See your mama and the candles and the tears and roses
I see your daddy walk his daughter down the isle
And my knees start to tremble as I tell the preacher
Don't she look beautiful tonight?
All the wonderful words in my head I've been thinkin
'Ya know I wanna say em all just right
I lift your veil and angels start singing
Such a heavenly sight
Lost in this moment with you
I am completely consumed
My feeling's so absolute
There's no doubt
Sealing our love with a kiss
Waited my whole life for this
Watching all my dreams come true
Lost in this moment with you
I smell the jasmine floatin' in the air like a love song
Watch my words draw sweet tears from your eyes
Bow our heads while the preacher talks to Jesus
Please bless this brand new life, yeah
Lost in this moment with you
I am completely consumed
My feeling's so absolute
There's no doubt
Sealing our love with a kiss
Waited my whole life for this
Watching all my dreams come true
Lost in this moment with you
~Big & Rich 'Lost in this Moment'
If there is anything that I could say sums up the greatest day of my life…it would be this song! Doug and I have always LOVED this song, but because of it’s country “twang” did not think it would be the best song for our first dance. We decided on Barbara Streisand and Bryan Adams ‘I finally found someone.’ We sat up one night and listened to A TON of songs and when we heard the lyrics to that song, we felt like it was perfect.
Anyways…let’s back up a bunch of hours.
So, I went to bed at 2:00 am and the alarm clock went off at 6:00 am. I am infamous for hitting the snooze button a MILLION times when the alarm clock goes off. Today was different. Today was MY WEDDING DAY!!!!!!
After Jasslynn had finished up all of the little details that she and Ashley took care of for me last night, she quietly snuck into bed with me (for the few hours of sleep she could get). When I woke up, I looked over at her and she was wide awake. The butterflies came back and we groggily talked and laughed about old times and the fact that this was the day I was getting married. It was so much fun reminiscing about old times with her! After about an hour of cold tea bags over the eyes and some cold o.j., we started getting ready for breakfast. I still had a bit of last minute packing for the honeymoon, so I tried to get that finished up while getting dressed. My girlfriend at work made me a white sweat suit that had “soon to be Mrs. Shade” on the back and “so in love” on the backside. ;) It was so much fun to wear around and I couldn’t wait to wear it in the restaurant. All of the bridesmaids except Charissa met for breakfast at the Tea Room (which is where my bridal shower was held) at 9:00 am. Charissa just had a baby and was more than tied up with keeping her little man happy and fed. Breakfast was great, as usual and again, VERY surreal! As I was leaving for breakfast, it hit me! I had some tears in the car with my Mom and A LOT of laughs! So many emotions!!!
We got back to the house just quickly enough for me to throw a few additional items into my suitcase and get everything else organized. The girls all came back to the house with me and were PHENOMENAL! They loaded everything into the car and helped me get organized. I was having a few stomach issues, which were not fun, so their help was much appreciated.
We drove to Cairnwood to get ready. The hair and makeup stylists were already there waiting for us when we arrived and the entire place just looked gorgeous! I had not seen Cairnwood decorated for Christmas since last year, so it was so nice seeing it all done up again. The tree was so beautiful and there were twinkle lights on some of the bushes outside. Its beauty was completely overwhelming!
I had stocked up on a candle called “wedding day” and we had that candle burning and Christmas music playing while we all were getting beautified. It was VERY relaxing and fun. My Mom and Ashley helped me get into my dress around 2:45. My dress was a corset back and it was tied so tight that I could barely breathe. My hips were really hurting from it being so tight so I tried to crouch down as much as possible. It was all worth it because it looked phenomenal! I was so happy with the final look of it all! The months and weeks leading up to the wedding you have so much anxiety about so many things: Your hair being a disaster, your makeup looking awful, your dress not fitting, your veil ripping… You name it, I probably have had a nightmare about it. But it is so cool to see everything come together just perfectly in the end.
