A Bride...Again

A Unique Idea???

2010-09-29T18:00:00.001-05:00

I know, I know...technically I'm not a bride anymore. I'm a wife. But just like all good addictions, checking out wedding photographers isn't something that I've been able to completely tear myself away from yet. I unsubscribed to weddingbee LONG ago...but I still stalk a few photographers...one of them being my own fabulous photographer, Christina Carroll.

Imagine my surprise when I came across something sort of unique today on my stroll. Maybe you've seen something like this before, but I haven't. I don't know if the bride did this project DIY or if someone else did it, but I think that it really makes a statement.

It's a wreath hanging suspended over the dance floor (like a chandelier?) and hanging from it instead of lights are small tea light candles. They're hanging with plain twine, giving it a cozy-homey feel to it and making me think that this was made. Here's a picture of what I'm talking about, and since it's a collage picture you can see that the wreath totally fits in with the theme of the rest of the wedding decorations and there's a close up of the tea lights:

Here's another picture where you can see it in the background:Isn't that GORGEOUS?!?! You can find more of these awesome pictures here at Christina's blog - check out the rest of the wedding, I got sidetracked with the wreath/chandelier and couldn't focus on anything else...LOL!

GIVE-AWAY!!!

2010-09-20T11:48:00.003-05:00

I know, I know...I never post over here anymore...I'm such a BAD blogger!

But if you'll forgive me, I think that I have something that might interest other brides-to-be (and really, women eveywhere!) out there...just

CLICK HERE

to find out some information about a give-away that I'm doing on my other blog! It's for 10 FREE photo cards from Shutterfly...and could really come in handy for party invitations, thank you cards, wedding announcements, and all of those other occassions that you need photo cards for!!

So jump on over and chekc it out...easy to enter, easy to win!

Meredith and Robert - Wedding

2010-07-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

I don’t know about you, but as a bride, I went through several phases where I didn’t really want to look at bridal stuff anymore. You know, now that I’m not a bride. I cut myself off from Weddingbee several weeks before the wedding, and have not really looked at it much since then. Same goes for the other bridal sites that I used to visit…but there are a few that I still take a peek at every once in a while.

Pink Posh Photography is one of those sites. Truly, their work is amazing and sometimes just takes my breath away. I stumbled across this wedding the other day (now that I'm on partial bed rest with LOTS of time on my hands!) that they covered several months ago and had to share the pictures with you. Of course, these are just my favorites and you should totally go to their blog and check out the rest!

Every bride needs a shot like this one...

Love, love, LOVE her shoes!I love her color choices…probably not colors that I would have ever thought to put together, but they totally work together! Just shows the "shortness" of my own vision!And paired with something as simple as hypercium berries for the boys, the colors for the girls "pop" that much more!

A GORGEOUS ceremony site...

Stunning reception area...it really needed only minimal decorations...

And I LOVE this shot of their rings...
The wedding was really beautiful, and Pink Posh Photography did a fantastic job (as always!) of capturing their special day! Go on over and check out their other work if you an Austin/Dallas/Houston area bride...you won't be disappointed!

Ceremony Details

2010-07-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve gotten a few questions about the rest of our ceremony and what it was like to undertake such a big task as writing your own ceremony. I’m not really a write, and I used a lot of sources for our ceremony to gather some inspiration, but there were two main ones: Mrs. Cherry Pie from Weddingbee (LOVED her ceremony!) and our officiant’s personal collection of ceremonies.

You see, we were lucky enough to be married by our friend, who just also happened to be a minister. It made the whole ceremony VERY personal, and you know that I liked having free reign to write up whatever I wanted and he would comply. No rules to follow or suggestions for improvement. He had three different scripts that he typically used for weddings, and gave me copies of those to choose from or told me that we could come up with something totally our own. He would just follow our lead. In fact, when I sent him the finalized ceremony script about two weeks before the wedding he emailed me back and told me that he and his wife cried when they read it! I was touched that he liked it that much.

Like I said before, I knew that I wanted to incorporate a hand fasting ceremony in lieu of a unity candle or sand ceremony...so that was set WAY before we knew what we wanted from the rest of the ceremony. And I won’t lie here...reading and following along Mrs. Cherry Pie’s wedding recaps and finding out that they too had chosen a hand fasting kind of sealed the deal on possibly using parts of her ceremony in ours! Instead of re-creating the wheel, and in an attempt to stay completely honest and not plagiarize anyone else’s work, here’s a link to her post about their ceremony...where she got certain parts from, how she wrote it and the whole ceremony in detail. Her ceremony was definitely a BIG inspiration for our ceremony!

I don’t have links to Dwayne’s ceremonies...or I would post links to them too. How frustrating!

In the end, I wasn’t 100% happy with Mrs. Cherry Pie’s ceremony, and I wasn’t 100% happy with our minister’s ceremonies. So, taking the best of both worlds, I combined the two (or three or four) sample ceremonies that I had found (though most came from the two sources that I’ve mentioned) and my own words and phrases and made something that was completely 100% US. B loved it. I loved it. That’s all that counted in our book.

In case you’re interested, here is our ceremony, broken out by segments:

I. GREETING/WELCOME

Family and friends, we welcome you today to witness the marriage of B and S.

Marriage is a promise, made in the hearts of two people who love each other. This promise takes a lifetime to fulfill. Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life’s most important relationships. A wife and husband are each other’s lover, teacher, listener, critic and best friend.

Today, B and S demonstrate their devotion to each other by dedicating themselves to a life together. And they show their respect for each other by setting forth to honor the vows they have created. Today, their lives, which began on separate paths, will be joined as one.

Who gives their blessing to this union?

Dad: “Her Mother and I do”

II. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FAMILY/FRIENDS

Today represents not only the joining of B and S, but also the joining of their families and friends.

On behalf of B and S, thank you for joining us. They are delighted that you have come to share their joy during this special day. By your presence, you celebrate with them the love they have discovered in each other and you support their decision to commit themselves in a lifelong relationship. You have shared and contributed to their lives in the past, and by witnessing their marriage ceremony today, B and S ask you to share in their future.

B and S would like to recognize their parents on this occasion. They offer profound gratitude for all the love and care their parents showed in raising them. Parents, the unconditional gifts of love and support that you have continually offered have inspired them to become who they are today, and they thank you, from the bottom of their hearts. Without you, this day would not be possible.

They are blessed to share their wedding day with you, their family and friends, and thank each of you for making the effort to be here.

B and S have also asked that we take a moment to honor those loved ones who are not with us today.

Please take a moment of silence.

[Moment of silence]

III. STATEMENT OF INTENT

S and B, do you, with family and friends as your witnesses, present yourselves willingly and of your own accord to be joined in marriage?

B & S: “We do.”

B, do you take S to be your wife? Will you love, honor, and cherish her, in good times and bad, and do you promise to stay true to her as long as you both shall live?

B: “I do.”

S, do you take B to be your husband? Will you love, honor, and cherish her, in good times and bad, and do you promise to stay true to her as long as you both shall live?

S: “I do.”

Deep abiding affection, the magical and compelling shared impulse that makes us seek each others company, is among the greatest gifts of the human experience. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to find and express the kind of loving devotion that we are celebrating here today knows that it is an awesome and beautiful thing.

This understanding brings me to a few suggestions for you, B and S. First, be constantly grateful for the presence of this precious person who has chosen to make a life with you. For it is a choice that each of you have made, to combine your lives with one another.

Secondly, make each other the recipient of daily kindness. The world can be a tough place and any of us can be subject to rough handling. Be generous with compliments. Be attentive and helpful.

Last, but perhaps most importantly, make truth the unfailing bedrock of your lives together. A happy, loving marriage is built on trust and respect. That trust and respect can only be sustained if you are both deeply committed to always being open and truthful in every exchange, no matter how small.

My hope for you is this; that you have many long years to delight in each other’s company, to feel gratitude for your great good fortune in having found and loved each other, to make a home together that is both sheltering and welcoming, to each do meaningful, productive work at home and in the world and to love and be loved by the friends and family who have come here today to support you…

May you pledge to each other to be loving friends and partners in marriage. To talk and to listen, to trust and appreciate one another; to respect and cherish each other’s uniqueness, and to support, comfort, and strengthen each other through life’s joys and sorrows. May you promise to share hopes, thoughts, and dreams as you build your lives together. May your lives be ever entwined, your love keeping you together. May you build a home that is compassionate to all, full of respect and honor for others and each other. May your home be forever filled with peace, happiness and love.

IV. VOWS

S, B – please face each other and hold hands.

[bouquet hand off]

B, as you look at S, please repeat these words after me:

I B, take you S to be my wife / to have and to hold, from this day forward / to love, honor, and cherish / to comfort and respect, in sorrow or in joy / in hardship or in plenty, so long as we both shall live.

S, as you look at B, please repeat these same words:

I S, take you B to be my husband / to have and to hold, from this day forward / to love, honor, and cherish / to comfort and respect, in sorrow or in joy / in hardship or in plenty, so long as we both shall live.

V. RING EXCHANGE

The ring is a symbol of unity into which your two lives are now joined in an unbroken circle, in which, wherever you go, you will return to one another.

B do you have a ring for S?

[B gets S’s ring and takes her left hand]

B, please repeat after me:

I, B, give to you S / this ring as a symbol of my commitment / to love, honor and respect you.

S, do you have a ring for B?

[S gets B’s ring and take his left hand]
S, please repeat after me:

I, S, give to you B / this ring as a symbol of my commitment / to love, honor and respect you.

VI. HANDFASTING

S, take B’s hands palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you:

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love. They are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you all the days of his life.

Now B, take S’s hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you:

These are the hands of your best friend, smooth, young and carefree. They are holding yours on your wedding day, as she promises to love you all the days of her life.

Now, please join hands so that they may be fasted in the ways of old. Remember then as your hands are fasted, these are not the ties that bind…

[Cords are held aloft by Best Man]

The love already shared by your hearts has been strengthened by the vows you have taken.

You will be bound by your love as you are bound by your clasped hands from now until the end of your days.

[As the following is recited, the couples hands are wrapped with cords by Best Man]

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.

These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as you build your future together.

These are the hands that will hold you whenever illness, fear, or grief may find you.

These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.

These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.

These are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours.

[Binding is finished and cords are knotted]

Bless these hands that you see before you this day.
May they always reach out with love, gentleness and respect.
May they build a loving relationship that lasts a lifetime.
May they always be held by one another.
If you follow these words and heed this sacred binding, your hands will heal, protect, shelter and guide.
Now, you may remove the cords, but remember the knot as a lasting symbol of your binding and commitment.

[Cords are removed and stored]

VII. PRONOUNCEMENT AND PRESENTATION

S…B, may the love that has brought you together continue to grow and enrich your lives. May you meet with courage the problems that arise to challenge you and may your relationship always be one of love and trust. May the happiness that you share today be with you always and may every word that you have pledged here be a living truth in your lives.

May your home be a haven of peace and your relationship be one of truth and understanding. May you enjoy length of days, fulfillment of hopes, and peace and content as you, day by day, live and fulfill the terms of this covenant you have made with one another. May God bless and honor your lives together.

And now, for as much as you have made your vows, each to the other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving your rings, in recognition of the above, and in accordance with the laws and statutes of the State of Texas, I pronounce that you are husband and wife.

Groom, you may kiss your Bride.

[Kiss]

[B and S turn to face family and friends, collecting bouquet back]

It is my honor and privilege to present Mr. and Mrs. B.

[Bride and Groom go back down the aisle, followed by attendants and parents/grandparents]

The Bride and Groom would like to invite you all to stay for the reception that will begin shortly just across the way in Redbud Hall. We do have some quick pictures to take first, so we will ask the family to remain seated for those pictures, but the rest of the guests can go ahead and make your way across to the reception hall.

Thank you for coming.

In the end, the ceremony ran right at about 30 minutes...Dwayne was a little nervous and made it through the ceremony faster than any of the times that he had practiced at home. It was the perfect length, not too long and not too short.

I hope that this answers some of the questions that you might have had regarding our ceremony. Like I said, a lot of this came from Mrs. Cherry Pie’s ceremony and our minister’s own ceremonies...I hope that it helps some of you brides out there!

Our Grand Exit...

2010-06-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Yep, it’s that time…time to take our leave and say goodbye. I kid you not when I say that the night passed by in a blur. There were moments that the wedding and reception seemed to slow down so that I could take it all in, but at other times the night just FLEW BY! Before I knew it, a limo had arrived and pulled up in front of our reception hall. Since I knew that we didn’t get a limo, I was sure that he was at the wrong hall and I went out there myself to have a talk with him. Plus, it was 30 minutes too early…I still had dancing to do!

You see, we had a friend who’s brother owns a limo service. So we knew that we had a car coming, but G had already warned us that he would NOT be able to get us a limo for that night, just a car. That was fine with us, we didn’t care as long as someone else was driving – not that we were drinking that much, but we just didn’t want to have to worry about getting ourselves to our hotel. I went out to tell the limo driver that he was at the wrong hall and got the surprise of my life. Turns out that G’s brother had been able to pull a few strings (or had a last-minute cancellation) and was able to send a limo for us! Yippee!! What fun!!

He knew that he was early, and was fine waiting, so I trotted my happy self back inside to continue dancing away. Within about 30 minutes though, the DJ announced that this was the last song and then gave instructions for everyone to line up outside taking packets of rose petals along with them. I have to admit that I was sort of surprised at the lack of guests that formed the “going away” line…I’ve seen it repeatedly over the last few years, that it’s just not a trend for guests to stay and be there when the bride and groom leave the reception, but it was still a shock. The only wedding I can think of where I did that was when we had our kids with us and it was getting late…but whatever. There were still plenty of people left to form a good, solid line and we spent a few extra minutes alone on the dance floor to allow the line to form and the photographers to get all set up.

Oh, and in the 30 minutes that the limo driver was waiting on all of this to occur, our bridal party made quick work of getting our limo decorated for us. Check out their handiwork!

I have to admit to being VERY relieved that all decorations were kept in the PG category, if you know what I mean!

Once the line was ready and we were given the signal, we rushed out and made our way down the LONG sidewalk to the limo…catching rose petals and goodbye wishes along the way…

And yes, even rose petals thrown just so will hurt a bride and groom – did you see that look on my face? By the time that we got to the end, the petals were fewer and further between…

But as you’ll notice, someone (REALLY don’t know who!) shoved a whole handful of petals down the front of my dress…I’m not really sure why?

We said our goodbyes to the kiddos…

One of them was completely ok with the fact that he was spending the night with Grandma…and the other one? Well, let’s just say that she had just put two and two together and come up with four. And four meant that she was NOT going with Mommy…and as fun as spending the night with Gigi and the girls had previously sounded, right at this moment it was NOT cool!

To try to stem the guilt flowing heavily through my heart, and to drown out the sound of her tears, I quickly made my escape into the limo…B on the other hand?

Yeah, this was when he decided to make a “Thank You” speech to all of the remaining guests and to wish them all a good night. It’s too bad that the photographer didn’t catch me reaching out and pulling him into the limo and telling the limo driver to “GO!” on film…that would have been priceless! He was confused for a minute, until I explained about little J being so upset…then he settled in to play with all the buttons in the limo.

We had a good 30 minute drive to our hotel in downtown Austin that my new in-laws had gifted us with, so we settled in for the drive. At that point, the exhaustion was hitting me pretty hard and I was pooped! We talked about how great the wedding and reception went, how much fun we had and how much fun we thought our guests had, and of course we smooched a bit in the backseat. Before I knew it, we were pulling up at The Four Seasons hotel in downtown Austin and getting the “white glove treatment” from everyone that we saw.

Yes, it’s glamorous to arrive at your 5-star hotel in a limo…and a wedding dress…you’d be amazed though at how many people actually ask you if you got married. Nah, I just wore a wedding dress for a night out on the town…but I laughed each time someone asked us! We quickly checked in, went upstairs and settled in for the night…as man and wife!!!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...
Two More Special Dances...
One Lucky Girl...and One “Excited” Guy!
The Many Faces of a Bride...
The Kids...
We Danced the Night Away!

We Danced the Night Away!

2010-06-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

This will be a pretty picture-heavy post…I’m bound and determined to finish these recaps before I give birth…so cross your fingers for me that I make it!

I already showed you what a good time some of the kiddos had…but they weren’t the only ones! I think that our DJ did a great job of playing music that we requested, music that kept the people out on the dance floor, and taking requests from guests. Yes, there was a song or two that was played that Brent asked me “Why did we choose THAT song?!?!”…but it turns out that they were guest requests. But enough from me - take a look at what a good time was had by one and all...us girls got our groove on!

I’m really NOT sure how this one didn’t make the “funny faces” post…

And here’s the requisite picture of the bride dancing while holding on to her alcoholic drink for dear life!

At one point during the night, the boys took a break and toasted each other back at the bar when Brent's one music request "A Country Boy Can Survive" was played…

It was a tradition of theirs or something…but don’t be fooled – they tore up the dance floor as well…check it out!

Yes, the YMCA was done…

My Mom even joined in on that one!

And at one point there was a Congo Line…though I really couldn’t tell you why…

And there was line dancing too…

I even managed to get my new step-son on the dance floor with me…isn’t he cute?!?!

And at one point, Brent and I managed a quick two-step…

Then it seems that neither MOH or I could find our husbands, so we made do with each other…

Before long, the music got a little raunchier…and the dancing got a good bit dirtier…

And I got hot! That’s the one thing that no one told me about wedding dresses – they get HOT!! So I improvised a quick fan from one of our programs, and went on with my grooving…

Last, but certainly not least, a circle was formed at some point, and we all went out one by one (or in pairs) and strutted our stuff…The Bride took her turn…

…with my fan, of course!

