July 29, 2012

So, good news! I start my new job on Tuesday! I couldn’t be more excited to finally be contributing financially to my new family. I will be working in the newborn screening division at the state health department. We take blood samples from all babies born in Texas and screen their blood for 28 different disorders. Pretty cool. Saving babies. I dig it.

Anyway, I promised you all a wedding day post, so here it is! *A little side note, I realized in my wedding weekend post that I said that I was set to wake up at 6:30 am.. I was actually set to wake up at 5:30. Just didn’t want any confusion as you read on.* This is a long post as well. Just to warn you.

So, when we last left off, it was around 2:30 am and I had just fallen asleep thanks to Tylenol PM. At 5:30 am, my alarm went off as scheduled. I had actually planned to wake up and go get the world famous Round Rock donuts for my bridesmaids however, the night before I reassessed a little and realized that few people would actually eat them if I bought them. Also, when I woke up at 5:30 I knew that 3 hours of sleep would not be enough for me to be functional. After making this final decision, I reset my alarm for an hour later. I did finally wake up at 6:30.

Just to recap, at this point I had Ana, Megan and Greg (her husband), and my brother staying at our house. Dani and Aaron had decided to get a hotel for Saturday night. I went into the kitchen as quietly as I could to get breakfast since my brother was sleeping in the living room. Turns out this was completely unnecessary because my brother sleeps like a rock. Anyway, I realized that my stomach was way too excited for breakfast, so I just ate a banana and had some water. I went into my room and got dressed. At this point I heard the shower in the guest bathroom running which was a good sign. Someone other than me was conscious.

For the next half hour or so I pretty much just sat in my room. I started to put everything by the door that I would need. My dress and shoes were already at the hotel, so I mostly just needed my veil and headband. I also had remembered the night before while I was laying there not sleeping that Jason did not have the marriage license with him. I left a bag full of things for him (including the license, ring bearer pillow and a card) next to my unconscious brother to give to Jason (since Jason and his brother were going to swing by the house to get him later). Eventually I saw that Ana was up which was good. We had a hair appointment at 8 am. At 7:30, my parents dropped Haley off and we loaded up in my car to go to the hair appointment. I’m glad we had plenty of time to get there because I had no idea where this place was. Turns out it’s really hard to find a place to do your hair that early on a Sunday morning, so I had to go somewhere I’d never been to and never heard anything about. Anyway, even with three forms of GPS we still managed to get lost. Eventually I turned around and got off of the toll road. I was driving pretty much aimlessly on the feeder trying to find this place. I was freaking out because I was afraid we’d be late. I thought about calling to ask for directions but I had no idea where I was, so I wasn’t sure how much that would help. Finally, I hear Ana ask “Is that it?” The sign was hidden well, but I made the turn just in time. We pulled into the parking lot at 7:58 am. Pretty good timing. The hair place was only supposed to have two ladies doing our hair, which was another stress for me because I knew we’d be cutting it close on time. Thankfully, when we arrived we discovered that they had another lady who had been willing to come in, so we had one for each of us. I sat down in the chair and showed the lady exactly what I wanted (thanks to Pinterest I had a picture!) When the lady saw that I wanted a waterfall braid, she decided to swap me with another one of the stylists who was apparently an expert at these.

I kept a close eye on the clock the whole time. Megan texted me that she was on her way to the hotel which was a relief. She’d still been sleeping when I had left. By 9:15, the three of us had our hair done and Ana had even had her makeup done as well. We left. As we were walking to my car, Haley (thankfully!) realized I had left my veil, so she ran back to get it (see, that’s why she was my MOH!). Around 9:25, my brother texted me and asked when Jason was coming to get him. I had a mini heart attack because Jason and his brother were supposed to pick him up at 9. I called Jason and discovered that they were just leaving his parents’. Apparently his brother had a rough night, so it was a little hard for him to get moving. He assured me that they’d be ready in time. I went ahead and told him that Zach had a bag of things for him. *I later discovered that Jason did not read the card. For some reason he thought he wasn't supposed to, so he never read it until after the wedding. Sigh. Oh well.*

We pulled into the hotel parking lot shortly after 9:30 and headed straight for the dressing room. Danielle and Megan were already there. My mom came in with my dress and shoes. At this point my mind was racing about 300 miles per hour. Jennifer, one of our videographers, arrived shortly afterward and we chatted for a bit (we went to high school together, so lots of catching up!). I asked my mom where the flowers were because I wanted one of my ladies to go deliver the boutonnieres to the boys. She informed me that they had not arrived yet. Insert panic attack #2. The flowers should have been delivered 30 minutes prior. I called in Kristen, the wedding coordinator, and she set out to find the flowers while I called the florist. The florist assured me that the flowers had been delivered. By this point it was 10 am and I still needed my makeup done and to get dressed (I was supposed to be completely ready by 10:45). My mom made me sit down and started working on my makeup.

Finally, the flowers were located (they’d been at the front desk) and distributed. My makeup took about 30 minutes and by this point I was in a state of panic because I thought I’d be late. I sent Danielle to go check on the boys. They were all ready, of course. My mom left quickly to go get dressed which made me nervous, I needed her there! At this point my dad had come by to see me. Sweet sentiment, I know, but I wasn’t dressed yet! I quickly crowded into the bathroom with my 4 bridesmaids and got into the dress. The photographer had arrived and after I had squeezed into the dress she took some photos. Here goes panic attack #3. I realized I had not brought socks (which was important since I was wearing boots). Thankfully, Megan had her entire suitcase and loaned me a pair of neon green-zebra striped socks. It was 10:50 and not everyone was dressed. My dad and step dad were waiting in the room now with us. Finally Kristen came to get us to tell us it was time. Everyone had finished getting ready just in the nick of time. I distributed bouquets and we were on our way to the ballroom.

