You're My Everything: Team Bride Strikes a Pose

At this point in the morning, all we had to take care of was our pre-ceremony portraits.  First, I delivered my mom's bouquet to her, describing how my original plan to replicate her bridal bouquet for her had been substituted with a bouquet charm with her wedding date.  She seemed to like the touch of personalization that came with her wedding flowers.

While we hugged, we both got tearful, so we only had one course of action.

 I posed for a quick shot by myself,

 and grabbed an extra hug with my dad before heading outside to start the official portraits.

When we headed outside, Christina really started to work her magic.  Aside from the amazing photos she took, she was totally in charge of the situation, but never pushy.  In fact, she was easily the calmest and most calming person in the whole bunch, which definitely served us well.  Any time I was worried about the time or running behind schedule, she'd let me know that everything was going perfectly and there was absolutely no reason to stress.  She was so peaceful in her professionalism and delivery that I had no choice but to believe her and soak in the moment instead of thinking about what the rest of the day held.  We started with a few more solo shots.

 

In between the serious ones, I tried to squeeze in some looser, more relaxed photos to show off my less-than-dignified side.  Thankfully, BM K lovingly captured these once in a lifetime images.

 Photo by BM K

 Photo by BM K

Once we were done featuring the attention sponge in white, my gals jumped in for some big group shots.

Christina flew through the portraits, which made them really easy for all involved.  She had a pattern of asking whoever was in the picture to look at her so she could take the first photo and then look at the other people in the picture for a less posed second photo.  No one really knew what to do or what facial expression to make for that "look at each other" picture, so we ended up with unintentional but truly candid photos like this one.

I think this group shot is one of my favorites of the day (get used to hearing that), because the colors really pop, and it's posed but seems really comfortable.  Love my ladies!

Then, we swapped the bridesmaids out for the grandparents.

 

I also snagged one with my godmother, who is pretty much the classiest li'l lady on the face of the earth, bless her heart. :)

Finally, my parents got involved in the photo action.

 

 

By this point in the morning, Christina had noticed our little high-five shenanigans, so she asked us to perform our new trick for the camera.  We happily obliged.

To cap off our portrait session, we took one of three generations of women -  mom, me, grandma, sister.

After a shockingly efficient 40 minutes or so, Christina was done with the ladies' pictures and scooted over to the church so she could tend to Mr. Snow Cone and all of his people.  We actually had a few minutes before we needed to head over to the church, so all of us just kind of sat around my living room, passing the time with idle chitchat.  It was a very surreal moment.  Me, sitting in a white dress and veil, just hanging out, wondering when it was time to leave for the church.  As I was preparing to walk out the door, I realized I hadn't applied my makeup fixative, so Team Bride rallied and managed to find the spray, grab someone's blouse to use as a smock to protect my dress, and apply the spray which only partially got in my eye and caused me to panic that my fake eyelashes and make-up would be goners.  A tense minute later, I realized my eyeball wasn't on fire any longer, so that crisis was averted.  Now that pictures had been taken and eyeball fires had been extinguished, it was time to get into the car to head to the church!

All photos by the amazing Christina Garber unless otherwise noted

 

• We spent a low-key night with some of my friends and family.
• We ran some errands and received some one-of-a-kind brewskies.
• I had a moderate-sized freak-out at the rehearsal.
• I went toe-to-toe with the priest over a few significant details.
• We expressed our gratitude to our bridal party, without any tears (almost)!
• We dined and drank our way through our rehearsal dinner.
• We threw an after party with a birthday twist.
• We spent the morning getting beautified and relaxing.
• A peek into the details of my wedding day look.
• I had some private time with my mom, becoming a bride.
• I revealed my bridal look, twice!

You're My Everything: Dressing with My Best Friend

Because everyone was finishing up their own wedding day looks in my bathroom, I scooted over to my parents' room to use their bathroom.  When I was done, I opened the door, expecting to head back to my own room and kill some time before slipping into my gown.  That plan went out the window when I opened the bathroom door and saw my mom, my photographer, and my gown all waiting for me.  I had my hair and make-up done, so pretty much the only task left in the getting-ready process was stepping into my bridal gown.  My mom asked me if I wanted to start getting dressed, and although I was caught off-guard by how fast I went from bumming around to becoming a bride, I was totally ready for this.

I decided the best course of action would be to rip my tank top off... right over my head... over my perfectly coiffed updo.  Previously in the day, I had been repeatedly reminded by my mom and hair-dresser to step out of the tank top as opposed to pulling it over my head.  I responded to all of these warnings with an eye roll and a reminder that this wasn't my first updo, duh.  Turns out they were right, and I had a severe bout of bridal brain and messed up part of my hair.  Fortunately, my mom quelled my panic and assured me that the hairdresser, who is a dear family friend, was on her way over already, so she could patch it up.

