October 15th, 2020: My Wedding Day!

I cannot believe it has already been two weeks since Brandon and I got MARRIED! We had the best Honeymoon and finally have gotten settled back into our normal life and routine! So I thought it was the perfect time to get back on schedule with the BLOG!

If you guys thought WEDDING posts were over… you are sadly mistaken. Today’s post is dedicated to my WEDDING DAY! I will be sharing every detail that I can remember and how I was feeling at that time! The day could not have been more perfect, I am so happy to share it with you guys!

Around 8 O'clock on Thursday morning (the 15th) my sister, High school friend, and a fellow GGA gal climbed on my bed and started jumping saying “HAPPY WEDDING DAY" to wake me up! In all honesty I was already awake! But it was really fun and sweet and made me feel extra special for my BIG DAY! Then one of them proceeded to fall off of my bed! I was really calm that morning. I was not freaking out or worried about the day. I think that I was still in shock that the day was my WEDDING DAY! We sat and talked for a few and then I sent my two good friends on a store run for boobie covers (my sister and for one of them) and Starbucks for breakfast! While they were gone my cousin arrived and she began doing my hair which we actually had to do twice because the first go around I resembled a beautiful Frankensteins wife because my idea and her idea of a hair poof in the front of my head were very different! But its all good because we fixed the poof and my hair turned out perfect after we got the blonde hair tunnel pulled back. My sister was next! Her hair does not like to hold curls in the slightest bit so our cousin literally curled her hair and then pinned them to her head so when it was time to take photos and to walk down the isle she could un-pin them and be good to go. She definitely looked pretty funny while we were setting up the venue later that morning! Finally the girls were back with the boobie cups and food by then and when I tell you my favorite part of the morning was when I ate my ham and cheese crossiant you better belive it! It definitely hit all the right spots and had me ready and prepared for the rest of the morning and early afternoon! Another one of my favorite gals had come to my house and started getting ready with some of us, they were all piled in my small bathroom doing hair and makeup! It was a mess let me tell you that! My cousin had finished my sisters hair just in time because we started running behind, I looked at the clock and was like… CRAP! We gotta go! Thankfully we had packed the wedding decor the night before so we just had to grab our bags and dresses. Three of the girls had to stay behind because they were still getting ready, but Kassy and I had to leave for the Venue because we had all of the decorations! This is where I had my first and ONLY FREAK OUT of the day!

“I can’t find my house key!” I was flipping out! I was sooo mad that I was unable to find this dang key! Brandon had my car and all of my keys except the house key because, DUH I need my house key! Kassy kept rushing me out of the house and saying we are going to be late and the other gals were telling me to calm down they will find it! I remembered putting it somewhere that I would not forget the night before because I did not want to be in this exact situation, but then I could not remember what “safe" place I had put it in! Kassy and I get in the car and start driving to the venue when I realize… HOLD UP! I look down at my bag and grab a pouch I had put feminine products in. Low and behold my house key was at the bottom of the pouch! Yes, I rummaged my house and made us late only too find out I had placed my house key in my bag already in the car! I called the girls back at the house just as one of them left and headed right behind us. The other two would arrive at the venue 30 minutes into the future with everyone’s dresses including mine!

Kassy and I made it to the venue only 6 minutes late! Believe it or not, but this was the only point in time the entire day that anyone ran behind schedule! Immediately everyone began unloading my sisters car and placing the labeled boxes in the designated area of the venue. The guys, my mother and Father-in-law, and Brandons granparents were all in the Ceremony area getting that space situated since it was the most complicated and time consuming. The gals and my mom began setting up the reception area by putting the table runners and vases on each circular table. Thankfully our venue manager had already set up and out all of the tables for the Reception area and all of the chairs for the ceremony area, so we literally only had to focus on our decorations! After we got situated Kassy headed over to the Ceremony are to make sure everyone was doing exactly what needed to be done! Around the time I began setting out photos of Brandon and I to add to the centerpieces, my photographers arrived! I followed them and the venue manager inside and after getting their equipment I showed them upstairs to the getting ready areas for the Groom and Bride. I had set out all of the things I wanted detailed shots of and handed them to my Photographer. At this exact time my dress and the rest of my gals arrived! It was perfect timing for the pictures for sure! I went back down stairs to make sure everyone had something to do. By this time all of the table runners were laid out and the vases were all filled with water and photographs were placed on the tables. My sister-in-law was working on putting the send off Sparklers in a bucket and the rest of my helpers were taking the rest of the reception decor out of the boxes and began setting up the inside tables such as cake, cards and gifts, and favor tables! I am beyond impressed and happy with the way everything came out! Grateful is not a strong enough word to describe how thankful I am for the people I had there to help me that day! I was not apart of the Ceremony set up at all, mainly because everyone was trying to keep me away from Brandon who was setting up over there, so I do not know the details of that set up, but from what I have heard… the curtains were a huge hassel! It took a good amount of patience and men to get the sheer beauties to stay put! The Isle runner was stapled to the ground and the flower petals probably should have been placed later in the day because the wind kind of blew them around a bit! (But it still looked perfect) Apparently my sister was not happy with the way the boys were roping off the isle so she kind of took control of that part! In the end the entire venue was absolutely beautiful! It turned out better than I could have ever hoped!

