff as our guests finished up the party outside in the tent. It was a funny moment and we were so full of happiness and adrenaline. I'll never forget it. As we tumbled back into the town car and turned out onto the road...rain drops splashed down on the windshield. Incredible :)
UPDATE:
This is a link to all our wedding pics for anyone that would be interested...the password is honeymoon.
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