I'm married!!!!
We drove out to my mom's house on Long Island on Thursday evening before the wedding. When we got there, my mom and I went to get our nails done and H (!!!) finished up some WR errands. Friday morning we (my mom, stepdad, youngest sister, H, and I) loaded up three cars and headed over to the venue to set up. It took us over SEVEN HOURS. There was so much to do. All of our rentals (silverware, plates, chairs, extra tables, chafing dishes, the bar, etc) were stacked in one corner of the entry room so we had to make sense of it all before we even really got started. H along with my stepdad and my uncle who met us there, spent almost the entire day setting up the tulle and lights to hang from the ceiling. My mom, little sister, and I spent the rest of the time setting up the bar and food area, setting tables, folding napkins, and unloading booze. We definitely weren't finished with everything when it was time to leave, but I hoped we had done enough that our DOC and staff could figure out the rest.
Our rehearsal dinner was lovely. Mike and I were running late because SOMEONE didn't realize his pants needed to be ironed until the last minute, so we actually missed our families meeting for the first time! We had nothing to worry about though, everyone got along great and we ate a ton of amazing Italian food.
Okay, Saturday:
I woke up at 6:30am in the hotel suite with my best friend/MOH, Nicole. By 8am, my mom and two sisters had arrived, as well as my other BM, Alexis. By 9, our MUA arrived and so did our hair stylist. They got to work right away while I chugged coffee and kept pouring and subsequently losing mimosas. It was so awesome to just spent the entire morning/early afternoon in that huge suite, with my sisters and best friends and mom, while professionals made us look pretty. Our photographer, Ina, arrived by 10am and immediately started taking photos of us all in our robes (my BM gifts for the girls, from Plum Pretty Sugar!) at one point she took my dress, and all of the BM dresses outside and was gone for an hour - I have no idea what she did with them but I'm excited to see the photos! My MOH brought Mike's letter to me, and brought mine to him, and reading it made me cry for the first time that day, and laugh hysterically. His letter had the most hilarious notes -"We've come so far already" - end note: "I mean, we have a NINJA BLENDER #blessed" Ina reported that my letter also made H tear up and she said that when one of his GM's tried to come into the room he was reading the letter in, he yelled "get out! This is emotional!" Hahaha.
Anyways, I realize I'm writing a novel so I'll try to cliff notes it a little. Here's one of my favorite moments: after our first look, which took place by a pond in the park behind our venue (H loved my dress and cried the moment he turned around
) the photog and her assistant headed to their car to drive up to the venue and we were about to go with them when I decided we could easily walk the path through the woods to get there instead. So, H and I walked together, completely alone, up through the trees to the back of our venue. It just felt so special and perfect and was completely unplanned.
Our ceremony was so much more perfect than I had ever imagined. The weather was beautiful and I'll never forget what it felt like to step out into the sun, hearing "our song" play and seeing H look more handsome than ever before at the end of the aisle. My stepdad - our first-time officiant!! - was definitely nervous, but he did such a good job! I didn't cry reading my vows, but H did!! He just looked so happy and emotional and more than anything I just wanted to hug and kiss him right there to help him make it through his vows, but it wasn't time for that yet so all I could do was pat him on the shoulder.
Cocktail hour was a blur of saying "hi" and "thank you!!!" to everyone and of eating crab cakes without dropping anything onto my dress.
Our first dance was a surprise for most of our guests, my sister Kristina sang the song we had chosen (The One - by the Black Keys), she also recorded the background track with the help of a violinist friend. It was so sweet of her to do that for us and I loved knowing that at least SOME eyes would be on her instead of on us, making me slightly less self conscious about my dancing abilities.
Dinner was BBQ! We had decided a long time ago that with our limited budget, dinner would either be really tasty casual food or mediocre-at-best fancy food - so we went with casual. I think it was the right call as so many people told me it was the best wedding meal they had ever had! Our cake was from a local baker and was chocolate with Oreo filling and vanilla buttercream.
The only negative of the evening is that the air conditioning wasn't working nearly as well as we needed it to, and after dinner it got REALLY hot inside, so no one was dancing. I was worried for a little while there, but then I just decided to go hang out outside on the terrace with most of our guests, and within an hour or so it cooled down enough that the dance floor was full. As usual, the NEY contingent helped make it a party, and we all danced a LOT.
Oh - and the speeches! My middle sister, MOH, and H's BM all shared sweet and hilarious toasts, but my youngest sister blew me away and gave me the most tears of the night. She hadn't planned on saying anything, but got up and grabbed the mic after the last toast and tearfully told everyone how when she once asked me how I knew H was the one I wanted to marry, I told her that I felt like I was with someone who was way too good for me, and that H felt the same way about me. Thank god for waterproof mascara...
We left around 10:30/11 with a few boxes of booze and met up with most of our friends in the hotel lobby to continue the party. I don't think H and I made it to bed until past 2am.
Our awesome photographer posted this "sneak peek" by 8am the next day
HERE - but you'll all get a much bigger AW once she sends me the rest!!
Here are some pictures our friends and family took, and you can see some of my DIY stuff in them!