wedding bliss
Well, now that my rental rant is over I realized that I never posted anything good about my wedding. I'm so freaking excited to be married and the wedding was WONDERFUL! I looked exactly like I always dreamed I would, - aside from a few pounds I would have liked to have lost but couldn't because of the crazy David's Bridal dress problems - the ceremony was lovely, and the reception was so much fun. I really think everything turned out great and I couldn't have been happier. At one point in the ceremony I leaned over to give Gary a hug when It wasn't time and I said "I just want to give you a hug." Everyone smiled and said "aww." It was a little embarassing but everyone told me it was cute so that's good. Gary loved it. When I first got up to the front of the church and held his hand I squeezed it once and he squeezed back then I got nervous and squeezed a bunch of times and he squeezed a bunch of times back. I love him so much for that because he knew exactly what I needed and wasn't too nervous or embarassed to give me some good squeezes. I really just wanted to hug him the entire time we were standing up there. I was so happy to be marrying him and so in love, not to mention a little nervous which always makes me want to just wrap myself up in him. He's a good comforter. I love him.
So, the wedding was really great. I wasn't nervous at all that day until I actually started walking down the aisle. I pinned myself as the nervous bride who couldn't sleep the night before or eat the day of. Wrong! I slept like a baby with Abby (and Aaron for a bit) the night before at my parents house. I got up early on the big day and got a shower and went to the hair salon to meet my girls and get my hair done. I wore sweats, a button down white shirt and a big pair of men's comfy slippers all day. I was the bride... I wore what I wanted. LOL. The hair took a while but looked awesome. Jamie got me out of there by 12 which was what I wanted. I ran down to Subway - where I almost accidentily saw Gary who was arriving at the Eat'N'Park directly across the street for lunch with his guys at the exact same time - and got sandwiches for all the girls and grabbed chips and pop from Kuhn's. (the snacks and water bottles were already at the church for the guys and girls but I had to get stuff for lunch) We girls ate at the church - I scarffed my food and it was SO good, no trouble eating for me - then got ready for pictures. I sat in on the CFC rehearsal which almost made me tear up. They were amazing! We got pictures which is always my least favorite thing but they went well. I made my Uncle Grant take a couple of me while I was looking in a mirror so I could pose myself how I wanted.. lol. I tied my girls' wraps and they all looked beautiful and the guys looked great when it was time to start and we met up with them at the back of the church. I loved watching the Bridal Party's processional. We used both aisles and I had the guys walk the girls down which I really loved. I could see Gary from where I was but he couldn't see me. He looked so good and not too nervous. I got nervous when I got to the front of the church. Not to get married, just to have so many people looking at me. The hand that was holding my bouquet was shaking a little and I was worried everyone would notice since it was making my flowers shake. That's when I did the hand squeezes with Gary and things were fine.
I really wouldn't have changed anything about the wedding. The only thing I thought was a little off was after the first CFC song the things in between before the first hymn weren't long enough so I felt like it was too much music clumped together. But, there was a lot of music in general because that's what I wanted and no one seemed to notice that first clump up besides me. So many people told us that our wedding was one of the most beautiful they'd been to which was really nice to hear. I put SO much time into planning the ceremony with all the music and CFC and incorporating the Irish traditions so I was glad that people appreciated it. I loved it.
