August 23, 2013 was THE best day of our lives. I can honestly say that our wedding day was pure amazingness full of love and joy. Despite the fact that many loved ones we wanted there couldn't make it, we still had almost 100 of our closest friends and family to share our special day and each and everyone of them helped to make it perfect.
The night before Laura, Theresa, and myself ended up getting a hotel together. Since I was staying away from Bobby that night I definitely wanted to be with my girls. We got some champagne on our way from the rehearsal dinner to the hotel and had some girl time. It was so nice to have some QT with them since we all live so far away from each other. Theresa has never met Molly or Laura prior, but you would have never known! It was like they had been friends forever! I loved that!
The morning of the wedding we woke up and had a fairly big breakfast at the hotel. They serve a complimentary full hot breakfast so I made sure I ate something substantial, which I am glad I did because I don't think I ate anything until dinner! We ran into Bobby's mom and aunt at breakfast which was fun! I had to borrow his aunt's bra because I realized I totally forgot to pack mine! LOL oops!
We arrived to the venue a little after 9 to get started on hair and make up. I wasn't up until 1230 so I just kicked back and relaxed all morning.
Before we knew it the photographers and videographers were arriving and so were all of the vendors. RLL was setting up our lighting and chairs when we arrived and THAT was so exciting! We were all ahead of schedule until it came to exchanging gifts. Bobby had a HELL of a morning so was running a little behind (I had no idea until the next day) and the florist was late so we were kind of just waiting around for what felt like forever.
It was time to get into my dress so I had my girls go outside while I got dressed so they could see me for the first time all put together. They had seen the dress but never on in person. And having the whole hair, make up etc all together packs a punch! ;) That was a fun moment!
The flowers arrived and we jumped right into our "No look" first look. It was SO special. Bobby did NOT want to see me before I walked down the aisle and I was kind of wanting to do a first look so we could get some more pictures so we settled on this as a compromise and I am SO happy with that decision. It was such a special moment and I know it made the "walk" that much more special for us. I have a feeling those are going to be some amazing pictures. The ones my mom took from inside the bridal suite look amazing! I am so glad she took those. It had everyone tearing up! Very emotional moment (in a good way!)
Next was bridal party/groomsmen/family pictures and my dad's first look.
We ended up starting the ceremony about 30 minutes late. The venue was a little hard to find so guests were still filtering in so we waited a little bit. Having those final moments alone with my dad in the bridal suite right before he walked me up the aisle were special too. We were both nervous but SO excited.
Of course, not EVERYTHING went perfect, things always go wrong, but nothing MAJOR happened.
Did I trip walking up the stairs? YUP!
Were the flowers exactly what I asked for? Nope
Did Bobby's mic get hooked on my dress? It sure did!
Did the transition between our entrance and dinner service go perfectly smooth? Not quite.
Was our send off a mess? Oh yeah.
But you know what? NONE OF THAT MATTERS!
Our day/night was PERFECT despite the little things that went wrong. SO many more worse things could have gone wrong and in the grand scheme of things I would say those things are SO minor and I doubt anyone even noticed...well they definitely noticed me trip and get hooked on Bobby's mic but those just added to the moment. That is SO us and SO me to trip up the stairs lol I am beyond clumsy so it was just a testament of how our relationship is and how we are as people and a couple.
I tripped and Bobby catches me and says "I have you".
Just thinking about that moment makes me tear up. Even though he was saying it in the moment because he didn't want me to fall up the stairs, it meant so much more. He ALWAYS has my back, he is ALWAYS there for me to support me even when I do fall. He has always been the one to catch me and support me and that could not have been a more perfect "flub" to show that. I think everyone heard him say that because of his mic and I know they knew it meant more than just that moment. He truly does "have me"...always has and always will.
I was SO beyond nervous before the ceremony. I hate being the center of attention and having all eyes on me, so I was just a ball of nerves. I wasn't nervous to marry Bobby, just of everyone's eyes being on me. It was so emotional walking down the aisle. I couldn't make eye contact with anyone or I would start to tear up again. It was just SO amazing seeing the faces of all of the people who came to support us on the most important day of our lives. The faces of people who have been a part of our lives for SO many years and who were still there on the first day of our new journey. The love was overwhelming.
Everyone told me later how nervous Bobby was before the ceremony too (so glad it wasn't just me haha). All of his friends and mine said they have never seen him so nervous...a whole new side of Bobby! ;) Seeing his face standing at the alter, and seeing the tears in his eyes as we said our vows to each other is an experience I will never forget. It was the most special day ever. I didn't know how he would react, if he would cry, if he would hold strong and hold it together. Every emotion felt that day was pure and genuine and we were both just overfilled with happiness and love and after looking through some guest photos it definitely shows.
Here are a few of our favorites. We can't WAIT to see the professionals and get our video!