And a co-worker really showed us how it was done…

But even with all of HIS moves, I think that the Groom and one of his guys took the cake!

That was B on the left...Yep, they took it “old school” and had a blast doing it.

I have to tell you that I danced so much that I literally could not feel my toes for three days after the wedding. I did take a break here and there, once to put on flip flops, but for the most part I was on the dance floor from the minute the dancing started until it was time for us to leave…

A blast was had by one and all, and our friends and co-workers are still talking about what a great party we threw at our wedding. To be honest, I don’t think that anyone could pay me a higher compliment. I worked hard to make our wedding special, meaningful and FUN…so to still hear them talking about what a great time they all had…well, it just melts my heart!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...
Two More Special Dances...
One Lucky Girl...and One “Excited” Guy!
The Many Faces of a Bride...
The Kids...

The Kids...

2010-06-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Miss me? Yeah, I missed you too! This nesting phase is kicking my butt, I tell you…too much to do and not enough time to do it all in…but enough about that.

I kept mentioning (back when I blogged here regularly) that we had a lot of kids at our wedding. And since the phrase “a lot” could mean different things to different people, I thought that maybe I should give you some proof. To me, a lot is not 5. A lot is not 10. A lot is closer to 20.

We had almost 40 kids at our wedding.

Yes, I typed that correctly…4 – 0. Forty. Like the number of days and nights that it rained while Noah was on the Ark. I don’t care who you are or where you’re from. Forty kids in one place is a LOT of kids!

But they had a blast! Check out these pics for proof…some of them stood around in a circle…being all “cool”…

While others wanted to hang out on the edge of the stage…

After my dance with J was over, all of the little girls wanted to dance with me at once, so I obliged…

Later on, they danced with each other…

And they danced with their moms/dads…or any adult that was willing to hold them while they danced…

Sometimes other adults with moves will work…

While other times, only Daddy is acceptable…

Or just hung out on their own, doing their own thing…

Maybe some of them played games on the dance floor…

While others put up a good fight against getting on the dance floor…

But most guys, even those that are only 11, know when to give up the good fight and just go along with us crazy women…

But as bashful as some of them were, there was one that really stands out in our wedding memories. One VERY special kid that really just made the dance floor. Allow me to introduce you to H, our friends’ son, who has more moves than any single child should have! Check him out…and get ready to smile!

He even tried to give B some pointers…

Oh man…he danced ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Wore his parents out. Wore me out. Wore all of us out! What a cutie…

So, as you can see…having 40 kids at your wedding is not necessarily a bad thing…just make sure that you’ve got good music to keep them out on the dance floor grooving along with you!

How did/do you plan on entertaining the kids coming to your wedding?

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...
Two More Special Dances...
One Lucky Girl...and One “Excited” Guy!
The Many Faces of a Bride...

The Many Faces of a Bride…

2010-05-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Do you hate to be wrong? I do. Maybe it has something to do with being a woman, because let’s face it, we’re right MOST of the time…or maybe it’s just me. But I’d much rather be right than wrong. Although when it happens that I’m wrong, I’m generally a good sport about admitting it.

Which leads us to this post…the entire time that we’ve been dating, B has gently joked with me about the many faces that I make while dancing. To his delight, I vehemently deny making funny faces when I dance and just accuse him of making fun of the way that I dance…I am just a white girl after all! But it’s been a constant, running joke between the two of us – sort of like the joke about how I snore…but I’m not ready to give that one up yet!

But faced with our wedding pictures, I can no longer deny the obvious…apparently I DO make funny faces while dancing. Really funny faces. Like “What the heck was I DOING?!?!” sort of faces…maybe you do it too. I hope I’m not alone in this.

So, babe, this post is for you. Just to show the blogging world that I’m wrong and you were right, and I CAN be a good sport about things. This is a post (with pictures) that is completely 100% about the funny faces that I make while dancing. I mean, we’ve already seen a few other pictures of some odd faces that I make randomly…but these take the cake!

Check these out…

Lucky for me, MOH is a good friend and doesn’t leave me alone making funny faces…

I think that I must look goooood…or that’s what the expression on my face says to me now!

Maid Britney helps me out and makes a funny face of her own!

I wasn’t being mean there…I’m 95% certain that that face was made during Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”…hopefully that explains a little bit of it…

Obviously Best Man S didn’t want me to be the only one…

But I know when to admit defeat in the face-making-while-dancing contest…

So there you have it…all the faces that a bride can make while dancing! I hope that you got a good chuckle out of those…because that was SO embarrassing to post!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...
Two More Special Dances...
One Lucky Girl...and One “Excited” Guy!

One Lucky Girl…and One “Excited” Guy!

2010-05-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Isn’t that how you should refer to the catchers of the bouquet and garter? At most weddings, the participation on the girls side of things is usually a lot more…willing, shall we say? The girl that catches the bouquet usually is excited to get it and feels lucky that she caught it. But the guy that catches the garter? More often than not, you might see them tugging at their tie only minutes later…LOL!

And that’s sort of how I felt about this part of the reception. I would really have been ok just skipping this whole toss tradition…but B wouldn’t hear about it. He wanted the chance to embarrass his single guy friends…not to mention the “fun” of taking my garter off! So, despite my best arguments against it, we kept this one in the line-up.

I can’t tell you for sure when it happened. It was in the middle of all of the dancing…maybe about an hour before we left for the night? But it just seemed easier to slip this in my recaps right here before I start the dancing pictures…so here you go!

First up, the ladies. There were quite a few out there to form the mob…even if it looks like maybe some of them are a bit “underage” to catch a bridal bouquet!

No, I’m not sure what that look on my face is about either…I know that Christina wanted me to do a few “practice” throws for the pictures, so maybe that’s what I was doing…who knows?

And then I let it go…

Our friend, Nicole, was the lucky one that night! And she was SO excited to get it!

Now I don’t know about you, but I think that the groom gets a LOT of enjoyment out of the garter toss…even if the guys catching it don’t really! I’m doing my best to keep my dress down (due to the cameras) and he’s doing his best to reach on in there!

Luckily for me, it just took a few “looks” to get good behavior out of my groom, and the garter was almost off…

He’s victorious!

And as you can see, the group of guys waiting to “catch” the garter is MUCH smaller…with only two that should really be catching it!

B did a few practice throws too…

Now I don’t know about you, but it looks to me like the younger guys are working harder to get it than the two that actually count!

And the outcome was pretty hilarious!

Looks like neither one of them really wanted it!

The funny thing is that the two that caught it are a real-life couple friend of ours…so it was completely appropriate that they were the winners!

And even though I’d like to add a post script to tell you that catching the bridal bouquet DOES in fact work as far as getting you a proposal…I can’t do that. They are still together, happily, but no ring in sight at this time…much to her dismay! I’m sure that it’s coming, Nicole, be patient!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...
Two More Special Dances...

Two More Special Dances…

2010-05-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

After having our first dance as man and wife, it was time for the Father-Daughter dance. In reality, I wasn’t really sure that this was something that my Dad really wanted to do. I’m not being mean by saying that, just honest. I mean, this wasn’t my first wedding (as he kept reminding me), so I wasn’t sure if he’d want to do all the things that he didn’t do the last time…and I had to just swallow my pride and ask him about it. And don’t you know that when I did that, he acted like he’d never been anything but supportive of the idea for us to have a big wedding and of course he wanted to do a Father-Daughter dance with me.

We could have easily have left it out, but I’m really glad that we did it. There was no Mother-Son dance, so it wouldn’t have been that odd if we’d left this one out…but like I said, I’m glad that he wanted to do this tradition this time around with me. I know my Dad well, and knew that he would really only be comfortable doing a waltz. With that in mind, I selected Natalie Cole’s version of “Unforgettable” as it’s one of our favorite songs and a great song to waltz to.

Except that when we took the floor and the music began playing, there was another song playing at the same time. Right now, six months after the fact, I can’t recall what the other song was. But basically the problem was that we had given the DJ a burned CD for the songs that we wanted played that weren’t already in their library of songs…and of course, our First Dance song wasn’t in their library. So she had just played the Black Keys song off of the CD and then was switching to her library of music for the Natalie Cole song…but somehow the CD wouldn’t stop playing. It wasn’t really a big deal, other than there we were, my Dad and I just standing out in the middle of this dance floor waiting…and waiting…and waiting.

Of course, I made good use of the time and reminded my Dad (repeatedly over and over) that I couldn’t go backwards like normal in our waltz. With my bustle, the dress was up off of the floor, but just barely and I was really concerned about tripping and falling flat on my face. Call me Grace…but if it was going to happen to someone on their wedding day, it would be me!

Luckily, the music finally started and we moved into our motions. Without me going backwards. But leading me in the wrong direction kind of threw my Dad off a bit and we ended up doing a cross between a waltz and a two-step…it was cute though and no one but us could probably tell. But apparently we don’t take good pictures together, as this was the only really decent picture of the two of us dancing…

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great picture of the two of us – the joy and laughter on my Dad’s face is just priceless. I just wish that we hadn’t been making such awful faces through the rest of the pictures!

After that song ended, I got a small surprise. J came up to me and asked if it was her turn to dance with me now. I have to tell you that I nearly cried. If I had though ahead to plan this out, I couldn’t have done it better, but honestly it never crossed my mind that she would want a dance all on her own with me. Silly mommy! I quickly caught the DJ’s eye and requested what at the time was “our song” – Taylor Swift’s “Love Song.” We played this CD out in my car – at top volume and to this day, she still requests it on random days.

I’ll let the pictures show you this special, unplanned dance…

And of course, she wanted to be spun around and around…

And like the “little lady” that I’m trying to teach her to be, at the end of the dance I bowed and said “Thank you!”

Like I said, I couldn’t have planned this better if I’d tried…it was the perfect ending to the special dances before the dance floor was opened up to one and all!

Did you have any “surprise” special dances at your wedding? Or are you planning on any? I’d love to hear about it!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...

We Danced...

2010-05-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

You would think that when you’re THIS close to finishing up your recaps that they would just flow right out of your fingertips and into your computer, huh? Yeah, not so much. Of course, that might have more to do with me entering into my third trimester...LOL! My focus is clearly on other things right now! But I WILL finish these up within the next week or two hopefully...then I can really concentrate on baby stuff...

So when we last met, we had listened to our friends’ moving speeches and fed each other some cake...no, I’m not going to mention the icing on my face that also happened...which means that now it’s time for dancing! I guess that it’s normal at most weddings for the dancing to not “officially” start until after the bride and groom have their first dance, and our wedding was no exception. And from the looks of some of the dancers in our crowd, it was past time to get the party started!

I mentioned before that we didn’t really practice our first dance. That’s true. We sort of planned on a junior high school shuffle around the floor with some twirls and spins thrown in for good measure…but all done on the spur-of-the-moment. Since we had actually talked about it, sort of, I guess that could be considered planning? Yeah, I didn’t think so either!

Either way, it worked out perfectly...Brent took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor as “our song” started playing. (You know that you never really realize how long a song actually is until it’s just you two on the dance floor with everyone watching you and snapping your picture, right?) Our dance was nothing special and everything that we wanted all at the same time...

(About halfway through the dance I realized that his tie was thrown over his shoulder, so I fixed that and the last of the pictures don’t show his tie all funny.)

How did we pass the time? Because it did feel sort of never-ending...well, we talked. About the icing on my face, of course! This was me giving him more grief about it - check out that mischievious grin on his face...

And we kissed...

He spun me a few times...

And made me laugh, which is nothing new!

Like I said, it was perfect. We even took a bow when it was all said and done...

Next up – the father/daughter dance and one more VERY special dance...stay tuned!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate

The Great Cake Cutting Debate

2010-05-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

How do you feel about the whole cake smashing debate? It seems to me that you’re either on one side of the fence or the other…you’re either in favor of the act of smashing cake in your newly married loved one’s face, or you’re not. Can you tell which side of the fence that I’m on? LOL.

Me thinking that there were only two sides to this argument was my first mistake…me trusting my husband 100% was my second mistake.

So here’s how it went down. After the toasts were over and hugs went all around, the DJ announced that it was time to cut our cakes. I really, really, really hated to slice into our main cake…it was THAT perfect! But slice it up is what we eventually did. First, we moved into position and everyone (or everyone that wanted to see) crowded around the table. There was a brief moment when a wayward kid got too close to the table and I thought that the whole thing might come crashing down, but luckily that didn’t happen!

We picked up the carving knife, and that’s the moment that B thought to ask me how exactly we were supposed to do this…in hindsight, it might have been a good idea to practice this before the moment was caught on camera. I’m just making a suggestion, do with it what you will. But cutting a sliver of cake to feed to your new husband/wife is definitely harder than it looks!

So we moved into position behind the table and I gave B quick instructions to just cover my hand with his and I would guide him through the process…thinking in my head that since I bake/cook so much that I was the pro at this.

We make the first cut…

And all looks well – so far so good as we go in for the second cut…

I remove the knife from the cake and turn it horizontal so that the blade is flat and can be used to pull the cut piece out of the main body of the cake.

At least that was my intention…but you can see the look of "concern" starting on my face as I realize that maybe this isn’t going to happen the way it turns out in the “picture perfect” reel playing in my head...

By now, I’ve got some of the cake balanced on the knife, and realize that the only thing holding it upright is the rest of the cake. That’s all I can say about the face that I’m making…

Now I think that maybe, just maybe this is going to turn out all right because the cake is coming out, not toppled over (yet) and the plate is waiting in the wings to catch if needed…

Now you can see that maybe my plan isn’t working so well…B steps in to “save the day”

Success!! The cake is on the plate…didn’t fall off on the table…and now we can move on to tasting it.

Before taking my bite, I give B “the Look.” You know, the one that reminds him of the agreement that we had made earlier about NOT smashing cake in each other’s faces…then I open my mouth to get my bite.

But you can see that I’m still not 100% trusting him and I give him another "Look" as the piece is hovering right above my mouth…

He was a good groom and I got my piece of cake without incident…

This is me saying “Oh man, that is SO good!” without actually using words…

By this point, the crowd is getting antsy and they’re REALLY disappointed that B didn’t smash cake in my face. As the taunts get louder, I gather up a piece of cake to feed to B…and a look passes between us…

He licks off my fingers as I smile on…blissfully unaware of what his devious little mind has in store for me…

You see, while I was getting his piece ready and feeding it to him, his free hand was moving steadily toward the cake plate again…out of my line of sight…maybe you caught it? If not, I present Exhibit A:

Do you notice his free hand? Yeah…I didn’t.

So after feeding him his piece, I innocently lean in for a kiss from my groom…and since I love him SO much and am just basking in my newly married state of bliss…I am unaware of what’s about to hit me…

Yep, it was a finger-load of icing…placed ever so sweetly upon my cheek…

You can see my nose crinkling up there…but this is a better shot…

Mainly because it shows how proud of himself he was! He immediately destroys the rest of the “evidence” on his hand…

And I start giving him another “Look” but this time it might be in all caps – you know, a “LOOK!”

I have to admit that 6 months later, while writing this post, he was pretty smart. He kept his word to me in not smashing the cake all in my face while he fed it to me, which is what I definitely didn't want…and still managed to save face with his guy friends and get icing on me at some point during the process. It was the best of both worlds for him.

Me on the other hand? Oh, I was mad all right. Not like hold-a-grudge mad because after all, it’s just icing. It was more like an I-can’t-believe-that-you-did-that-to-my-makeup sort of mad. I wasn’t really upset…it was funny, and I love the pictures that came out of the event…so I guess he was right to do it the way that he did it. But I can’t say that I was 100% happy with him at the time.

So where do you stand on the cake-in-the-face issue? Are you planning on smashing your cake in your newly married spouse’s face? Or are you going to play nice? Maybe you could be like B and have the best of both worlds!

Up next is our First Dance, so I couldn’t stay mad for long…we had to take a quick break and let MOH help me get all of the extra icing off of my face before more photos were taken!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet

Our Cake Buffet

2010-05-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Next on my list to post about is cutting our cakes…but how can I do that without paying tribute to the cake buffet first?!? I can’t, I tell you, I just can’t do it!

Making the decision to have a cake buffet instead of just one cake with two or three flavors was like doing simple addition in my head. You know the kind – like knowing that 2 + 2 = 4…those little math problems that you don’t really even have to think about to get the answer (not the ones that require use of fingers and possibly toes to get there!). I thought to myself about what my favorite cake flavor might be, and what kind of cake that B would like best…and I have to admit that the list was long…really long.

Not that B was contributing much to the list…his favorite cake is hands down Red Velvet. And the only other request that he had made was to include German Chocolate cake for his Dad. My side of the list? Not NEARLY that short! I immediately (without pausing to consider if my fingers were ready for counting) had strawberry, Italian Cream, white with raspberry filling, chocolate, Red Velvet and Carrot. (Yes, Mom, that’s a new one that I’ve developed over the past few years.)

So you see how the math led to the cake buffet, right? Right. Plus, at the time I was reading a lot on weddingbee.com and there were SO many other brides providing me with LOTS of inspiration on the cake buffet front…so it was a done deal. B didn’t even argue on this one!

Just to make it a little more special, I decided that I would have all the moms in our lives bring their favorite cake plate to serve one of the cakes on. Since we were having more than just three cakes (that’s the number of Moms that we have between us) I also extended the invitation to my Maids to have them also bring a cake plate that was special to them. MOH at some point suggested asking those bringing cake plates to also bring serving sets if they had them, which was a BRILLIANT thought and just goes to show that my thought processes stopped at the cakes!