  Sometime in the middle of all this, my cousin had arrived to do my makeup (she had a dentist appointment) and was literally pushing me up the stairs because I was still running around downstairs making sure everyone was good! I was in that go go go get it done mode so it definitely took me a few minutes to calm down and relax. While sitting upstairs in my makeup chair my photographer and videographer were finishing up detail shots behind me and my cakes had arrived! (Everyone was very adamant about keeping me informed about what was going on, which made me even happier and helped me stay calm. Even though at that point I was like whatever is going to happen, is going to happen.) At this same time my Florist had called me to tell me they were there, at the house, and ready to set up. I was like okay, did you come down the gravel road because I was looking out the huge window in my dressing room and did not see them. The lady gave me the address that they were at… GUESS WHAT… they were at MY PARENTS HOUSE! Not the Venue! I told them they needed to be at the venue and they were like OHHH we are on the way now, its okay! I literally looked at my cousin and laughed! It was all okay because 15 minutes later they had made it to the venue with all of our floral arrangements. Although I am disappointed about how they went about setting up. They did not bring any of their own tools and had to use the hardware Brandon and I had brought (which I am glad we had it or we would have been screwed!) and the fact that I ordered a Garland floral piece and that is not what I got, but I was happy with it either way because it all looked beautiful and it fit perfectly into the designated place on the pergola. I absolutely loved my bouquet and it is actually being placed in a keepsake arrangement as I type!

All of my gals were upstairs getting ready around this time and my photographers began taking a few get ready pictures of all of us! I remember just laughing and my cousin dancing on me as she tried to put my liquid eyeliner on! My lipstick was the last thing to do and then my sister sat in the makeup seat. At this point the photographer kicked her videographer husband out of the room so we could do some sexy garter and wedding dress photos! This was fun and I really hope my pooch isn’t too apparent in the pictures! I then got dressed and my mom and I took some photos together with the Bouquet and dress buttons. I am so happy that one of my coworkers gave me the best idea about my something borrowed and blue literally the day before my Wedding! (I had something old and something new, but I wasn’t going to do the other two because I did not want to wear blue do to my colors being purple and it clashing and I just did not know what to borrow) She had told me to borrow one of my moms wedding earrings that are dainty dangling blue hearts and pin one to my bouquet… that is exactly what I did! I cannot wait to get those photos back!

