Monday, July 18, 2011

Our Wedding ABC Style

2 years ago today I married my best friend. I thank God everyday for bringing us together. He is my sunshine. Here is a recap of our wedding day ABC style. Enjoy!
Attendance: We had about 185 guests at our wedding. What an amazing feeling it was to have all of our friends and family from various stages of our lives there with us to celebrate!
Our DJ called everyone out on the dance floor for a group photo and then while everyone was on the dance floor the music began and the party got hoppin!
Bridesmaids: I had 8 fabulous bridesmaids. My sister was my Maid of Honor and I had my 3 sister in laws, 2 friends I had had since childhood and 2 college friends.
Catering: I barely got to eat anything, but I heard the food was great. We used Jack's catering and instead of traditional food we went for kabobs on the grill. It was perfect. Our cake was from Patricia's. MMMmmm.
Dress: I was (and still am) absolutely obsessed with my dress!
Engagement: Read about it here.
Flowers: I love daisies so the bridesmaid had colored daisies. I wanted my bouquet to be simple and elegant so I stuck with white flowers in my arrangement.
Groomsmen: What a great group of guys! My brother, cousin and brother in law are among those strapping, studly men.
Honeymoon: My husband is such a kid at heart and he had never in his life been to Disney World. When we were discussing honeymoon destinations I knew we had to go there! We spent a week near Sarasota as beach bums and then we headed to Disney for a week. It was amazing!
Invitations: I bought my invitations at Target and a friend helped me with the printing and design. I also had a family friend who did the calligraphy.
Justice of the Peace: Our pastor who had baptized both myself and that hubby of mine did our ceremony.
Keepsakes:We had a candy bar for our guests to divulge themselves in, which was a huge hit.
At each guest's seat was also a flowerpot filled with moss with a tag saying "Thanks for watching our love grow."
Ladies Night: Since everyone in our bridal party knew each other and were friends we decided instead of separate bachelor and bachelorette parties, that we would do a bridal party bash. I would not change it for the world. It is one of our most memorable nights with friends.
Music: I loved picking out meaningful music for my ceremony and reception. My friend's dad who is also our worship pastor sang "Glory in the Highest" by Chris Tomlin while we took communion, my bridesmaids walked down the aisle to "Anne's Song" from Anne of Green Gables, which was perfect because that movie has such a special place in my heart. Our first dance was to "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath.
 Newly Weds: I know we've been married two years now, but I still feel like a newly wed. My grandma said in her wedding advice to us to "always act like newly weds!"
Old, New, Borrowed, Blue:Old-my wedding band belonged to Drew's great, great grandmother from Germany!  New-my dress, shoes, jewelry...Borrowed- my grandma's bracelet Blue-my VS Bride panties had blue writing and a blue trim
 Photography: Since my dad is a wedding videographer with connections we had several photographers at our wedding who managed to cover any and every aspect. I was so happy with my pictures!
Question Popping: Isn't this the same as Engagement? Hm. Read about it again here.
Reception: Our reception was held at a lodge inside a park. We wanted our guests to be able to enjoy the outside patio and gazebo and the amenities inside has to offer on a summer evening.
Shoes: simple, adorable, so comfortable. I danced in them all night.
Trash the Dress: While I find this idea entertaining I just don't think I could do it! If I did I would want to jump off a dock into the ocean with my dress on!
Unique: When we exited the church all the guests threw lavender...it was beautiful and smelled amazing.
We also saw each other before the wedding. GASP. We wanted to have a special moment together alone and it was so special. We had a private rendezvous in the woods. Then we had all our pictures finished before the wedding and were able to head straight to the reception!
Vows: We said the traditional vows and I cried...this was such a special part of the day for me.
Wedding Woes: I wouldn't change a thing. I only wish Pinterest had been around when I was wedding planning and looking for ideas!!!!
X-rated: This is about as x-rated as you are going to get. I crack up every time I look at these pictures from our bridal party bash.
Young kids: We had Drew's cousin's adorable little girls as our flower girls! We got married the year after my 1st year teaching so I invited my kindergarten students to my wedding ceremony. A few had to leave before the picture, but I love this picture and have it framed in my classroom
ZZzzzzz:We stayed at the Embassy Suites near our house that night and were exhausted after such an amazing day. We headed to Sarasota the next day and talked about our wedding the entire drive there and back. We couldn't have imagined a better ending to our fairy tale wedding.

16 comments:

Emily said...

Sigh - your wedding dress is gorgeous! I am entertaining the idea of doing a trash the dress session just so I can wear my dress again - except there will be less trashing and just more photo taking. I don't blame you for not wanting to trash something so beautiful.

Emily said...

p.s. happy anniversary

courtney said...

awww happy anniversary!!! love the abc's of your wedding :) enjoy your day together :)

The Whity Wife said...

great post! Also wanted to comment on trash the dress- I am still 100% in love with my dress, I can't wait until we have a bigger place so it can live with me instead of my parents so that I can wear it in my own house often ;)

I want to do trash the dress, but I also want to wait a couple more years so that I can just enjoy it. It got a snag on the top of it that day so I might as well!

Great pictures by the way! It looks like it was an amazing day for you

Allison said...

Happy Anniversary! Your wedding was beautiful! I can't wait to get our professional pictures so I can do this post! & I agree, I could never do a trash the dress.

Sam W. said...

everything seems just perfect! happy anniversary :)

Amanda C. said...

It's all so beautiful! I love the daisies on the cake. Congrats on the anniversary!

Sar said...

Allison, I love this! Happy anniversary! I'm about to go read the engagement story...I can't wait!

Gorgeous photos of a gorgeous couple!

Betty said...

Hi! Stopping by from Mingle Monday...love your blog and this fun wedding post! Now following your blog. I used to teach elementary school as well...enjoy your summer! And Happy Anniversary! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love weddings! Your cake and dress and everything were so gorgeous! Visiting from Mingle Monday :)

Natalie said...

Happy Anniversary! Love your bridal photos! =D

Syndal said...

I love this post! you two are so cute!

Jess at Just Rainbows and Butterflies said...

I loved reading this post! I'm getting married in Sept and this post was very helpful and fun. I'm actually listening to the Brandon Heath song now. :) Also, LOVE your dress! I'm such a fan with low back dresses and you looked gorgeous in yours!

Rhiannon Bosse said...

You look absolutely stunning :)

TiffanyClark said...

Happy Anniversary! Your ABC's were BEAUTIFUL! I also wish pinterest would've been around during wedding planning. It's cool that both of us got married the same year/same month! Hope you had a great anniversary!

gen said...

i love this! and it was so cool of you to invite your kindergarten kids to your wedding ceremony! you looked lovely!