I bought a length of black velvet on sale at a fabric shop off of Harry Hines Blvd in Dallas – favorite fabric shopping place of all time! – and the table was given some height by standard cinder blocks from Lowe’s/Home Depot. We had planned on taking these back after using them – don’t hate on me for being frugal! – but I think that we’ve actually still got them. For what, I don’t know…but they’re in the garage, and that’s B’s domain.

So here’s a shot of the set-up…

And another shot at night, since I think that it shows up a little better…

And just to showcase our baker, Michelle with The Sweet Stuff out of Kyle, TX here are some close-ups of the individual cakes.

More of a traditional wedding cake style…I think that this one was Strawberry…

A newer design of just swirls that sort of mimicked our invites and other paper goods…this one might have been Italian Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting...

A standard German Chocolate cake…

This one was a Chocolate cake with Raspberry filling and chocolate icing with Chocolate Ganache on top…I’m not swearing that I know what Ganache is…but it was yummy! This is one that B saw in her book of cakes when we went in for our tasting and he HAD to have it!

And just to remind you about one of my little projects…here are the tent cards that I made for the cakes telling our guest the cake falvor and frosting information…

And now, the crown jewel…the most beautiful of all of our cakes…our two-tier wedding cake…

It was Red Velvet with Cream Cheese icing and Michelle took our exact scroll that was on all of our paper goods and copied it onto our cake. Not only that, but she also copied the monogram that I had designed, which was SO cool to me.

I had originally wanted to do a cake topper out of the monogram but ran out of time figuring out who to do it, where to get it and how much would it cost. This was free, included in the cost of the cakes, so killing two birds with one stone was worth the price of my sanity by that point!

All in all, I was thrilled with the work that Michelle did on our cakes. We were able to pick up the cakes the day before the wedding and store them onsite in our Reception Hall refrigerators and just placed them on the cake stands the afternoon of the wedding, allowing them to warm up a bit before cutting and eating. Michelle was easy to work with, had great prices and I’ve used her for two birthday cakes since having our wedding…you know that has to speak volumes for what I think about her cakes! If you're having your wedding at Texas Old Town, or anywhere South of Austin...I would highly recommend using Michelle for your cakes. Here's a link to her site.

Another tip for future brides doing cake buffets…have extra cake stands. One of the moms only had one cake stand, but one or two of them brought two (or even three) stands. Since we ordered multiple cakes in same flavors, it was nice to be able to “stage” the cakes in the kitchen on their stands ahead of time. That way, when the German Chocolate cake was all gone out front, someone just had to run to the kitchen and grab the next one without having to worry with swapping cake stands. Just a thought for you!

Now that we’ve all admired our cake buffet…and our tummies are growling…let’s get on to the meat of cutting cakes. Did we smash cake in each other’s faces??? You’ll have to hang in there to find out!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...

Raise Your Glasses...

2010-05-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

You want to know the one problem with being a slacker bride when it comes to writing up your recaps? You have to look back at the file names on the pictures to remember some of the order of things! This is why you should write up your recaps right away, brides! Learn one more thing from me, please...

Once we had finished eating, we started making our rounds to visit with all the guests. Then, before I knew it, the DJ was turning the volume of the music down and asking us to make our way back up front. I glanced towards the front of the room and noticed MOH and Best Man S standing there at the DJ’s station with a microphone...that could only mean one thing – time for Toasts! MOH went and collected our glasses for us, and little J came up to stand with us while our friends toasted us...

Luckily for us, we have good friends and there was no roasting! There were a few jokes made between B and S during Best Man S’s toast, but most of the speech was about what a great friend B had been to S over the years. The guys got a little choked up, but no tears were shed.

Just like I can’t remember the order of the events during the evening specifically, I also can’t remember the exact words that S used in his speech. I do know that it was from the heart...with a few jokes thrown in for good measure...and meant the world to B.

Next up, it was MOH’s turn.

Now, I have to say that I was SO proud of myself for keeping my composure throughout the day. There was a moment of tears before I left the hotel...and then a few times during the ceremony where they threatened to make an appearance, but I held firm and they stayed away. That is, until MOH took the microphone. And then “ugly cry face” came out to party…

MOH had sweet, wonderful words to share with our family and friends, and even if I don’t recall each and every line of her toast, I do vividly remember her coming to my defense from nay-sayers who had threatened my choices and good mood the week before. It touched me so much that she (who wasn’t my actual sister) was supporting me (and us) like a real sister should (that’s how you can tell true sisters – not by blood, but by choice!). And that’s when it happened...ugly cry face came out to play...You can see the tears starting...

And then I tried to stop them by laughing...

But in the end, she moved me to tears, and I loved her for it.

There were hugs all around at the end of the speeches, between the guys...

And between us gals...

And you know that B couldn’t resist trying to mimic my ugly cry face to MOH afterwards! He’s such a comedian!

Next up, I needed to dry those eyes because it’s time to start the dancing...our first dance as husband and wife...with no clue about what we were going to do! No practicing or choreography for us, although it would have been REALLY nice!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!

Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!

2010-05-05T06:30:00.000-05:00

B will totally be mortified that I’m sharing this picture with you all, but there is no other way to open this post...

Yep, that’s my husband. Literally SKIPPING and JUMPING for joy while waiting to be introduced to our reception...he’s SUCH a ham!

I can’t believe that one of the photographers caught that on film...and I’m just super-duper sneaky for sharing it with one and all! But it really relays with actions how we all felt at that moment, so it was too perfect not to share.

The pictures were taken, the guests were all inside the reception hall (mostly) and the wedding party reunited outside the reception doors for our grand entrance. We quickly met with the DJ and went over name pronunciations, and she went back inside to start the show. To say that we were antsy was an understatement...do I need to show B’s picture again?!?!

Having the ceremony over and done with and being finished with our pictures meant only one thing to us...it was time to PARTY! Not that we were planning on getting stinking drunk or anything, but the relief at having most of the wedding over and down with was so huge. Now it was time to relax, sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors over the past several months...eat good food, visit with family and friends and most importantly dance the night away!

The DJ called us in pairs...Maid Britney and Groomsman R went first...

Followed by Maid Momma and Groomsman B...

Then MOH and Best Man S...and no, you haven’t seen the last of his antics yet!

And then it was our turn...Mr. and Mrs.!

I have to tell you that walking into our reception hall was the second best moment of the whole entire day! (Second only to being pronounced man and wife and kissing my husband to “seal the deal!”) The amount of love and support was just literally pouring off of our family and friends as they stood at our entrance and clapped. I was literally overwhelmed. It almost moved me to tears, and had B not been holding my hand dragging me towards the back and to the food, I think that I would have been struck dumb. You know, like when you can’t talk or even move because you just don’t know how to react? It was SUCH a positive outpouring of well-wishes, love and cheer for us that I didn’t know what to do.

Coolest thing ever!

We had made the decision earlier that the wedding party would start the food line, so we didn’t stop at any of the tables to talk to anyone. We just worked our way to the back of the room and fixes ourselves a plate of delicious BBQ and sides. It was mouth-watering good. I wish that I had pictures...oops, just another thing on my list of pictures that I should have specified – once again, it’s important to have lists! It doesn’t mean that you’re OCD or anal-retentive...it’s just good practice on such a busy day.

We took our food back to the front of the room and I immediately dug in. B was the gentleman and took our glasses back to the bar so that they could be filled with a drink, and I didn’t even offer to help...I was SO hungry! The food was wonderful, my plate didn’t even look like I had touched it after I was all done with it. Having the separate table on stage to ourselves really gave us a few minutes to sit back and enjoy. Yes, some people came up and talked to us and gave us hugs and well wishes, but for the most part, we had a few minutes as husband and wife to take it all in.

Our bridal party and their families surrounded us, and being trapped back in the corner with a bridal gown, heels and stairs really made it easy to just sit back and let someone else bring me what I needed! I won’t lie – I totally ate it up! It was nice to be waited on hand and foot, people!

Before I knew it, I was stuffed, and it was time to make our rounds and visit with all of the guests. We had timed things just right, it seemed – we finished just as the last person that was in line for food at the buffet got back to their table. I wanted to make it to each table and thank everyone personally for coming and celebrating with us, but I know that it didn’t happen. In reality, people get up and move around once they finish eating and I can’t blame them for that. I will say that I think that I hugged/talked to about 85-90% of the guests in attendance during our rounds, so that’s not bad!

Did you struggle to make it around to all of your tables too? I’m curious...

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...

It’s the Smallest Things...

2010-05-03T10:00:00.005-05:00

…that make your wedding day perfect. I thought before I got to the reception pictures that I would share with you the up close and detail shots that our photographer, Christina Carroll, got of the décor around the reception hall.

These were all the projects that I sweat and slaved over...pouring all of my creativity and craftiness into making...and it was SO special to me that she got pictures of it all. To me, these are the things that made our wedding about US...they’re what made our wedding stand out and be special in our minds and in other’s minds.

Hope you enjoy!

Our programs – laying in their basket...the basket that I bought on sale, spray painted and made the liner for…

And a close-up on one of the programs all opened up...

Our Mason jar drinking glasses, which I painstakingly used as escort/seating cards...I printed them all out, stamped them, embossed them, mounted them and then tied them on...lots of work – but SO worth the effort!

And a special shot of my glass...this is the last time that you’ll see it empty!

Our favors...snickerdoodle cookies that I made from scratch...along with the labels explaining about our charitable donation...my Maids and Mom helped me stuff all of those cookies and seal all the bags. So much hard work, and SO yummy!

The main table that guests saw when they walked into the reception hall...all decorated with our signing book and kids activity books.

A close up of the activity books...

And some shots of the quilt-piece “signature book” layout...an update on how that quilt is coming soon, I promise!

And now for the table arrangements...our bridal table...

Our bridal party centerpieces...recognize those bouquets?

And our guest tables...

Like I said before...all of these elements added together make your wedding your own. Was it a pain in the butt to work on all of this stuff? Sure it was. But I enjoyed most of it. And to me, the end result was MORE than worth it! Our wedding was exactly as I had envisioned it...rustic elegance...and it was all of these small details that helped make it that way! And, Mom/MOH, you HAVE to admit that those EGGGPLANT tablecloths really MADE the room!!! LOL!!! It was worth all the time that it took to find them, huh? ;)

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...

Now It's Just Us...

2010-04-30T13:00:00.006-05:00

I apologize if you were around and saw all the posts that went crazy this afternoon. I read about a new way to upload photos that would make them better and had to try it...it took a few tries!

Get nice and comfy...because as short as the pictures were of the Bridal Party...there are a TON of pictures of the two of us! It’s not that I didn’t like the bridal party pictures as well, but do you know how hard it is to capture 8 people all looking in the right direction, with the right expression on their face, in the right lighting at the same time?!?! It’s nearly impossible! But it’s MUCH easier to work with just TWO people...

There are some shots here that I love, love, L.O.V.E. And then there are some that are ok. They’re all great pictures, don’t get me wrong, but not all of them speak to me like some of the others do...do your pictures do that to you too? Or am I just crazy? (Don’t answer that MOH!)

So here’s the happy couple...we started off by staying in the field where we were...

You know that we'd been "serious" long enough...

And then we couldn't STOP laughing...which made for some really cute pictures!

Then she wanted that "Vogue" shot again, so here's our best attempt...

Which didn't last all that long...

Before we knew it, we were REALLY cracking ourselves up!

Then we moved across the field over to a fence/gate for this series.

We both look so serious here...

And you KNOW that wouldn't last!

This is one of B's favorite pictures...he loves it when I laugh so hard that my nose "crinkles"...and I, of course, do NOT like that shot!

But I like that we've both smiling in this one...wondering what he was telling me? There's NO telling!

Here's the requisite shot of the groom making a grab at the bride...

Before we headed back to the reception hall, we stopped at this corner to take a couple of last shots...

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!

The "Group" Says Cheese!

2010-04-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

**Oops! I missed my goal of having these recaps done by the time that our 6-month anniversary passed...oh well, it's good to have goals, right? It gives you something to shoot for...even if you don't always make it! I thought that it would be close, but let's be honest...I don't even have all of the pictures uploaded to Blogger yet...I need to pick up the pace!!

Once the gals and I were finished with our round of giggles prompted by this episode, we were ready for our bridal party pictures. Like I mentioned before, we traipsed back out to the LOVELY field that was behind our reception hall, and it gave us a gorgeous backdrop to use for these pictures.

The only thing that was a small concern was that during the time when we were taking these pictures, there was a wedding going on at the hall right next to us. Like, as in, they were having their entrance right when we were making our way to the back field for our pictures. I was a little worried that we might be too noisy and ruin another bride’s wedding, but lucky for me our friends are just as considerate as we are and once we were all aware of the problem, we made sure to keep the noise level down.

(If you’ll remember, that was my one concern with booking at Texas Old Town – how close Redbud Hall and Tejas Hall sit next to one another. But as far as I know, this was the only time that we even slightly crossed paths, so Danny (the manager) was right and it was a non-issue!)

So on to the eye candy...we started with the "couples" staggered behind us...And then we kissed...and yes, there might have been some cat calling...We all got in a line and smiled very prettily for the camera...And then Christina moved us into some more casual shots...which turned out to be my favorites!Yes, that's all fake laughter...it's hard to laugh on command!Once we finished up the bridal party shots, we released everyone back to the main reception hall (or the bathroom) except for MOH in case we needed something held. Up next – we pose for the camera...you don’t think that they’re all going to be seductive and romantic looking do you? You should know better by now! Stay tuned – there’s some good ones!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!

Now THAT’S Love!

2010-04-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Oh wow. Are you in for a treat today or what? You can’t possibly be as excited as I am right now...you should be, you just don’t know it yet! I have a funny story to share with you. I know, it’s almost unheard of...me doing something outrageous or hilarious and making you LOL while you sit at your desk and “work.”

I mentioned a few posts back that the music was the main “oops” moment during our wedding...and that still holds true. For the most part. But there was something going on behind the scenes that only a few people know about...and it’s pretty funny! I wasn’t sure that I was going to share it with you all...not that I don’t love you...but it’s too funny to NOT share. So here goes. Oh, and I won’t even begin to apologize for there not being any pictures that captured this “oops” moment...just sit back, read and enjoy the story!

We finished with our family pictures, and what I haven’t told you yet is that all during the ceremony – well, mainly just the walking parts, I was noticing a “shift” in garments. Undergarments to be more specific. Standing still for family pictures was not that big of a deal since the rest of the family moved around us and the four of us stayed stationary for the most part. But during “scene changes” between families, I was giving a gentle tug (when I thought that no one was looking and I could be discreet) on my underwear. Now, I know what you’re thinking...the most common underwear problem known to women is crawling underwear...crawling up, that is. But that wasn’t the case here.

You see, in an effort to be slightly romantic for my hubby I had gone out and bought some new sexy VS undies for the big day. But the joke was on me, wasn’t it? Since Mother Nature “blessed” me the day before our wedding, the joke turned out to be on me...hahaha. No, I wasn’t really laughing either! Anyway, so these panties were new – washed, but unworn. They were too pretty not to wear (they were in our colors – black and cream) so I decided the day of the wedding to wear them anyway and feel pretty, even if it was that time of the month. I even managed to go to the bathroom all by myself (like a big girl!) before the ceremony started with no assistance needed from any of the Maids. They were willing, but there’s just only so much a girl can ask of her friends, right?

Anyway...so these panties were new. Tried and un-tested previous to our wedding day, which might have been my mistake. I maybe should have worn them one other time just to see how they “wore” for lack of a better way of describing things. But I didn’t. Learn from me, PLEASE! Wear your special panties at least for an hour of serious walking around before wearing them on your wedding day when they’re not easily accessible for adjustments! It’s just smart to do these things...me? Not so smart, obviously.

We finished up the family pictures and gathered all of the wedding party back together so that we could traipse off back into the meadow that we all loved so much...and as we’re walking, I admit to MOH (sort of under my breath) that I think that I’m having difficulties. I explain the problem – there are too many layers between gown, under-gown and petticoat for me to find a gauzy layer of underwear and give them a good yanking up. After we both had a giggle about it, I decided to press on and finish the pictures first and then I could make a quick “pit stop” before making our entrance in the reception hall. Good plan, right? Yeah...

Well, it seems that the panties had another plan of their own. Before we could even get around Redbud Hall to the meadow, I knew that the situation was a little more serious than I had first thought. I paused, and MOH stopped with me, along with the rest of the bridal party. One look at my face and MOH broke out in laughter, she understood that look, and immediately took charge of the situation...even if she DID laugh while doing so. She called Maid Britney over to hold all flowers, and shooed everyone else on towards the field, telling the photographer that we were having a “wardrobe malfunction” and would be along shortly. We turned and started toward our dressing room, and I had taken no more than two steps and realized that these undies were NOT going to make it to the dressing room. They honestly felt like they had already slipped over my hips and were making their way down towards my thighs...It had to be fixed, and it had to be fixed right HERE!

Being the good sport that she is...MOH didn’t even bat an eye. She backed me up against the back of the reception hall, put Maid Britney on the “look out” and dove up under my layers of dresses. Where she proceeded to get a good “grip” and make some adjustments for me. In other words, MOH has now seen my bare butt. I mean, not like she was trying to look, but how could she avoid it?!?! I was mortified...but SO very grateful to feel “secure” once again. LOL! And if you ask me, she gave an extra tug – “just to be sure” or so she said...maybe it was payback for having to pull up my britches in the first place!

After all was well in my world again, we fell apart in laughter. I mean, like give-me-side-stitches laughter. It was THAT funny! Luckily, or hopefully, no one saw anything (other than MOH, that is) and we rejoined the rest of the party quickly. B, of course, assured me that he would have been more than happy to help with the problem once I explained to him what was going on...and I’m sure that he would have...but we were in a field with our closest friends and some of their spouses...maybe not the time and place for his sort of “help.”

