Denisa
07-20-2007, 12:32 AM
So I've FINALLY got enough time to sit down and tell all about our big day. This is going to be pretty long but I'm going to break it up into sections so bear with me!! :)
Pre-Wedding (Thursday and Friday July 5-6, 2007)
So it all started Thursday when James' relatives came in from out of town. 3 of his cousins sang at the wedding, so them and their husbands came up and stayed the weekend. It was so nice to see everyone, we visited most of Thursday but Friday is when all of the crazyness started. :eek:
I woke up around 8:00 am Friday, and my MIL treated me to a manicure and a pedicure. We were going to get there first thing (they opened at 10) because I knew I had about 8 million things to do that day. We got there around 10:10, and they weren't even open! So we waited around till they got there finally at 10:20 and nails took about an hour an a half total since we had to wait a little. Then we stopped at Walgreens on the way home because my MIL had to get makeup and I needed to get soft curlers for my hair. So then we got back around 12:30 and by that time I started panicking because I had so much to do still and rehearsal was at 6. So I ran around that day like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get laundry done, and do some other things, and I still had to run out to the mall because I STILL had to get gifts for my mom and my MIL! Which I found btw at the very last minute thank god. I can't believe I waited so long and until the last minute especially to do everything that day (pack up the stuff for the ceremony for the church, wrap all the gifts, finish up laundry for our honeymoon, etc.) I finally finished up at 4:30 then I still had to take a shower and get dressed for rehearsal. James' cousin Jerren (also one of my bridesmaids) came down at 3:30 thankfully and helped me with a few things, she wrapped a few of the gifts and packed a few things for me. We left the house around 5:30 to head to the church for rehearsal.
Rehearsal
We met everyone in the parking lot of the church and all of the bridesmaids brought their dresses to be left at the church basement as well as all of the ceremony items. Rehearsal started off a little awkward; we weren't really sure what was going on, if the pastor was going to be leading it or what because we hadnt seen him yet, but about 6:15 he came into the sanctuary and we then did a run-through without the music first, then with music. I thought everything would go good but alot of us were still confused, then we went through it a second time and things got a lot better. Except for one of our ringbearers, Sean (my nephew) started acting up. We were worried this was going to happen. Thats why we decided to have 2 ringbearers incase something would happen with Sean, and it did. But I wanted to have him in the wedding because he was after all my nephew. My sister was so upset. I told her it was okay and that nobody was mad and someone will be there tomorrow to take him out of the church incase he does happen to act up again during the ceremony. The pastor told us in advance to just let kids be kids but my sis didnt care she was so worried he would ruin it.
Then after rehearsal we went to dinner; the food was great and we had a nice time. We gave everyone in the bridal party their gifts and my parents and James' parents were so surprised with the gifts we gave them, we even made my MIL cry! We got them picture frames engraved with the wedding invitation. For the bridal party we got their jewelry they wore for the wedding, mini engraved jewelry boxes, and lotions and shower gels from Bath & Body Works. For the groomsmen and ushers we got them gift cards for Sears and engraved beer mugs. Then for the moms we got jewelry boxes as well and for the dads engraved beer mugs also, as well as the photo frame I mentioned earlier. Me and James also agreed we weren't going to get each other anything but he surprised me with a Pink gift set (purfume and lotion) from Victoria's Secret! Which I ended up wearing at the wedding. We took tons of pictures at the rehearsal so I'll have those up soon as well.
I stayed the night and my sister and BIL's house (I was originally going to stay at my mom and dads but staying at my sisters worked out a little better with time and everything.) We got to her house from the rehearsal dinner at about midnight and me and her stayed up for a little bit and talked. I also somehow ruined the nailpolish from my manicure on my left thumb then I tried to fix it myself and ended up ruining it more. :( So I decided to just leave it alone and figured we would just stop on our way to the church after our hair appt and have them fix my nail real quick. I then finally went to bed about 1:30 and I was so surprised that I actually slept really well that night!
