One year ago today, I walked down the aisle to say “I Do” to my best friend; the wonderful man that was once the little boy with frosted tips from my fifth grade class. It’s hard to believe we have to start counting back at one after six and a half years together, but I’m happy I get to do it with him. This year has brought lots of fun memories and we are both looking forward to year two.
Here are some of my favorite wedding photos that never got posted; now seemed like as good of a time as ever to relive my favorite day. If you’ve been following along (or know me at all), you’d know that I’m definitely low-maintenance. Especially when it comes to something like a wedding. I had no interest in an over the top dress and would have been perfectly happy skipping the flowers in favor of carrying a puppy down the aisle. (In afterthought, I’m pretty sure that a puppy would have cost more than the flowers, but how fun would that have been?)
I wrote a little more about the dress and where it’s from in the past, but I’m definitely still so happy with my choice and I think the most rewarding part (other than the pockets) was that everyone told me how “me” it was.
And of course, I had to sass that dress up with some funky shoes. Gosh I still think these are killer and I’m never getting rid of them. My main reason for not doing something more bridal (*shutters*) was because I knew I would never wear them again. I’ve already been there done that with a pair of shoes that I wore to prom in high school. And now they are in my parents basement, where they will probably stay forever. Sorry Mom and Dad!
My photographer, Chelsea, suggested during one of our meetings that I create a bible journaling page for the wedding and I’m so happy that I did! I’m obsessed with this picture and then when we got home from the honeymoon I used some of the blank space to write in a few words about the day. Kevin gave me the necklace and my brother gave me those earrings.
This was the gift that Kevin gave me the morning of the wedding, along with a sweet note. At the time, I couldn’t believe how surreal everything was that morning, it was so normal it almost felt like nothing was happening that day. When I woke up, I went downstairs ate some breakfast and chatted with my Mom like I always do when I’m there. I still had a little time before my hair appointment so we just hung out. I loved that.
The hair appointment was fairly uneventful, which was a plus. You’d have to be terrible to screw up some basic curls. I went in about a month before for my trail and I walked out with my hair looking so ridiculous that I went home and brushed it out immediately. Since the hair trail took so long, I ended up not even trying my make up. Good thing I’m not picky. I really did like it though and I thought it looked super natural. For someone who literally wears zero make up on a daily basis, I was really pleased with the look and longevity of the spray on stuff.
My sweet Momma helping me getting ready.
I know I’ve said this 100x but having a first look was the way to go – my pictures are amazing and I loved having that time to relax our nerves. Neither of us is very emotional, so this gave us some time to tell each other how we were feeling and that’s exactly what I needed. Easily the best decision of our wedding day.
These ladies are my absolute favorite, no one I’d rather have standing by my side than these five goofs. Not 20 minutes later, these ladies (and some of the groomsmen) were using a Tide-to-go Pen and baby wipes to get mud all out of my dress and off my shoes. Doesn’t look muddy but it was, I’m not mad though because the photos were definitely worth it.
This describes us pretty well.
The family – obviously we couldn’t have done any of this with out them! I really want to remember how important their roles were in planning, financing, and helping us get to this point and not only that but how well they did it together. Planning a wedding a different city isn’t easy, but our Moms really went out of their way to make sure every single detail was accounted for during the process and on the day of.
This photo. I love it and I’m so thankful for the way he taught me what to look for in a husband, not through words, but the way he loves my Mom. I don’t know if he said this in his speech or if it told me separately but his advice was to always start the way you want to finish. I love that.
The First Kiss.
Probably one of my favorite photos from the whole day. Right after this picture we had to run out the back door and around the venue so that we could start the receiving line. We just kept saying “OMG! We’re married!”
My two sweet cousins, who totally rocked the whole flower girl thing.
All time favorite! He’s always making me laugh!
Us cheezin’!
Maid of Honor and Best Man Speeches were on point.
Because you have to have center pieces. Oh also fun thing I found out afterwards…this caused a mini fire.
Our first dance to this cover of Everything by Michael Buble.
The only bite of cake I had all night. On the other hand, someone told me they they ate one of each cupcake flavor, so there’s that. At least they were good!
Our First Year:
Restaurants we loved: CC’s City Broiler, Flat Branch, Formosa, Houlihans, Chipotle, Chick-fil-a.
Meals we made: Chicken Cordon Bleu, No Bean Chili + Cornbread, Salisbury Steak, Chicken Burgers, Tilapia, Flat Bread Pizzas, Sweet and Sour Chicken.
Shows we watched: House of Cards, Better Call Saul, The Bachelor, Billy on the Street, Modern Family, Making a Murderer, Undateable, Fixer Upper, Rich in Faith, The Christleys.
Movies We Saw: Chef, Inside Out, The Martian, Furious 7, Trainwreck, Focus.
Places we went: St. Lucia, Chicago, lots of trips to St. Louis.
Things We Did: Honeymooned, adopted Chloe the Dog, Saw Billy Joel in concert at Wrigley Field, Purchased Apple Watches, Started House hunting, I got a new job, dinners with friends.
More Wedding Related Links:
Find and follow Chelsea on facebook by clicking here.
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This is the greatest post ever. I love you – and I am so excited to see what this second year brings!