Wedding Wednesday- 10 things I would do again

With the wedding behind us and life starting, I was thinking about our wedding day and there are a few things in a heartbeat I would tell people to do.

These are the things that REALLY worked for us. Everyone is different.


1. Receiving Line.  We had 143 guests. The line took a little under 20 minutes. In 20 minutes we said hello to everyone and truly got to just party at our reception. We were standing at the doors to the ballroom right before the cocktail hour ended. They opened the ballroom doors, and started to lead people towards us from the cocktail hour area. It was perfect- everyone got to say hello to us and our parents. We got to thank everyone for coming, and it was over with in 20 minutes. We got to hug everyone. It was more of a "hugging" line than a receiving line and it was perfect. For us. The rest of the night I didn't feel obligated to go by each table- I just met people out on the dance floor. I also got to sit next to my husband during our dinner, instead of walking around.

2.  I am 30 and my husband (eek I still love calling him that!) is 31. We skipped the bouquet and the garter. I am glad we did.

3. Once everyone was through the receiving line - they closed the ballroom doors. Everyone took their seats. Then they reopened the doors and announced us. It was still special and we went straight into our first dance.

4. Our wedding was the day before mother's day. We made sure to have our flowers go to good use- to moms that lived in the Houston area, my dad went to their hotel rooms and gave them flowers- our florist did a great job in making the centerpieces really easy to give away in little bouquets. Hearing one of the people tell my mother in law that I am the most thoughtful person - that was obviously really nice - and the rest of the flowers went to a nursing home. We felt that flowers were a big part of our budget (I LOVE FLOWERS) and we wanted them to be enjoyed as much as possible.

5. Getting cake to those in our family that couldn't attend. The hotel was great at putting some slices of cake into to-go containers in their refrigerator after the wedding. (We requested this.) B's great grandmother and her sister could not attend, so his Aunt dropped off some cake to them on Sunday. It was wonderful to hear how much they enjoyed it!

6. Having a few minutes before the ceremony with just my immediate family. I love my friends, I love my bridesmaids. I loved that everyone wanted to have time with me. I also love that I could say- I want only my immediate family in the room. Right before the procession started- it was my dad, my mom and my brother and me. Our last moments as a family of 4.  I'm so glad I got that.

7. Not doing a first look. I know this is controversial- but I didn't want it. Plus - we wouldn't have had time anyway!

8.  Writing a card to each other. We didn't do wedding gifts- we wrote each other wedding cards to read right before walking down the aisle. I love my card. I keep it next to my bed.

9. Having a "game plan" with B- before the wedding. We knew what we both wanted from the wedding. He knew I wanted to dance and party, I knew he wanted to have some time on the porch (our reception room had an outdoor part of it) to smoke a cigar with his buddies and he wanted a few minutes with just me - as well as time to party. We both got what we wanted. He also knew I didn't want cake smashed into my face!

10. Since our reception was in a hotel, we were downstairs around 10AM. A lot of people (at least 60% of the people) came from out of town. We wanted to be downstairs in the lobby to thank them one more time for coming. I'm glad we did. Then we had our game plan- we wanted to have brunch as a married couple - by ourselves - with our puppy. So we headed to get our dog and then we headed to have brunch as a new family. It was perfect.

I truly believe a wedding day is just one day. It is a very important day, but it is one day. Our wedding day was perfect for us - but being married and starting our lives together, those are the moments I love. I love being on "this side" of married. :)

Our Wedding

May 11, 2013 was by far the very best day in my life - and I know in B's life as well.

We went to bed that night saying that our wedding day was truly perfect.

It really was.  The funny part is - we are not really PDA kind of people, but apparently we were kissing all night as you can see in our pictures!

Some detail shots:

My Bouquet 

Roses, hydrangea, ranunculus, peonies and freesia.

There is a dragonfly pin that was my late grandmothers pinned to it.

 

 

 Centerpieces/Table settings:

We had 2 different centerpieces for our 15 tables. The tall ones and the short ones.

Each place setting had a menu made specifically for that person as well as the place card which was held up by a wine cork that we got from friends and family - my dad made them stand up and cut them so the place card could fit.

 

 

My dress

 It had a lace bodice and a silk bottom.  The center "sash area" was blank when the dress came in. Our seamstress was amazing and  she made the embroidered center area with swarovski crystals.

 

My shoes

They were Gold Glittery shoes and they were comfortable!

 

 

My engagement ring

 I wish we had one with my wedding band and his wedding band and my engagement ring, but this picture puts a smile on my face as I took piano lessons for 14 years.