The Big Day
I got up about 6:30 am and got a shower, then decided to see if I could fix my nail again, lol. I had bought a french manicure kit a few weeks ago that I was just going to do my own nails with but that was before MIL said she was going to take me to have my nails done. So anyway I got out the kit and I dont know how I did it or what I did but I fixed it, lol. I also was supposed to put soft curlers in my hair the night before so my curls would stay better for my hair appiontment later that morning but I was so dead tired I just said f-it. So my sister got up at about 7 we both got ready and headed to the hair salon.
Our appointment was at 9 right when they opened and since it's a hair cuttery, of course there were about 5 other people there too that decided they needed a hair cut at 9 on a Saturday morning. :rolleyes: Luckily me, my mom and my MIL and all the bridesmaids had appts so we all got in first. It took the stylist about an hour and a half to do my hair which shocked me, because I had the shortest hair out of everyone and mine took the longest! We kept fighting with my comb though, because we couldnt get it to stay. So after 2 stylists and 20 minutes we finally got it and then me and my sister headed off to Meijer to pick up a few things, then off to the church. The other girls left as soon as their hair was done and we met them later.
We got to the church around noon, and I just sat for about 10 minutes and took a breather, because I knew that would be the last 10 minutes of rest I had for the rest of the day, lol. I got everything but my dress on, the photographers were there to take pictures of me getting ready, and the videographer as well and I think it was 1:15 by the time I finally got my makeup on and dressed and everything. The day was going too smoothly and I knew SOMEthing was going to have to go wrong soon, LOL. And it did. I mean, it was nothing major, but I knew it and it was making me unhappy. The bra I bought to go with my dress was way too high for my dress. I didnt even bother to try it on with my dress (I made the mistake of changing bras after I had my fitting.) I almost started crying because we tried to cover it up but it kept falling. Everyone was trying to convince me that it was fine and the bra actually looked like part of my dress. There was nothing I could do so I just dealt with it but I had to keep fighting it pulling the sides over all the way upstairs and up to right before I walked down the aisle. I also started getting mad because all the bouttainaires (sp???) for the guys were still downstairs and it was going on 1:30 (the ceremony was at 2) and the aisile runner was still down there, and the programs were also still downstairs and I think people were already starting to arrive. So I had a few bridezilla moments (especially about my dress.) But everything worked out.
We (the bridesmaids and me and my dad and moms) all headed upstairs at bout 10 till 2 and lined up. The music started and our moms and bridesmaids all went down the aisle but they screwed up on the music. I had written specific instructions for the sound person to start playing Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring for the bridal party processional up until I started walking out, then Canon in D was supposed to play for the bridal processional, but they started Canon in D when the first bridesmaid started out. I mean its not a big deal, and nobody knew it but me but it all worked out fine. The ceremony was beautiful. I only cried once when James had something special he was going to say right before we said our vows. Just a little explanation on this: James wrote me a little I guess you could call it a poem, about 2 weeks after we met, and I kept it in my wallet all these years, and he took it and revised it and read it to me during the ceremony. Only me and him knew what it was about, and a few other people, but it meant SO much to me and I couldnt keep from crying! I lost it at the rehearsal during the solo, so I knew I was going to cry during the whole ceremony but I only did for a little bit. :)
The ceremony was over, and we walked back down the aisle and before the ceremony was over the pastor told the guests that we were going to go around the block for a ride in the car then to line up for the recieving line. We went outside, took a few pictures with the car then James' dad took us for a ride down the road and back to the church. We got back and started lining up for the recieving line, but nobody knew what was going on. The photographer took a few pictures then after we were finished with pictures we tried to get the recieving line started. It was really awkward and we should have planned it better, but the bubbles we bought got passed out but never used, lol. We had somehwat of an awkward recieving line but it worked out okay. We then went back inside for a few pictures in the church and back outside again for some more outside pictures. It was so hot that day that we decided against going to another loction for outside pictures.
Then after pictures we headed to the reception in the limo, we had the limo still for another 2 hours so the limo driver kinda took the long way to the reception hall. I was already a little exhausted mainly because it was so hot outside and from all the pictures were were taking, and I was also starting to get a cold. But it was all worth it!!!