The only minor mishap that we had was with the flowers. It seems like most brides complain about the flowers (in one way or another) not being what they ordered or turning out different than what they had hoped. Sure enough, that would be my one complaint as well. The bridesmaids flowers were absolutely GORGEOUS! I was so happy with them! Unfortunately, my bouquet arrived wilted and with petals falling off of the flowers. Not to mention, it was NOT what I had requested the bouquet to look like. I had given the florist a specific picture of what I wanted to talked to them in depth about it. I was very disappointed but it honestly didn’t phase me too much. Ashley, being the AWESOME sister and MOH that she is, got on the phone right away and demanded that a replacement bouquet be brought. She haggled back and forth with them for a while and they finally agreed to bring one out. The new flowers were MUCH improved but still not the style that I was hoping for. Oh well…1 out of 2.
Our photographers, who are BEYOND awesome (www.stringerphotography.net), arrived at the Mansion and took pictures of the girls and I for a while. Then they moved over to shoot the boys. During this time, Doug and I exchanged our wedding gifts to each other. Doug got me this GORGEOUS silver watch with tiny little diamonds going up and down both sides. I am usually very particular about watches and I absolutely loved this one! He did a very good job! :)
Doug is a HUGE Eagles fan and so my gift to him was 2nd row, 50 yard line Eagles tickets. Since I am not a very big fan, I told him to take one of his friends and have “guys day.” He was so excited and really seemed to like this gift! The game is for Sunday, December 30…one week after we return from our honeymoon.
After we had our individual pictures, the boys left to go to the Church. The girls and I hung out upstairs in our rooms and finished up getting ready. The limo bus showed up promptly at 4:00 and we ended up getting on at 4:15/4:20. It was really cool and very spacious. I had never ridden in a limo bus before. I would definitely recommend it! It wasn’t hard at all to get in with my big dress! As we were driving from the Mansion to the Church, the sun was setting behind the cathedral. It was such a cool site and so much fun!
OH…and I should mention…the weather was PERFECT out! Although I didn’t get my blanket of snow, it ended up working out for the better. The sun was shining and it was just such a beautiful day! This allowed the boys to get a bunch of pictures outside. Even I was able to stand outside for a bit in my strapless dress for a few shots at sunset. It’s funny how God always knows best…much better than me!
When we arrived at the Church, the videographer was there and was able to capture us getting off of the limo bus. We were quickly ushered into a back room at the Church and I was able to see my grandparents and my Mom. My Pop-Pop was so cute! He got all teary-eyed and immediately told me how beautiful I looked. That, of course, made the water-works start for me! I kept trying to take deep breaths and relax but the intensity of what was going on and the anticipation of seeing Doug was so overwhelming! The music started and the girls began their walks down the aisle. (By the way…all of the girls looked fabulous! No exaggeration! They really were stunning in their dresses and they all had beautiful hair!)
The coordinator had me stand in the very back with all of the lights out except one lamp that was behind me. This created a silhouette effect (I later found this out from Doug) and looked very cool. After all of the girls went down the aisle, the doors closed and my song started. It was great being able to walk down the aisle with my Dad. I think I would have been WAY too nervous to do it by myself!!! When I think about walking down the aisle towards Doug, I really can’t put the emotions that I was experiencing into words. All I can say was that it had to be one of the most memorable and amazing moments I have ever experienced in my life! I was REALLY trying to hold back the tears and I was so short of breath (from the gown being so tight) that I was breathing really funny. When I finally got to Doug, he kept asking if I was okay. He was very emotional but then pulled it together when I reached the end of the aisle. The ceremony was perfect! Doug’s Uncle Dan did a great job of making it short, but to the point! It was not long, by any means, but standing up there, in front of everyone, it felt like HOURS! At one point, I started feeling a little weak, so I remembered that you are not supposed to lock your knees. I started bending my knees a bit and this became a running joke for my friends. They said I was “exercising” during the ceremony. Haha.
My favorite part of the ceremony was after Doug and I lit the unity candles. My girlfriend, Sandy, and Doug’s cousin, Jon, sang a duet called ‘The Prayer.’ This song is originally sung by Andre Bochelli and Celine Dion. It is gorgeous and just sounds so beautiful. They sang this song and then Doug and I kneeled down on a kneeling bench. At this point, we were able to have a moment together. The words and melody of the song coupled with the emotions of being at our wedding together made us both emotional. Luckily, our backs were to the audience, so we were able to share this moment together without people seeing too much.
