Getting Ready Part 3: All Dressed Up and to the Church We Go!

Finally getting to put on the dress that I had thought about for 6 months had to be one of my most favorite moments of the morning. I just love my dress. If I could get away with it, I think I would wear it around the house for fun. Yeah, I'm crazy like that...but lets be honest...it's just such a shame that you only get to wear the most exciting dress of your life for a total of about 10 hours. Insert Tear. Hopefully any future children/grandchildren will be able to use the material for something (I'm not getting any hopes up about anyone re-wearing the dress). I may possibly use the material to make christening gowns, but we'll see...

There's just something about this picture that I love.

The pretty lace back makes me swoon. Sigh. 

Ahhh the bow tying extravaganza. I'm rediculously picky about my bows. This meant I had one chance to tie the bow perfectly so that it wouldn't get super wrinkly. How does one learn to tie the perfect bow? Martha of course! Yes, I seriously did master this technique just for this reason.

Check out my mad bow tying skillz

Maids of Honor A & B (also known as my sisters) attach the flower I found to cover the bow's knot. Etsy never fails to amaze me!

Fabulous photographer decided to take some bridal shots. I think the my face in the first shot sums up everything I felt that day. 

My daddy seeing me for the first time. He was absolutely adamant that he would not see my dress until the day of the wedding. This was the moment of the "big reveal." I loved that he waited to see me all dressed up. It just made the day even more special.

Going to join my girls so that we can head off to the Church!!! I couldn't wait to see Ryan. It seriously felt like the longest morning of my life.

One last group shot. Look at how gorgeous my friends and sisters are!!!

The people who taught me every day what a marriage should be like. I always told myself that I would never settle for anyone less than someone who treated me just like my Dad treated my Mom. And I'm so glad I waited for him to come along!!!

Daddy Bond.

And we're off!!! The rented car was my sisters' wedding present to us. I can't wait to show you some of the amazing pictures that we had taken with it :0) 

Next Up: We get MAAARRRRIIIEEEDDD!!!!

All pictures courtesy of Kate Leigh

Getting Ready Part 2: "You're Never Fully Dressed without a Smile...and Some Fabulous Shoes"

There are three girls in my family (my poor father), so when it came to all aspects of wedding planning, I had to be very creative in finding deals and saving money. I really wanted our wedding to have cute, personal touches, but I had a very limited budget to work with. This is where etsy, online shopping, and the fabulous state of Delaware, "The Home of Tax Free Shopping," came in handy.

I figured I'd start these pics from the bottom up. First up the shoes. Oh my goodness did I L.O.V.E. my shoes. I wanted something non-traditional, but colored shoes didn't look right with my dress. I thought these fit the bill perfectly for a summer wedding. They are Charles David Fizz. I bought them of amazon.com for 75% off. Score! They are currently on sale in black if you are looking for some new shoes!

sweet sweet yumminess.

Bridesmaids shoes. My friends Laura and Stephanie picked these out. I think they look fabulous. I heart bows. Kenneth Cole Reaction Rich n Post.

Bridesmaid dress. It was very hard to pick out bridesmaid dresses due to the fact that my bridesmaids lived in 4 different states, with one even living out of the country. Aria Dress fit the bill. The dresses were pretty much true to size, and the material was extremely light (a requirement for an outdoor reception in the summer). Here is the style the girls chose. I think it looked amazing on everyone. The dress company offered a discount if all of the dresses were shipped to one address. I chose my parent's house in Delaware, so that we not only got the discount, but all dresses were tax free. Every little bit helps!

Bouquet Charms. I got this idea from Miss Magnolia on Weddingbee.com. I worked with oliviamoon on etsy to customize different fonts and backgrounds. The best part about these charms (other than the fact that it allows everyone to remember which bouquet is theirs) is the fact that there is a mirror on the back of the charm. I love how they turned out, and Susan was absolutely wonderful to work with.