After that little snafu, I collected myself and started getting dressed.  I had previously envisioned myself getting dressed surrounded by my mom and bridesmaids, but the way it turned out, my mom was the only one around.  And it was perfect.  It was totally calm and stress-free.  I had the woman whose opinion I trusted most helping me, step by step, get into the most important and noteworthy outfit of my life.  Those few minutes of getting ready, just the two of us, are some of my most treasured of the entire day.  I will be eternally grateful that I chose to use my parents' bathroom that morning, getting ambushed with a one-on-one dressing appointment with my mom.

We slipped me into the dress.  My veins felt like they had electricity coursing through them.  I had tried on my dress at my various fittings over the past two weeks, but the sensations from seeing myself in the dress during those instances paled in comparison to what I felt that morning.  For the very first time, I felt like a true bride.  Not a young woman who would be a bride on some day in the future.  I was a bride right then and there.  It's a sensation hard to describe.

First, my mom zipped me into the gown.

My mom then dutifully started buttoning that long row of buttons on the back of my dress.

After I was securely in my dress, I started to put on my jewelry, with a little assistance.

 

Once I was all decked out, I got to share a special, quiet moment with my mom, letting the day really sink in.

 I realized I didn't have my garter on, but, of course, my mom helped me with that last apparel detail.

Finally, I looked in the mirror and took it all in, realizing never again would I be relatively alone on my wedding day.  I could feel nothing but sheer anticipation.  I took a deep breath...

 ... let myself relax...

...and prepared for the fun to begin!

All photos by the amazing Christina Garber

• We spent a low-key night with some of my friends and family.
• We ran some errands and received some one-of-a-kind brewskies.
• I had a moderate-sized freak-out at the rehearsal.
• I went toe-to-toe with the priest over a few significant details.
• We expressed our gratitude to our bridal party, without any tears (almost)!
• We dined and drank our way through our rehearsal dinner.
• We threw an after party with a birthday twist.
• We spent the morning getting beautified and relaxing.
• A peek into the details of my wedding day look.

You're My Everything: The Makings of a Bride

Per instructions from my lovely photographer Christina, I had spent some time that morning setting aside the details that went into creating my bridal look.  While I was putting the final touches on my make-up, she and her assistant were working their magic, photographing.  It's amazing to me that in a matter of mere minutes, these items went from inanimate objects to being cemented in a young woman's mind as an indelible part of her wedding day ensemble and experience.

 My final wedding to-do list

 Apparently I had nothing planned for that Saturday! (True story: I prize my planner an excessive amount, and I didn't want my "Wedding!" entry to be sloppy, so I kept putting it off.  Oh well!)

 

Some of my pearls

 

 Complete with earrings, which were my "something borrowed" from my mom

My custom rivalry garter

 

The crochet hook my mom used to fasten the row of buttons on the back of my gown

 

My wedding day scent

Our rings!

 My custom dress hanger

 Ohhhhh, the dress

 The pleats - deceptively simple and plain on the hanger

With my shoes

My shoe glamor shot

A special note about the following two photos - these items became misplaced in the hubbub of the wedding day.  They were always on my "maybe" list for my actual wedding day look, so I didn't make it a high priority to get them into my hands that morning.  As a result, they kind of got pushed to the side, and they haven't surfaced again.  

The ring is a peridot ring Mr. Snow Cone gifted me for our five-year anniversary; I was initially really distraught to have lost this sentimental possession. Mr. Snow Cone then reminded me the purpose of the ring was to have a symbol of our relationship to wear on my hands. He then politely asked me to take a quick peek at my left ring finger. Touché, Mr. Snow Cone. The other item is obviously my snow cone charm, a nod to my Weddingbee moniker. I'm still hopeful these trinkets will turn up sometime soon; however, as a word to the wise, if you have small but important possessions that will be moving around during the wedding day, appoint someone particular to keep an eye on them to ensure they don't get misplaced.

Now that you've seen all of the bits and pieces of my wedding day look, it's time to become a bride!

All photos by the amazing Christina Garber

• We spent a low-key night with some of my friends and family.
• We ran some errands and received some one-of-a-kind brewskies.
• I had a moderate-sized freak-out at the rehearsal.
• I went toe-to-toe with the priest over a few significant details.
• We expressed our gratitude to our bridal party, without any tears (almost)!
• We dined and drank our way through our rehearsal dinner.
• We threw an after party with a birthday twist.
• We spent the morning getting beautified and relaxing.