This literally felt like the longest walk of my entire life. My bridesmaids were holding up my train and sweet little Karys, our flower girl, was holding my hand. Once we got to the backdoor of the ballroom, I had to wait on the other side of the wall with the dads. Turns out the doors we all entered through were broken in some way and couldn’t be closed. I was so nervous and excited. My mind and heart were racing. I’d been planning this wedding for 7 months. I couldn’t wait to marry Jason.

Kristen waved us over. We started walking. Me in the middle of my 2 dads. We got to the door and I looked up from my shoes and saw Jason. I apologize to everyone who was there that day, but I didn’t see any of you while I was walking up the aisle. I didn’t even see the wedding party. I only saw Jason. I didn’t care that my train was dragging or that my poor dads had to watch where they were walking to not step on my dress. I wanted to run up the aisle to that stage. Finally I made it there. I hugged my dads and Jason took my hand to help me up the stairs. I was ready. *As an aside, I actually stepped on my dress and this point and tripped. Did you notice? Jason steadied me and mouthed “are you okay?”* Of course I was.

Aaron, our officiant, started talking. I have known Aaron since I was in middle school and he’s engaged to Danielle, so it was pretty special to me to have him be the one to marry us. He and I had previously written the script for what he was going to say, so I pretty much knew how this would go. However, Aaron decided to throw in some personal touches. This was cry #2 (remember the first had come the night before while I was speaking to everyone at our rehearsal dinner).  I managed to calm down while he went through the rest of the script. Then I cried again (#3) while we were repeating our vows and exchanging rings. I was trying really hard to project my voice. Finally, the kiss! We’d kissed a million times before, but this one felt special somehow.

When I turned around after the kiss, I finally saw everyone. I was so overjoyed that so many people had come to help us celebrate. My sister handed me my bouquet, and we walked back out the door as husband and wife. I was SO happy.

We waited outside the back door for what seemed like forever. In reality I think it was about 10-15 minutes. We hugged and chatted with everyone in the wedding party, as well as our parents and grandparents. Then we were finally ushered back in for pictures. We took a million. You know how this goes. I really wish I had had an opportunity to go to the cocktail hour for even a little bit, but with the set up and pictures we were already running behind schedule.

I ran to the bathroom for a quick break (try peeing in a wedding dress, I dare you!) and to bussle my dress. Afterward I had a quick chat with the DJ on how I wanted everyone introduced and order for all of the announcements. We went back out the back door and waited with the wedding party for what also seemed like forever. We were finally allowed to walk back around to the side doors and everyone walked in. I was excited when Jason and I finally walked through the door. Everyone looked so happy which made me happy.

  Our first dance was a little awkward, I won’t lie. Neither of us can dance to save our lives. We were mostly talking the whole time trying to make each other laugh. At one point I think I said “when will this song end?!?” I hope the videographers didn’t pick that one up! Once our dance ended I still had two more to go. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dads, but I was getting dizzy. It was nice to chat with each of them though. Finally my dances were over and Jason came back on the floor to dance with his mom. It took me a solid 2 minutes to sit down because my dress was so insanely huge. When I sat down, I saw that both Jason and his mom were crying which made me cry yet again (#4!).

Finally it was food time! I was really excited about our food. Because my dress was so tight though, I didn’t actually get to eat as much as I had wanted. I had to stop because I literally felt like I had no more room. Jason’s brother gave a toast and then my sister gave a very special and heartfelt toast. I was so proud that I didn’t cry while she was talking! Then my mom came up. Oh my gosh. I’m pretty sure if you’re reading this you were there and you know what I’m talking about. If you weren’t, I’m sorry but if I go back too much into her toast I’ll cry again. It was beautiful and special and powerful. I was crying so hard (#5) that my entire body felt like it was convulsing. So many people have told me that they were crying too. Glad I wasn’t alone!

After the toasts, the music started and we started making our rounds to greet everyone. We made it through one table before the photographers and videographers called us out into the lobby for more photos. If you’re wondering why we disappeared for 20 good minutes during the reception, this was why. As we were coming back in, my grandparents were leaving so we shared a good-bye with them. Finally we went back inside and started greeting people again. We did some dancing in between greetings. After we had gone to all of the tables, we took advantage of the photobooth for a bit before more dancing ensued.

At 3:30 it was time to cut the cake. Jason and I had both agreed that we would just feed each other bites. However, after the first bite, his uncles and cousins were all shouting “shove it in his face!” so I obliged. He was sweet enough to return the favor. We sat down and ate our amazing cake. We did more dancing, threw the bouquet and the garter and did the money dance. It was at this point that I realized that the party was almost over and got a little sad. By 4:30 the staff were basically instructing us that it was time to get everyone out. We left in a sea of bubbles.

We went back to our changing rooms so that Jason could drop off his tux and I could get my things. We then retired to the suite we had reserved for us for a few hours. Later, we went back to our house to drop off my car and dress. Magical little elves had also dropped off our wedding gifts, so we went ahead and opened those. Afterward we walked over to Jason’s parents  for leftover BBQ and to watch the Olympics. Eventually his uncles took us back to the Marriott for the night.

Coming up next.. the honeymoon! Stay tuned.