 

 

Our Cards

Before the wedding we sent each other cards. I sent him the one you see him reading and he sent me the one with the red convertible. Our getaway car was his parents 1966 Red Mustang Convertible. The sentiments in his card to this day make me want to cry and smile at the same time. I hope to frame both of those cards together.

 

B's Grooms Cake

We are both Longhorns. It is a "red velvet" cake, but instead of dyeing it red, they dyed it "Burnt Orange".  The beers are real. We go camping a lot and B loves his Yeti cooler. We also gave out burnt orange koozies.

  

 

My cake

All of the bouquets are surrounding it. The cake is on my great grandmother's table cloth. My grandmother used this table cloth as the tablecloth for her cake table and my mom did as well. I wanted to keep the tradition alive.

The cake was a traditional wedding white cake. Everyone commented on how delicious it was. It really was to die for! The cake came out even better than I could imagine.

The lace on the top of each layer looked like the lace from my dress.

 

 

 

 CEREMONY:

 

My dad and I as we entered the room.

 

 

Top picture- the look on Bryan's face when I walked down the aisle, the bottom picture, me walking with my dad.

 

 

 

 

 

My dad giving me away.

 

 

 The Kiss!

 

 

 

 Bridal Party Pictures:

 

All of our bridesmaids and groomsmen.

 

 My bridesmaids

L-R:

S- I've known her since I was 6 years old and her family moved on to our street.

B- I've known her my entire life. Her son was our ring bearer.

B- I babysat her when she was first born. She is 15 NOW!

K- My matron of honor and best friend. Her daughter was our flower girl and she is 6 months pregnant with her son in that picture!

S- We met in college and could not be more different and yet she keeps me sane!   

 

B's Groomsmen

L-R:

D- He lives in Brazil and was a foreign exchange student and lived with B's family in high school

E- Married to S (my bridesmaid that I have known since I was 6)

M- good friend from college and fellow geologist

M- B's best friend. They met in college.

Lastly, C- My brother. Our only sibling!

 

  

Our Ring Bearer and Flower Girl

 

 

 

PARTY TIME:

  

Our First Dance.

It was to "It Had to be You" - the Harry Connick Jr version from the movie

 "When Harry Met Sally"

The movie When Harry Met Sally truly is our story, except we met in college not after college.

  

Our first dance- you can see his wedding ring and you can see the ring I wore on my left hand - "my something blue" - it is a sapphire that was my late grandmother's- she bought it when my grandparents lived in Thailand. My mom gave it to me on our wedding day. I love it.

 

 

B's dance with his mom. They danced to Rascal Flatt's "My Wish"

 

 

 

My dance with my dad. We danced to Heartland's "I loved her First"

 

 

Cake cutting!

  

My brother and My mom really getting down!

My grandfather and I.

  

My little brother and I.

 Our Bubbles Exit

Getaway car

  

 One last kiss before we headed off into married life

Pictures of just us:

  

Lastly I leave you with my favorite picture of our wedding day. I love how happy we look and how truly in love we are.

 

Bridal Luncheon

I am slowly getting pictures back from the wedding so I decided to start with My Bridal Luncheon.
I don't currently have pictures of our rehearsal dinner, but when I do, I will do an entire post on them.


My Godmother and her daughter, My Godsister, threw me my Bridal Luncheon on the day of the wedding.

It was beyond anything I could have ever dreamed up.


It was held at the Hotel Granduca (about 1 mile from the Houstonian where the wedding was held). The Granduca is a beautiful Boutique Hotel that reminds me of Italy. It is beautiful.

The tablescape.

Everyone had a placecard and at each tablesetting there was a different picture of B and I throughout our relationship. It was beyond.

 3 of my bridesmaids.

L-R -

BC-I was her first babysitter. I was 15 and her parents lived across the street. It has been wonderful watching her grow up. SHE IS 15 NOW!

BBC(In the middle)- I have known her since we were born. Her parents lived on our street. My first friend. My sister. I think of her children as my Niece and Nephew.

KR- She is my best friend. We met during recruitment and became sisters when I joined the sorority. I truly don't know what I would do without her.

My Godsister (standing), My Godmother, me and my mom.  

 Same as the previous, except add my mother in law on the right.  Such a wonderful group of women that I adore and I am lucky to have in my family.

 My mom, B's mom, B's Grandmother and his Aunt.

 The beautiful centerpiece. I just loved it. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was huge!

My mom and myself.

 

 

To my Godmother:

I am so incredibly blessed to have you in my life. You have helped me through difficult times and partied with me through the great times. You truly are amazing and life without you and my Godfather is unthinkable.

I love you!

