Wedding Recap: the Ceremony

My wedding ceremony, like everyone said, was a blur. I was actually getting a little stage fright when the time came. I mean 9 months of planning came down to this very second. Kind of nerve racking. I had been tucked away so I hadn't seen the people come filing in. My dad had come back to the room to get lined up and it hit me when Lisa, the wedding coordinator made us line up that this was it. I still get butterflies thinking about it. I kept repeating to myself DON'T FALL, DON'T FALL, DON'T FALL. I am very clumsy, as my mom would say, there was a reason they didn't name me grace. Anyway. The day was perfect, we got married at 6 o'clock, so the sun was low in the sky, but we couldn't tell because there was a tad bit of cloud cover. The ceremony was held outside in the garden. It was beautiful on its own, it really didn't have to be decorated to much and I really liked that. I really wanted something beautiful but simple and I was so glad that I found this place. I do say I and not we because I had our name in the book before we even got engaged. Yes, I was that girl.

I remember I couldn't look at Mr. G, it was either going to make me cry or have this big silly grin on my face, so I decided I should concentrate on not killing myself. I remember getting up to him and my mom and dad giving me away. My dad almost took my veil off. I remember warning him about it and then shot my MOH a look. Then it is totally all a blur. I remember getting choked up during my vows, and then at the end, forgetting the Lord's prayer and trying to cover my tracks and act like I was crying. Then that was it, we were man and wife, in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

Here are some of our Ceremony pictures. There are a lot, this turned out to more of a play by play but oh well.

ENJOY!!!
















Come back next week for more wedding recap.

Wedding Pictures... better late than never.

I have been married 192 days. I know I should have done this along time ago, and looking at Erin's wedding pictures over at Dishes and Wishes, made me want to share my wedding pictures with all of you.

Little back story:

The photography was very important to me, right up there with my dress and venue. Hubs and I knew right off the bat that we wouldn't be hiring a videographer for the wedding so the pictures had to be A-MAZING. I searched the Internet and wedding websites looking for someone that was reasonably priced (yeah remember how hub didn't have a job so we were broke, planning a wedding), and did more photo-journalistic photos rather than posy pictures. Kama was listed on the knot and I thought her name was cute so I took a gander at her website. I fell in love. Her pictures were amazing so with out hesitation I contacted her and got the planning under way.

She was a trooper though, she stuck with us through think and thin. And she and her husband captured our wedding day perfectly.

So to start this series off I am going to give you some shots of the pre-ceremony. You get to see the details that took my team months to do, the girls getting ready, and the excitement of the day.

Stay tuned next week for the Ceremony

19 days

19 Days!!! I can't believe I am getting married in 19 days....

And nothing got done this weekend :(

That's right nothing.... well I did cut ribbon.

So This is what happened.

On Friday put my car in the shop and waited to see what the diagnosis was. For those of you who don't know on Wednesday of last week my car crapped out on me, I had no power locks, no head lights, no windshield wipers, and best of all no speedometer.

Got the call late Friday that is was in fact my computer, and that the estimated cost of repair was $1000.00! I was so upset. I had just put $800.00 in to my car for a new air conditioner and now the computer? I had already started looking for a replacement car just in case.

I called a car dealership inquiring about a Honda element. I decided I wanted something that I had personal experience with and knew I could run in to the ground... case and point my brothers first car 1989 Honda accord had 300,000 miles on it before it crapped out. I called the car place on Friday and the element was still there and Andy said he would have it pulled around waiting for me on Saturday morning. Fiance and I get up and roll on over to the car dealership and we meet Andy. I like this guy instantly, he is freaking hysterical and so eases my worry a smidge. We go and we test drive the element ( I let Matthew drive because I had already test driven one before) and he doesn't like it. Needless to say the engine isn't powerful enough to pull that big of a car, so what was going to be the case when I have to haul something? While we are driving around Andy calls me to get my car, So we drive to Hilliard and I get my car... now remember all that I listed was wrong with it? So now I have to drive this thing on the Free way. Can you say nervous? Yeah totally was. We are on our way back to the dealership and of course my check engine light comes on. I throw on my hazards because I am now waiting for my car to either die or explode. Fiance calls me, Frantic because he is thinking the same thing, I tell him it is just a precaution.

I make sure to turn off my hazards when I pull in to the car dealership, but I made it there in once piece. As to not bore you I will cut the next few hours of my life down to a few sentences...
they don't turn my car on they look it over and check the millage.
they said they will give me the $67oo that my jeep is worth
we start negotiating price
we call our parents because we are both inexperienced car buyers
then the moment happened. We were getting ready to walk away when Andy looks up my cars carfax report. We look it over and see that the computer had already been replaced once before. WHAT!?!?!?!? Now, I recall quite clearly when I bought the jeep they told me there was a short and showed me the carfax report and nothing was yellow or red (which in carfax means stay away). So when Andy showed it to us and there it was in black and white we decided we needed to walk away with a car that day, from Andy because they already agreed to give me bluebook for my hunk of crap jeep. After 4 and a half hours at the car dealership we walked away with a 2006 Subaru Forester. It totally isn't something that I would EVER pick for myself but for my family it will be perfect.