After the ceremony we had a receiving line at the door so we would be able to say hello to all of our guests. I’m really glad we did this because it allowed us to have fun at the reception. We exited the doors while all of our guests held sparklers. The sparklers were so cool. They were honestly the longest lasting sparklers anyone has ever seen. We ran through TWICE so the photographers could get some good shots. It was so much fun! We all piled into the limo bus and shared some champagne for the ride over to the Mansion.
We had some formal photos with the family and then had some bridal party shots upstairs. Everyone else enjoyed a cocktail hour downstairs.
The photographers got some AMAZING shots and we even were able to enjoy a few snacks before being announced. We were announced down the grand staircase and then went right into our first dance. I talked a little about our first dance at the beginning but I didn’t mention how awkward it was. I was not really able to relax and it felt REALLY long! Later in the night, Doug requested the d.j. to play ‘Lost in this moment’ (song lyrics above) and it was 100 times better than our first dance. All of our friends were dancing around us and we really were able to get “lost in the moment.”
After dinner (which I only ate about 2 bites of) we did the cake cutting. Doug and I had numerous talks about the smashing of the cake. We have been to many weddings were the bride gets completely demolished by the groom and ends up having all of her makeup taken off. I really did not want this to happen…especially since I paid so much money to get it all put on. Doug ended up being VERY good and only smashed a little around my mouth. I really surprised him too by smashing a little on him. The cake was SO yummy and really beautiful! We were able to dance a little and before we knew it, it was 11:00. We did a few final shots outside with the videographer and the d.j. and then danced a bit more. There are so many things that I cannot remember from this night! I don’t remember saying goodbye to most people! The night went by so quickly! I could not believe that the reception was 5 hours. It felt like it was only 1 hour!!! :(
Doug and I arranged for a stretch limo to pick us up at midnight and take us to the Joseph Ambler Inn where we had a suite reserved. By the time we left the Mansion and arrived at the Inn, it was about 1:00 am. When I think about the wedding and all that happened this day, this last little part is BY FAR my favorite memory!!! We walked into our suite, and Doug had a bottle of champagne chilling, chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate truffles. We turned on the fireplace and sat down on the big bed and started opening our wedding cards. That moment of still being in my dress, sitting on the bed with my husband, sipping champagne and eating strawberries while the fireplace was burning is a moment and a feeling that I will never forget! We stayed up for 3 more hours in our tux and dress just reminiscing about the day and opening our cards. We laughed so much and I felt so lucky. Everything that I have ever hoped and dreamed about my wedding had come true. It really was a fairytale and I felt so privileged that I could call it my day. And, best of all, Doug was now my husband. Who could ask for more?
Anyways…let’s back up a bunch of hours.
So, I went to bed at 2:00 am and the alarm clock went off at 6:00 am. I am infamous for hitting the snooze button a MILLION times when the alarm clock goes off. Today was different. Today was MY WEDDING DAY!!!!!!
After Jasslynn had finished up all of the little details that she and Ashley took care of for me last night, she quietly snuck into bed with me (for the few hours of sleep she could get). When I woke up, I looked over at her and she was wide awake. The butterflies came back and we groggily talked and laughed about old times and the fact that this was the day I was getting married. It was so much fun reminiscing about old times with her! After about an hour of cold tea bags over the eyes and some cold o.j., we started getting ready for breakfast. I still had a bit of last minute packing for the honeymoon, so I tried to get that finished up while getting dressed. My girlfriend at work made me a white sweat suit that had “soon to be Mrs. Shade” on the back and “so in love” on the backside. ;) It was so much fun to wear around and I couldn’t wait to wear it in the restaurant. All of the bridesmaids except Charissa met for breakfast at the Tea Room (which is where my bridal shower was held) at 9:00 am. Charissa just had a baby and was more than tied up with keeping her little man happy and fed. Breakfast was great, as usual and again, VERY surreal! As I was leaving for breakfast, it hit me! I had some tears in the car with my Mom and A LOT of laughs! So many emotions!!!
