I recently realized that I still had not publicly shared about our wedding day. Our one year anniversary is coming up fast, so that put some pressure on me to finally put some things in writing.

October 2, 2010

It may have just been an ordinary day for you.

Maybe you mowed the lawn.

Maybe you went shopping.

Maybe you slept in.

For me, it was the most perfect day of my life.

 

Now I’m not gonna lie…it actually wasn’t perfect at all, as no wedding is. It was a week long adventure full of ups and downs (more downs than ups, it seemed).

There were a lot of things that went wrong, or didn’t ‘go’ at all, but in the end God blessed us with an amazing day.

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Chris and I got married at my parent’s home.

Actually, in the backyard of my parent’s home .

It was spacious, it was beautiful, it was free.

 

When my mom and I began discussing my thoughts on wedding things it was difficult for me to describe exactly what I had in mind. The only thing I really knew I wanted was that I wanted our wedding to be ‘different’. Also, we were on a tight budget so I was willing to ‘cut the fat’, if you will, and get rid of things that were ‘wedding-ish’ but that didn’t quite fit in with my vision. In the early stages of brainstorming I tried to wrangle my ideas onto an image board, which you can see here (at the end of the post).

I’ll share more on the set-up and decor in a later post.

You can read about my dress shopping experience (and dress buying opinions) in this post. And then about my obsession with said dress in this post here.

My mom helped me choose my wedding jewelry, which consisted of earrings that were my mom’s, a bracelet that was my great grandmother’s, and a necklace that was specially designed for me by my Nana. The necklace was designed around a green tourmaline stone that my Nana had as a ring. She and my Pop had it re-set as a necklace for me. Unfortunately, my Nana passed away just two days before my wedding day following a long, painful battle with a bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma.

That is why I referred to our wedding as the ‘week-long’ adventure earlier in this post. Nana’s health had been gradually declining, as it does with a terrible disease like cancer. That week was difficult. I felt torn in so many directions. Wanting to spend time with my Nana in the hospital, but knowing that the show still had to go on that Saturday.

There were so many DIY wedding details that, in the end, were never completed simply because priorities had shifted. It also rained about 14 inches due to a brutal nor-eastern that hovered over Virginia the entire week before the wedding, which added to the stress. Our phrase for that week was “It is what it is”.

I loved having everything at one location. It made things so easy.

  

 

   

My dad.   

 

My girls.     

 

 

My mom.

   After we finished taking portraits all my girls and I scurried upstairs out of sight to wait for the rest of the day to begin.

It was fun to watch the boys and guests arrive.

 

Our ceremony was short and sweet.

(part of me hates this photo because of that errant curly-que hair, but part of me loves it…because it’s totally me!)

My dad made the backdrop from saplings from their ‘back woods’.

It was beautiful and more than I could have even asked for.

Chris sang his vows to me, which was also beautiful and also more than I could have asked for.

You may kiss your bride.

 

and then we celebrated by grooving back down the aisle.

 

 

 

 

This last one is my favorite. It completely captures that day.

 

I’ll share more on the little details and all of the DIY things in another post.

If you want more details now, take a look at my mother’s blog to get a recap of ALL wedding details:

1. What a week.

2. When it rains, it pours.

3. Timeline from the engagement to the wedding.

4. Marriage Requirements.

5. Outdoor decorations.

6. The invitations and programs.

(don’t judge the typo in the program…it was a crazy week!)

7. Attire.

8. More decor.

9. The Menu.

10. What it cost.