When we left off, I was finally getting my hair and makeup did for the wedding. The ceremony started at 7:00 p.m. and the wedding party needed to be at the church no later than 5:15 p.m.
My sweet sis-in-law, K8, took the charge of taking me and the various parts of my dress to the church. Due to the unexpected delay, caused by dirty-stank hair, I was running a bit behind. No stress, though. We were in a stress-free, fun-filled zone. I decided long before the wedding that I wouldn't let anything get me down on the big day. Nothing. So we rolled with it and when Nikki was finished working her magic K8 carted me off to the church.
K8 is one of the most amazing women that I know and I feel more than honoured to now share a last name with her. The hotel staff was wonderful on our way out and made sure to delay me until BF made his departure.
I was so excited that it was finally time to be at the church that I had not even realized or cared that I had not seen any of the flowers or decorations there. I was scooted off to the Bridal Room, which was adorable and so smartly laid out. (right off of the entryway adjacent to the doors of the sanctuary - no schlubbing through the basement for us!)
The girls helped me in more ways than one: B ran the music, K8 managed the veil and applied my deodorant (what a trooper), KT helped me into my shoes, L and R got me in the dress and everyone helped me count off on my last minute push-ups. Thank you, CrossFit!
We had so much fun but time was seriously crawling. I kept wondering if there was something wrong with the clocks. Every time we looked down at the clock it said that it was 6:25. I was ready for 7:00.
My sweet sis-in-law, K8, took the charge of taking me and the various parts of my dress to the church. Due to the unexpected delay, caused by dirty-stank hair, I was running a bit behind. No stress, though. We were in a stress-free, fun-filled zone. I decided long before the wedding that I wouldn't let anything get me down on the big day. Nothing. So we rolled with it and when Nikki was finished working her magic K8 carted me off to the church.
K8 is one of the most amazing women that I know and I feel more than honoured to now share a last name with her. The hotel staff was wonderful on our way out and made sure to delay me until BF made his departure.
I was so excited that it was finally time to be at the church that I had not even realized or cared that I had not seen any of the flowers or decorations there. I was scooted off to the Bridal Room, which was adorable and so smartly laid out. (right off of the entryway adjacent to the doors of the sanctuary - no schlubbing through the basement for us!)
The girls helped me in more ways than one: B ran the music, K8 managed the veil and applied my deodorant (what a trooper), KT helped me into my shoes, L and R got me in the dress and everyone helped me count off on my last minute push-ups. Thank you, CrossFit!
We had so much fun but time was seriously crawling. I kept wondering if there was something wrong with the clocks. Every time we looked down at the clock it said that it was 6:25. I was ready for 7:00.Finally it was time. We had the most fantastic organist and trio of strings play the ceremony. I walked down the aisle to Pachabel's Canon in D (my all time favorite). Seeing BF for the first time after the doors opened will be a memory that I cherish for always. He was beyond handsome and left me giddy as my dad walked me down.
The ceremony was beautiful and special beyond words. BF's dad is a Bishop in the Methodist church and sweetly agreed to marry us. He does a good wedding. During the vows I nearly lost it and definitely choked up and cried. I have never been overwhelmed with happiness like that before and I look forward to happening again one day, due to BF I'm certain.Afterward the organ played us out of the sanctuary and the strings struck up with Outkasts, "Hey Ya!" They were awesome.
We took pictures very quickly at the church and then made our way over the reception at the Stoneleigh Hotel. A huge thank you, to K8's mom for letting us use her brand new 7-series to haul our cookies to the party.
For those that are interested in flowers and wedding decor, we kept it pretty simple. We had two wreaths made for the front doors of the church. They were monochromatic coral carnations and hanging in the center of the wreaths were an "L" and "M." We had friends snag them off the church doors and take them to the reception where they were hung on the two bathroom doors - now standing for "Ladies" and "Mens" room markers.
I wanted wheat to be incorporated into the arrangements and bouquets as much as possible. My family comes from a long line of wheat farmers and it was important to me that our heritage be represented in this way. Wheat was used to mark the family pews, in the groomsmen boutinners and in the bridesmaids' bouquets. Loved it. Edwards Floral Design of McKinney did a wonderful job. We then had two large arrangements flanking the altar. One of our ushers took one of the arrangements to the reception after the ceremony. We used it on one of the front tables rather than purchasing an additional arrangement. Budget friendly solution for flowers. Huge props to our photographer Misty, of Alta Moda Photography, she is a genius and has a talented eye. See more of her work and more photos from our wedding at Pictage.com (password: dorff09), or at Misty's blog.
We tried to stick close to our originally proposed budget and I think we might have even come in just under. Hooray for stretching every dollar.
Anyone else have money saving tips for planning a wedding?
1 comment:
Lauren...I love your updates on the wedding! It seemed like the perfect day. Hugs to you and Michael.
Julia Langley Hackney
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