 

To my Godsister:

I am truly blessed to have you as family. You live too far away, but I suppose a trip to see you is in order.

Wedding Wednesday - The Perfect Day

May 11, 2013 was the perfect day. The best day!


I don't have many pictures yet, but I do have so many memories. It was beyond anything I could ever have dreamed.

Here are the few pictures I do have.

At some point, once I have the pictures, I will do a big post.

Standing- God Sister then Godmother

Sitting - Me, Mom and my mother in law

 

This was taken at my Bridal brunch that my GodMother and GodSister hosted. It was beyond gorgeous!

 

My mom and I at the Bridal Brunch

 

 

Ring Bearer and Flower Girl

 

Mom, Brother and Grandfather

 

My cake. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! White almond cake.

 

 

Groom's Cake.   All edible and the beer is real. The cake was Burnt Orange Velvet Cake (dyed burnt orange instead of Red)

Us. Husband and Wife. I cannot believe it. I will post more pictures when I get them!

Wedding day!

I love that I can schedule posts!

So as of this very moment, I will be enjoying my reception.

Here are a few of the bridal portraits I took last month:

 

I cannot believe the day has come!

 

I'm a WIFE.

 

Not just any wife.

 

I am B's WIFE! :)

Getting married today

I am getting married today.



30 years, 4 months and 19 days old. 

I could never say that I dreamed of getting married when I was younger. I wasn't one that dreamed about those things. I dreamed about traveling, meeting people and doing things.

I also can say that all of my dreams have come true. I cannot believe the life I have. I am so incredibly blessed.

As I turn from a "single" girl to a "married" one, I do have a lot of things going through my head.


To my immediate family:
This is the last moment we are a family of 4. What an incredible family we are. I have loved growing up in our home. I have loved the moments of laughter. I know these will not end. I know life changes. Please know that I am who I am because of the 3 of you. I love you all.

To my brother:
This is the last day we have the same last name. You will still be my only brother. You will still be our only sibling. I am grateful for our friendship. I love who you have grown up to be. I wish we lived closer, but what I have learned through the years is that it doesn't matter how far in distance we are, we always connect and we always know about each others lives. I hope this does not change. Thank you for being the best sibling. You are always my little brother.

To my mom:
Thank you for being such a strong individual person. You taught me to be an intelligent woman who knows what she wants and goes for it. You taught me to live. TO REALLY LIVE. When people say that they are turning into their moms, I know it isn't supposed to be a "good" thing, but for me, whenever I hear myself say something you would say or do something you would do, I smile. I smile because you are the best person I have ever known and if I am anything like you, that makes me happy. The best lesson I have learned as we have become friends throughout my life is, I will always be your little girl. Thank you for the loving home you raised me in and thank you for such an incredible life. I am so lucky to have you as my mom.

To my dad:
As a daddy's girl, I know when we start the walk that will start the next chapter in my life, my eyes will be filled with tears. Tears because I am so happy. You were and still are the greatest example of love to our family. You loved us so much that you traveled instead of moving us from our home. Growing up I often wondered who would be my husband and if they would be as wonderful as you are to us. You set the bar so incredibly high. But this, this is why my brother is such an amazing young man and this is why it took me to the age of 30 to find someone who could meet the bar that you set so high. Thank you for loving me and being such a great example of what a father's love for his children is. I look forward to our walk down the aisle. I will always be your pumpkin.


To B:
Can you believe it? The day is here. Who knew that sitting in the Far West Starbucks all those years ago, just talking and becoming friends would lead to this? To our wonderful life together. I truly am in awe that this day has come and I am ready. I'm ready to be your wife, your partner in life and I am ready to be our own "family" together. Life has so many twists and turns and I am ready to be on the rollercoaster of life with you.  I cannot wait to see you at the end of the aisle. I love you.

To myself:
RELAX. Enjoy the day. Be in every moment.

1 Year Engaged

As of today, I have been engaged for a year.

This year.... has been one of the best years of my life.


In a little over a month I will be marrying the man of my dreams. Sure I didn't know he was the man of my dreams when we first met (oh that would be too easy).


So here are 10 of the reasons why he is the man of my dreams:

He lets me talk. I talk a lot.
He makes me laugh.
He is kind always.
He takes care of me on good days and bad.
He saw me through one of the hardest years in my life and did it effortlessly.
He holds my hand.
He pushes me to be a better person.
He listens (see above to me talking).
He makes me smile.
He says I love you every time we are getting off the phone.


Obviously, there are so many more reasons. But those are 10. I know throughout my lifetime there will be countless more "why I love him" lists and I can't wait to see everything I get to put on that list.