our wedding: chapter 2
So this brings us to the day of the wedding, Saturday, April 24, 2010.
Like I said before, there was no chance I was sleeping well. We planned it out so all the girls would have breakfast at 9 am and the guys would have breakfast at 10. The greatest thing in the a.m. about a B&B is that you don't even have to get out of your PJ's to go anywhere for breakfast! However, even though I set my alarm for 8:30, I totally was up by 7. I asked my mom if she minded if I took a bath in the crazy tub again to get pampered up and ready for the morning, and she was getting up anyway.
Breakfast was fun. We had creme brulee french toast with an apple-cranberry mix and local bacon. Their local brewed coffee was amazing of course too. My mama set out little Yankee "Wedding Day" candles at each place setting. She gave me some cute lingerie (lol), which is usually reserved for a shower which I did not have, and Rhonda gave me some perfume for the weding day. Then it was time to be ushered back downstairs because the boys' breakfast was coming up.
The rest of the morning, I sat and had heart-to-hearts with Tami and my mom and we REALLY bonded. It was so much fun. I started to do my nails myself but then realized I was seriously effing the french manicure thing up. Tami and my mom reassured me that my nails were the least of the whole picture on the wedding day so I nixed that.
I know this sounds like I keep bathing myself but I took a shower before my hair appointment because baths never make me feel clean. At that point I was pretty much all by myself in the suite, so I brought my laptop into the huge bathroom with dual shower heads and blasted some Taylor Swift. Listening to "Today Was a Fairytale" on your wedding day? Amazing. (Belting it out in a echoing shower with no concern for who hears you? Equally amazing.)
My brother came down and said he & the boys were taking off to go sightseeing in Orange and maybe go to a winery. I was so excited he was mingling easily with the Dunns.
At 12ish, us girls all headed over to Logan's Hair Shop to get my hair fixed. Even the hair shop was located in an 1912 building that used to be a furniture store of all things.. I swear there was so much history in that town. The girl did a nice job.
After that, Tami insisted that I need to eat something before the wedding to prevent shakes or passing out - I had joked endlessly (but seriously) that I wanted french fries on my wedding day, so that's exactly what we got.. McDonalds chicken nuggets and glorious salty french fries. It was delicious. We sat around and watched Legally Blonde, meanwhile passing back and forth texts to the boys to make sure we weren't going to cross paths.
Soon enough it was 3 or so, and I began to get ready. I was out on the patio doing my makeup when I heard a car pull up. Within a few minutes I heard click! snap! It was our photographer :) She had gotten there early... she was amazing, I have to say, throughout the whole thing. No one ever felt like she was in the way or anything! Soon enough it was 4:17 p.m. (with a 4:30 ceremony time) and I STILL didn't have my dress on. We went into the Garden Room and I put it on for the first time since the first time I wore it in December. Fit like a glove still. I felt beautiful. We topped it off with some earrings I'd bought at Claire's. I felt like a princess.
Then my heart started to race. We went upstairs to the main floor, then up one more because I would be descending the stairs to the main hallway for the first part of my wedding walk. The photog wanted to finish a few shots with Ryan and Chad (his brother) in one of the other closed rooms, and afterwards she came up to shoot Erik, Tami, and I in the blue room -- my favorite room. When she said she was done, I got serious butterflies. I realized I couldn't walk too well without holding my dress up a little in the front, so I was really nervous about going toppling down the stairs. Finally, at around 4:35, my brother began to walk me down the stairs and near the "aisle."
I heard the start of the bridal march and saw the shadows of everyone in the parlor who was standing up. (You couldn't see the staircase from the parlor, so that would be the first time everyone saw me.) I swear, all I saw were smiles and tears, myself included. My brother was about to lose it. It was such a beautiful moment the minute I saw Ryan smiling there to greet me at the fireplace. My eyes welled up and I prayed my tear ducts would resorb the tears and that my mascara would hold up. When I got up to the fireplace, Erik & I hugged and then I hugged Ryan. He mouthed "you look so beautiful" with tears in his eyes and we exchanged secret I-love-yous.
The first part of the ceremony was something we came up with like a week before the wedding. Before the vows began, the officiant called up the moms to this little table to light two candles in memory of family members, i.e. my dad, Ryan's grandparents, who couldn't be there to see our wedding. It was a way I could feel my dad was there watching.
Then it began. Our officiant was this real southern grandpa-like old man, who started our ceremony "Dearly beloved..." etc, then goes, "By the way, Dayna, I'm Don Hughes." We all lol'd big time and shook his hand since it was our first meeting :) Our ceremony was absolutely gorgeous and so traditional but beautiful at the same time. We said our I Do's, we recited our vows, he read a poem about love, and then announced "By the power vested in me by the State of Virginia..." and said, "Ryan, you may kiss your bride!" What a powerful, powerful moment. I felt nothing but bliss and happiness in our first hand-holding as man and wife.