The reception was a blast. Our chef Erica pulled off an amazing feat getting all the food done after she had arrived to the gas being shut off in the hall's kitchen. I won't even get into all of that, but she did a great job. The only thing that upset me a little was that Zuri forgot to put on the Bridal Party Entrance song and when we were announced we walked in to really boring dinner music. I had picked out the song "Everybody Ready" by Action Figure Party and it was SUCH a good song for our entrance. Bummer. But, everything else rocked so oh well. Mine and Gary's first dance was so nice. Our song was "Brighter Than Sunshine" by Aqualung. That's been our song for so long and it was such a sentimental moment for us to share dancing our first dance as husband and wife to such a meaningful song. The father-bride dance was so great. I danced with my Dad for a minute then had the DJ invite the other fathers and daughters to the dance floor to join in. Well, none of my sisters could dance with their dad because he was already up there so they all came and joined us and we all danced together. My dad and all five daughters in a tight adorable dancing circle. It was great. Cutting the cake was funny. I tried to get Gary to be nice and not get cake on my face, but he did anyway of course. I knew he would. He didn't get me too badly but when I got him back, I got him good. I got cake up his nose and he said that he was blowing icing out the rest of the night. I loved all the dancing and getting to see and talk to a lot of really great people. Matt Page came from Virginia which was so nice. We hadn't seen him in a very long time and it was the first wedding he'd ever been to. He had a lot of fun and I enjoyed talking to and dancing with him. I kept myself in check and didn't drink alot. We had so much alcohol but I didn't drink nearly any liquor, just wine and beer. My plan was to drink no liquor, but when my dad asked to do a celebratory shot with me, how could I refuse. Plus, it was just peach schnapps so no biggie. I think a lot of people thought I was drunk though even though at best all I got was buzzed. The reason for this is because I totally let loose at my reception. I figured that since I was the bride I could do what I wanted, and I did. I danced SO much and got so hot that I had to fan up under my dress with a bowl because I thought I might faint. Then when Aaron and my cousins started running and sliding accross the dance floor I just had to try it. I'm never brave enough to do stuff like that in front of people. If there was ever a time to let go it was that night when no one could say anything... lol. So I tried it a couple times. How could I have passed it up? After all I had a huge slippery dress on, perfect for the floor slide. Also, I made sure to put the song "Geek In The Pink" on the DJ list so that Mike and I could dance to it at the reception. Every time we get together we put music on and dance around and sing and have fun and that's one of our favortie songs. How was I to know that when we started dancing everyone else would sit down and watch us? I mean, I LOVED it, but I hadn't foreseen it. It was awesome! We sang and danced and really played it up and everyone got such a kick out of it. It was really nice to have a fun moment like that with Mike anyway. We've been friends for such a long time and I was so glad he was in the wedding party. The night was all about showing off and having fun and that's definitely what I did. What a blast.
So, overall I couldn't have been happier with my wedding day - pre-ceremony, ceremony, and reception. Everything was fabulous and I wish I could do it all over again a hundred times. I'm So So So So So happy to be married to Gary. He is really the love of my life and I can't imagine myself with anyone else even for a moment. I loved my wedding and I love my husband.
So, the wedding was really great. I wasn't nervous at all that day until I actually started walking down the aisle. I pinned myself as the nervous bride who couldn't sleep the night before or eat the day of. Wrong! I slept like a baby with Abby (and Aaron for a bit) the night before at my parents house. I got up early on the big day and got a shower and went to the hair salon to meet my girls and get my hair done. I wore sweats, a button down white shirt and a big pair of men's comfy slippers all day. I was the bride... I wore what I wanted. LOL. The hair took a while but looked awesome. Jamie got me out of there by 12 which was what I wanted. I ran down to Subway - where I almost accidentily saw Gary who was arriving at the Eat'N'Park directly across the street for lunch with his guys at the exact same time - and got sandwiches for all the girls and grabbed chips and pop from Kuhn's. (the snacks and water bottles were already at the church for the guys and girls but I had to get stuff for lunch) We girls ate at the church - I scarffed my food and it was SO good, no trouble eating for me - then got ready for pictures. I sat in on the CFC rehearsal which almost made me tear up. They were amazing! We got pictures which is always my least favorite thing but they went well. I made my Uncle Grant take a couple of me while I was looking in a mirror so I could pose myself how I wanted.. lol. I tied my girls' wraps and they all looked beautiful and the guys looked great when it was time to start and we met up with them at the back of the church. I loved watching the Bridal Party's processional. We used both aisles and I had the guys walk the girls down which I really loved. I could see Gary from where I was but he couldn't see me. He looked so good and not too nervous. I got nervous when I got to the front of the church. Not to get married, just to have so many people looking at me. The hand that was holding my bouquet was shaking a little and I was worried everyone would notice since it was making my flowers shake. That's when I did the hand squeezes with Gary and things were fine.