So the moral of the story? You’ve really got two choices: 1) Wash and wear your special undies for at least a little while before that special occasion or 2) Be sure to surround yourself with women who are willing to “go the extra mile” for you when you start to have wardrobe malfunctions! Either way works...just depends on your own personal level of embarrassment tolerance! ;)

Family Pictures

2010-04-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

There’s really no exciting way to present family pictures, if you ask me...most of my readers don’t know my family...but since there are some family members who do read my blog, I think that they should be posted.

There were a couple of items that needed to be “set up” for the reception, like lighting candles, and a few things that needed to be taken down from the ceremony, like those chairs that we rented...and doing the family portraits right after the wedding gave us a little bit of time to do these things. Our wedding party went off on their missions, and we stayed with most of our family members and smiled and said “Cheese!” for the obligatory family portraits.

So without further ado...or too many comments, let me present our family pictures.

First up...our new family...

And just the cutie pies by themselves...new brothers and sisters! J was REALLY excited to call T her brother officially now...T? Well, he tried not to act too excited, but then again, he's 12...boys at the age try to act like everything's not really all that cool!Us with our minister...who did a FABULOUS job on the ceremony!My Mom and step-dad...Adding in my little sister and step-brother (with family)...so this would be my Mom's side of the family...Then with my Dad and step-mom...Adding in my step-sister and her family...Then all of my aunts, uncles and cousins from that side of the family...my Dad's side of the family...Us with B's Dad and step-mom...Adding in his grandmother...Then adding in sister and step-brothers...Then we called up my ex-step-dad (who raised me) for a quick shot...And then we added in my little sister...And finally, I wanted one more shot...with ALL of our parents...past, present, step or otherwise...I would have really liked to have had one more family picture...B had a LOT of family that was present on our wedding day that is not pictured here. I guess that they all (aunts, uncles, cousins) thought that the announcement for family to stick around mainly meant immediate family members. The best we can figure is that they hit the bar - lucky people!

That's where we were wishing we were headed...but nope. One more stop along the road to the reception first...up next - bridal party pictures!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!

OMG...

2010-04-21T13:00:00.001-05:00

Let me start this post off by saying that yes, I know that I'm a dork. I revel in it and fully embrace my dorkiness...

I interrupt regularly scheduled posts to admit that I just clicked onto my Google Analytics account for this little blog this morning. I know, I know, I should look at this stuff more often than once a month...but I’ve been a little preoccupied!

Anywho...so I check my stats out today, and guess what I found? Are you ready? Are you sitting down for this? I was SO excited, that I’m totally being a little cheesy about all of this, but still...I found that there are quite a few sites that are hitting my blog by way of referral. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then I’ll explain (to the best of my knowledge) – there are two kinds of internet traffic: direct traffic that meant to type in your website and visit there and indirect traffic that clicked over to your blog through another link on a different website.

I know that this works because last month, I linked to Mrs. Sea Breeze’s blog in one of my posts on my baby blog and low and behold she commented back on my blog! Yes, I might have jumped up and down at work for just a minute...you would think that a celebrity personally contacted me. But let’s face it, there are a few Bees that I would LOVE to meet in real life who are kind of like celebrities on a wedding scale, and she’s one of mine...and she must have found me through her Google Analytics. I know that she uses it, because she’s posted about it before...so that got me thinking – who might (or might not) be reading my little blog?

Anyway, back to my story. So I click over to my account and pull up A Bride...Again blog stats. I notice that there is quite a bit of referring traffic, so I delve deeper into those Referring sites. And guess what I found? A little website called Best Bridal Blogs has MY blog listed under Texas wedding blogs to follow!!!

Are you jumping up and down for me too? Aww...how sweet! Thanks!

I was SO excited! And what makes it even better to me is that when I look through the other blogs that were chosen for this site, there are some pretty good ones out there...like Broke-Ass Bride (aka Mrs. Meatball)! Do you mean to tell me that my blog is on a list for best bridal blogs AND that also on that list are some of my all-time favorite blogs, including BAB?!?! Not to leave out the others on there that I love...The Encore Bride, just to name another one.

And that’s when the jumping continued...which 6 and a half month pregnant women should probably not be doing! At least, not without planning for a little side trip to the bathroom, people...

Anyway, maybe you care and maybe you don’t. That’s ok with me. I vaguely recall submitting my blog for consideration in the months leading up to my wedding, possibly after getting a rejection from my weddingbee application...and never hearing back from Best Bridal Blogs if anything had been decided. So I guess that I was selected! I’ve put a link to their website there on the right side of my blog if you’re looking for other great bridal blogs to read...check them out.

And yes, you can do a little happy dance for me too, if you click over there and scroll down to Texas and notice that of the two blogs listed...this little blog is one of them! It kind of makes me want to say – “take THAT weddingbee!”

Let me hear an “Amen!”

We’re Man and Wife!

2010-04-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve spent this past weekend organizing my wedding pictures...and yes, there were 395 that just HAD to be printed out for myself! Wink, wink!! No, my Mom was in town and I’ve been meaning to print them all out and put them in an album so that family members could look at them easier than perusing the 4 discs that we got from our photographer...but between home remodeling and baby stuff...wedding pictures kind of fell to the back burner.

But this visit prompted my little toosh to get in gear, and I ordered ALL 395 of my “favorites” to be printed. (And yes, it helped that Walgreen’s was running a great sale on prints!) We looked through them this weekend, and then I spent about an hour last night putting them “in order.” This was actually an easier process than I thought...I suppose working on my recaps has helped and I was able to put all the pictures into two large envelopes before I went to bed last night. Then, this morning, I took about 30 minutes and got most of the file names on the back of each shot...this was a hard-learned lesson from previous photo shoots – label your pictures well...that way when a family says “I want a copy of this one!” you know exactly which one this one is!

Anyway, all of that was a rambling way to say that looking at my wedding pictures over the last few days makes me SO happy! Most importantly, I love, love, LOVE seeing the smiles and laughter that are apparent in almost every single picture. Yes, the boys tried to not smile and just stand there and look serious...but for the most part, there was so much joy and laughter on our wedding day. And isn’t that the way that it should be? I know, from past experience, that this is not always the case...but looking at our wedding pictures I am just overwhelmed all over again with how MUCH happiness there was that day.

It flowed from us, from our families who (I hope!) we so happy to see each of us happy, and from our friends who had been there with us through the good and bad times before in our lives...and they were all celebrating right along with us. What a wonderful feeling...and how truly blessed we are!

I hope that is what you take away from these next few posts...the joy...the smiles...the laughter...and yes, the LOVE that is so apparent to me in these pictures.

So now that I’ve said all of that...let’s get to those pictures, shall we? We last left off right after the hand fasting ceremony and we were about to seal the deal with a great, big sloppy kiss! Well, maybe not that sloppy...

Our minister said some closing words and then spoke B’s favorite part of the ceremony – “You may now kiss your bride!”

We paused to take in the moment...

Then laid one on each other!I love that the second photographer captured the moment from a different angle...and that it was a bit closer!And there was laughter...just pure joy!And possibly a few great, big, belly laughs...I can’t tell you much about the kiss...but I can tell you how extremely happy I was at that moment. Total bliss. There’s no other way to describe it, I don’t think. I was finally married to the man of my dreams!

I got my bouquet back from MOH, and we turned to face the audience as the minister announced our new names...and then the applause and cat calls started!What didn’t start? The music right away...so there was an awkward moment or two...And after the mishap at the start of the ceremony...there were a few chuckles here!Once James Brown started singing his diddy, we moved on down the aisle, hand in hand, as husband and wife. I was ecstatic the whole walk down the aisle...just had the biggest grin on my face EVER! Our wedding party followed suit, and we all gathered at the back of the clearing.

As we made our way around the side of the clearing, back towards the front of the ceremony site for family pictures, the minister made the announcement for family to please stick around for some photos and friends could head to the reception hall, just across the road. It was a smooth transition to picture time...and I can remember nothing other than how happy we were...just kept squeezing each other’s hand, sneaking little kisses, and telling each other how much we loved the other one!

A perfect ending to the ceremony, if you ask me!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...

Becoming Man and Wife...

2010-04-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Let’s see...where were we? Oh yeah...the boys came in, followed by the girls...then I made my own entrance with a little help from James Brown (at least it’s a memorable bride’s entrance, right?) and I joined my soon-to-be husband. So there we were, gathered in front of family and friends... Our photographer, Christina Carroll, captured the whole ceremony layout with some interesting lenses and angles...I'll let the picture do the talking...but I will mention that these are some of my absolute favorite pictures!Our ceremony was very special to us. In fact, we wrote the ceremony...and yes, that’s one of those “we” comments that really means “me.” But B did have input and he helped edit things down to where we thought it was a good representation of us. Something that we both knew for the start was that we wanted our wedding ceremony to be personal, a representation of us and who we were as a couple...and, since we’d both been married before, we wanted something different than in either of our previous ceremonies.

For instance, we knew we wanted to incorporate some type of unity ceremony to symbolize our coming together – joining of the families and all, but neither of us wanted to do a candle ceremony. After doing some research online, I was pretty set on having a hand fasting ceremony and lucky for me, B went along with me.

Once I had done some research, and our ceremony was written up, it was a bit on the lengthy side. Dwayne, our minister, was practicing at home several times a week, becoming more familiar with what we had written out for him, and was still timing it at about an hour. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem for most couples...but we knew that there would be somewhere around 40 children in the audience...getting more and more antsy by the minute. In hindsight...short and sweet might be a better plan. But we LOVED what we had put together, and we just couldn’t cut it down any further. After checking to make sure that Dwayne was ok with the length...and double (or triple) checking the sunset times with Christina Carroll to ensure that we would be able to do pictures after the ceremony, even though it was a lengthy ceremony, we kept it like it was. And I’m SO glad that we did.

I know that I like to talk, but I think that I'll let the pictures tell the story...for the most part, anyway!

We stood in front of family and friends, hands together...We heard words of wisdom, that came from the heart...There was laughter...And possibly a little "ribbing" since it was a friend who married us...But I don't think that we spent any of this time not touching...

He gave me a ring...And I returned the favor...We exchanged our vows...

While our friends and family looked on and struggled not to cry...and fidget...Luckily for us, Dwayne was a little nervous...and we were just a “bit” excited and before either one of us knew it, the rings had been exchanged...the vows had been repeated...and Best Man S stepped up with our hand fasting ropes. I loved this part of our ceremony SO much...I just have to share the words:

“S, take B’s hands palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you:
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love. They are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you all the days of his life.
Now B, take S’s hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you:
These are the hands of your best friend, smooth, young and carefree. They are holding yours on your wedding day, as she promises to love you all the days of her life.
Now, please join hands so that they may be fasted in the ways of old. Remember then as your hands are fasted, these are not the ties that bind…
[Cords are held aloft by Best Man]
The love already shared by your hearts has been strengthened by the vows you have taken.

You will be bound by your love as you are bound by your clasped hands from now until the end of your days.

[As the following is recited, the couples hands are wrapped with cords by Best Man]

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as you build your future together.

These are the hands that will hold you whenever illness, fear, or grief may find you.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.

These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours.
[Binding is finished and cords are knotted]
Bless these hands that you see before you this day.
May they always reach out with love, gentleness and respect.
May they build a loving relationship that lasts a lifetime.
May they always be held by one another.
If you follow these words and heed this sacred binding, your hands will heal, protect, shelter and guide.
Now, you may remove the cords, but remember the knot as a lasting symbol of your binding and commitment.”

[Cords are removed and stored]

**Source from here.

I think that I'm laughing so hard because B was giving BM a hard time about how good of a job he did wrapping us up...taking them off was a little more difficult!

Truthfully, my heart still gives a little tug when I read those words...they were SO powerful and meaningful to us. I literally got a chill reading this part of our ceremony now months after our wedding.

Before we knew it, the ceremony was complete, and it was every bride and groom’s favorite part of the ceremony...our first kiss as man and wife!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!

Big News...

2010-04-12T17:00:00.001-05:00

Want to hear some REALLY good news?

Click here and find out what I'm talking about!!!

Here Comes the Bride!

2010-04-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

I know that there’s not a lot of originality to the title...but I couldn’t resist! =)

Here we are...the bride’s BIG moment...walking down the aisle. Towards a new life. Towards her future and the man of her dreams. For me, even with it not being my first trip down the aisle, this moment was no less special and amazing. The last time that I had made this momentous walk, I was making it for many reasons...but none of them were for love. People marry in the world everyday for many, many reasons...and love isn’t always the main one.

I had a small round of tears/fears earlier during the afternoon...but felt nothing at this moment but pure happiness. 100% joy. A million times different than I had felt at this moment the last time that I had made this walk. An encore bride tries hard (at least I did) to make this trip completely different than the last time that she made this walk...and you try really hard not to think about the last time that you said vows...and all of the reasons that you ended up not fulfilling those vows...but it’s really unavoidable. Maybe it was just me, but it was really hard not to compare the two days in my mind.

And this day? Well, like I said earlier, it was a million times better. I was completely, 100% in love with my groom, and wanted nothing more in my life at that moment than to marry this man. To forge our future together for better or for worse. And for someone who’s already seen what the worst could be like...it takes a lot of courage to do this again. You know that you might be hurt. You know that you might let others down. Worse yet, you might let yourself down. But I firmly believe, with all that I have, that making this journey with the right person makes all the difference. It makes a world of difference.

So there I was...peeking out from around the corner of the building, trying my hardest to stay behind the trees and shrubs so that my groom wouldn’t see me until the last minute...and my dad came to get my hand. I smiled a humongous smile...and got ready to get this show on the road. I heard all of the music starting and everything was going great. But you know, don’t you that something typically goes a little bit wrong, right? Hopefully it’s not too wrong, and if you’re lucky no one else but you even notices that it was wrong. That’s the best case. That’s not the case that I got.

Unfortunately, my wedding “moment” for lack of a better word, was totally and completely noticeable...and embarrassingly hilarious. I mean, like the whole crowd was laughing. Let me back up and explain...

You see, it all started because I had forgotten to plan one teensy, tiny detail that would make a HUGE difference during our wedding ceremony. Maybe you can remember back far enough to recall that I had waited until the last minute to decide on my wedding music...and something that I had never really thought about was who was going to run my wedding music. I think that it hit me like three days before the wedding that the DJ that we’d hired only covered the reception.

So what about the ceremony music? Yeah...it would have been nice to have thought about it earlier, but I didn’t. Hmmm...when the chips are down, and you’re in a bind, who comes through the best? Family. Right? Right.

You see, I have a cousin in college here in Austin that is a wizard when it comes to electronics. And I’m not exaggerating, either. When he was in high school, he started an ebay business where he bought broken iPods and fixed them and resold them for profit. Smart kid. And when you have someone in the family like that...obviously, that’s the person that you want to operate some sound equipment and handle your pre-made (and in order) CD on your wedding day, right? Right.

Except that I forgot to tell him about this plan. I meant to call him, I really did. I thought about it three days before the wedding...then again two days before the wedding...and again the day before the wedding. But when do you think that I actually asked him? If you guessed right before the ceremony started...then you’d be right!

I actually talked to my aunt (his mom) the day before the wedding when I ran into her at the hotel. She said that it was fine and he could handle it easily...but I didn’t talk to HIM specifically, or place the CD into his hot little hands with instructions, until the hour before the ceremony. Ok, maybe it was 30 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. And maybe it was really my Mom who passed on the message, and not me exactly. But whatever.

In all honesty, it shouldn’t have caused any problems. There was a CD with before ceremony music that we had picked out that was set to play already. And then the ceremony music was on a separate CD with only four songs on it...in the right order...only needing to be sped up to the next song when we had extra time left. Easy, breezy.

But what happens when you need MORE time? Yeah. A really good question that maybe I should have thought about ahead of time...but honestly it just never crossed my mind. The song that I had selected to walk down the aisle to was a live version of Martina McBride singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” If you’re familiar with Martina, she’s known for holding out a note long and hard...and she’s one of the most talented country music singers there is, in my opinion. This song is no different. And there was this ONE part that I had in my head that would be perfect for me to arrive at the end of the aisle at...for B’s first moment of seeing me. The music builds and swells and she holds this fantastic note...it was just perfect.

The day before, when we practiced, I realized that my Maids were going to get to the front WAY before that moment in the song. So when we got to the back of the aisle (still hidden in the bushes and shrubs), I instructed them at the last minute to wait there while the prelude music played and not make an entrance until Martina actually started singing. Thinking in my head that this would buy the extra time that I needed, right?

Well, it worked. My Dad and I walked out at just the right moment. There was my groom and his handsome men standing at his side...
The music swelled...I stepped out...
And B got his first look at his bride...I love that the photographer caught our minister watching B's reaction to seeing me...The look on his face said it all. And then Martina paused to recover from her long note. You can see where this is going right?

My cousin, who is in NO WAY to blame for this mistake, thought that the song was over. And doing what anyone else would do in this situation, he hit fast forward to get to the next song. That’s what anyone in their right mind would do, right? Only if you had listened to the song before would you have known that Martina went on to actually finish the song for another 30-45 seconds after her pause. Which would have been the exact time that I needed to walk down the aisle. Or close enough.

But bless his heart, he hit the fast forward button just as I made my “dramatic bride pause” at the end of the aisle and waited for everyone to stand and turn to look at me. (Yes, it was MY day...I looked great...and was proud of the fact that I felt like a princess...I wanted to revel in it a little bit!) Just as they stood and turned, this is what the crowd heard...