So, so, so, so happy.
More to come later...
Like I said before, there was no chance I was sleeping well. We planned it out so all the girls would have breakfast at 9 am and the guys would have breakfast at 10. The greatest thing in the a.m. about a B&B is that you don't even have to get out of your PJ's to go anywhere for breakfast! However, even though I set my alarm for 8:30, I totally was up by 7. I asked my mom if she minded if I took a bath in the crazy tub again to get pampered up and ready for the morning, and she was getting up anyway.
Breakfast was fun. We had creme brulee french toast with an apple-cranberry mix and local bacon. Their local brewed coffee was amazing of course too. My mama set out little Yankee "Wedding Day" candles at each place setting. She gave me some cute lingerie (lol), which is usually reserved for a shower which I did not have, and Rhonda gave me some perfume for the weding day. Then it was time to be ushered back downstairs because the boys' breakfast was coming up.
The rest of the morning, I sat and had heart-to-hearts with Tami and my mom and we REALLY bonded. It was so much fun. I started to do my nails myself but then realized I was seriously effing the french manicure thing up. Tami and my mom reassured me that my nails were the least of the whole picture on the wedding day so I nixed that.
I know this sounds like I keep bathing myself but I took a shower before my hair appointment because baths never make me feel clean. At that point I was pretty much all by myself in the suite, so I brought my laptop into the huge bathroom with dual shower heads and blasted some Taylor Swift. Listening to "Today Was a Fairytale" on your wedding day? Amazing. (Belting it out in a echoing shower with no concern for who hears you? Equally amazing.)
My brother came down and said he & the boys were taking off to go sightseeing in Orange and maybe go to a winery. I was so excited he was mingling easily with the Dunns.
At 12ish, us girls all headed over to Logan's Hair Shop to get my hair fixed. Even the hair shop was located in an 1912 building that used to be a furniture store of all things.. I swear there was so much history in that town. The girl did a nice job.
After that, Tami insisted that I need to eat something before the wedding to prevent shakes or passing out - I had joked endlessly (but seriously) that I wanted french fries on my wedding day, so that's exactly what we got.. McDonalds chicken nuggets and glorious salty french fries. It was delicious. We sat around and watched Legally Blonde, meanwhile passing back and forth texts to the boys to make sure we weren't going to cross paths.
Soon enough it was 3 or so, and I began to get ready. I was out on the patio doing my makeup when I heard a car pull up. Within a few minutes I heard click! snap! It was our photographer :) She had gotten there early... she was amazing, I have to say, throughout the whole thing. No one ever felt like she was in the way or anything! Soon enough it was 4:17 p.m. (with a 4:30 ceremony time) and I STILL didn't have my dress on. We went into the Garden Room and I put it on for the first time since the first time I wore it in December. Fit like a glove still. I felt beautiful. We topped it off with some earrings I'd bought at Claire's. I felt like a princess.
Then my heart started to race. We went upstairs to the main floor, then up one more because I would be descending the stairs to the main hallway for the first part of my wedding walk. The photog wanted to finish a few shots with Ryan and Chad (his brother) in one of the other closed rooms, and afterwards she came up to shoot Erik, Tami, and I in the blue room -- my favorite room. When she said she was done, I got serious butterflies. I realized I couldn't walk too well without holding my dress up a little in the front, so I was really nervous about going toppling down the stairs. Finally, at around 4:35, my brother began to walk me down the stairs and near the "aisle."
I heard the start of the bridal march and saw the shadows of everyone in the parlor who was standing up. (You couldn't see the staircase from the parlor, so that would be the first time everyone saw me.) I swear, all I saw were smiles and tears, myself included. My brother was about to lose it. It was such a beautiful moment the minute I saw Ryan smiling there to greet me at the fireplace. My eyes welled up and I prayed my tear ducts would resorb the tears and that my mascara would hold up. When I got up to the fireplace, Erik & I hugged and then I hugged Ryan. He mouthed "you look so beautiful" with tears in his eyes and we exchanged secret I-love-yous.
The first part of the ceremony was something we came up with like a week before the wedding. Before the vows began, the officiant called up the moms to this little table to light two candles in memory of family members, i.e. my dad, Ryan's grandparents, who couldn't be there to see our wedding. It was a way I could feel my dad was there watching.
Then it began. Our officiant was this real southern grandpa-like old man, who started our ceremony "Dearly beloved..." etc, then goes, "By the way, Dayna, I'm Don Hughes." We all lol'd big time and shook his hand since it was our first meeting :) Our ceremony was absolutely gorgeous and so traditional but beautiful at the same time. We said our I Do's, we recited our vows, he read a poem about love, and then announced "By the power vested in me by the State of Virginia..." and said, "Ryan, you may kiss your bride!" What a powerful, powerful moment. I felt nothing but bliss and happiness in our first hand-holding as man and wife.
So, so, so, so happy.
More to come later...