Around 1pm the Bridesmaids photos took place and I remember rushing everyone to be finished getting ready! I was a bit frustrated because they had like 3 hours that were sporadic, yes, but still a few hours to get ready and I was like girls! For real we gotta go and yawl should be done! That lasted for a bout 2 minutes and then we were all outside taking our photos and I was happy and excited again! We took a bunch of group photos and then a few individual ones as well as a few Bridal Portraits thrown in there! We finished pretty early actually so I went up stairs freshened up, put my heel protectors on and came back outside to the Ceremony area where Brandon and I were about to do our first touch! This is another point in the day where I became frustrated with my Bridal Party because they were literally all arguing with each other and yelling and I was getting pissed!! I had to tell them to be quite so many times and to stop yelling at each other, but its okay because not even 5 minutes from then, I saw two of my friends leading my almost Husband down the isle blindfolded. This was the first out of two times in the day where I felt really nervous, nauseous, and at the brink of tears. (Happy tears!) I was thinking I am about to MARRY this man in just a few hours! I calmed down after he made it to the end of the Isle and we started talking and held hands. I was ready and excited again! (My nerves are in my stomach so every time I get nervous or anxious my stomach hurts really bad) We read our letters that we had each written for each other and Brandon placed his blindfold back on so we could just hold each other for a few minutes and soak up those last few minutes before the chaos started! We stayed that way until it was time for the guys to take their groomsmen photos. I headed back up stairs with my gals while my mom went and got lunch for all of us! We ate our checkers, danced, and sang! My photographers came in the room in the middle of the crazy dance party and let me know that they had finished up with the guys pictures, that we were way ahead of schedule, and that this never happens! I felt very accomplished and ecstatic in that moment! To know that a professional was impressed with how organized and prepared I was in planning my entire wedding myself! (Of course I had help here and there!) Her and her Husband picked up some lunch, ate, and then took detail shots of the venue! Just of the finished ceremony and reception areas, cake tables, and decorations. We had 2 hours to kill! Literally we had nothing to do, it was just a waiting game from that point until lineup! I took some of this time to step downstairs and take a look of the finished set up as well. (Yes I changed out of my wedding dress, I did not want to get food on it and I wanted to be a little more comfortable for those few hours) When 4pm came things started to get more real! Guests began to arrive and the rest of my Wedding party arrived, my ring bearer and flower girl could not have looked any better than they were… cuteness overload! We did last minute touch ups, reapplied makeup, and I was getting ready to put my dress back on. I said hi to my dad and brothers and the photographer showed him where we were going to be for the First look I decided to have with him! (Brandon and I wanted to be as traditional as possible, that is why we did not do a first look!) Then my photographers did “mock” getting ready photos with the Groomsmen since they were in the room with the girls at the actual preparation time. When they were done my photographer came to get me and we headed down to meet my Father! The first look was very sweet and I am very happy that I decided to do it! When we finished up there we had about 20 minutes before lineup time, which I was just shocked about! I was again in that get it done mode so I was done relaxing, I was ready to get the show on the road. I was going crazy not being able to do anything! Pretty much the entire wedding party was squeezed into the small corridor area next to the front door because there was no point of heading back upstairs. I remember turning to Kassy and saying “I feel like I have to throw up" and she says “NO YOU DON’T!” I just started lining people up 15 minutes early because I did not know what to do with myself! I stood at the back of the line up just rocking back and forth trying to keep myself calm and my nerves down! (I hate my nervous stomach aches!)

When we all lined up outside of the door my nerves started to disappear! And then the music started! Each couple began to walk down and the line became shorter and shorter until I could see Brandon clear as day while the ring bearer and his mom went down the isle! Then the music changed and my Flower girl and her mom made their way down the isle… then it was my turn! I took a deep breath and started walking! I remember wanting to look at Brandon the entire time, but my eyes wouldn't let me! (I wanted to make him cry lol, but honestly in the moment I was not even thinking about that! And after the ceremony one of my friends told me that my dad and I were walking pretty fast down the isle! I wasn’t trying too, I didn't notice, I guess it just happened!) We reached the end of the Isle and the minister did her announcement and I took my place next to Brandon and gave my sister my Bouquet. Our minister started talking and I started whispering to Brandon and then it was time to say our Vows! Brandon was shaking like crazy and read his pretty past. (He is pretty nervous speaking in bigger crowds) I was shaking a tad bit but enunciated and slowed down because I knew if I tried to read mine fast that I would screw up tremendously! After this we did the ring exchange, which by the way… could have gone better. First we forgot to switch rings meaning Kassy was supposed to have Brandon's and Brandon’s brother was supposed to have mine, but that wasn’t a big deal. What was is that Brandon gave me the wrong hand soooo I proceeded to place the Wedding band on the WRONG HAND! We did not notice Brandon's parents trying to correct us in the front row, I was just focused on marrying this man! After this I do not recall if our minister told us to say I DO or not, but we were instructed to Kiss, so we did! After a few seconds of our first kiss and the couple of short ones after we turned to face our guests and were announced as Mr. and Mrs.! I am so happy that a couple of guests were able to capture my face after the announcement because I was the happiest I could have ever been and you can see that all over my face in those photos! We had the Recessional and that is when the wedding party started telling us all the things they noticed about the rings and my walking fast!