“OW! I feel good...nah nah nah nah nah nah nah...” I think that you can finish the rest, right?

The look on B’s face was priceless...check it out!It's that frozen-smile-in-place, "OMG what is happening?" look...perfect!

You see, there was no music during the actual ceremony. So the next song on the CD was the song that we were going to use to make our exit. Except that the song that we were exiting to was a surprise to B. He didn’t ask, and I didn’t tell. I just thought that it would be so cute when at the end of the ceremony, after we were announced as husband and wife to have James Brown sing “I Feel Good!” It would sum up everything that we both felt in that moment.

Except that it came at the wrong moment. I was shocked. Didn’t know what to do. My Dad looked at me and I think he actually asked me if they were playing the right music? Which I found funny. As in totally hilarious. I started laughing. And looked up front at my groom to find him and his guys laughing. And that’s when the crowd lost it and THEY started laughing.

And poor Z, my cousin...he was frantically trying to rewind the CD as fast as he could. But in his haste, he just hit rewind once...which only went back to “OW! I feel good...nah nah nah nah nah nah nah...”

Which only made our wedding guests laugh THAT much harder! It was by far the funniest moment of our wedding. And the best news? Since I thought that it was funny...I refrained from being a Bridezilla (which I had been accused of being earlier in the week) and went with the moment and just relaxed about it all. I mean, who could I really blame? Only myself, if I’m honest.

Luckily, my cousin corrected his mistake very quickly, and restarted Martina’s song...and after settling down our giggles, my Dad and I started down the aisle. Still kind of giggling over the James Brown incident...But totally happy to be where I was...I only stumbled once or twice on the uneven ground...And finally arrived at my destination. My Dad stood there proudly and did his part in passing my hand to B when our preacher asked who gave this woman to this man...answered my favorite response “Her Mother and I do.” His part done, my hand was given over, and I stepped onto the stage, holding tightly to my soon-to-be husband’s hand. More ready than ever to make this incredible journey. I was here again...but for the right reasons this time. I couldn’t wait to say “I Do!”

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!

It’s Show Time!

2010-04-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

When we last left off, the photographer had done the pictures with the girls...then quickly wrapped up her session with the guys...and it was about five minutes until show time. The girls and I had just a few minutes for a quick pee break (that was for me) and a quick check on make-up and hair. Bouquets were handed out and the girls made me wait at the corner of the building well-hidden out of sight.

The processional had to start first, before I could make my way out of my “hidey-hole” and start the trek over behind the bushes and stay out of sight until my moment. But before I could come out of hiding, B had to make his way down the aisle. And before he could do that, we had to get the grandparents and parents seated.

First up...B’s grandmother on his Dad’s side, with her son (B’s Dad walking her down the aisle).

In fact, she was the only grandparent present to be seated. I’ve only got one left, and she wasn’t up to making the trip to the wedding, and B’s other grandmother had taken a fall the week before and wasn’t enough recovered to make the wedding. So seating the grandparents was pretty snappy.

I’m a firm believer in the husband walking the wife down the aisle. Not having the mother ushered in and the father following along behind like a good little puppy dog. But that’s just my personal preference. Plus, this was a pretty small wedding, and we had no ushers. So the order of the parents coming in was very important, as two Dads had to do double duty.

Once B’s dad seated his mom, he had to make his way back to the back of the aisle for his wife...and since my own Dad needed to escort his wife in and then come back for me, our order made perfect sense for our scenario. I’ll let the pictures show the line-up.

We’ve already seen B’s Dad and grandmother. Up next was my Dad and step-mother.B’s Dad and step-mother.It's totally OK to wave at people when you're making your walk...

And finally, my Mom and step-father. That order gave everyone the time that they needed to make their first escort, seat them (or drop them off) and then get back to the back of the aisle in time for their next escort. Luckily, no one had more than one person to escort, so it all worked out well for us.

After the parents were seated, it was the guys’ turn to make their big entrance, which then meant that I could come out of “hiding!” The minister led the way...Followed by a handsome groom...who was looking a little serious with NO smile!Groomsman R...Groomsman B...And then our Best Man...S...the man of the hour. Remember earlier when I mentioned that he had style/charisma? Here’s the proof that I was talking about. The other groomsmen simply made a walk down the aisle, no big deal. But that wasn’t good enough for this guy...he walked in with panache...there’s just no other word for it. Check it out. What did I tell you? He is a HOOT!! Trust me, these pictures don’t even capture half of what this guy’s got! And you know that it had to be funny, since there were more pictures of HIM coming down the aisle than there were of any of the other guys! Even the photographer recognized his "presence!"

He must have caught the "evil eye" from his own fiance, because he finished his walk with a sheepish look on his face...Anyway, once the Best Man finished his “saunter” down the aisle our ring bearer, B’s son, made his way down the aisle. Looking just about an uncomfortable as an eleven year-old boy in a suit is supposed to look when all eyes are on him. And then it was our turn. The girls had been moving me steadily closer to the ceremony site...while still being very careful to keep me hidden behind bushes and shrubs so that I stayed out of sight as long as possible.

First up, Maid Britney...Then Maid Momma...who was looking at the ground a lot...Being pregnant like she was, she was probably worried about falling down...with the ground being as uneven as it was...Followed lastly by MOH...And then it was J’s big moment. She concentrated so hard on walking and dropping those flower petals...check out her concentration. She certainly didn’t mind the attention that T seemed to be embarrassed by! Once she had made her walk...it was my turn. Did nerves hit me? Did I have a moment of panic? Or was I totally calm and ready to make this journey? Stay tuned to find out!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”

The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”

2010-04-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

Since I’m not a guy...and since my guy didn’t want to see me on our wedding day until I was walking down the aisle, I’m not really privy to what went on in the infamous Boy’s Dressing Room. I’ve asked, purely for informational purposes of writing this blog I assure you, and was given explanations that were long-winded and included words like “guy time” and “man cave” and so on and so forth. But I think that Christina captured the happenings better than words could express...I give you the Boy’s Room...Yep, that probably sums it up.

When peeking through the window, I could clearly see them getting much use out of their new flasks that we gave them as groomsmen gifts...which warmed my heart, to be sure. At the same time, no bride wants a drunk groom (or even one that slightly smells/tastes of liquor) so I promptly dispatched one of the Maids to remind B to “please, please, pretty please” brush his teeth and use mouthwash before walking down the aisle. Yes, I know that he’s a grown man, fully capable of using the common sense that God blessed him with and brushing his own teeth of his own free will. But cut me some slack...I was a bride...it was my wedding day...and one thing that I didn’t want to experience right then was Jack D.

Poor MOH. At least, I think that it was MOH. I think that B gave her a piece of his mind...fully exasperated that I would actually send someone to tell him to brush his teeth...likehe was five years old...but he took it well. He humored me. And she still stood by me, so all was well in my world. And it gave us girls something to giggle over!

Once Christina and her assistant finished with the girl’s pictures it was time to start with the guys. To be completely fair, I forgot to give Christina a list of pictures that I wanted taken. So she followed the same pattern that we have used for the girls: group shots, individual shots and then one of B and his son together. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this pattern – at all. It got me all the pictures that I wanted, and I’m pretty sure that B could have cared less about pictures with his guys.

But this is a very important lesson that I learned. Even though you think that you know (in your head) what pictures you want, it’s good to have a list to give to your photographer. Pictures of the girls’ matching shoes? Not done. Pictures of the guys’ matching socks? Not done either. And this was NOT the photographer’s fault, it was mine. Oh well, live and learn. But maybe another bride out there reading this will take this to heart and learn from my mistake. Is me wedding day any less complete not having those shots? No. But I went to a LOT of trouble to find those matching items...specifically so that I could do THAT shot that I had been seeing over and over on Weddingbee and other wedding sites...so yeah, it would have been nice to have it. Oh well.

The shots that she got turned out great! Here are the handsome men...first up, group shots...Would it kill them to smile? B and his Best Man...this guy had style, class and charisma...I promise that you’ll see it in other pictures coming up soon, because here he's just trying to look all serious!B and Groomsman BNow that’s more like it! That’s a smile...wonder what was so funny?B and Groomsman RAnd another one of my favorite pictures, B and his son, T...even if they're not smiling!Aren’t they handsome? You can totally see the resemblance!

You might notice that there aren’t as many pictures of the guys as we took of the girls...yeah, that’s because they’re guys. And they had humored me all that they were going to with this picture business. So they headed off to brush their teeth (LOL!) and get ready to make the walk down the aisle...it’s showtime!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!

Oops - I’m Out of Order!

2010-03-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I point-blank said that next up was pics of the guys...but I lied. Oh well. I’m pregnant and my brain does NOT work like it should be working! I’m also slightly anal-retentive so I like to stay in order...jumping back to the Maids’ time with the photographers for a quick post.

Hit rewind. All the way back to the field...before the Vogue/GQ poses...

I wasn’t crazy about doing a bridal session before the wedding. It was one of those things that I could live without. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that this wasn’t my first wedding...or maybe I just didn’t care about that little detail. As much as I like having my picture taken and putting on some “cheese” for the camera, it just wasn’t something that I wanted to do. But practicality says that at some point someone – my soon-to-be-husband or maybe my parents – might want a picture of just me in all of my bridal glory. I don’t want one on my desk...but someone might.

So keeping others in mind and trying not to be a totally selfish bride, I stood my ground in the field a little longer than the other girls so that Christina could grab a few shots of just me. Since I think that I actually did this FIRST before anyone else, they were all laughing at the faces that I was making because of the sun-glare hitting my eyes from the sun thingy that the second photographer had. Don’t worry – I told them to stuff it and got my revenge a few minutes later once they were blinded by it as well!

Here I am...this will be short and sweet since I feel funny posting pictures of just myself. Yes, I have a blog. Yes, I talk about my life as if it’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever heard about...but I’m really NOT that self-centered. At least, I don't think so.

Standing in the field, looking my most bridal-ish...

It was SO much easier looking off in the distance...
A little more breeze to lift the veil up a bit...

There's the sassiness that those who know me best are looking for!

This one is my favorite...

I love that my veil is just barely blowing...and the angle that puts the grasses blurry in front...

When we got over to the other hall and posed in the shade (Thank the Good Lord!) I opted not to take any other pictures of just me...five was plenty for people to choose from! But looking back, I’m glad that I did take a few shots of just me on this special day...especially since I didn’t do the bridal session before the wedding.

How do you feel about bridals? Did you do one or just take a few pictures of yourself alone on the big day to accomplish the same goal?

The Maids Pose for the Camera...

2010-03-26T08:00:00.002-05:00

Since B was opposed to a “first look” opportunity before the wedding ceremony, there was much juggling to be done before the show started to make sure that he got his wish. He’s a bit old-fashioned about it, and I argued against it before the wedding, but I have to admit that it was well worth seeing the look on his face when he saw me for the first time in my dress...well worth any juggling that we did before-hand.

We also had a bit of a time crunch, as we were starting our ceremony at 5:30 in the evening...one week before the time changed out of Daylight Savings Time...so I wasn’t really sure how much natural light we would have to work with after the ceremony. All of this meant that we did our individual pictures with our Guys and Maids before the ceremony started. I had originally thought (I don’t know WHAT I was thinking) that since there would be two photographers, that one would go with the Guys and one with the Girls and we would be taking our pictures at the same time. But seeing how much work went into getting these pictures...I know realize how foolish that thought really was. And how little I know about photography...

Even though we had plenty of light to work with on our BEAUTIFUL wedding day, it still took the second photographer working with a light shield thingy to get the most light in the most flattering spot on us for the best pictures. I’ll be honest and admit that there were possibly a few curse words spoken as she BLINDED me with the light screen to catch the glare right in my eyes, but the quality of the pictures was MORE than worth not being able to see for several minutes as my eyes readjusted to normal levels of sunlight...

First up, went the girls. Yes, we’re pickier...we actually LIKE to pose for the camera...and there were just tons of things that we could do. I had my Mom and little J on standby as our bouquet girls...along with some water as it was kinda hot outside. Don’t they look excited to be at our beck and call?
I think that J was just a "little" excited, huh?Christina loved Redbud Hall best because of the large field that is behind the hall. There’s a dirt road (sort of) that leads back to a fence line and you can just see for miles and miles...a great backdrop for pictures, I have to admit. And I love the way that she was right – getting out in the middle of the field and catching the blowing grasses really made the pictures that much more beautiful. Even if we had to deal with bugs, itchy grass and the possibility of ants.

By the way, there were a zillion pictures to choose from, and I just tried to choose and show off my favorites...

First, just the Maids and I...
Then we added the flower girl...Then we changed up the grouping a little...I wanted a single shot with each bridesmaid individually...first up, MOH...Then Maid Momma...And last, but not least, Maid Britney...These girls were SUCH a help to me during the wedding and the days leading up to the wedding. OK, I’ll be honest...it was the MONTHS up to the wedding! They still love me, so hopefully I wasn’t too bad of a bride-to-be!

Before we left the field, I wanted to grab a few pictures with J and I alone...I really LOVE this one where she leans in to “hug” me...so cute!And the last request that I had was a "generations picture" with my Mom, myself and J in it. I have to say, even though I’m talking about myself, that we are some good-looking women! Do you remember when my Mom called me and described her dress as being black and white paint drizzles? I talked about it somewhere and can't find it now...and was sort of worried...but she looked GREAT!

After we left the field – and got all the grasshoppers off of my dress – we headed to the hall next door, Tejas Hall to use their outdoor benches. There were too many guests arriving for us to use Redbud Hall, and I was sort of worried about going into someone else’s territory as Tejas Hall was rented and being used that same day. Luckily, their wedding started after ours, so no one but the groomsmen really saw us or anything.

Here we are trying so hard to follow Christina’s instructions to look serious, laugh, pose like Vogue or whatever...I think that these shots turned out great! Here’s my favorite one...After we finished these shots, I was getting anxious about the time and knew that Christina still needed to go and do pictures with the boys, so I shooed her off to do that while the girls put me back in my room...

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed

Getting Dressed

2010-03-23T08:00:00.003-05:00

When we last left off, I was all set to start the process of turning a girl in her "undies" into a bride...So get ready for some funny faces – mainly from me as they get me into a dress without messing up hair, veil or make-up...

I was getting ready to have the dress come down over me...
I think that it started out with just MOH holding the dress, but we quickly realized that a few more hands were needed! You know that old saying about it taking a village to raise a child? Well, it might also apply to dressing a bride...Ah! Air!! It was needed and welcomed at this point! Maid Britney got the LOVELY task of making sure that "the girls" were staying right where they needed to be...

Luckily her task was easy enough, and Mom and MOH started on the laces...

Then we realized that not only did it take one person holding up the front, but someone needed to get the veil out of the way...enter Mom to the rescue.

Once that was out of the way, MOH could see what she was trying to do with the laces. It really helped having the seamstress cut off some of the "extra" on the laces...they were MUCH more manageable, just as a tip to future brides-to-be!

MOH and I had previously decided that we liked the corset laced bottom to top best...so that's where she started...I think that it was at this point that MOH was muttering curses and comments under her breath about brides that pig out the week of the wedding! I was doing my best to "suck it in" and hold still...You can see from my facial expression below that the "comments" were getting a little funny...or maybe I just chose to laugh and ignore her...

Almost done...

And what a pretty picture the back makes...MOH and Mom did a GREAT job!

While I was being tortured...I mean, while MOH was working SO hard on getting me all laced up...J was looking at me with little stars in her eyes. She kept saying over and over how much I looked like Cinderella...it almost made me cry. And she could NOT resist touching the sparkles...

I tried to make sure that each Maid was captured doing something special to help me get ready...MOH had already been in LOTS of shots getting me dressed, but she went about putting the final touches on J's hair and pinning her tiara in. (Note to other brides out there: this step of putting on the tiara is BEST left for right before the pictures start...I'm just saying.)

A pretty princess all ready to go!

Maid Britney helped me with the veil, which was fitting since she slaved so hard over it putting all those crystals on! Maid Momma helped me get my garters straight, which was really special if you know the history between us...this is what I helped her do at her wedding several years ago! And some of my favorite shots of us getting ready that Christina captured...little J slipping my shoes on...since she’d made the comment about me looking like Cinderella, it was really a simple choice to have her help me put my shoes on. I mean, she was the closest one to the floor! But I’m SO glad that these shots were captured...they were SO sweet in real life! LOVE those shoes! Wasn’t that the sweetest?!?!?

Stay tuned for the girls’ pictures!

All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...

Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!

2010-03-21T08:00:00.003-05:00

**For those of you readers who have patiently waited for posts with pictures...get ready! There's not another post where I didn't have a photographer near to capture the events! Get ready for wedding picture overload!!!

Leaving Whataburger, we made it back to the hotel, where J went with my Mom to get her bath and I settled down for about 15 minutes in a quick bath of my own. If you remember, I had started two nights earlier and although the cramps that had plagued me the day before we thankfully MIA, I still felt the need to be as clean as possible before putting on a wedding dress. Sorry if that’s TMI...

We headed back to the venue with our suitcases in tow and met up with all the other girls to start getting ready. I was shocked (pleasantly so) to discover that the boys were on time and we spent a few minutes jockeying B around so that he didn’t see me (his choice) as I got out of the car and into my room. MOH and Maid Britney worked on getting my stuff out of the car so that J and I could stay out of sight with the curtains securely closed.

But once you’re inside the room, only having make-up left to do...and getting dressed, which you have to wait for the photographer for, what’s a girl to do to pass the time? And maybe more importantly, how do you entertain a 7-year old during that time?

Nintendo DS to the rescue!