The rest of Saturday I cut ribbon and tried to get the recipe cards to print.... yeah right. That FAILED!

Sunday I had all of this help just sitting around because 1. it took forever to get the set up for the program correct and 2. the printer was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow. So my DIY weekend really turned out to be a lot of frustation and sitting around. I think tonight I am going to suck it up and pay office max to do it... no biggie.

Best man update.... He is a douche and all he did was let Fiance down and piss me off. I hope he comes up here so I can get tipsy and give him a piece of my mind ( I want people to be able to blame it alcohol and not me being rude).

Hair update: Hair trial number 2 went really well an I like what she did soooooooooo much better. So it is going to be half up with a little Bouffant. Can't wait. She also put extensions in and I couldn't stop loving how full my hair looked.... I was actually kind of sad to see them out.

So this is weird but I think I am getting a stye? My upper eyelid is really red and inflamed... great. That will look hot in pictures.

Speaking of Pictures...

Here is my new mom car... er.. I mean ride....

alright I do done for now.

Love.

Best man, I think not

Fiance has 2 best men... that's right 2.

One being his best friend since the age of 5 or something sentimental like that and the other being his father.

*NOTE* He asked BFF first and then being as his family was still dealing with his Grandpa's death (Grandpa was FFIL best man at his wedding) his mom was very sensitive to the fact that his dad wasn't going to be involved. This being said she kind of guilted him in to it.*

When Fiance picked out the tux's he let all of his groomsmen know and I will say kept on them all equally about getting fitted and such. Some of his groomsmen got the point a lot quicker than others but none the less the list started to dwindle down to 2 people. One being my Father and the other being BFF. I took care of my dad with playful threats of him not walking me down the aisle and that got him in to gear. Bff on the other hand wasn't getting Fiance's calls, or returning them for that matter and still hadn't gotten fitted. So the time came to go down to Bham for our cook out and my tea and BFF was there and he and Fiance got some face time, and Fiance reminded him about his tux and then said something to him also about his plane tickets (that was July 17th) and the fact that he needed to start looking and pricing stuff out.

Fiance even did some of the leg work for him and gave him prices that he had found, thinking because BFF hasn't travelled as much as he has may not know how to go about things. Now this whole time I am getting more and more hot under the collar. I will say that I am a worry wart which in turn makes me stress out. So when I found this next part out I about had a conniption.

I don't know a lot about BFF, So I decided for my own piece of mind to ask Fiance about him and see if like me if he is a procrastinator or some explanation why he was slacking in the BFF department. Fiance told me he is all football, if it isn't football he doesn't really care. It was starting to become a little more clear now.

What I found out yesterday set me threw the roof and I really almost lost my cool.

Fiance had been trying to get in touch with BFF because he hadn't RSVPed to the wedding. I mean we knew he was coming so Now we needed to know what he was eating. As Fiance is talking to BFF Men's Warehouse beeps in and says there is only one more person to get fitted and if they don't by August 15th there will be a rush fee. Can we guess who this person is?

Fiance "confronts" (I use the word loosely because he avoids confrontation like the plague) Bff about it. He said it is because there aren't any MW's in his town and he is kind of broke right now too. We come to add a few more feet to the grave he is digging himself and he lets it slip that he bought $500.00 Alabama game tickets and that is why he is so broke. And he still has yet to buy his plane ticket (which is crap because his Dad offered to pay for it).

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!?!?

Fiance is telling me this on the phone and I say the above phrase loud enough that it gets some of the attention from my fellow co-workers.

Fiance tries to calm me down and say that he told BFF that if he didn't do it by Saturday that he couldn't be in the wedding.

I told Fiance he was a better person than I was. I told him that BFF was disrespecting him and that Fiance was letting him do it. I told Fiance that I would be pissed if anyone, ANYONE in my party or family for that matter would have chosen a football game over our wedding. I mean it isn't like you are blowing off prom or something, this is your best friends wedding, a huge step in his life and you are choosing foot ball. Is it because I am a girl that I see it this way? I mean I would hope that by the physical age of 24 (the emotional age of 17) you could tell this is huge for your friend and that it is huge that he wants you there. I mean its not like it is the wedding is interfering with it, It is the rehearsal, that will last about an hour and then we eat. Check the game on your phone all you want for all I care.

Anyway, Fiance tells me this and I let loose. I tell him that Bff is being rude and that I would bet money on the fact 1. he won't get his tux 2. he won't get a plane ticket and 3. he won't come up.

Needless to say Fiance got made at me.

I said because I so badly want him to prove me wrong.

26 days and counting

From here on out my blogs are probably going to be sparatic and scatter brained.


So. There are 26 days left until I am married at this very moment in time I could not be more petrified (note: its not of marriage, it is of the hurdles I have to get through to get to the I do's).

