wedding finale: the reception.

Well y'all we've finally reached the end of my wedding story! And what fun it has been reliving! 

It was truly the most special time of my life ... I've never felt so surrounded by love as I did during my wedding and reception. And remembering that feeling makes my heart swell even as I type this post. 

So for the reception, I'm going to leave you with LOTS of pics and very few words. 

I'm hoping to have a little surprise for y'all next Tuesday ... So fingers crossed that it works out! :) 

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

wedding ceremony.

It's about time, right? 

I can't believe this is my second to last wedding post ... It's been SO much fun reliving what was such an incredibly special time in my life ... 

Ok so now up ... The ceremony! 

I absolutely love the church that I grew up in ... We have a great minister who I adore listening to on Sundays and the church itself is absolutely gorgeous, especially the sanctuary. 

The only drawback ... No pictures during wedding ceremonies. Now part of me understands this and I was honestly thankful that I didn't hear the constant clicking of cameras during our vows BUT it means that I have VERY few photos from our wedding ceremony. 

And that's about it folks ... Aside from the random cell phone pictures that people 'illegally' snapped! :) 

So now ... I have a confession ... It's a big one ... Are you ready? 

I have a SERIOUS potty mouth. 

Now the reason I'm telling y'all this is that I almost fell down DURING our ceremony ... Notice that at the beginning of the ceremony we are out in front of the altar and then we had to walk up those TINNNNNNY little stairs and stand in front of the altar with the minister and our maids of honor and best men. 

Well, I almost didn't make it y'all. 

As soon as I took the first step, my heel got caught in the lining of my dress and I stumbled ... and said a bad word ... which of course was projected forward TOWARDS the minister ... 

Luckily I didn't fall {thank you B} but I did have to push my heel through the lining of my dress ... 

This picture is one of my absolute faves ... all of our wedding party and family heard my 'four letter word mishap' and this pic is of me and my stepmom talking about it after the ceremony ... 

And then of course me showing my girls THE rip ... 

Now from the church to the reception site we took a trolley ... That we had to trot to in the POURING RAIN! 

Next week ... One of the MOST fun nights I've ever had ... OUR RECEPTION! :) 

**sorry for the picture quality ... I had to take pictures of our pictures because our photog shot only on film {which I love}!***

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

pre-ceremony.

Ready for another part of mine & B's wedding story? 

Bryan and I had a big wedding party ... 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen ... I loved it though! A huge party for our entire 7 month engagement! :) 

I made hair appointments for all of my bridesmaids, mom, stepmama, and me! You can imagine with 12 of us it was a LONG day at the salon ... 

As you can tell it was so much fun though! 

{well, for us ... I'm not sure what the rest of the patrons thought!}

After the salon, we all headed to the church to get our dresses on ... 

{one of my fave pics of the whole day is both my sisters crying when my Daddy saw me for the first time}

The fellas were across the church 

{so we wouldn't risk B seeing me before the ceremony!}

goofing off ... 

So on our wedding day it was POURING down rain ... {causing serious anxiety for this girl} 

At my church in order for the bride to get to the back of sanctuary with nobody seeing her, she has to either walk outside or down the aisle to the balcony ... Obviously the outside path was NOT an option ... So me and my 9 bridesmaids plus my mom, stepmom, Daddy, and MIL marched down the aisle and up to the balcony .... 

At the time, I didn't realize how cool this would be ... 

I got to watch the entire church fill with our family and friends ... 

I even got to watch B walk to the front of the church. 

{cue swelling of the heart! :)}

{right before Daddy walked me down the aisle}

So next up ... the ceremony and LOTS of pictures ... 

{you like how I'm dragging this out as much as possible?!}

For you married ladies, what was your day pre-ceremony like? 

For all your other lovely ladies, what do you imagine your day will be like before your ceremony? 

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

rehearsal dinner.

Ready for more of mine & B's wedding story? 

{warning: this post contains LOADS of pics!}

I must say ... looking at all these pictures is so much fun! I still can't believe this September it will be two years! time really does fly ... 

Our rehearsal dinner was at one of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte ... BonTerra. When it was originally built, it was a Methodist church ... so the architecture of the building is amazing. And seemed to fit right in with our wedding 'theme' 

{everything from the rehearsal dinner to ceremony to reception were in gorgeous historic buildings and neighborhoods in Charlotte}

{outside of the restaurant}

{table setting and grooms cake}

We had lots of friends and family at the rehearsal dinner ... 

Lots of speeches ... 

And a lot of me and this guy ... :) 

It was such a wonderful time ... And so special to be able to spend time with the most important people in our lives the night before our big day! 

So now for all your married folks ... I want to know what your rehearsal dinner was like? 

And for you single or soon to be marrieds ... What do you picture yours being? 

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

bridesmaids luncheon.

I'm sure that I've mentioned it before ... I am lucky enough to have what I call 'two mamas'. Typically after I say this I realize that I've confused quite a few people who also hear me always talking about my sweet Daddy. 

To clarify, I have a fabulous stepmom that I'm not sure what I'd do without! I feel so lucky to have been blessed with 4 wonderful and loving parents! 

My second-mama was an enormous help with everything during the wedding planning process even before she offered to host the Bridesmaids Luncheon. 

I'm a Southerner born and bred so I'm not sure if this is a Southern thing or if this is something that everyone does! 

{does everyone do this?}

Basically, the Bridesmaids Luncheon is a time before the wedding to honor all of your lovely bridesmaids. We had ours the day before! And it was gorgeous! 

{fab and GORG bridesmaids}

We had a delicious lunch in my parents backyard ... 

Butternut squash soup, Fried goat cheese salads with homemade sweet potato rolls. 

{omg. mouth is watering.}

{Sus if you're reading this can we PLEASE recreate this when I'm 40? Or 30? Or in a couple of weeks?}

After lunch I gave each of my bridesmaids a pair of fresh water pearl earrings for them to wear with their dresses on the BIG day! And a tote bag for them to carry all their stuff from the salon to the church and then to the reception! 

Then we had cake ... My second-mama who is big on traditions {which I love} baked the most delicious carrot cake and before icing it placed 'wedding pulls' in it. This is an old Victorian tradition in which each bridesmaid {then called 'ladies in waiting'} pulls a charm out of the bride's cake to predict who will be the next to marry and who is destined to be an old maid. Ours were much more updated than that - some were about traveling, making lots of money, and one was about making lots of BABIES! :) It was so fun to see which charm each girl pulled! 

After the party we got ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner ... Which is next for you too, loves! 

Happy Tuesday Y'all! :)