We got back to the house just quickly enough for me to throw a few additional items into my suitcase and get everything else organized. The girls all came back to the house with me and were PHENOMENAL! They loaded everything into the car and helped me get organized. I was having a few stomach issues, which were not fun, so their help was much appreciated.
We drove to Cairnwood to get ready. The hair and makeup stylists were already there waiting for us when we arrived and the entire place just looked gorgeous! I had not seen Cairnwood decorated for Christmas since last year, so it was so nice seeing it all done up again. The tree was so beautiful and there were twinkle lights on some of the bushes outside. Its beauty was completely overwhelming!
I had stocked up on a candle called “wedding day” and we had that candle burning and Christmas music playing while we all were getting beautified. It was VERY relaxing and fun. My Mom and Ashley helped me get into my dress around 2:45. My dress was a corset back and it was tied so tight that I could barely breathe. My hips were really hurting from it being so tight so I tried to crouch down as much as possible. It was all worth it because it looked phenomenal! I was so happy with the final look of it all! The months and weeks leading up to the wedding you have so much anxiety about so many things: Your hair being a disaster, your makeup looking awful, your dress not fitting, your veil ripping… You name it, I probably have had a nightmare about it. But it is so cool to see everything come together just perfectly in the end.
The only minor mishap that we had was with the flowers. It seems like most brides complain about the flowers (in one way or another) not being what they ordered or turning out different than what they had hoped. Sure enough, that would be my one complaint as well. The bridesmaids flowers were absolutely GORGEOUS! I was so happy with them! Unfortunately, my bouquet arrived wilted and with petals falling off of the flowers. Not to mention, it was NOT what I had requested the bouquet to look like. I had given the florist a specific picture of what I wanted to talked to them in depth about it. I was very disappointed but it honestly didn’t phase me too much. Ashley, being the AWESOME sister and MOH that she is, got on the phone right away and demanded that a replacement bouquet be brought. She haggled back and forth with them for a while and they finally agreed to bring one out. The new flowers were MUCH improved but still not the style that I was hoping for. Oh well…1 out of 2.
Our photographers, who are BEYOND awesome (www.stringerphotography.net), arrived at the Mansion and took pictures of the girls and I for a while. Then they moved over to shoot the boys. During this time, Doug and I exchanged our wedding gifts to each other. Doug got me this GORGEOUS silver watch with tiny little diamonds going up and down both sides. I am usually very particular about watches and I absolutely loved this one! He did a very good job! :)
Doug is a HUGE Eagles fan and so my gift to him was 2nd row, 50 yard line Eagles tickets. Since I am not a very big fan, I told him to take one of his friends and have “guys day.” He was so excited and really seemed to like this gift! The game is for Sunday, December 30…one week after we return from our honeymoon.
After we had our individual pictures, the boys left to go to the Church. The girls and I hung out upstairs in our rooms and finished up getting ready. The limo bus showed up promptly at 4:00 and we ended up getting on at 4:15/4:20. It was really cool and very spacious. I had never ridden in a limo bus before. I would definitely recommend it! It wasn’t hard at all to get in with my big dress! As we were driving from the Mansion to the Church, the sun was setting behind the cathedral. It was such a cool site and so much fun!
OH…and I should mention…the weather was PERFECT out! Although I didn’t get my blanket of snow, it ended up working out for the better. The sun was shining and it was just such a beautiful day! This allowed the boys to get a bunch of pictures outside. Even I was able to stand outside for a bit in my strapless dress for a few shots at sunset. It’s funny how God always knows best…much better than me!
When we arrived at the Church, the videographer was there and was able to capture us getting off of the limo bus. We were quickly ushered into a back room at the Church and I was able to see my grandparents and my Mom. My Pop-Pop was so cute! He got all teary-eyed and immediately told me how beautiful I looked. That, of course, made the water-works start for me! I kept trying to take deep breaths and relax but the intensity of what was going on and the anticipation of seeing Doug was so overwhelming! The music started and the girls began their walks down the aisle. (By the way…all of the girls looked fabulous! No exaggeration! They really were stunning in their dresses and they all had beautiful hair!)