Off the list is:
Get my bustle done
Book Hotel rooms
Get transportation for after rehearsal (wasn't on the list but future hubs let me know it was booked)
Almost done calling the no RSVPr's... Hazaa! Now we are up 101 people!!!!

To do this week:
Tomorrow:
Meet with Lisa to Finalize everything for ceremony and reception
Marriage License
Meet with Erin to go through her tasks for the day

Friday:
Buy everything that is left for DIY's

Saturday:
Get Last hair cut
Lay out for at least an hour (need to jolt my skin back to a summery sun kissed again)
Finish Monogram ribbons
Get recipe bags finished

Sunday:
Hair Trial number 2

I think it is funny, through this whole process I forgot to add to my to do list my beauty stuff. Meh... The wedding will be beautiful but I will look a mess!

A tale of two dresses.... revisited.

When the disaster dress from bridal and formal didn't fit I held my breath about the bridesmaid dresses and the MOB dress. When the dresses came in the weight was slowly lifted as each maids dress zipped up and only needed a hem or a tuck.

My mom since the day my dress crashed and burned had been stressing me out to the max with thoughts and anxieties of her dress not fitting. Her dress came in the weekend after and low and behold her dress did not fit. It was to small, which sent me through the roof! They wanted her to go with the smaller size but my mom wanted it to be roomier and it was so small she couldn't raise her arms!!! I convinced her to please take it to the family seamstress and see if she could salvage her beautiful dress.

Fast forward to Wednesday and we are at Barbra's house and my mom is standing in her dress and Barbra is shaking her head. She breaks the news to us that it can't be fixed, they didn't even leave enough fabric to fix it if it tore. I was upset, my mom was upset, so as she did for me in my dress crisis I did for her. We were no more than 5 minutes away from Davids Bridal and I told my mom with have to find something on sale and off the rack that will work.

We pull up defeated yet still determined. We start pulling dresses and I come across one that she of course poo poo's and I tell her to remember I tried on some dresses for her that were not to my liking.

First dress: she really liked it. only issue was it was yellow and that is the color of the bridesmaid dresses. Also, it was a sleeveless dress and my mom doesn't like to show her arms.

Second dress: was a yellow tea length dress with a matching bolero. She looked cute, I liked the vintage style and it was good because she could get it in green. She didn't like her legs being shown.

Third dress (the one she didn't like): she was underwhelmed... at first. I will say that when I said Champagne for the Mothers I was thinking more of a pink champagne not tan. Well, most are a tan. So she felt like it washed her out, which it kind of does but with no color on her face I said anything would. It was Chiffon with a ruched bodice and very little beading at the top and it had a matching bolero. The cleavage was a bit much But, unlike bridal and formal we got someone from ALTERATIONS ( a word they are very unfamiliar with at bridal and formal) and they said that with the material my mom would have to have cut off at the bottom (gotta love being short) and build up the top so the ladies were covered.

We talked and deliberated and she really wanted the first dress but in green. I told her I would go look to see if they had it in her size. I go the MOB section and see the dress and the green next to it and it hits me. That is totally the dress FMIL was looking at. I had to go back and tell my mom. I felt bad because she was in the yellow dress again and I told her the bad news. She was glad that I remembered it and put dress number 3 back on. Second time around she really liked it and she agreed that it was more elegant than the first dress. The first dress was more cookie cutter mob dress than the third. we picked up some of the chiffon and covered the cleavage and she sighed. She loved it.

It was on sale AND I still got the extra $20.00 off which made it come to with tax $180.00.

So now everyone is outfitted for the day.

Now for alterations and we are done.

To check off of list:
Pay florist remainder
Meet with DJ

Hopefully I can check a bunch off this weekend. Fingers crossed.

P.s. Tomorrow is my Mom's birthday and we are having the festivities at my place, which means I get to break out all my new HOSTESS STUFF!!!!!! so excited! Pics to come.

P.s.s. My final make up run is bright and early on Sunday.

32 days...

That's right, only 32 days until I become a Mrs.

What to do? What to do?.... Wait!!! There is plenty to do such as....

Assemble programs
call no RSVPers, which will be an undertaking in its self considering only 68 people have said yes or no....gulp!
Finish Monograms
Finish Recipe bags
Finish place cards
Get in room bag together
Get Marriage License
Finalize Ceremony and reception details
Pay florist
Pay photographer
Meet with D J
Pay final balance with Pinnacle (ceremony and reception site)
Get my Bustle done
Book Hotel rooms for night before
Finalize wedding day look
Get "Just Married" Stuff for the golf cart get away
Get my hands on a steamer.
Pay D J

A big one on the list right now is to get my mom's dress fixed.... that's right ladies and gentleman, my mom's dress that we received yesterday is to small. Now, my mom didn't gain weight, and we ordered a size up to make room for her chest (she is also gifted). AND IT IS STILL TO SMALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh Bridal and Formal! UGH!!!!!!