Well the reception and honeymoon recaps are coming later, my fingers are give out from typing, lol. And more pics are coming soon as promised!!!
Pre-Wedding (Thursday and Friday July 5-6, 2007)
So it all started Thursday when James' relatives came in from out of town. 3 of his cousins sang at the wedding, so them and their husbands came up and stayed the weekend. It was so nice to see everyone, we visited most of Thursday but Friday is when all of the crazyness started. :eek:
I woke up around 8:00 am Friday, and my MIL treated me to a manicure and a pedicure. We were going to get there first thing (they opened at 10) because I knew I had about 8 million things to do that day. We got there around 10:10, and they weren't even open! So we waited around till they got there finally at 10:20 and nails took about an hour an a half total since we had to wait a little. Then we stopped at Walgreens on the way home because my MIL had to get makeup and I needed to get soft curlers for my hair. So then we got back around 12:30 and by that time I started panicking because I had so much to do still and rehearsal was at 6. So I ran around that day like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get laundry done, and do some other things, and I still had to run out to the mall because I STILL had to get gifts for my mom and my MIL! Which I found btw at the very last minute thank god. I can't believe I waited so long and until the last minute especially to do everything that day (pack up the stuff for the ceremony for the church, wrap all the gifts, finish up laundry for our honeymoon, etc.) I finally finished up at 4:30 then I still had to take a shower and get dressed for rehearsal. James' cousin Jerren (also one of my bridesmaids) came down at 3:30 thankfully and helped me with a few things, she wrapped a few of the gifts and packed a few things for me. We left the house around 5:30 to head to the church for rehearsal.
Rehearsal
We met everyone in the parking lot of the church and all of the bridesmaids brought their dresses to be left at the church basement as well as all of the ceremony items. Rehearsal started off a little awkward; we weren't really sure what was going on, if the pastor was going to be leading it or what because we hadnt seen him yet, but about 6:15 he came into the sanctuary and we then did a run-through without the music first, then with music. I thought everything would go good but alot of us were still confused, then we went through it a second time and things got a lot better. Except for one of our ringbearers, Sean (my nephew) started acting up. We were worried this was going to happen. Thats why we decided to have 2 ringbearers incase something would happen with Sean, and it did. But I wanted to have him in the wedding because he was after all my nephew. My sister was so upset. I told her it was okay and that nobody was mad and someone will be there tomorrow to take him out of the church incase he does happen to act up again during the ceremony. The pastor told us in advance to just let kids be kids but my sis didnt care she was so worried he would ruin it.
Then after rehearsal we went to dinner; the food was great and we had a nice time. We gave everyone in the bridal party their gifts and my parents and James' parents were so surprised with the gifts we gave them, we even made my MIL cry! We got them picture frames engraved with the wedding invitation. For the bridal party we got their jewelry they wore for the wedding, mini engraved jewelry boxes, and lotions and shower gels from Bath & Body Works. For the groomsmen and ushers we got them gift cards for Sears and engraved beer mugs. Then for the moms we got jewelry boxes as well and for the dads engraved beer mugs also, as well as the photo frame I mentioned earlier. Me and James also agreed we weren't going to get each other anything but he surprised me with a Pink gift set (purfume and lotion) from Victoria's Secret! Which I ended up wearing at the wedding. We took tons of pictures at the rehearsal so I'll have those up soon as well.
I stayed the night and my sister and BIL's house (I was originally going to stay at my mom and dads but staying at my sisters worked out a little better with time and everything.) We got to her house from the rehearsal dinner at about midnight and me and her stayed up for a little bit and talked. I also somehow ruined the nailpolish from my manicure on my left thumb then I tried to fix it myself and ended up ruining it more. :( So I decided to just leave it alone and figured we would just stop on our way to the church after our hair appt and have them fix my nail real quick. I then finally went to bed about 1:30 and I was so surprised that I actually slept really well that night!
