Moments I Won't Forget From My Wedding

I can't believe the wedding finally happened. After all of that planning and chaos...in a blink of an eye, it was over. It's kind of funny - as a bride, you kind of go in to this shock. You build and build and build up to this one day and then in a flash, it's over. Thank God for wedding photos. I was freaking out for a few weeks that it was all over and all we were left with was debt and I barely remembered what happened anyway, asking myself "Did people even have fun?"...but then I got the photos from Fox & Owl Studios...and my entire perspective changed. They tell the story themselves...it was a beautiful day.

Suddenly all of the memories come rushing back to me. There were good times, and bad, but overall, it was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. It was the first and probably last time I would ever have all of those people together in one place. All of my friends, family and all of Andrew's friends and family. There are so many memories from that day, but there are a few that stood out in particular...

My top 5 moments from the big day (in no particular order):

1. The reveal to my dad. 
I think this was the most special moment of the day. I am most definitely a daddies girl. It was such a whirlwind of emotions all at once. I was hiding out in our venue before we walked outside to our outdoor ceremony...waiting for everyone to get lined up and things to get in order. Then it was time. I walked out and saw my dad outside, and we both just started to cry. And laugh. And cry some more. And smile. And bawl like babies. It was amazing. Then we got to walk down the isle together and at that moment, I was so glad we had a long isle. It was a good 3-5 minute walk to where the ceremony was happening. So dad and I were able to chat and laugh along the way. We even did some skipping. It was such a precious moment...bugh I'm starting to cry just thinking of it. Anyway, cue the photos.

2. Our wedding toasts.
Andrew was very adamant about doing toasts, and though I wasn't really in to it - we did it. We had my dad, his dad, my best friend, his best friend (virtually), and his sister all make toasts. We kicked it all off with our spiels and then the emotions came pouring. Unfortunately I don't have a recording of all of these (for future brides, MAKE SURE YOU RECORD THESE), but I do have the memories. We laughed, we cried, we gave funny looks haha. It was fantastic. At that moment, I started to really zone in and realize how special this moment was. To be in a room filled with the people we love most, and to know how much they all loved us...wow. That's something special.

3. Our first dances. And I say dances because all of them were adorable and lovely.
It was funny because I can remember going over to our photographers and asking...who goes first? Do we go first? Do my dad and I? Something I neglected to look in to before the wedding haha. Andrew and I did our dance first. Originally we had practiced and actually had a choreographed routine...but then the weeks got shorter and we had more and more to do and we stopped practicing. So we decided to wing it. It was super sweet...he sang to me, I messed up his hair, I gave him spin, he gave me a spin. We danced to Ingrid Michaelsons "The Way I Am". It was perfect.

The next dance was my dad and I. We danced to my childhood favorite band, because of my dad, Nickel Creeks "When You Come Back Down". We had talked about it weeks leading up...trying to figure out what to dance to...deciding we should probably practice. Yet again, we didn't practice. So we winged it too ;) It was so wonderful. Uhh, crying again. It turns out that song is quite long (unlike the song Andrew and I danced to)...but that made it even easier to remember. I felt like we were gliding across the dance floor. As a child, my dad and I used to dance all the time. In our house, we had "dancing nights" where we would boogy down to Nickel Creek, Shawn Colvin, Billy Joel, Beach Boys, etc. It was the best. And dancing with my dad that night took me back. We're a great dancing team ;)

Lastly was Andrew and his mom's dance. They danced to Elvis, "The Wonder of You".  He was aiming for a cheesy song...and man did he find it ;) It was adorable. He sang to her, spun and dipped her. Totally sweet. He is such a cheeseball. It was the perfect song for them.

4. Dancing with my best friends. 
We started the night off right with my favorite group dance song - the "Macarena" by Los Del Rio. Oh my did that get everyone on the dance floor (or at least all the youngsters that grew up in the 90s haha).  Soooo funny! It was even better because one of my bridesmaids and best friends, Grace, made us these gorgeous animal masks for a photo booth we were supposed to have. Well, I neglected to inform anyone of where that booth was supposed to be, including her husband who had volunteered to take the photos for it...so there was no photo booth...but that didn't mean we couldn't still use the props! So people danced all night with animal masks, mustaches, and paper beers haha. It was the best. We also had some stars on the dance floor, 5 year old Sam, and 25 year old Ben. They stole the show and had us all laughing ridiculously hard. We ended the night of dancing with most of the guests gone...so I decided to turn on a song for my girls...Spice Girls, "Wannabe". Me, my cousins, my best friends, and new family members (all female) proceeded to belt the song together. It was basically the best ending to the best day ever.

5. My amazing family and friends.
So, as some of you know, we did the wedding without a wedding planner. The entire thing came out of my head and for the most part, my mom, bridesmaids, friends and family, made it happen.  There were lots of things that I had planned that didn't happen (because I suck at delegating) but everything that did, was because of them.  I didn't set up or break down a single thing at my wedding (or rehearsal for that matter). I had every intention to help...but I didn't account for the craziness that is life..which made me run late to EVERYTHING. They were so wonderful. I walked in to my venue about 2 or 3 hours before we were supposed to do this thing, and my mom was freaking out.  She had only gotten to the venue like an hour or two before me and nothing was ready.  She had my female cousins making flower arrangements, my male cousins making boutineers (haha), my mother in law assembling the cake, my bridesmaids decorating the tables...it was NUTS. When I came back to hide before the ceremony...everything was done. And it was beyond beautiful. I couldn't have done this without them. Yes, they weren't able to finish everything, and yes it was chaos, but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Absolutely perfect.