As of tomorrow we'll have been married two weeks! And what a wonderful past two weeks it has been.
On the Friday before the wedding, my mom and I hosted a bridesmaid's luncheon for my girls. We had salad, veggies, fruit, chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches. For dessert, we had the cutest cupcakes from The Cupcake Shoppe in Raleigh. It was delish and everyone had a good time relaxing and just chatting about the fun weekend ahead.
Later that evening, we had out rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal went pretty well and everyone seemed to be comfortable. After the rehearsal we went to downtown Raleigh to 518 West for our RD. They were fabulous! I had taken centerpieces and menus to them earlier in the day and they had set the room up so nicely! We were in the "Pond Room" downstairs and it was so private and really a great space. The food was excellent and everyone really had a wonderful time! Cinda had delivered FI's groom's cake ahead of time and they had it on display for us. It was really pretty and delish! I definitely recommend 518 West for a rehearsal dinner, they made it really easy and the service/food/wine was great! If you do use them though, I recommend creating your own selected menu, from their huge menu, to offer to your guests. We did this to limit their options and it worked out really well.
So, on the day of the wedding, I woke up after a surprisingly good night of sleep. I really had expected to not sleep very well... I can't ever sleep on the night before Christmas/big events, lol. But, I think I was just so exhausted that I fell right to sleep. It had been raining off and on that morning, which I thought would have made me upset, but everyone was very positive about the weather getting better. The bridesmaids came to my house in the morning to get their hair and makeup done by the fabulous Elizabeth Tolley and her assistant. They were really great with working with each one to give them what they wanted. For lunch, we got Panera for everyone to eat while hair and makeup was getting finished. Then, we went to The State Club (reception location) and finished getting ready and dressed in the Bridal Suite there. I really liked this because we got to sneak a peak at all of the decor and everything set up for later in the day. FI and his groomsmen got ready in another room at TSC.
We had limos from Blue Diamond Limo pick us up from TSC and take us to the ceremony. This was soo convenient because all of the wedding party got to leave there cars at the reception location. We arrived at my church, only a few minutes away, and prepared for the ceremony. The ceremony was wonderful, I was really happy that I managed to hold it together for the whole thing. I only sniffled like once or twice! I teared up after for a minute but the rest of the night was pure bliss! I was BEYOND THRILLED with how amazing the ceremony flowers came out. I really was expecting a small alter arrangement and pew bows, but Fresh Affairs did an AMAZING JOB. The alter arrangement was breathtaking and the pew bows were some of the best I've ever seen! I couldn't believe it was my wedding!
We took wedding party and formal portraits after the ceremony in the church. After pics it started raining really hard, lol, of course right at the time when we're trying to get in the limos. So, the rain put a damper on my hopes for a bunch of outside pictures at TSC but it turned out okay. Instead of taking more pictures, we got to mingle with our guests and enjoy some of the cocktail hour. The hors d'oeuvres were amazing. I only got a couple, but I heard there were some people following the waiters around to eat as many as they could, lol.
Later, the doors to the reception were opened and the guests found their seats. Then, our wedding party was introduced, followed by us and our first dance. We did a choreographed first dance to Michael Buble's Everything. It went really well, we didn't mess up at all! Everyone was really excited and impressed since we had kept the dance a secret from most people.
We had dinner and it was so delish! Salad then steak and chicken with potatoes and asparagus, yum I'm hungry for this right now! Tosts were given after dinner and they were wonderful. BM and MOH's toasts were so perfect, funny and sweet and emotional all at the same time... and not too long, lol.
DJ Joe Bunn was our DJ and he kept the dance floor PACKED for seriously the entire night. Everyone was raving about how great he was. We wanted a fun party and we definitely had everyone enjoying themselves. We did cake cutting a little while later and omg, the CAKE, it was PERFECT! Sweet Memories from Apex did our cake and they really got what we wanted. It was light pink with cream brush embroidery icing to mimic the lace from my dress. The bow on one of the tiers was amazing! It was really my dream cake. And, to top it off everyone couldn't stop talking about how delicious it was... white cake layered with fresh cut strawberries and vanilla buttercream. YUM!
We did the bouquet toss and garter toss. My sister caught the bouquet and one of my brother's friends (who wasn't even supposed to be there, but came because someone else couldn't, lol) caught the garter. We were really hoping one of my BMs or her BF would catch one since they're going to be getting engaged soon, hopefully
, but oh well!
The night continued on and it was really wonderful. The only bump in the road came RIGHT at the end. The limo which was supposed to pick us up didn't arrive when they told us they would. They were supposed to arrive at 10:30 so we could do our sparkler exit before 10:45. WELL, we called and found out they were 'at the wrong location' and it took until at least 11:15 for them to get there. This really upset me right at the end, as I was exhausted and just ready to exit! They finally got a limo there and we did the exit. It wasn't ideal since a lot of people left between 10:30 and 11, which made there less people for the exit, but it was okay. Joe Bunn kept everyone going and I don't think many people really noticed the delay that much. (I found out this past week, btw that they double booked us with a group of HS Prom kids and they were late because of two of the kids, so they had to send a completely different car... Needless to say I'm getting a refund! So that has turned out okay.)
We spent our wedding night at the Raleigh Marriott City Center and it was really nice. We had the romance package and a larger room, which was very nice. The next day we got up, had a wonderful breakfast and jetted off to Paris for our honeymoon.
It was a wonderful weekend that we'll never forget. Our friends and family are still raving about it and we really can't believe how everything turned out. I really put so much energy into a lot of the details, lighting, favors, monogrammed stir sticks, OOT bags, cocktail menu, candles, etc... oh the list goes on. I can't believe it's already come and went, but it was fabulous and now I'm just so happy to be married!