The Big Day
I got up about 6:30 am and got a shower, then decided to see if I could fix my nail again, lol. I had bought a french manicure kit a few weeks ago that I was just going to do my own nails with but that was before MIL said she was going to take me to have my nails done. So anyway I got out the kit and I dont know how I did it or what I did but I fixed it, lol. I also was supposed to put soft curlers in my hair the night before so my curls would stay better for my hair appiontment later that morning but I was so dead tired I just said f-it. So my sister got up at about 7 we both got ready and headed to the hair salon.
Our appointment was at 9 right when they opened and since it's a hair cuttery, of course there were about 5 other people there too that decided they needed a hair cut at 9 on a Saturday morning. :rolleyes: Luckily me, my mom and my MIL and all the bridesmaids had appts so we all got in first. It took the stylist about an hour and a half to do my hair which shocked me, because I had the shortest hair out of everyone and mine took the longest! We kept fighting with my comb though, because we couldnt get it to stay. So after 2 stylists and 20 minutes we finally got it and then me and my sister headed off to Meijer to pick up a few things, then off to the church. The other girls left as soon as their hair was done and we met them later.
We got to the church around noon, and I just sat for about 10 minutes and took a breather, because I knew that would be the last 10 minutes of rest I had for the rest of the day, lol. I got everything but my dress on, the photographers were there to take pictures of me getting ready, and the videographer as well and I think it was 1:15 by the time I finally got my makeup on and dressed and everything. The day was going too smoothly and I knew SOMEthing was going to have to go wrong soon, LOL. And it did. I mean, it was nothing major, but I knew it and it was making me unhappy. The bra I bought to go with my dress was way too high for my dress. I didnt even bother to try it on with my dress (I made the mistake of changing bras after I had my fitting.) I almost started crying because we tried to cover it up but it kept falling. Everyone was trying to convince me that it was fine and the bra actually looked like part of my dress. There was nothing I could do so I just dealt with it but I had to keep fighting it pulling the sides over all the way upstairs and up to right before I walked down the aisle. I also started getting mad because all the bouttainaires (sp???) for the guys were still downstairs and it was going on 1:30 (the ceremony was at 2) and the aisile runner was still down there, and the programs were also still downstairs and I think people were already starting to arrive. So I had a few bridezilla moments (especially about my dress.) But everything worked out.
We (the bridesmaids and me and my dad and moms) all headed upstairs at bout 10 till 2 and lined up. The music started and our moms and bridesmaids all went down the aisle but they screwed up on the music. I had written specific instructions for the sound person to start playing Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring for the bridal party processional up until I started walking out, then Canon in D was supposed to play for the bridal processional, but they started Canon in D when the first bridesmaid started out. I mean its not a big deal, and nobody knew it but me but it all worked out fine. The ceremony was beautiful. I only cried once when James had something special he was going to say right before we said our vows. Just a little explanation on this: James wrote me a little I guess you could call it a poem, about 2 weeks after we met, and I kept it in my wallet all these years, and he took it and revised it and read it to me during the ceremony. Only me and him knew what it was about, and a few other people, but it meant SO much to me and I couldnt keep from crying! I lost it at the rehearsal during the solo, so I knew I was going to cry during the whole ceremony but I only did for a little bit. :)
The ceremony was over, and we walked back down the aisle and before the ceremony was over the pastor told the guests that we were going to go around the block for a ride in the car then to line up for the recieving line. We went outside, took a few pictures with the car then James' dad took us for a ride down the road and back to the church. We got back and started lining up for the recieving line, but nobody knew what was going on. The photographer took a few pictures then after we were finished with pictures we tried to get the recieving line started. It was really awkward and we should have planned it better, but the bubbles we bought got passed out but never used, lol. We had somehwat of an awkward recieving line but it worked out okay. We then went back inside for a few pictures in the church and back outside again for some more outside pictures. It was so hot that day that we decided against going to another loction for outside pictures.
Then after pictures we headed to the reception in the limo, we had the limo still for another 2 hours so the limo driver kinda took the long way to the reception hall. I was already a little exhausted mainly because it was so hot outside and from all the pictures were were taking, and I was also starting to get a cold. But it was all worth it!!!
Well the reception and honeymoon recaps are coming later, my fingers are give out from typing, lol. And more pics are coming soon as promised!!!