Dress Label. Most brides choose to do their new initials on their dress label. Since my initials stayed the same, and due to the fact that the hubs put the kibosh on the Hokey Pokie and a maroon and orange color scheme, I decided to surprise him with this. I love it. Ordered from The Gartermaker. They were so easy to work with and even emailed me back with a, "Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!" I love that they got into the spirit of it :0)

The Dress. I walked into the dress store without a clue as to what I was looking for in a dress. When the salesperson asked me what styles I liked, I literally replied, " I want to be able to use the bathroom on my own." Umm yeah, probably not what they were used to hearing. It was the bow and the back that sold me on the dress (and the fact I could use the bathroom without assistance of course). I found the dress in Virginia, but found a store that sold it in Delaware, so again I could take advantage of some tax free awesomeness. Yay Delaware!!!

Bridal & Bridesmaid Jewelry. It can be very hard to find ivory wedding jewelry. Once again, I hit up etsy, and made a fabulous find. I worked with the amazing Kim at KYM Jewelry to customize my bridal necklace and earrings, along with necklaces and earrings for my bridesmaids.

Youngest sis models jewelry with her classic spunky look

Bridal Necklace

Bridal Earrings

Putting on the finishing touches.

The Veil. I have no idea who made my veil, but I absolutely adored it. It was the accessory I spent the most on. For some girls it's the shoes, others the jewelry, but for me it was all about the veil. I just love the way it photographed!

Enjoy!

All pictures courtesy of Kate Leigh

The Girls Get Ready Part 1: The rules of hair care are simple and finite. Any Cosmo girl would have known. ~ Elle Woods

Nothing beats having your friends make you feel special and pretty with reactions like this!

I awoke bright and early the day of our wedding, oh at about the wonderful hour of 5:00 AM. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I took a long relaxing bath. I thought I would be a nervous wreck that morning, but oddly enough I felt unbelievably calm. At that point, whatever could go wrong was out of my control, and in all honesty, I had gotten to the point where all I wanted to do was get married. I didn't really care about the details anymore.  

We had to be at the hairdressers at 8:00 AM in order to get everyone's hair and makeup done in time for the 2:00 ceremony. The Catholic Church is pretty strict about what times you can have your wedding...the typical times are 11:00 (too early), 2:00 (ok-ish) and 6:00 (too late). 4:00 would have been my preferred time, but I'm pretty sure the Pope wasn't about to make any exceptions for me :0)

I am very blessed to have a hairdresser as a sister, so we were able to make use of her awesome co-workers at the salon she worked at. As someone who barely wears any makeup, and typically wears the same hairstyle everyday, it was wonderful to have a sister who could give lots of recommendations and pointers. Like airbrush makeup!!!! Oh my goodness I am so thankful she introduced me to that, since I'm pretty sure anything else would have melted in the July heat. 

I've included lots o' pictures for this post because I know that there are always a lot of brides out there looking for hair and makeup pics. Enjoy!  

What not to do- Channel 1984 for your hair inspiration: 

Hairdresser Sis gets ready. Hairdresser sis's big secret came out during the bachelorette party. Someone scheduled her own hair trial. Needless to say we teased her endlessly, but we still love her with all our hearts :0) 

Seriously, could my middle sis look any more beautiful?!?!

My besties in all their beautifulness

The best accessory you can have on your wedding day...your big goofy "I'm getting married today!!!" smile

The wedding updo. There wasn't a chance in hell I was wearing my 8,000 lbs. of hair down on a humid July day. This style probably works best for people with thick wavy/curly hair. My hairdresser worked wonders. I love how it turned out:

Yay! I get to be a bride! I think putting  my veil on was the first time I actually had that, "Wow I'm getting married today" feeling

 

My fabulous momma has her hair done by my sister. My mom is the absolute best. Isn't she just gorgeous? And so stinkin' tiny! Something tells me I will never look like this if I have 4 children: 

Having the final touches put on my air brushed makeup face. I must admit that when I first heard "airbrushed makeup" all I could think about was those horrid 1980 shirts they used to make on the boardwalk. Luckily, this is nothing like that. It is so unbelievably light, and it covered up the huge breakout I had acquired from pre-wedding stress: 

Sorority pose! Oddly enough, only one person in this pic was actually in a sorority (littlest sis). This pic just makes me giggle :0)

Have a great Superbowl Sunday everyone!!!

All photos courtesy of Kate Leigh