I really wouldn't have changed anything about the wedding. The only thing I thought was a little off was after the first CFC song the things in between before the first hymn weren't long enough so I felt like it was too much music clumped together. But, there was a lot of music in general because that's what I wanted and no one seemed to notice that first clump up besides me. So many people told us that our wedding was one of the most beautiful they'd been to which was really nice to hear. I put SO much time into planning the ceremony with all the music and CFC and incorporating the Irish traditions so I was glad that people appreciated it. I loved it.
The reception was a blast. Our chef Erica pulled off an amazing feat getting all the food done after she had arrived to the gas being shut off in the hall's kitchen. I won't even get into all of that, but she did a great job. The only thing that upset me a little was that Zuri forgot to put on the Bridal Party Entrance song and when we were announced we walked in to really boring dinner music. I had picked out the song "Everybody Ready" by Action Figure Party and it was SUCH a good song for our entrance. Bummer. But, everything else rocked so oh well. Mine and Gary's first dance was so nice. Our song was "Brighter Than Sunshine" by Aqualung. That's been our song for so long and it was such a sentimental moment for us to share dancing our first dance as husband and wife to such a meaningful song. The father-bride dance was so great. I danced with my Dad for a minute then had the DJ invite the other fathers and daughters to the dance floor to join in. Well, none of my sisters could dance with their dad because he was already up there so they all came and joined us and we all danced together. My dad and all five daughters in a tight adorable dancing circle. It was great. Cutting the cake was funny. I tried to get Gary to be nice and not get cake on my face, but he did anyway of course. I knew he would. He didn't get me too badly but when I got him back, I got him good. I got cake up his nose and he said that he was blowing icing out the rest of the night. I loved all the dancing and getting to see and talk to a lot of really great people. Matt Page came from Virginia which was so nice. We hadn't seen him in a very long time and it was the first wedding he'd ever been to. He had a lot of fun and I enjoyed talking to and dancing with him. I kept myself in check and didn't drink alot. We had so much alcohol but I didn't drink nearly any liquor, just wine and beer. My plan was to drink no liquor, but when my dad asked to do a celebratory shot with me, how could I refuse. Plus, it was just peach schnapps so no biggie. I think a lot of people thought I was drunk though even though at best all I got was buzzed. The reason for this is because I totally let loose at my reception. I figured that since I was the bride I could do what I wanted, and I did. I danced SO much and got so hot that I had to fan up under my dress with a bowl because I thought I might faint. Then when Aaron and my cousins started running and sliding accross the dance floor I just had to try it. I'm never brave enough to do stuff like that in front of people. If there was ever a time to let go it was that night when no one could say anything... lol. So I tried it a couple times. How could I have passed it up? After all I had a huge slippery dress on, perfect for the floor slide. Also, I made sure to put the song "Geek In The Pink" on the DJ list so that Mike and I could dance to it at the reception. Every time we get together we put music on and dance around and sing and have fun and that's one of our favortie songs. How was I to know that when we started dancing everyone else would sit down and watch us? I mean, I LOVED it, but I hadn't foreseen it. It was awesome! We sang and danced and really played it up and everyone got such a kick out of it. It was really nice to have a fun moment like that with Mike anyway. We've been friends for such a long time and I was so glad he was in the wedding party. The night was all about showing off and having fun and that's definitely what I did. What a blast.
So, overall I couldn't have been happier with my wedding day - pre-ceremony, ceremony, and reception. Everything was fabulous and I wish I could do it all over again a hundred times. I'm So So So So So happy to be married to Gary. He is really the love of my life and I can't imagine myself with anyone else even for a moment. I loved my wedding and I love my husband.