Eric and my wedding was beyond one of the best day of our
lives!! We already wish we could relive it again every weekend! We loved every single
thing about it! Even the unplanned “hick-ups” that came along with the wedding
process! Eric, of course being the man, did not have to be involved in every
aspect of the wedding planning, but luckily for him; he was also in Georgia and
Oklahoma the entire time so he just got phone calls and texts when I needed his
input. Now with him being military, we struggled on when to pick a weekend that
he could actually attend his own wedding. So we decided on Memorial Day weekend
with hopes that he would have that Friday and Monday off. The entire engagement year I would just joke
that I would be fine with having a laptop on a stand and Facetime him during
the ceremony, but a wedding and reception was happening with or without a groom
physically present…ha! We did not know
until May 13th-ish that Eric would actually be able to come home for
the wedding and I would pick him up Friday morning before the wedding at
Birmingham Airport! YAY!!! What a relief!
Friday went by so fast, with having to pick
Eric up in Birmingham, get our marriage license, transfer our cell phone
accounts to our own, decorate for the rehearsal, and get dressed for rehearsal,
meet out-of-towners at the hotel for check-in, and not be overwhelmed!... Just breath, just breath, just breath…. Rehearsal was fun and
quick but rehearsal dinner was the highlight of the day!! OMG the food was amazing!
A family friend, Dana McCutcheon, had a fried tomato bar ready for us when we
arrived. It was amazing!! I do not prefer fried tomatoes but the way they were
cooked and the sides to go on the mini buns were delish and could have some
right now! Dinner was beautiful and
loved all the courses! I even asked for a to-go box and Eric asked me to get
the dessert recipe! After dinner it was just casual with getting to talk to
everyone and catch up with everyone that does not live near! Then my girls gave
me a photo book with a photo of every girl and behind it a letter they had
written me… Yep I started crying just looking at the pictures and waited until I
was home that night to read the letters! They were all amazing and I am soooo
blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!
Saturday was the best day of my life so far!
I woke up and for the first time in a long time and it felt like any other day.
I was not stressed at all and I did not
have a million things going through my mind of what to do. Once getting to the hair salon, I gave all my
girls a letter I had written them over the past few months about how my life
would not be the same without them and some favorite memories. I tried not to
make them to sappy, because I knew it was going to be a tearful day with those
girls. Well, the tears started rolling immediately and even Sarah had to go off
to a corner on her own to compose herself-ha!
But no worries, while giving them the letters I also gave them a handkerchief
– monogrammed with ‘No Ugly Crying’ and the wedding date. They came in handy many times throughout the
day!
Just like
having a first look with the groom I had a first look with all the girls! Once
getting to the Magnolia Room, all the girls got dressed in the bathroom, and
then lined up facing the wall in the reception room. I got dressed in the bridal suite with my
mother and then I came out and had all the girls turn around at the same time! Ohh
it was sooo fun and a last minute idea the photographer came up with! Then we
all headed to the Old Decatur Bank to have the first look with my groom! We had
him stand at the end of the brick drive and I walked through the iron gate
towards him and it was perfect-- except he
didn’t cry… haha! Eric and I had a joke going on about how he had to cry on my prettiest
day! Oh well typical guy! The pictures were amazing and so fun to do!! We could
not have asked for better weather; not to hot and a bit breezy!
Waiting for the
wedding to get started we all were having some fun times down in the basement
of the church just relaxing and getting excited. Well there were some funny hick-ups while
waiting that I found out about later. First, a pew broke, as in the legs
snapped and was on the floor. Then two groomsmen hauled it outside. Second, we
had chairs taken upstairs because I thought it was a packed house, which
freaked mom out; but it ended up being because of the pew breaking. Third,
before we knew it, it was time for the wedding. As we were all starting to get lined up
downstairs for the ceremony someone asked if Robbie, the pastor, was here…hummmm?
I had not been paying attention to it,
just like everyone else had not noticed. A quick call later we found out he was
still at home and had been thinking the ceremony started at 7pm not 6pm! Can
you imagine if we went through the entire processional and had all the wedding
party in place and only then realized no pastor! Now that would have been a story! But Robbie
lives close to the church and he was there in ten minutes and we still started
on time. He did an amazing job just like we knew he would, and even got Eric
teary eyed!
The reception
was amazing and everything went perfect! The food was delicious! The cakes were
gorgeous and great tasting! My photographer even set up a preview of pictures
from throughout the day on her ipad—I loved that! Eric and I had an amazing
time dancing to our wonderful oldies band – The Sweet Yung’uns! So much
fun! AND we got to leave in an old red
convertible, with an Alabama shaker walk-through! We even got to have an after
party down the street at a local bar! Could not ask for a better day! I ended
it with a crying session with some close life-long friends; who we have never
been apart realizing --yep I’m moving to Oklahoma in a few hours! Wow, that
snuck up on us quickly! All I have to say is having a wedding as a going away
party is the best idea ever! All your close friends and family are there! What
a better send off!
Eric
and I woke up Sunday as man and wife and headed back to Hartselle to finish
packing up the car. We headed out
mid-day on our two day trip to Oklahoma to our new life in marriage and
military! Best weekend of our lives! Wooo hooo!!
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