Ok ladies, I have a few minutes before I have to start doing some more work, so here it is.
The ceremony was perfect. DH ( I started typing FI!) and I didn't see each other before the ceremony, so the moment the doors opened and he saw me for the first time was breathtaking. I will never forget it. DH started crying! I never imagined he would! Nobody else could believe it either! It was an amazing moment and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I am so glad we waited to see each other. He kept telling me how beautiful I looked, and through the entire ceremony, neither of us could stop smiling and laughing at each other. It was the most wonderful 20 minutes of my life!
Pictures were so much fun! After formals, our photographer took us and the wedding party in a few cars out to some local railroad tracks, and around downtown Justin to take pictures. He said our wedding party was "crazy!" and we had the photographers in stitches the whole time. They were laughing hysterically! After the wedding party went into the reception, DH and I stayed behind to take some pics of just us, and I CANNOT wait to see how those turned out, I think they will be amazing.
The reception went by so quickly. It's all a blur. It wasn't as organized as I would have hoped. The "day of" coordinator that we got with the venue only stayed through the ceremony and then left after dinner started. The DJ is supposed to take care of the rest of the coordinating, but, that didn't happen. I will get into more of that during my reviews. Everyone had a blast at the reception though. I bawled like a baby during the father/daughter dance with my daddy. DH and I's private last dance was one of my favorite parts of the reception. My CAKES were my other favorite part!!! They were AMAZING!!! Can't wait to show y'all pics!
Our friends TP-ed and baby powered our car, so that was funny! And somehow a random diaper ended up on the windshield!
All in all, we had a blast with our family and friends, and DH and I had some really special moments and we will never forget what an amazing day it was! Our families were enjoyed it, and I feel like everyone came together and we're all one big happy family now! (Well, at least for that one day we were, anyway. haha)
The honeymoon was phenomenal!!
We went to St. Lucia for a week. We went on a boat tour around the Island, saw the Piton mountains, the Diamond waterfall, got IN the waterfall, visited the volcano, (all of which are on Oprah's Top 10 things in the world to see list!), snorkled between the Piton mountains, ziplined through the rainforest, road horses on the beach and IN the water, sail boated, went shopping in the town of Castries, and relaxed on the beach and in the pool! So, I would say we really enjoyed our first week as Mr. & Mrs. M!
Vendor reviews:
The Country Abbey: A-
All in all, the venue did an amazing job with everything. The decorating coordinator did a FABULOUS job with the decorations, ceremony and reception. The certerpieces were phenomenal. I got SO MANY compliments on all the decorations throughout. I couldn't have asked for more. They were kind, and very easy to work with. They were accomodating in every way. The only reason I gave them an A- is because I did not like the day of coordinator. She rubbed me the wrong way, and I felt she rushed me on the wedding day. I don't like being rushed. I felt all she wanted was to get us in and out so she could go home. Not only that, but I lost some VERy expensive Chanel sunglasses at the venue and called her the day after the wedding and she never returned my phone call. Other than her, I loved EVERYTHING about the Country Abbey and would recommend the venue to anyone looking to have a country esque wedding on a budget, yet wanting a classy, elegant touch.
Kevin Jairaj-KJImages: A+++++++
I CANNOT say enough AMAZING things about Kevin and his team! I COULD NOT have picked a more phenomenal photographer for our wedding day! He's VERY VERY expensive, but COMPLETELY worth it. He photographs for the Dallas Ice Girls, and lots of celebrities, but he is so worth every penny. DH and I both agree he was the best decision we made for our wedding, hands down. He was professional in every way, and I never had to question whether he was going to get any shot I wanted. I didn't even have to tell him what shots I wanted, he just came in, and automatically started doing his thing. His team took about 3 hours of just details and "getting ready" shots between DH and I, and I didn't once have to say "hey, get a pic of our rings on the program" or anything like that. They all had ear pieces and walky talkie things that they used to communicate with each other, so I think they helped me coordinate my day more than anyone else! It was Kevin, and 2 other photographers with him during the day, which was amazing because we had 3 photograhers covering our day. One thing I love about Kevin is that he doesn't have a set amount of hours that you get with your package, you have him for the WHOLE DAY! He doesn't ever do more than one wedding a day, and if you buy a package, he's yours for as long as it takes! He is funny, sweet, and so comforting. And he had a woman on his team as well to get the more female private shots like some of me getting dressed. I could go on and on, but I will stop. If you have the money, I recommend him ALL DAY LONG! We paid more for him than we did our venue, but we do not regret it at all!
Cozy Cakery-Macy Lamert: A++
Once again, I can't tell you enough how amazing these ladies are. They do cakes out of there homes, and they had just started out when we found them. A friend of mine recommended them. I gave her an idea of what I wanted, and she ran with it. When I saw them setting up my cake before the wedding, I cried. It everything that I wanted and more. They were so nice to work with, and made me feel like I wasn't just 1 in a million customers they had. I was Natalie, their friend, and client, and they were going to do whatever they had to do to make my day special. They have a passion for what they do, and they aren't just doing it for the money. We had SO MANY compliments on our cakes, about how amazing they looked, and most people said they were the best wedding cakes they ever had! Yes! A couple at our wedding who is getting married in January asked how much we paid, because she couldn't believe how awesome my cake was, and how yummy it was, and when DH told her, she dropped to the ground because she paid about $600 more than we did. She said she was going to call her bakery and get her deposit back, and call our ladies. True story!!
SD Productions-DJ: D-
This was someone my dad hired, as his contribution to the wedding. The guy he originally hired had to back out, so he found someone else. He was horrible. He was late, and we gave him our timeline for the reception and he didn't work to coordinate the reception at all. It was awful. My BM went up there and told him to announce that there was a signing picture frame outside if people want to go sign it when they get a chance, and she told him to say that twice, and he never did. She finally went up there and grabbed the mic and announced it herself. When we did the garter toss, he announced it, but didn't announce for all the single men to go stand up there. So when DH went to toss it, nobody was standing up there! WTH? Wouldn't recommend him to anyone.
El Guapos-Catering: B+
The food was great, everyone enjoyed it! No complaints there!
Courtney Phillips-Makeup Artist: A+
Courtney did AMAZING on my makeup!! I LOVED IT! She did exactly what I wanted, and I had SO MANY compliments on my makeup! It held up through dripping sweat during outside pictures, and lots of tears, and still looked FLAWLESS!! She was sweet, and stayed to do touchups on me. I have no complaints, and would recommend her to anyone! She made me feel like a princess on my big day!
Gaylord Texan-Wedding Night Hotel: A+
The stay was great!!! They even upgraded us to an AMAZING suite because we were a bride and groom! We wished we could have stayed longer than one night!!! The next morning we walked around the Alice and Wonderland exhibit and ate breakfast on the "riverwalk". Loved it!
I am having a hard time coming up with our other vendors. My mom maid our bouquets, so no florist. The venue was BYOB, so we had our own alcohol. My hair dresser was my hair dresser I've used to cut/style my hair since I was 3, so I'm not going to review her 
. Ummm....I don't think I'm forgetting anything.
Phew. I'm tired now!