September 27, 2008 is when Brett & I got married. We were engaged for a whopping 9 months, and while it made planning easier, I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone! It is just way too much time for anyone to be scrutinizing tiny details that one day really won't matter (i.e. the flavors of each cake teir, the exact green color for the linens, ties, ect, exactly what time the flower girls will strut down the aisle . . .) I'm sure Brett will never forget the days of me stressing over the tiny stuff, or falling asleep during movies from thinking too hard. But I still enjoyed planning the whole thing, none the less. I even had a little, well big, binder that I hauled around with tips, pointers, do's and donts', plus all of my vendor info & color samples & everything else. But, as I learned, you can only be in control & plan for so long because when that big day finally comes, you're just along for the ride, and you just have to hope that everyone else follows "the plan". What I will say is that it is actually kinda sad, I mean I spent so much time planning & worrying that everything wouldn't be "just right", I kinda lost sight of what I was planning, ya know? And it's something I kinda lost sight of until like the day of, and then it was like, " oh yeah, I'm marrying the guy of my dreams today, I love him, I'm so excited I can barely stand it, and who cares if my hair is perfect or the DJ doesn't play the right songs or heaven forbid it should rain? I get to marry him today, and life goes on beyond today!"Speaking of rain, on that day, the clouds were threatening us. And it was something to worry about, because we had planned an outdoor wedding. Months before had I had found a website (something to do with NASA maybe?) which could tell you aprx. how the weather would be on any given day in the future, along with what time the sun would set in your area, ect. I followed it like a religion and was assured it wouldn't even sprikle. Yet coem September 27, the skies were cloudy & stormy looking, and throughout the day I would just keep chanting, please don't rain, please don't rain, please . . . It actually sprinkled a few hours before, way to go weather people, as usual! Luckily it did not rain during the ceremony.
I was also running a little late for my own wedding, everyone was waiting & ready & I was still trying to shove my dress on . . . but as my photographer reminded me, they really couldn't start without me. And after all the months of planning, everything really did turn out "perfect" and beautiful. I mean yeah, the cake was slightly crooked, I wasn't really happy with my hair, and we didn't get all that specific pictures we wanted, but it was perfect anyway. I will never forget how his face looked as I walked down the aisle, it may sound cliche but he was all I could see. And Judge Eves did such a wonderful job with the ceremony. My most favorite part of the day was the ceremony, and after it was said and done, Brett & I walked back down the aisle & we had that little moment, that feeling of, "We did it!" --though it wasn't quite suken in yet!(See picture 1 above)
After that the evening was even more of a whirlwind, we didn't get one bite of the food, I didn't get a gulp of the lemonade or whatever it was. The one thing I did get a bit of was the cake. And by the way, we made a pact not to shove it in each others faces! Of course the crowd told us to though! But we walked away clean. And the cake was so good! Hope our frozen piece still tastes good in 6 months! lol Our first dance was to "Pretty Lady" by Kalai. It was beautiful. The bridesmaids were beautiful & I still love their dresses, and they all helped me so much that day (and the night before--Cami! Cami stayed up until well past 1:00 am the night before, creating flowergirl baskets & giving advice) with everything from decorating to support to helping with my huge train. But even 5 months later, while it was all beautiful, I couldn't be happier than knowing that I truly am his now, and we have our new little life together with more adventures to come.
This is the new tool belt his parents got for him. I think it is sexy & am always begging him to wear it home one of these days . . . still no luck.
Blowing out the candles . . . check out Chris's face . . . too funny ^
Aren't I good? All 3 fast & furious-es-es . . . . .
And a hat . . .
Assembling invitations . . . the two of us made an assembly line.
This is me @ Brett's house, putting our pictures together for our slideshow. We had so many pictures, and Brett's mom actually paid for the slideshow, so she had to pay extra just because of how many pictures we had. But it turned out really cute!
This is my first wedding gown that I almost ordered, only in the ivory color not white. I absolutely loved it. The problem started when I started to notice that a whole lot of other people liked this "rueshed" or bunched style, including my cousin Laci. I hadn't attended her wedding, but when I saw pictures of her beautiful dress, I decided to do something different. Didn't want to copy :) But I so did love this one . . .
This is the second dress I gravitated to. It wasn't in stock yet, because it was a new design. I had only seen it in a catalogue but really liked the Cinderella, poofy princess look of it. Also loved the corset detail in the back, and I don't know if you can see it in the pic but it also has layers of lace all over. When it came in stock & I tried it on, I decided against it. Some things are just very different in person, and when worn on a different person.
This was my final dress (yes these two pictures are of me). I loved this dress becaue it was unique. It has an amazing, big, pleated train and lots of beaded detailing. Believe it or not though, I actually had the style of dress changed. But this is the finished product. Too bad you pay so much money just for them to sit in a closet, eh? And by the way some of my indecisive-ness on this issue was due to the fact that I worked in a bridal store and had the opportunity to try on & look at any dress I wanted, any day!
Oh, and this dress was due to come out a couple of months after my wedding. In all honesty, and I know this is bad, but I almost think I would have chosen this one, had I had the choice. But it wasn't even in stores yet. And I do still love my real dress :)
Brett's cousins & I watching "Little Mermaid" before the guests came.
The kids deorated this banister. Cute.
So, Brett's Grandma Barbara (mom's side) owns a river house on the Colorado river which is on the border of Laughlin, NV (can't spell) and Bullhead City AZ. Every summer Brett & his younger brothers go & have fun in the water & sweltering heat. They've got a house boat & seadoos & tubes . . . I didn't get to go last time, so July was my first time. It sounded fun so I was pretty excited to go. Little did I know that it is like way below sea level so it is a sweltering HOT HOT HOT pit. So you spend a lot of time running around in swimsuits & tank tops, I made the mistake of packing jeans . . . ha, yeah right! It was so much fun though, it was also my first time on a seadoo, and that was pretty mch my favorite! The guys also went fishing, and caught a cat fish & some others. We spent our evenings huddled under AC & fans, along with BBQs. One morning Brett's Grandma made us a HUGE wonderful breakfast with pancakes, all kinds of fruits, whpped cream, toast ect (she's famous for that). We also spent most of our time on Lake Mojave which is actually the best for seadoos. All in all it was a pretty great time, check out some of our pictures & see for yourself!