On one hand, I feel like a “bad” mom for leaving my child to play a video game on this all-important day, but there were only so many hands available in our dressing room, and I had some stuff to do. To be fair though, as soon as the basic make-up was on my face, she got to come into the bathroom for her turn with the make-up brushes and perfume sprays.

Then MOH (I’m pretty sure) took her and tried to repair her hair. One of the girls had thoughtfully brought a curling iron and they all set about either helping me with the details on my make-up or getting J’s hair re-curled a little bit...and in between they got themselves ready too! These ladies were truly amazing...

Before I knew it, everything that could be done was done. I was dressed in my corset-bra and petticoat, wandering aimlessly around our dressing rooms. Back and forth between the main room and the bathroom area...back and forth...not nervous, just possessing an abundance of energy! I had peed like 3 or 4 times already, and really had nothing left to do. And what’s a bride to do when she’s got time on her hands? Why, peek out the window, of course! I could see a handsome groom standing outside...just a few feet away from where I was and he looked SO handsome!!!

Like any good bridesmaid, my girls got onto me for peeking out the window...and I quickly reminded them that he was the one who didn’t want to see me, not the other way around. Somehow my very logical argument didn’t hold up, and they got the task of keeping me away from the windows in addition to everything else that they were doing! J thought that it was pretty funny that I was getting "in trouble!"

Before I knew it we were all ready and dressed...well, except for me that is. We had to wait on the photographer to capture those “getting ready” moments...and she was running a few minutes behind.

Luckily for my sanity, she got there about 5 minutes later and we set about getting some snapshots and getting me into my dress. My Mom also arrived about this time to lend a hand and be involved in this part of the process...I mean, how does a girl get married without her Mom there helping her get dressed? That applies even if it’s not your first wedding! Who cares if she’s done this before? She’s still your Mom, you’re still her daughter and the tradition needs to be honored.

Before we could start getting ready, the photographer took some shots of my dress hanging... Yes, I'm THAT bride that totally had a brain-fart and forgot to bring/make a pretty hanger for the picture of my dress hanging! Other brides out there, see how ugly it is? Don't be like me! Find a pretty hanger and take it with you... I still love the "Booby Bling" the best!

Then she took some of my accesories and got some great shots of them...they totally make my attempts at taking pictures look SO amateurish! But I guess that's why she's a professional photographer and I have a normal 8-5 job...

When Christina asked if she could borrow my e-ring, bouquet and shoes for a minute, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Of course, like most of her work, I LOVED the final result...check it out for yourself...

Some close-ups of my bouquet...

I LOVE that she caught my MeMa's earrings on the bouquet...

Didn't it turn out so nice? It sits on my nightstand even now, as I type this, and every night when I turn the light off, it's the last thing that I see each night...and it puts a big smile on my face.

Here's the shoes, sexy and sassy!

To be perfectly honest, Christina "borrowed" our rings twice that day...once before the ceremony and then once during the reception. I can't swear that these shots were the ones taken before the ceremony...but at this point, I'm not that picky! I think that they turned out great!

And last, but not least, another of my favorite shots. While Christina was outside getting those photos, look who’s in the background taking after her mother... All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...

A Sneak Peek at the Venue...

2010-03-17T16:00:00.001-05:00

So after figuring out what to do about my hair and J’s hair, we left the beauty shop and headed out to Texas Old Town (Redbud Hall) for a quick look around to see how everything was coming. This was probably the hardest thing that I had to do – leave things up to others. You know, others who didn’t have my vision (because I hadn’t properly shared it with anyone) and who might not do it the way that I would do things. But do you complain about angels in disguise on your wedding day? No, you do NOT. You smile, say thank you and a bask in the amazement that there are other people on the planet that can follow instructions and take charge of situations.

My mom, Maid Momma, and my MIL and SIL were such angels as these...put here on earth to help put the finishing touches on the venue so that our day would be as perfect as possible. Now, don’t get me wrong. There were a TON of other people who worked their butts off the day before, including yours truly to get as much done as possible so that all the “big stuff” was taken care of before the day of the wedding...and just the little things, finishing touches if you would prefer, were left to handle. Everyone in our family and our closest friends REALLY came through for us to make our day perfect and there will never be enough words to express our full gratitude. But I'm thinking that my Mom might get a special word of thanks for the 200+ plates that she not only carried around for a day in her car, but had to lug inside and set up...along with help from the rest of the team! But that was extra-hard work the day of the wedding that I hadn't really thought about...

So since I’ve done a few posts without ANY pictures (bad bride!) here are some shots of what I saw when I walked in...

The venue as a whole

The Bar Menu and some left-over decor

A close-up of the table signs and floral centerpieces

The sign-in table and activity books for kids

The empty cake table

The "place cards" table for seating assignments

I’ll apologize if these are all pictures that I’ve shown off before, but since it’s been a few months for both of us maybe a refresher is a good thing! I promise that the next post will have some of the photographer's pictures in them...finally!

When J and I got there, my Mom, Maid Momma and SIL were putting the finishing touches on setting out the plates and silverware and organizing the buffet area. Trying to keep J as still as possible (an impossible task, I agree!) I had her stay in the reception hall with my Mom while I unloaded my car. I had put together all of the last minute items that needed to be brought to our dressing room that we wouldn’t need in a quick sponge bath before we packed up and left the hotel. You know, things like make-up, hair stuff, activities for J in an attempt to keep her still and calm, bouquets for the girls, and bouts for the boys. You know, all that “crap” that accumulates in your house before the big day that MUST be there on the big day.

I also made sure that my dress and J’s dress were hung and ready to go...Maid Britney and MOH had steamed the last of my wrinkles out that morning and didn’t it look grand?

Didn't J's dress look so cute too? I'm pretty sure that the girls gave this one a once over too...My favorite part of my dress - to this day - the beadwork and sparkles...
Satisfied that all was well, it was time to run grab some lunch and then go back to the hotel for a quick rinse off and to pack up our stuff.

Yes, eating inside Whataburger when you’re wearing a veil is fun. LOTS of fun. More importantly, J thought that it was neat that everyone was looking at me...I thought that it was mildly annoying when people kept asking “Are you getting married today?”

Just once, I wish that I could have said the thoughts running through my head: “No. I’m not. I just like to walk around with a veil literally attached to my head. It’s fun. Really. You should try it.”

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon

A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon

2010-03-08T18:00:00.000-06:00

Wow. That’s really all that I can say...I would have NEVER in a million years thought that it would take me this long to get started back on my re-caps...yikes. I guess now I understand how all of those bees over on Weddingbee don’t just start re-capping right away...sometimes life gets in the way and it takes you a little bit.

Something like this, perhaps? Yeah...maybe. If you haven’t followed along in a while, or just completely gave up on me for lack of posting (and I really don’t blame you!) then maybe you missed out on the news that I have a new blog all about Ziggy. That’s what I’m calling the “bump” right now...hop on over and check it out! Click here if you’re interested!

So, now that we all understand what’s kept me let’s get back on track! I would really, really like to finish off my wedding recaps BEFORE my 6 month anniversary...a date that is looming on the horizon...but I’m pretty sure that I can do it. I’m motivated...and the chance to offer myself a prize is almost too tempting to pass up. What could I give myself? Hmmm...well, while I’m thinking on that – please don’t tell me that I’m the only person out there that rewards themselves for a job well done! – let’s get caught back up.

Where were we? Oh yeah. Headed to the hair salon...for a “quick” appointment...

It all started off so well. The trial that I did a short two weeks before the wedding went off without a hitch...and all of the girls and flower girl were scheduled to come into the salon at some point that morning to get their hair did. (That’s something that we say in East Texas...or that some people in East Texas say...I don’t really use that expression in everyday life.) I would have liked for us to all go at the same time, but beggars can’t be choosers, and when you wait until two weeks before the big day to schedule this at all...you really just have to take what’s offered to you.

There were two appts that could happen simultaneously at 9am, and then one at 10:30 and the last at 11 that morning...so we staggered ourselves around that schedule. My initial thinking was that J would go last...since #1 – she’s seven and keeping a hair do up between 11 and 5 would be a small miracle anyway, and #2 – I didn’t really have a concept for what I wanted with her hair, so I wanted to go first and get mine over with and then have her go last so that I could be there to supervise. Because I’m a hair expert. Not. Just because I like being in charge.

In the end? Yeah, it didn’t happen that way. In the end, J wasn’t going anywhere without me, or maybe I should say that she wasn’t going to let me go anywhere without her...yeah, that’s more appropriate. So she and I headed off at 9am for our hair appts. Then MOH and Maid Britney could fight over who would take the later appts. So I grabbed my veil, we double checked that we had on loose, button-up shirts and off we went. I visited with the girl that was doing J’s hair first, since Autumn wasn’t quite ready for me yet, and she and I agreed on curls pinned back off of her face and J decided on which tiara to wear. Perfect.

Then I slipped into my own chair and settled back for Autumn to work her magic like she did the week before.

Except the magic was starting.

Hmmm...should I be alarmed?

I glance over my shoulder to see Autumn alternating her stare between the photos that she took during our trial run and my veil. I asked if there was a problem, and she said “I don’t know.” Now, in case you’re not sure about this...let me tell you straight up and honest. Having someone tell you that they don’t know if there’s a problem on your wedding day is generally not the best of news. It’s really not. Sure, there might be a solution, but for that one small minute, you have a mini-heart attack. Your mind shuts down and the world goes grey...

I assumed that the problem was with the veil, since the trial went well, and there could be no problems with that. On top of that great deductive reasoning, I decided that it has to be a problem with the veil because I didn’t have the veil with me at the trial. Sure enough, I’m one smart cookie. There was an issue with the veil.

Apparently, the lady that made my veil (who saved me about $200) used a rather large head comb. Not a problem if you’re doing a high veil, like towards the crown of your head. But since I was choosing to place my veil underneath my up-do at the base of my head...do you see where I’m going with this? If not, let me try to draw you a better picture.

When you held up the comb of the veil against the back of my head (like in the area level with behind your ears) the comb was sticking out my AT LEAST one inch on either side. Now. I know that one inch doesn’t sound like that much...but when you’re talking about it sticking out from the side of your head...when 160 people are going to spend an hour staring at the back of your head during your wedding...an inch on either side becomes a larger deal.

Are we on the same page? Good.

Once my vision comes back and I can breathe easily again, I see that Autumn is already working on a game plan. Our first plan of action was the break the hair comb, making it “bend” around my head easier. But that didn’t work – I don’t know what those things are made of (not cheap plastic), but it wouldn’t crack for any of the 5 ladies in the salon who tried. My next thought was to just go without the veil. But after all the hard work that Maid Britney had put into it, I just couldn’t bring myself to actively consider that option.

Our eventual solution was to change my hair style. Autumn kept it as similar to what we started out with as possible, but had to alter the style at the base of my head to hide the comb a bit. As you can imagine, all of this ended up taking a little longer than anticipated, so I was in the chair quite a while. And the weight of my hair was falling in a different spot, but that couldn’t be avoided at that point either. Overall, I was pleased, but not thrilled with the end result. It looked nice, don’t get me wrong, and Autumn did an AMAZING job on the fly like that, but I had really, really loved my trial up-do...

It worked out, as J’s hair wasn’t as responsive to the curls that I had envisioned or the pins that the hairstylist was trying to tame it all down with. I tried to tell the girl that was working on her hair that although I liked what she had done, I wasn’t sure that it would last until 5pm in the nicest way possible. Her solution? To spray more hairspray on...NOT what I had meant. Oh well. I grabbed J and away we went...over to Redbud Hall to check the status of things and drop off our bags and such. Then we needed to head back to the hotel to take a quick rinse off and get the final load ready to bring with us...

And just on a side note...we ended up squeezing one more teeny-tiny trip back to the salon to have J’s hair fixed. I tried to tell them that it wouldn’t stay like she had it. Yeah, it didn’t. It fell down within the hour, to be precise...but what do you do? Well, I don’t know what you would do, but I went back, showed them the damage, looked at my watch, detailed the time that we had been gone, then calmly and politely asked for it to be put up the way that I had asked in the first place. A ponytail was all that ended up working...but we did get some curls re-done while we were there and a look at the Maids who were still getting gussied up!

I couldn't find a good picture of just my hair...maybe somewhere in the 2,000 images that I got from my photographer? Oh yeah, I don't have the desire to look through those...but here's a shot taken by a friend/family member that kind of gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. See how WIDE the veil is?
Yeah, it really shouldn't be that wide. You can almost tell that it's sticking out past my scalp...but not really. Like I said, Autumn did a GREAT job with what she had to work with. It gave my whole over-all look a more structured, "done" look than what I was going for...but oh well. It looked pretty, no one but me really knew the difference anyway, and the world kept on turning. B still said "I Do" at the right moment, no matter what my hair looked like, and that's all that's really important...

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need

5 Minutes is All that I Need

2010-01-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

The morning of the wedding I had a plan. Get up. Eat a good breakfast (some more of those waffles!). Take a shower. Use the hotel computer center to do a post about how I felt that day and how excited I was to marrying my best friend. Get my hair done. Go the hall to check on last minute things. Get married. Enjoy the party.

Ok, so looking over that list, not all of it was for the morning. But you get my drift, right? Well, what is that saying about the best-laid plans...how does it go again? Oh yeah.

The good news is that the important things got done. I did eat my waffles. I did get my shower and make it to the hair salon on time. But I didn’t have time to go to the computer center and put pen and paper to the thoughts in my head and feelings in my heart...and I guess in the grand scheme of things, if something had to get not done...that would a good choice. But now, looking back, I really wish that I had made the time.

And really, 5 minutes is all that I needed...but 5 minutes on your wedding day is maybe harder to get than you might think. And truthfully, I had actually thought about writing that all-important post ahead of time and scheduling it to post that morning. But when I sat down to do that the week of the wedding, it felt like I was cheating. Saying that I’m writing something on a day when I didn’t really write it. I know that I’m just being picky on myself, but whatever. It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.

Looking back now...nearly 3 months after the day...if this is all that I have to complain or gripe about with my wedding, then I had a GREAT wedding! The fact that I didn’t make the time to write a post to B telling him how I felt that day...not so important in the “big picture.” I mean, he doesn’t even read this blog...so who would I really be telling? You guys already know how much I care for this man, the love in my heart that was just overflowing that day...and truthfully, I think that he knew it when I came down the aisle! Wink, wink.

So I’ve made my peace with the post that didn’t happen. Like I said before, with so much else needing to get done that day, all of them being a little more important to make sure that they got done...it ended up being ok that I didn’t make it to the computer center.

After breakfast was eaten, and relatives were greeted and hugged, little J and I were showered and cleaned...we barely had 10 minutes left to get to the hair salon for our appointments. We cut it close enough as it was. I’m sure that B will forgive me...but in keeping honest with myself and the reason that I started this little blog in the first place, I had to tell you that I just needed 5 extra minutes the morning of my wedding.

Next up – J and I go get our hair done! Get ready for a little bit of drama...

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…Rehearsal Dinner

Rehearsal Dinner

2010-01-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

So I’m a really bad bride. I have not ONE single picture from our rehearsal dinner...yeah, I’m flogging myself you don’t have to do it for me. I’m sure that there are pictures out there from family and friends, but I don’t have any of them that I know of...so we’ll do the best that we can.
Since the rehearsal itself went off without even the slightest of problems, you had to know something was coming sooner or later, right? Getting to the rehearsal dinner is where we ran into problems.

And here’s some words of advice that I can offer future brides: Don’t trust the map that you pull off of a restaurant’s website. Look at it closely, if you’re familiar with the area, and make sure that everything is right. My new map was NOT correct, and two cars ended up getting “lost” in San Marcos.

I went to the Johnny Carino’s website and pulled directions that they gave me, so I didn’t think to double check anything. Unfortunately, their directions had people exiting two exits too soon, and from there the rest of the directions led them nowhere. Luckily, most of the guests lived in or around the San Marcos area and were at least a little familiar with where the restaurant was in town. Unluckily, it was my Mom that got the most lost! They found their way eventually, but I felt SO bad about the map being wrong.

So double check, even triple check, directions that you get from someone else for accuracy, especially if you pull them off of the internet!

After that little snafu, the dinner went off without a hitch. The food was great, the drinks flowed, and conversation filled the room. We laughed and joked and just relaxed together on our last night before getting married. Right at the end of dinner, B’s dad got up and made a toast to us...I wish that I could remember exactly what he said because it was so sweet! He actually got a little choked up on it, and ended up shortening it quite a bit from what he intended to say...we didn’t care though, it felt so good to be surrounded by so much love! After that toast, we got up and thanked everyone for being there and being in our lives supporting us in our marriage and we proceeded to pass out some gifts.

My girls got their gifts and ooohed and aaahed appropriately, and B passed out his gifts to the guys. We only had one parent gift to give out, and that was to B’s parents for hosting the rehearsal dinner. If you remember from here, we had intended to pay half of the cost ourselves, but in the end they wouldn’t hear of it. So in return, we got them tickets to the last home UT football game against Kansas. They were thrilled and so touched by our thoughtfulness and they really appreciated our gift. (I know because we watched the game that they were at and B’s dad texted us every 5 minutes to see if we could see them on TV!) They had a blast at the game, and we were glad to give them something that they enjoyed SO much!

After the gifts were given, it was time to go. B and I took a few moments alone to say our goodbyes...it was the last time that I would see him until the ceremony the next day...and I’m really glad that we took the time to have a moment with just us. The whole day had been spent running around and being in a big group, so it was nice to have 5 minutes alone.

