Okay, okay... I promise I'm going to go through all the other wedding recaps I missed in the last week while I tried to get everything ready for our own wedding, and comment on those! But for now, here's ours.
Only a few things went terribly wrong (and two of them weren't devastating). First, we switched the times of the family and wedding party photos at the last minute so no one knew where to be. Our photographer and her assistant were trying to wrangle nearly 50 people into another location, and our coordinator was trying to make sure the cocktail hour was set up properly for the other 50 guests. Everyone was having a drink and eating the appetizers that were being passed around, and I started to get really upset. I knew that if we didn't stay on time, my new hubby and I wouldn't get some photos of just us together (as it was, we only got about five minutes worth while we walked to the ballroom to get my dress bustled). I looked over at my mother and she was popping some food into her mouth and I honestly went bridezilla. I started barking orders and people got the hint and started moving. I think it's funny now, but I was freaking out at the time. So, note to self--don't change anything at the last minute. It's not worth everyone not knowing where the heck they're supposed to be.
The second thing I was really upset about was that no one kept us on the timeline during dinner--so we ended up cutting the cake at 8pm instead of 7pm like we'd planned. Half the cake was served to empty tables and went uneaten, and my brother who had to leave at 7:30pm to drive back home to Ohio missed the cake cutting and never got a piece of cake. I wasn't wearing a watch, so I had no idea what time it was, otherwise, I would have asked the DJ/coordinator to make it happen at the right time.
Another thing that went wrong I can't even put into either of these categories. My hubby's grandmother isn't doing well, and was too sick to attend the wedding, so neither his grandmother nor his grandfather were there, and his mother was in tears when she told me RIGHT BEFORE the wedding in the bridal suite. So of course, I got upset and started crying, and half my bridal portraits probably look like I don't want to get married. I kept having to ask the photographer to stop so I could compose myself and try to look happy. Sigh.
Otherwise, everything was fantastic. The day flew by, but we made sure to stay present and mostly sober, and enjoy every moment. The ceremony was beautifully done by his aunt and her sister. The ceremony site was so beautiful that when they did some tours earlier in the day while setting up, the brides-to-be all wanted their ceremonies to be in the same place (we chose their least popular site under a gorgeous ivy-covered tree). Our venue really did everything up right. The food was fantastic, the drinks were flowing, the music was pumping, and the cake was exactly what I had wanted. And the best part--we're now married!
I seriously cried when I saw that photo... even though I mostly managed to keep the tears at bay all weekend.
And some Facebook photos from friends:
My soon-to-be husband seeing me for the first time, walking down the aisle.
Our ceremony site:
Vows and ring exchange...
My favorite picture of the recessional--my new husband is laughing because the ring bearers are pitching the rose petals at us overhand.
The back of my dress during the recessional:
The sweetheart table and the flowers the ladies in my family worked so hard on!
The gorgeous family photo display our coordinator set up (that I never even saw):
The absolutely perfect cake with our dorky cake topper (he proposed on a bike ride):
Table visits at the reception!