The coordinator had me stand in the very back with all of the lights out except one lamp that was behind me. This created a silhouette effect (I later found this out from Doug) and looked very cool. After all of the girls went down the aisle, the doors closed and my song started. It was great being able to walk down the aisle with my Dad. I think I would have been WAY too nervous to do it by myself!!! When I think about walking down the aisle towards Doug, I really can’t put the emotions that I was experiencing into words. All I can say was that it had to be one of the most memorable and amazing moments I have ever experienced in my life! I was REALLY trying to hold back the tears and I was so short of breath (from the gown being so tight) that I was breathing really funny. When I finally got to Doug, he kept asking if I was okay. He was very emotional but then pulled it together when I reached the end of the aisle. The ceremony was perfect! Doug’s Uncle Dan did a great job of making it short, but to the point! It was not long, by any means, but standing up there, in front of everyone, it felt like HOURS! At one point, I started feeling a little weak, so I remembered that you are not supposed to lock your knees. I started bending my knees a bit and this became a running joke for my friends. They said I was “exercising” during the ceremony. Haha.
My favorite part of the ceremony was after Doug and I lit the unity candles. My girlfriend, Sandy, and Doug’s cousin, Jon, sang a duet called ‘The Prayer.’ This song is originally sung by Andre Bochelli and Celine Dion. It is gorgeous and just sounds so beautiful. They sang this song and then Doug and I kneeled down on a kneeling bench. At this point, we were able to have a moment together. The words and melody of the song coupled with the emotions of being at our wedding together made us both emotional. Luckily, our backs were to the audience, so we were able to share this moment together without people seeing too much.
After the ceremony we had a receiving line at the door so we would be able to say hello to all of our guests. I’m really glad we did this because it allowed us to have fun at the reception. We exited the doors while all of our guests held sparklers. The sparklers were so cool. They were honestly the longest lasting sparklers anyone has ever seen. We ran through TWICE so the photographers could get some good shots. It was so much fun! We all piled into the limo bus and shared some champagne for the ride over to the Mansion.
We had some formal photos with the family and then had some bridal party shots upstairs. Everyone else enjoyed a cocktail hour downstairs.
The photographers got some AMAZING shots and we even were able to enjoy a few snacks before being announced. We were announced down the grand staircase and then went right into our first dance. I talked a little about our first dance at the beginning but I didn’t mention how awkward it was. I was not really able to relax and it felt REALLY long! Later in the night, Doug requested the d.j. to play ‘Lost in this moment’ (song lyrics above) and it was 100 times better than our first dance. All of our friends were dancing around us and we really were able to get “lost in the moment.”
After dinner (which I only ate about 2 bites of) we did the cake cutting. Doug and I had numerous talks about the smashing of the cake. We have been to many weddings were the bride gets completely demolished by the groom and ends up having all of her makeup taken off. I really did not want this to happen…especially since I paid so much money to get it all put on. Doug ended up being VERY good and only smashed a little around my mouth. I really surprised him too by smashing a little on him. The cake was SO yummy and really beautiful! We were able to dance a little and before we knew it, it was 11:00. We did a few final shots outside with the videographer and the d.j. and then danced a bit more. There are so many things that I cannot remember from this night! I don’t remember saying goodbye to most people! The night went by so quickly! I could not believe that the reception was 5 hours. It felt like it was only 1 hour!!! :(
Doug and I arranged for a stretch limo to pick us up at midnight and take us to the Joseph Ambler Inn where we had a suite reserved. By the time we left the Mansion and arrived at the Inn, it was about 1:00 am. When I think about the wedding and all that happened this day, this last little part is BY FAR my favorite memory!!! We walked into our suite, and Doug had a bottle of champagne chilling, chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate truffles. We turned on the fireplace and sat down on the big bed and started opening our wedding cards. That moment of still being in my dress, sitting on the bed with my husband, sipping champagne and eating strawberries while the fireplace was burning is a moment and a feeling that I will never forget! We stayed up for 3 more hours in our tux and dress just reminiscing about the day and opening our cards. We laughed so much and I felt so lucky. Everything that I have ever hoped and dreamed about my wedding had come true. It really was a fairytale and I felt so privileged that I could call it my day. And, best of all, Doug was now my husband. Who could ask for more?
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