1,179 Days Ago

And now the final installment of the 3 post series...

Where was your wedding and reception?

I've always wanted an outdoor wedding, so when my aunt and uncle offered up their yard for our June wedding, I was excited. Jeff, not so much. He was really worried that it would turn out like a white trash wedding, where it looked like we tried to make it nice, but failed miserably. He was all about the reception centers. Being the bride, I [eventually] got my way. I think it turned out nice [and Jeff agreed].

By the way...you see that gazebo we got married under? Yeah. My uncle built that. For the wedding. How cool is that?

Who was in your wedding line?

The wedding line. Topic of so much debate. I was on the minimal bandwagon. One maid of honor, one best man. That's it. Jeff, he thought that every sibling had to be in the line, and every siblings spouse. Needless to say, our wedding line was HUGE.

Bridesmaids - two sister-in-laws, two friends, and my sister.

My best friend Jenn was my maid of honor [and she was great!]

Groomsmen - my two brothers, Jeff's brother, our brother-in-law, and Jeff's best friend.

Jeff and his Best Man/Best Friend

These cute punks were our flower girls and ring bearer.

Some were not so happy about their LONG job.

Others took it very seriously.

Plus they all added a dimension of cuteness I couldn't do without!

What was your bouquet made of?

Let me just say. The florist we used was amazing. She did a ton of arrangements for us, all the bouquets [remember how many bridesmaids I had?], everything. And I think we paid under $500 for it all. I wish you could see all that we had. It was C-R-A-Z-Y how amazing ALL our flowers were!

Who gave you away?

My dad and my grandpa [something I'd wanted since I was a little girl!]

What style was your dress?

It was just a simple David's Bridal Dress, but I loved it. It's simplicity made me happy.

Not my favorite pic, but it shows the detail the best.

I absolutely loved the back of it.

One of the bridal pics that made me happy.

And this is my favorite. I really, really wanted a bridal picture with my grandpa and his Harley. He was sweet enough to trailer his bike and come down to my bridals in all his riding gear. This pic is by far my most favorite. I also love how we managed to make it look like we're riding, when in reality we're not.

Who caught your bouquet? Garter?

Bouquet = McKenzie (Family friend) Garter = My Brother = AWKWARD!

What flavor was your cake?

I honestly don't remember. I was just happy to have one [and a beautiful one at that]. I never really saw the value of a wedding cake, but I was told that it was an important part of the day, and I couldn't nix it. So I found a cake I liked, and a bakery who would make it. The DAY BEFORE my wedding the bakery pretty much had me feeling that they didn't even know who I was, or when my wedding was, so I desperately called a local cake shop. They said they would make the exact one I wanted. No problem. Not even 24 hours notice. I love them.

Did you smash the cake onto each other's faces or feed it to each other nicely?

We were pretty tame. I managed to wipe a little frosting on Jeff's cheek. That's it.

What was "your song" that you danced to at your wedding?

Rob Thomas. Ever the Same [acoustic]. Still love it.

What did you serve your guests to eat?

This. Although I never got to see one morsel.

What did your friends do to decorate your car?

First they had to find where we hid it. Then they gave it the regular ol' junk job. I love this picture. So many good friends! Jenn must have been keeping me busy somewhere...

Funny thing is, Jeff and I drove our matching Corollas home that night. One decorated with a bride in it, one not. We probably looked like dorks driving down the highway.

Funniest moment?

My mom decided as a gift she wanted to do a dove release following our ceremony. I laughed and laughed and laughed at this pic when we got it from the photographer. Jeff looks so freaked out. Hilarious.

It really was kind of cool though...

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

Cancun. We had bought a timeshare week that we planned on exchanging for our honeymoon. When we called in to see our options of where we could go, we were given two. India, or Cancun [right after the hurricane hit]. Yeah. There was no way I was going to India.

Since we were in Cancun alone, we didn't get many pictures with the two of us in them. It was a nice relaxing time though. We spent a lot of time just relaxing in our hotel room. Seriously, for some reason we spent a big chunk of our time watching a Julia Roberts movie marathon. Kinda pathetic.

We were also lucky to get an upgrade. The hotel found out we were honeymooners and offered us to upgrade for something like $200 a night. We said "No Thanks." And they said, "Oh. Okay. We'll give it to you anyway." Makes me wonder if they would have still charged us if we had accepted.

These two pictures are my favorite of our honeymoon. Jeff is always trying to jump into my shot at the last second. Exhibit A:

He was so enamored with the history of the Mayan ruins, I was able get him back [for once]. Definitely my favorite picture.

Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your wedding?

Three things:

1. I would have researched a DJ a little more thoroughly.

First strike against him was when he showed up for the ceremony but failed to have a copy of the wedding march. Thankfully my cousin was able to track one down at a music store, and make it back in time for the ceremony.

Seond strike, Jeff and I had made a playlist to play during the reception. The DJ insisted on playing that pre-ceremony [when no one was around], and then do his own thing during the reception. Let's just say that I was not too thrilled when he play Michael Jackson's Thriller. At my wedding. In June.

2. I would have insisted [as I thought I had] that the bridesmaid's would walk out with no music. Instead, I will forever have, "we've only just begun..." stuck in my head when I think of my wedding line.

3. I would have researched the judge who married us a little more. Jeff and I put this detail on the back burner. So much so, that we totally scrambled to find someone legal [and available] to come and marry us. The judge we had was nice, but the ceremony was all of 2 minutes long [not exaggerating], had no spiritual connotations, and he stood in front of us [rather us in front of him] so that our photographers could not get any good shots of our ceremony. Instead, we were left to reenact things with empty seats. Such as this:

All in all though, I have no complaints of my wedding day. Every time I look at these pictures I am amazed with how great it turned out. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfect, and things went bad [see above] but they were so minor in the long run.