The big day, our day, has come and gone. What an amazing time we had the entire wedding weekend! There is so much to blog about but I'm gonna keep it short.
Friday I awoke to a packed day that would soon end with a packed house. In the morning I headed out with "my girls" to get pedicures and Todd with "his guys" to go shooting. It was great to have some down time before the craziness would begin.
After lunch we came back and prepared for the rehearsal dinner - a BBQ at our house. We had a ton of help and were finished just in time for the actual rehearsal. Timely as anything, our entire crew was ready at the church at least 10 minutes before the time we were supposed to begin. Wow! And that is the way the rest of the weekend would continue - ahead of schedule.
The rehearsal dinner was something to remember. When I walked into our backyard something wasn't right. There was a man doing caricatures of couples. Where did he come from? Such a surprise. The out of town guests seemed to have a great time as the BBQ continued late into the evening.
Surprisingly I slept well that evening and was up early and ready to go. My Maid of Honor, sister and mom went to the salon to get pretty, came home to get dressed and then headed to the church for pics.
After formal pics the waiting began. I still wasn't nervous yet and was just going with the flow until about 1 minute before I walked down the aisle. That's when I realized I wasn't a bridesmaid this time. All of my girls were already walking down the aisle. They were closing the doors. This was it! I began to cry and then quickly realized I had to walk in and see some 150 people+ staring at me. So I sucked it up and was all clear before the doors opened again!
Todd, however, could not keep his face dry! And that kept me from breaking down. Everything about the ceremony was as planned and so much more beautiful in real life then in my head! My brother sang tremendously (and with little time to rehearse), the readers were strong and clear, the readings just hit me in the head and the heart, the vows were so true to us (and we snickered a little because they were so true), the unity candle moment a blessing, and our pastor truly brought it all together so perfectly. I couldn't have dreamed it could be anything like it was.
After we sealed the deal we had our group pics and then we were ready to party!
I think all of our guests were ready to party too because in all my life I haven't seen so many of the people I know all together on one small dance floor dancing their behinds off and having a good time. That is what I'll remember. The smiles, the dancing, the laughter and to top it all off my grandmother (who was nervous to even come down to Cincinnati, who is sometimes even nervous to stand up in a big crowd) hit the dance floor. And when I say hit, I mean dance. And dance we all did until the music stopped.
Oh what a night!