Once back at the hotel, the girls and I had some more work to do, but with all three Maids helping and my wonderful Mom pitching in as well, it all got done within the hour and we headed off to bed. After the stress of the day, I needed a bubble bath to help me relax (and to help with those cramps!) so I made sure to take advantage of the time that I had and relaxed for a bit. I fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of how tomorrow would unfold...

Need to catch up? See how I got here...

Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelorette/Bachelor Party
Setting up the Venue
Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect...

2009-12-31T18:00:00.003-06:00

Where were we? Oh yeah, the hall was decorated as much as we could get it done, my mom and step-dad had gone to pick up plates and little J, B had left to get ready and then meet his brother to pick up the rental chairs that I had to have, and I was off to the hotel to get cleaned up and try to relax for a few minutes before the rehearsal started.

The girls and I were good about staying on time and got back to the venue about 5-10 minutes before rehearsal was set to start. Already there were people there waiting on us, and B and his brother were hard at work putting the chairs into rows and sections like I wanted. I tried to get people to help them out, but they had a good system going, so I let them work their magic. In the end, this is what I saw...
Once the chair rows were established, we went ahead and put up the shepherd’s hooks (minus the flower balls) so that all we had to do to the ceremony site the next day was to hang the small pomanders on the hooks, line the aisle with rose petals and hang the large pomanders under the pavilion. It was beautiful, and exactly what I had pictured in my head! I was SO excited.

We had some introductions to make as neither set of parents had met the other one and introductions went all around. Our minister and good friend was already there and he and I spoke for a few minutes before getting the show on the road. Rehearsal was short and sweet. We placed everyone up under the pavilion and then we worked out the logistics of who would walk in and from where and when. D (our minister) didn’t read through the whole thing since he wanted to keep some surprises for the big day, but he skimmed through it to get to the end so that we could practice our exits. He didn’t let us practice kissing. Boo...

After going through it the first time, everyone said that they would like to run through it again real quick, so we did. After the second time, everyone felt comfortable and was ready to go eat. We stayed behind for a few minutes with our minister and our best man to practice the handfasting...since there were cords and wrapping and all, BM really wanted to practice that part in more detail, but B and I didn’t want everyone seeing it all ahead of time. In order to do this in semi-privacy, I “released” everyone from the rehearsal and told them to make their way down to Johnny Carino’s. I made sure and passed out the new maps since I had this snafu with the Rehearsal Dinner venue changing places on me at the last minute, and we practiced in quiet for a minute.

When we left the venue, there were still people milling about, so we herded everyone into their cars and go on the road. I was starving by this time since I really hadn’t eaten much of a lunch since I was running around like crazy trying to decorate and I couldn’t wait for some good food! I hopped into B's truck and away we went...

I think that the rehearsal was a success. I've tried to think of tips to give other brides out there, but I don't know that I have any. I didn't have it all mapped out on paper with a clipboard to keep everyone in line and moving along...I didn't have to continue to gather people up so that I knew that they would know what to do the next day...I don't have any horror stories that you sometimes hear about rehearsals. Sorry.

I guess that the best advice that I can give you would be to have great friends like we did! Our friends and family were there for US...doing whatever needed to be done to make sure that our special day was perfect, making suggestions to improve the process along the way. I can't be more appreciative of them if I tried. They all worked so hard on our wedding...and they were perfect angels during the rehearsal. They went where we said, made adjustments when needed, and probably because they could tell that I wanted them to do it again, they ran through it all a second time for me (without complaints) when they probably didn't need to do it again at all! So that's my adivce: pick great friends to be in your wedding party!

Need to catch up? See how I got here...

Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelorette/Bachelor Party
Setting up the Venue

Setting up the Venue...

2009-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

I woke up a little earlier than I had intended to on Friday morning. I was anxious to make sure that everything would get done in the four hour window that we had to work with at the venue and I was kinda hungry. Not wanting to wake up and rush MOH or Maid Britney, I tried to sneak off to the breakfast room at our hotel quietly. I didn’t manage to do it, but it’s the thought that counts, right? I left them to get ready and I headed off for the lobby, following my nose...

I found not only a waffle machine with make-your-own waffle batter, but I found my Mom and our BM all enjoying breakfast, coffee or a newspaper – take your pick. We all fixed our plates, started chattering away and settled down to eat. I was kind of worried about eating, not really sure why, but I was. Turns out that I didn’t have a thing to worry about, I polished off my plate with ease...

Once we were done eating, my Mom and I headed to the room to find the other girls and get to work. We had scheduled to be at the venue at noon for set-up and we needed to make sure that the flowers got arranged, the rose petals got packed into their packets and lots of other little tasks needed to be done before noon rolled around.

For all the madness that I thought that it might be, things really went smoothly. Maid Britney and my Mom got down to business mixing the rose petals and stuffing the petal bags...they set up an assembly line and got the process done really fast. While they did that, MOH and I started working on the artificial flowers and Mason jar arrangements. I had some fresh flowers to mix in with the artificial ones, and each table needed three Mason jars of various sizes put all together. Luckily, I had worked ahead of time and prepped the Mason jars by putting floral foam and moss all in there ahead of time.

At least I thought I was being smart. It turned out that we had to take some of my prep work apart and start over, but I couldn’t have known that before we got down to business anyway, right? So I didn’t let it bother me. We worked and worked, snipping off buds and leaves and stems...placing the flowers in the jars and working up combinations so that each one was kind of unique all on it’s own. At some point, my stepdad came in to be the muscles of this operation and we put him to work cutting the long stems off of the artificial stems. He thought he was getting an easy job, but truthfully some of those were pretty hard to snip! We were happy to have the helping hand, and it made our work get done that much faster.

Before I knew it, the petal bags were all done, and Mom and Maid Britney started helping us with the remaining flowers. Then, almost as soon as we started, we were done. I looked up in a panic at the clock to see how late we were running...imagine my surprise when the clock showed only 10 o’clock! Yes! We were AHEAD of schedule...and ready to go. We loaded up the boxes and supplies that we would need to take with us from the hotel to the venue and started getting ready to go. Before we left, Maid Britney gave me her lingerie shower gift (which had gotten packed in her suitcase since when she packed the girls hadn’t decided on the final schedule for the day yet) and we had a few minutes for me to “model” my new wares...

Once the cheese-fest was over, we loaded up the cars and caravanned over to my house. Once there, we made short work of the remaining items that needed to be loaded and taken to the venue and got the boys up and about and moving along with their list of things to do as well.

When we got to the venue, MOH, Maid Britney and I all grabbed some boxes and walked into the hall. It was as I remembered it - totally rustic and gorgeous! I got a little shiver of excitement going down my spine in anticipation of the upcoming days ahead. The girls were a little dismayed to find that we had to set up all tables and chairs...the venue was literally a blank slate...but once we got the truck and car unloaded and got down to work, we had all the tables pulled out, set up and started to place in their right positions by the time that the first of the guys showed up. B’s dad came to bring me some smaller folding tables that they had for the cake table, gift table, etc. and my Mom and stepdad arrived with their carload as well.

Before I knew it, we were spreading tablecloths, placing chairs, setting up centerpieces...and really decorating. It was all coming together and it looked so good. We had LOTS of helping hands, for which I am grateful, and when the guys got there with their crew about an hour and a half later, we had even more hands. I was really kind of worried about handling all of this on our own (no DOC or wedding coordinator fit into our budget) but it really went smoothly. It just goes to show what having a great group of friends and family wanting to help make your special day go smoothly can do for you.

Now, I won’t lie. It was VERY difficult for me to be the only person that really knew what was going on. Bless his heart, B tried to help direct people, but he really didn’t know exactly how I pictured things in my head and was pretty much just tackling the tasks that had been “assigned” to him. So every single person that was there to help us set up needed direction on what to do, where to put things, how things were supposed to look...and they all needed it from me. At times it was overwhelming. I got a bit frazzled the closer to 4 o’clock we got as I was trying to finish up everything, with someone calling out my name, needing my attention every two minutes. I really, really, really wanted it all done that day so that no one had much to do the next morning. Especially since I would be tied up and not available to direct!

I also didn’t feel good. Like I mentioned before, Aunt Flo was there with me in full force and I was popping Midol left and right. I don’t always have bad cramps, but don’t you know, this month was one of the months that I was going to be in pain...and I was. Which probably didn’t help my short fuse. I tried REALLY hard not to be all Bridezilla and not to bite anyone’s head off, but I’m sure that I was still short a time or two. Or forty. J I meant to do better, that’s what counts, right?

All in all, I had several creative people there with me helping that could take a little bit of direction and run with it. When they were done, I was consulted, made my suggestions for improvement, and they went back to work...in the end, having those hard workers there by my side putting it all together along with me made it all happen. When we left, the hall looked SO nice...and the ceremony site was almost done too...and all the extra stuff had been stored away out of sight...and all the trash and mess that we made had been picked up. It was truly amazing to see.

Oh you want to see what we saw? Allright, twist my arm...

An overall view...the guest tables

Our head tables...

Some close ups of our centerpieces...

The Cake Table

The Bar Area

The Sign In Table...Along with Kid's Activity Books

The Seating Chart Area

Not to mention that we did it all and only stayed over our limit by about twenty minutes. Not bad, if you ask me! Once we left the venue, we all went in twenty different directions...my Mom and stepdad went to pick up J from school and then to get the plates that we rented. B’s parents went to pick up T from his school. They were each responsible for getting the child that they were in charge of cleaned up and ready for rehearsal on time. The girls and I left to go back to the hotel to get ready and the boys had left to do the same at our house a little earlier. And B left to meet his brother at the other rental place where we rented the ceremony chairs to pick them up and get them back to the venue.

We had rehearsal scheduled to start at 6pm...and about an hour and a half to get cleaned up and ready before it started.

Need to catch up? See how I got here...

Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelorette/Bachelor Party

Bachelorette/Bachelor Party

2009-12-22T15:00:00.005-06:00

Oh goodness, has it been a week already? Is Christmas REALLY on Friday? Not only have I not finished my shopping, there are no ornaments on my tree and no presents underneath...I need to kick it into high gear, huh? J

Let’s see...where did we leave off? Oh yeah, the girls had spent the most fabulous day at the spa getting slightly buzzed and relaxed before the big day. Now it was time to meet up with the guys and rest of the bridal party (and their spouses) and get the party started! Not really, it was really a low-key event. Neither one of us wanted to go out without the other one, and having a combined event really tamed the whole thing down quite a bit! We knew that we wanted to end up at this little jazz bar on 6th street in downtown Austin, but other than that, we had made no specific plans.

After the girls were done at the spa, I called B to see what the plan was. Like the good planner that he is, he had made an “executive decision” to eat dinner before going out at Mamacita’s in San Marcos, since that’s where the gals were located for the spa. Since we had about half an hour before we were supposed to be there, do you think we went there right away and waited? NO! Of course not! We did what any normal, gal would do the day before her wedding – we hit the Outlet Mall! LOL. I needed to pick up some make-up for the next day, and MOH’s sister had highly recommended going to the Bare Minerals outlet store and letting them “do” my face for a trial. And what better night for a trial than my bachelorette party night? None that I can think of!

Unfortunately, the girls at the store were a little slow and instead of being early or just on time for dinner that night we were about 30 minutes late. But our guys love us lots and forgave us quickly. We met up with the guys, their wives and the husbands of the girls that we’d been with all day long and settled in for some drinks and laughs. With such a big party, it’s hard to talk with everyone, but we managed just fine! And the food was YUMMY!

After finishing dinner, we headed off to the hotel to change/shower and get ready really quick before our limo got there. Oh! Did I forget to mention that our BM insisted on taking us downtown in style? Yep, he was great! I hurried through a quick shower and freshening of my make-up…trying to practice as much as I could before doing it for real the next day...and hurried out to the lobby of the hotel to wait for everyone else. The limo was going by B’s house first to pick up those that had stayed there, and then came to the hotel to grab the rest of us.

Imagine my surprise when while waiting in the lobby in stroll my Mom and Step-Dad! I was SO excited to see them and talk to them for a few minutes...and it turned out to be really lucky that I did, because my Mom was the one that had to remind me that the flower petals were supposed to have been delivered that afternoon. Yeah, I needed to know that because they needed to be refrigerated! Silly me. Luckily they were right there behind the desk and we were able to get them all stuffed into the small fridges between my Mom’s room and the room that MOH, Maid Britney and I were sharing. It was a tight fit, and I’m not doing to deny that I might have picked up an open package and thrown rose petals all over my Mom’s room in my rush...but in the end, they got stowed away and we got on our way.

Now, I’ll be totally honest here and admit that this was my VERY first limo ride. Ever. I never rode in one my previous wedding, or for any prom or social event that I had been to in high school or college. Amazing, I know. So needless to say, I was really excited and pushed all the buttons and controls that I could, and even talked to the driver on the phone (he was a friend of ours!). Here’s some pictures of B and I hamming it up for the camera... We got to 6th street safe and sound, and found our way to B.D. Riley’s fairly easily. We snagged a larger table towards the front and settled in for the live music. I have to admit that I have heard better bands there. The group singing that night was not the best. Really, they weren’t all that good at all, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. Not that you want to see a picture of my butt, but you can see how cool the bar is in the background...We had agreed earlier on that MOH would follow the limo in her truck so that the girls (MOH, Maid Britney and I) could leave when we were ready since we needed to be sure and get an early start the next morning. I really hadn’t thought that we would stay out past eleven or so since we’d had such a busy day, so imagine my surprise when I looked up and it was 12:30 already! We quickly decided to leave and headed towards the hotel. We settled to sleep fairly quickly...or at least the other girls did. I wasn’t really feeling well, and got up to go to the bathroom.

And wouldn’t you know what I found? I hope that I’m not sharing too much here, but I said that I would recount the events from my perspective so here you go...Aunt Flo finally decided to make her appearance. Two. Nights. Before. My. Wedding. I was NOT a happy camper, but in hindsight, I couldn’t have picked a better time to start and be able to remember the exact date...which I would need a short month later for my pregnancy test! Too funny.

Trust me, I wasn’t laughing at the time...but now looking back, I can laugh it off. It happens. It’s not what I had envisioned, or planned on, but it’s life. Oh well. I took care of things, popped a Tylenol PM for the cramps that were starting and feel into an exhausted stupor onto my bed. I mean, I did need to get an early start the next day...

Need to catch up? See how I got here...

Girls’ Spa Day

What To Do with Wedding "Junk"?

2009-12-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

What do you do with all of your wedding junk? I kind of cringe when I typed junk, because I worked SO hard on it all to label it junk...but when it's been sitting in your living room for several months just gathering dust, right?

But I found myself coming up with a new use for my tissue paper pomanders. I won't take credit for it, actually...this was B's idea...at least I'm honest. I had originally thought that I would find a local buyer for my tissue paper pomanders since it's not as if they can be easily shipped. But after sitting so long in our living room, they were looking a little worse for the wear down on the bottom. A little squished, you could say.

So I decided to toss them out. B was appalled that I was so willing to let something that I had spent countless hours (he says that he counted the hours I spent making them and came up with 800) working on for our wedding. But really, what am I going to do with them?

As we removed the inner support wire brackets and compressed them down a little to put into the outside trash...a miracle happened. B came up with a brilliant idea to get one last use of out of these bad boys before throwing them away.

Do you want to see?

Ok, twist my arm...here's our newest Christmas outdoor decorations:

And here's a close-up...

Yep, we turned out tissue paper pomanders into hanging snowmen on our front porch! They're cute...even if we can only use them this one year! Just goes to show how creative some grooms can be!

Girls’ Spa Day!

2009-12-11T08:00:00.017-06:00

Goodness! It’s been a while, huh? Yeah, sorry about that. I read about other brides who go through the same things...so hopefully you all don’t hate me too much! I thought that the best way to start off the recaps is to begin with the party! No, not the reception, but our bachelor and bachelorette parties...

We knew all along that we didn’t want bridal showers and couple showers and things (since this wasn’t our first!) but what we did want was our respective “bachelor” parties. And we had in mind the perfect thing – a day spent separately with our girls and guys and then coming together for dinner and drinks. Our thinking behind this was two-fold. For one thing, ALL of our bridal party lived out of town from where we lived, so that meant that we would need to do the festivities right before the wedding or they would have to make two trips. And since two of the Boys were from out of state, it was quickly decided upon that it would be held the Thursday before the wedding.

The second thing that we liked was that this plan gave each of us time alone with our peeps, and then coming together at the end of the evening. Every single person (with the exception of one) in our bridal party was already married, so we definitely didn’t want to exclude spouses from this day/night. It was important to us that everyone was made welcome and invited in on the celebration and doing things this way was a lot of fun! I would highly recommend it!

While the boys were off playing golf (B’s choice in activities during the day) the girls were off doing this...

*All pictures courtesy of Maid Britney*

L to R: Maid Britney, Me, Anna, and MOH

Yep, we had a Spa Day!!! It was SO much fun. The girls really worked hard pulling this all together and making it a great day for me, and I am so thankful to have such great friends. Here’s how it went down...

I knew what we were doing (sort of) but didn’t know where we were going or for how long or what exactly we’d be doing once we got there. And these girls pulled out all the stops! Even if we did think that MOH got us lost on the way out there – the spa was out in a rural area where nothing else was...but it was totally private and secluded, which was exactly what MOH was looking for when she booked this place.

Our two ladies - Angie and Donnie

It was called Sink Creek Day Spa, and if you’re located in or around the San Marcos area, I would HIGHLY recommend this place. When you book your “event” you are booking the whole place. There are no other customers there, and the women who work there are devoted solely to you...it was FABULOUS...like being someone really important! The women (Angie and Donnie) greeted us with smiles and hugs and made us feel welcome while the girls unloaded MOH’s truck and told me to take a seat and not do anything. They set up the spread on the back porch in the shade and man oh man, did we have some yummy food! We munched on lunch, had some vino, and just relaxed for about an hour.