  We got the family and the Bridal party over to the side and started lining everyone up for photos and we did this as quickly as possible and got pretty much everything that we wanted and once again were waayyy ahead of schedule! Next I called the DJ over to make sure we were in the correct lineup for the Bridal Party announcement, the photographers went over to the dance floor to set up, and then the announcement began! Our party lined the dance floor as the DJ announced the Newlyweds and we went straight into our first dance! We had practiced a couple times at home, but we ended up not doing anything special because Brandon was too scared to mess up! After we danced my Father joined me on the dance floor and we did a few turns, even though we had not practiced at all! Keeping with tradition Brandon and his Mother had their dance next. Brandon almost cried and Brandon's mom did cry! I then added a little twist to our Reception and added a Parents Dance where Brandon's parents and mine had a special song to dance too after the traditional ones. Another addition to the party was my Cousin, he played his violin for the second time at the Wedding. I mainly had added this in there to keep my guests entertained after they had eaten dinner because we did not have a cocktail hour therefore Directly after the Ceremony they went into dinner. But we went waaayyy ahead of schedule so we placed him in after the dances so the Bridal Party could eat before the cutting of the cake and opening the dance floor. I honestly do not remember how much time had passed from when I made my way around tables to getting a small plate of food that I barley took a few bites out of while my mother was attaching my bustle and then speeches started! I left my food at the table grabbed my cup and headed to the edge of the Pavilion and entrance of the dance floor by my new Husband and listened as Brandon’s brother and my sister gave their speeches! Afterwards we headed inside to cut the cake and drink champagne! I am going to backtrack for a second here, the only thing that I had forgotten for the Wedding Day was a bottle of Champagne, so I had asked like 3 different people from my Bridal Party to grab some, needless to say one of them did so we got some… now back to the present! Brandon and I started to cut our cake first and umm… it was a little difficult! I did not realize that there was cardboard in the middle of the layers and the ribbon attached to the cake was part of the decorations and was not real and not edible! So it was a very HORRIBLY cut slice of delicious cake (though) I am really happy with the kind of cake we went with because it was delicious! If you are wondering if we smashed cake in each others faces… WE DID NOT! That was one tradition I was okay with skipping! Next came the champagne that 4 of us struggled to get open and then did our arm twist, tasted the champagne and immediately smirked! I cannot wait to see the photo of our faces after tasting that champagne because it was not good lol! But overall it was an amazing experience and we will always have the cork! My mother started taking the cake apart, as in taking the ribbon off and getting the cardboard removed when we remember we still had to do the groomsmen cake! This time Brandon and one of his closest Firefighter buddies cut this one together and fed each other! This is a memory that I will never forget! It was hilarious and so much fun! While inside with the cake the DJ had opened the dance floor and before I knew it I was dragged onto the dance floor and I kind of never left! We danced the night away! We screamed and chanted and had dance competitions like a dance circle and soul train! (Which by the way none of us knew what that was lol) My sister recorded so many videos that I am so grateful to have while I am anticipating the wait for my professional videos and photographs!

  Around 8pm it was time for the “mock” sparkler send off! The sparklers we purchased were 36' so we had a lot of room to do a lot of cool things that my photographers wanted to do! I cannot believe how many sparklers we have left over! It’s a lot! Towards the end of the night Brandon and his friend went and grabbed their boots and lower Firefighter gear from the Ceremony area while others began to clean up, put them on and began dancing like crazy in their huge really heavy gear! I am over the moon that my photographer was able to get some really cool pictures of this and Brandon pretending to rescue me! My photographers left shortly after, the parents, my siblings, and a few others started to clean up the reception area and put away the decorations while a few couples slow danced. I think this is when I started to calm down from the excitement of the night because up until that point it had been go go go since the Ceremony ended, so it was a nice Segway into soaking in our Wedding day together and just focusing on us finally being married! Although I did have to bring Brandon’s attention back to me a couple times because he was still in the party mode! When our last dance song played, I could not believe that we had gotten through the day without any real problems! I felt and still feel so blessed to have had a really easy Wedding day with very minimal stress! I remember hearing so many compliments from our guests saying how beautiful everything was and how personalized the day had been to Brandon and I and our relationship! At that moment I knew that all of my hard work had payed off, not only because I got to marry the man of my dreams, but because God aloud our day to be perfect!

  When they say your WEDDING DAY goes by quickly, they are not lying! At first it did not feel that fast, but from the Ceremony to the end of the night, it felt like I snapped my fingers and 4 hours had gone by. I do know that I will have this post forever to read and look back on to remind me of how great this day was! I will never forget the people who were there or the help and support that our family and friends gave us! Brandon and I are truly blessed to have them in our lives!

After the last dance the packing up was pretty much done, it was all about making sure everyone had everything and packing the cars! We did our last walk through and then stood around and talked to a few family members and friends that were left and said our goodbyes an hour earlier than we had to be out of the venue! We partied hard! The venue manager actually mentioned to us that we are the only Wedding he could hear singing and yelling and chanting all the way to his house, at the edge of the property, and did not have any alcohol served! So needless to say we had a very good night!

Brandon and I went home, he carried me across the threshold, opened our gifts, and called it a night! Thank you everyone who came or participated in the Wedding in anyway! I hope you stuck it out through the entirety of this post! My Wedding Day is something I will never forget and will forever go down in history as one of the best days ever!