Then the presents came out...they TOTALLY surprised me with a lingerie shower. I was literally shocked...but that didn’t make me pause for too long! Haha. Here’s some of the goodies that I got:

You can ignore the crazy faces that I was making, believe me there are more! I was a little worried to open the box from Frederick's of Hollywood...

After the fun was over with – since all good things must come to an end - Angie and Donnie came out and gave us our instructions. We were to change into our swim suits and hop on into the sauna to get our pores nice and open and to start the relaxation process that would lead up to our massages. Here I am being a dork, which is normal! Me and Anna

Me and Maid Britney

Me and MOH

I could only stand the sauna for about 30 minutes. Our friend, Anna (the only unmarried one with us – who got married two weeks after we did!) and I were the only ones brave enough to do the cold outdoor shower that the women suggested for us before hopping into the hot tub. It was all warmed up and ready to go for us. Once we all settled in, MOH served us more drinks and then Angie gave each of us a glass of champagne with our choice of either cranberry or orange juice...SO yummy! She told us that the champagne would just do the last little bit of relaxation that we needed before the massage, but I think that she were having just as much fun as we were! After that, they took us back two at a time for our hour-long massage. MOH and I went in together and laid down on the beds. We were in the same room and could have easily talked...but we were way too relaxed to do much else. Since I was the lucky bride-to-be, I also got a facial with my massage and Donnie was SO wonderful. She relaxed me so much that I actually fell asleep! Can you believe that? And this coming from the girl who hasn’t gotten a massage in over ten years because I’m so ticklish! But she did a fabulous job of working out my kinks without tickling me at all...I really can’t recommend them highly enough.

MOH and I went back outside and let Maid Britney and Anna take their turns on the table. I was worried that passing an hour while waiting for them would drag by, but another glass of vino and a comfy spot on the back porch made for a quick cat nap. In no time, it was time to get dressed and meet up with the boys for dinner!

We had the BEST time at Sink Creek Day Spa...loved it, loved it, loved it. Here’s one last picture of us with the ladies of the spa before we left...we were all sad to go no matter how happy we look there!The sun was right in our eyes and we could NOT take a great picture that showed us all...oh well, it was fun trying anyway!

Some Big News...

2009-12-09T08:00:00.001-06:00

So, I’ve been kind of quiet this past week or two. Have you noticed? I don’t mean to neglect you all, but there has been a LOT going on...and I was waiting for my pictures to get here because I’d kind of run out of things to say.

Well, if you know me, you know that’s not true! I always have something to say...but in this case, I think that a picture will say it better: What’s that? A pee stick? With a positive sign on it? Yep! We’re pregnant!!! We couldn’t be happier, and I’m feeling really good so far, even though it’s early still. I’ve known for about two weeks now, and even though I’ve really wanted to keep this one under wraps a little longer, it seems like everyone knows – which means that I can FINALLY share it with you!

To answer some questions that you might be thinking:
#1 – Yes, we were trying.
#2 – Yes, so soon after the wedding! B actually tried to talk me into trying BEFORE the wedding, but I put my foot down on that one. So instead, he went around telling all of our friends and family that he was going to get me pregnant on the honeymoon...turns out he did!
#3 – I’m officially 6 weeks along, so even if I would have rather waited to share until closer to that 12 week mark when you’re past the more dangerous zone of pregnancy, it just wasn’t in the cards for us to keep this one quiet.

We. Are. Thrilled. There’s just no other way to say it. Over the moon with joy might also work, but it’s a close second.

So, with that being said, let me introduce you to my new blog, A Mother...Again. I’ll be writing all baby-related posts on my new blog, so stop on by and check it out. I’ll follow the same format there as I did being a bride here – the changes that I’m going through, my thoughts and fears, decorating the nursery, and all the other stuff that goes along with a lovely little package of love. And yes, I’ll be doing the belly shots as I progress...just in case you’re wondering!

I’ll still check in here for a little while, I mean, I DO still have official recaps to do, and there are SO many things from the days before the wedding that I haven’t shared with you all yet, so I hope that you’re up to following along with two blogs by me...I’d love to have you!

They're HERE!!! They're HERE!!!

2009-12-08T10:00:00.000-06:00

Yep, you read that right...out professional pictures arrived on my doorstep just yesterday. I'm telling you all about it before I even open up the package! I've viewed them all online, and just fell in love...

Christina of Christina Carroll Photography did SUCH a great job capturing our day...I'm so pleased with the pictures. And I'm REALLY excited because she posted her favorites of the day on her blog today and I'm able to share them with you here. So get ready!

I'll save comments until I do the official recaps, so these will just be pictures...

Here we go!

And to all...a good night! haha. I'll try to get through the discs as quickly as I can so that I can start some recaps for you all...but I hope that you enjoyed the "sneak peek" for now!

OMG!!! I can't WAIT!!!

2009-12-02T12:00:00.001-06:00

I'm still in my meetings all week long, but it's lunch break, and I just CAN'T wait to share this news!

I heard from our photographer, and my wedding pics are ready! She's burned my discs and dropping them in the mail to me tomorrow! Maybe they'll be home by the time that I get there?!?! Pretty, please, Mr. Mail Man?

Help a bride out, dude. I'm stuck on what to write next without working on my recaps...

So hopefully soon I'll get to share with you some sneak peeks and start up recaps! I can't WAIT!!!

The Joke's on Me...

2009-11-30T12:03:00.003-06:00

Haha - I put in the post that I pre-scheduled to run over the holidays that I was posting a new picture of my tattoo...and then I forgot to post it!

Silly me!

So here you go. This is the best picture that I could take of it myself...

It's not that great...and I promise when I get home to have B take a better picture for you all to see!

Getting Back to Reality...

2009-11-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Well, taking your honeymoon right before the holidays is kind of nice...but at the same time, it's just exhausting! Right when I got back "in the swing of things" at work, it's time for a five-day weekend away from work visiting family and eating WAY too much food. I sure am glad that the wedding was BEFORE the holiday eating! LOL.

I hope that you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday, and I'll be back to posting regularly soon. Sorry for the delay, but I've been called out of town for work this week, so posting will more than likely be lighter than normal. But since I'm still waiting on the sneak peeks from our photographer...I don't have that much more to share.

Maybe I'll have those sneak peeks at some point this week...then I can start my recaps for real. I can't wait! Believe me, I really cannot wait...

Featured Wedding - Katie and Jimmy

2009-11-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

Since I'm all pooped out from travelling, eating and SHOPPING, today you just get a canned post...but it's a beautiful wedding! Doesn't that make it better just a little bit? I hope so!

Christina Carroll of Christina Carroll Photography brings us our featured wedding today...here's what she has to say about these two lovebirds:

"Katie & Jimmy got married at Thurman’s Mansion. It was my first time there and it was such a pretty place! Too bad it rained almost the entire time which meant they had to move the ceremony inside. The rain did let up for about 15 minutes so we could at least get some photos outside with the pretty vineyard view. We had a brief encounter with some fire ants but we all made it through just fine.
Katie & Jimmy’s friends and families were all so nice! You could really feel the love in the room. I love how Katie either is laughing or has a huge smile on her face in every picture. It’s like every moment is the time of her life."

I love her shoes - purple, flat and SO comfy looking!

I lover bright color choices...And we'll end with MY favorite shot of the day...

source

Congratulations to Katie and Jimmy - we wish you both the best in your new life as husband and wife! Thanks, Christina for bringing us this beautiful wedding, be sure and chekc out her blog to see the rest of the pictures from this event!

My Biggest Adventure to Date...

2009-11-27T08:00:00.001-06:00

If you had trouble believing that I did our last activity, hold on to your horses for this one...

No, it’s not the zip lining...it’s something that I never in a million years imagined myself doing, though. Here’s the story...and I'll go ahead and apologize for the length of this post!

So I mentioned that while I ran back to the room to get our forgotten voucher that B made friends with one of the beach guys. He worked for a different tour group, and when I walked back up, B and this guy were talking about shops in town. Apparently, B had asked Jesse where in Cabo he would recommend for tattoos. You see where I’m going with this, right? LOL.

B has four tattoos. All of them were done while he was an active Marine, one coming from Australia and one from Japan when he was on tours to both places. They are all military in nature, and personal and meaningful to him. He mentioned several months ago that he was thinking about getting another one after the wedding settled down and we had “extra” money again, but he hadn’t mentioned it recently. So I was shocked to hear that he would consider getting one while we were in Mexico. We didn’t have a chance to talk about it until after we finished parasailing and got back to the hotel.

Apparently, once the idea took hold, it really took hold. He had gotten a name from the guy on the beach and after eating lunch and spending a few hours at the pool, wanted to venture into town and check the place out. He wasn’t sure about doing it and going through with things until he had met the guy and seen his work...and the cleanliness of his shop. So, late that afternoon we ventured off of our resort and into town. We got lucky and caught a taxi with some ladies that we had made friends with who were going shopping in town also. They were shocked to hear where we were going and they immediately asked if I was getting one.

No! Was the immediate response. You see, I hate blood. I hate needles. I have a SEVERE reaction to both items, especially when used on my body in some form or fashion. Never believe a report that I overdosed on drugs because there is no way that I could make it through the process of sticking a needle in one of my own veins. Seriously. Search for the murderer at that point.

But one of the ladies showed me a tattoo that she had gotten of her kids initials and it was very pretty. Plus, I have several friends with tattoos that I just love. I just can’t imagine me surviving the process of getting one. But I digress...

So we wander through town and find the shop. The guy, Bruno, is a great big Mexican and speaks no English to either B or myself. But he has a nice girl working in his shop and she translates for us and shows us Bruno’s work. B talks to her about what he’s wanting and pretty soon Bruno realizes that B wants a custom design. They converse back and forth for a few minutes (through the girl) and settle on us coming back the next morning to see a sketch and decide whether to go through with it at that time. The whole time that they’re talking, I’m just in there flipping through books. And trying not to stare at the girl getting the tattoo by Bruno while we’re all talking. I can’t see anything gross, and she looks like it doesn’t hurt so much...

Anyway. We leave the shop, and wander through town checking out the sites. We come across these two bars, and stop to snap pictures. Totally tourist of me, I know.

Anne, this one’s for you!As we’re meandering through town I start to ask B about his tattoos and how much it hurts. He gets all excited about the thought of me getting a tattoo of my own, but is honest with me and tells me that it’s been 4 or 5 years since he’s gotten one and maybe can’t describe the process for me well enough. We decide to go back to the shop and talk to the girl again. After visiting with her for about 30 minutes, I’m sold on the idea of getting a tattoo souvenir as well, much to my shock and amazement. We settle on a flower design, and select a lily for Bruno to also sketch something up for me to see the next morning and we leave the shop.

Taking another taxi back to the resort, B gets really quiet. Truthfully, I didn’t really notice. But once we were back at the resort and settled comfortably in our sun chairs again, I noticed how quiet he was. Apparently, he was feeling a little bit of guilt over my decision, being afraid that I was getting a tattoo for the wrong reasons. Luckily, having been in bad relationships in the past, communication is a key point for us and we’re willing and able to talk about anything with the other person. So he opened up to me and told me how he felt.

And I was equally honest with him. I told him that I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go through with it, but was kind of excited at the idea all at the same time. That I was worried about the pain, and my fainting during the process, and that I would regret it afterwards. It’s just so permanent, you know? But that I was equally fascinated by some designs that I’d seen and was willing to consider the thought of getting one. I must have put his fears at rest, because he ended the conversation with telling me that I needed to get a tattoo for myself and myself only. That if I changed my mind and decided not to go through with it that no one, not him and not Bruno, would be upset or disappointed in me in any way. Having his unconditional support whichever way I went really freed me up and allowed me to make my decision myself without any pressure.

But you know what happened? I warmed up to the idea. I really like the idea of getting a tattoo...you know, granting that I didn’t pass out before or during the process! But what I wasn’t sold on was the lily. Truthfully, I like lilies, but they’re not my favorites. They don’t mean anything to me. They’re B’s favorite flower. So at one point that night – many drinks into our time at the bar – I sat up straight and told B that I wasn’t going to get a lily if I did get a tattoo. That a lily was HIS favorite flower, not mine, and that if I did this, it would be something that meant something to me. I must have been a wee bit tipsy, because I’m not usually so direct and forceful!

Lucky for me, I’ve got a great man who loves and understands what I was trying to say...no matter how badly I might have delivered the message. He agreed with me whole-heartedly and asked what I was going to get instead. I promptly told him that I didn’t know. But that I was thinking on it. I’m just so funny.

By the next morning, when we ventured back into town (via city bus this time) I had made up my mind. I was going to do this and I was going to get a magnolia blossom put on my shoulder. I’m from Louisiana originally, but never really lived there. It’s the state flower from Louisiana, and I’ve always been proud of my birth state. When I was growing up, I was in love with all things magnolia-related, and both of my grandmothers had magnolia trees in their yards. I’ve associated magnolias with these two wonderful women for as long as I can remember, and in fact, one of my grandmothers painted ceramics and one of my favorite pieces of hers was a magnolia blossom that was given to my mother years and years ago. Not to get too gloomy, but November is also the anniversary of my grandmother’s death just three years ago. This is the same MeMa whose blue clip on earrings I carried on my bridal bouquet as I walked down the aisle to keep her close to me. A magnolia blossom symbolized all of this and more for me, and it was the perfect choice.

The snag? Bruno, having been raised in Mexico, had never seen a magnolia blossom before! Luckily for us, Google images came through with many options for him to work off of, and he agreed with me changing my mind about my choice. (B had assured me that Bruno would understand my change, but I was still a little worried – he’s a big guy!) I really wanted a standard cream blossom, but Bruno was quick to point out that on my pale skin, the cream just wouldn’t work. He was more than willing to do a version of the pink magnolia blossom though, and we left happy with our sketches and our appointment sent for 8pm that evening.

Since there are so many restrictions on what you can and cannot do after getting a tattoo, we soaked up the last of our rays and had thoughtfully scheduled this activity for our last night in Cabo. Lucky for me, right about the time that afternoon when I started to freak out a little about my decision, I ran into a girl from Seattle that we had met a few nights earlier who had two tattoos and was able to talk to her about the pain level and process. She reassured me and I was confident with my decision.

That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t still nervous. Or that I didn’t require a little liquid courage before leaving...That’s our favorite bartender, Luis, doing his infamous rainbow shots for us before we left. No, we didn’t have all of them...but I think that I drank three or four. They were SO yummy! Like liquid popsicles, not shots at all!

One bus ride later...and we were there. I was really nervous. I mean, really nervous. The shots had worn off, and Bruno was taking his time getting ready for me. The guy working on B was ready for him and I managed to get these pictures of them laying on the transfer of the tattoo before they actually started. Not wanting to see anything else, I was not able to take any pictures of B getting his tattoo actually done. I was worried that I would chicken out...or pass out if I saw the process! You can't even see where his transfer laid, since it was just an outline...

Before I knew it, Bruno was ready. I had thought ahead (or B had thought ahead for me) and worn a bikini top under my shirt so that I didn’t feel “exposed” while being worked on. I stood there like a brave little girl and had the image transferred to me. I started feeling a little woozy (too much time to think things through) and Robert (another helper) ran across the street and grabbed me a Coke. After sipping on it for a few minutes, and laying down on the table, Bruno got to work on me.

Surprisingly, it really wasn’t that bad. I was making it WAY worse in my mind than it was actually, and the tattoo process went well for me. It took forever, but that’s what happens when the owner of the shop works on you. He constantly had to stop and talk to other people and customers, so there were lots of breaks. B actually ended up being finished about an hour before I was done, so he had time to get some shots of me on the table. I picked the least gory one that I could! So the pain was manageable, and really only the constant rubbing bothered me. The actual needled process didn’t hurt that much. Sure, some spots hurt worse than others, but for the most part, it didn’t even make me cringe. It was WAY less painful than laser hair removal, I can tell you that!

It seemed to take forever, but I was finally done. I got up and walked over to the mirrored wall and got my first look at it. It looked great! I stood patiently and started to get taped up and then made the mistake of looking over at B’s shirt. Since he had finished so much earlier, he had been taped up for a while and had already put his undershirt back on. But his guy hadn’t done that great of a job on the tape job, because he had “leaked” through his shirt. And instead of just being ink and being all black and fake looking (like what I’d previously seen) this was all blood.

And that’s when I got sick.

I managed to hold it together until Robert got me all taped up, and I even almost made it down to the ground...but I didn’t make it all the way. B was there to catch me before I hit my head, but I was out for the count. When I came to, everyone was standing over me looking very concerned. Once they were assured that I was ok, the jokes started. Yes, I made it through the worst part just to pass out when it was finished. Haha. Not so funny. Well, it’s a little funny now...but it wasn’t as funny then let me tell you.

We took a taxi “home” to the resort and B put me to bed. I felt fine, but he was a little worried about me, having never seen me pass out before. By the next morning, I was 100% recovered and nervous about seeing the damage on my shoulder. I caught a break though, and my tattoo didn’t seep or anything like B’s did. That was good for me. I was a little worried about caring for it without being able to look at it, you know?

It’s been over a week now, and most of the healing is over and done. It’s still a little dry, but getting better every day. Would you like to see the whole thing? Here you go...

I love it. I love the meaning behind it. I loved the reasoning why I chose what I chose, and I love that I made it through the process. I can’t say for certain if I would for sure get another one...that remains to be seen. But I love the one that I have.

Thanks Bruno and the rest of the crew from Psycho Tattoo...I would HIHGLY recommend their shop if you’re in the area... LOL!