The Wedding!

SATURDAY — The big day!

First thing's first: Coffee! All of us ladies threw back some serious caffeine as we headed to the salon. We had to be there around 9:30 or so. We were all getting our hair done by Eric Garner at the Salon at Salem Woods. I didn't care how the girls got their hair styled, as long as it looked different from their every-day styles. :)

He did most of their hair ...

Andrea and Casey

Before he did mine ...

Fixing the veil

My groom called me!

After all of our hair looked beautiful, we headed back to my parents' house to get ready. The girls put their stunning chocolate-brown dresses on first.

Andrea, Allison, Nicole, Lindsey and Kelsey

As all of the girls were getting ready, April got some great detail shots:

The dress

The shoes

The rings

The jewelry

My mother and bridesmaids helped me get ready:

It felt so wonderful to finally be putting the dress on to actually wear it! After so many fittings and time spent just getting giddy trying it on, I got butterflies because I was finally getting to wear it for David!

My first glimpse of myself

It was wonderful to have my sweet grandmother there with me, too. She was stunning in her gold gown that she wore for her 50th anniversary party.

Can you tell we're related?

I've seen so many photos like the one below, and I always wanted one of David and me. It's just so sweet ... that crazy anticipation of knowing he's right there but you can't see him yet!

I suppose the anticipation is even more heightened in this type of photo if the couple isn't planning to see each other before the wedding ceremony. David and I, however, decided that we wanted to see each other beforehand. There were a couple of reasons for this, but mainly we wanted to get a lot of the photos out of the way so as not to keep all of the guests waiting longer at the reception. We didn't have a ton of time after we got ready before we had to be at the church, but April was able to get some good shots of us in a small amount of time.

I have no idea what we talked about — such a blur!

After David and I had our moment together, April took a few portraits of me.

A view of the front of my dress in my parents' study.

A view of the back of the dress on my parents' porch.

After she got some photos of me, we got all of the groomsmen together to get their boutonnieres on. Next came some awesome group shots!

The whole party in my parents' front yard.

I absolutely loved the back of my girls' dresses, so I had to be sure to get some photos of them. I thought the guys holding our flowers was a cute touch!

Me and my girls!

David and his boys!

We had to get a few more photos of David and me before it was time to head to the church!

I love how sweet he is looking at me like that!

I think this is my favorite picture of the two of us.

After we finished taking our photos, everyone began the mad, 5-minute dash to the church. We had some freak outs about locating the ushers' ties, almost forgetting the rings (since we'd given them to April to take photos), and a small stain on my dress from the car door. But in the end, everything was OK! We found the ties, I remembered the rings and Kelsey covered up my stain with chalk! :)

Once we got to the church, we took a few family photos, but I'll post those after the ceremony. Then began the hiding and waiting period! Kelly Garner, my wedding coordinator, made sure that we were hidden at least 45 minutes before the ceremony started. Ironically, we were hidden in my old English and Latin classroom from middle and high school. The room looks different since they no longer host a school there ... but yeah, odd to be remembering high school English and Latin with Mr. Walker on your wedding day. ;)

These were the programs that I designed. They're layered: A thank-you section from David and me, the wedding party and finally the order of ceremonies.

It took me so long to find the dresses for my flower girls and ring attendant. I had this image in my mind of what I wanted them to look like. They had to be really intricate like my dress, but they also needed to tie in some color with a sash to match the bridesmaids' dresses. I finally found the perfect ones!

Emily, the ring attendant, had a chocolate brown sash that matched the bridesmaids' dresses and the ring pillow. Reagan and Bailey, the flower girls, wore pink sashes and walked down the aisle together.

This is, by far, my favorite picture of all time of my mother and me!

In the foyer, waiting for the processional, the flower girls couldn't quite keep quiet. Their dads had to help them a bit. This is one of those precious moments that you almost cry when you see that the photographer caught it on tape:

Reagan is shushing Bailey, which is ironic considering they were both having noise issues. ;)

There I go! I finally get to go meet my groom!

I love the look on my daddy's face.

We're FINALLY here!

This is the sand ceremony/unity candle lighting. I spent a long time trying to figure out which one I wanted to do, because I love the Southern tradition of the unity candle, but the sand ceremony just looks really pretty. Both symbolize the joining of two separate people into one. As everyone knows my obsession with Yankee Candles, I came up with this idea to crush up tarts. They look like sand when you do, so I figured we could do the sand ceremony that way. Then I decided to put a wick in the middle of a pillar holder and then we could light it to make it a unity candle, too.

He's pouring "Autumn Wreath" tarts, and I'm pouring "Cinnamon & Sugar" tarts. (If you've not smelled them together, it's delicious!)

The kiss!

We're married!

And now for the standard church photos ...

My parents

My new family!: Andrew (brother-in-law), Karen (mother-in-law) and David (father-in-law)

My whole family — Back row: Conner (cousin and usher), Dalton (cousin and usher), Angie (aunt and singer in ceremony), Rich (uncle), Bryant (cousin and usher); Middle row: PawPaw (grandfather), MawMaw (grandmother), Courtney (mother), me, David, Tim (dad), Karen (aunt and singer in ceremony) and Tim (uncle); Front row: Reagan and Bailey (both cousins and flower girls)

Some of my new extended family (assume the "-in-law" part after each) — Betty Anne (aunt), Rosemary (grandmother), Bill (cousin), me, David, David (father), Karen (mother), Andrew (brother) and Ali (cousin)

My other family — the McDonalds: Ray (officiant), Madge, me, David and Nicole (maid of honor and best friend!) — Nicole's brothers, Jonathan and Josh weren't there for the photo

The whole wedding party — including the little girls this time!: Allison, Casey, Kelsey, Andrea, Lindsey, Emily, Nicole, me, David, Reagan, Andrew, Bailey, Jake, Kevin, Steve R., Steve S. and Eric

**And the final photos to come are of the reception!**

Events leading up to the wedding!

It's about time I got around to blogging about my wedding, right?! I know most of you probably don't care and have already seen the photos on Facebook, but it's good for me to get my thoughts written down. My husband and father-in-law constantly tease me about my scrapbooking and need for photos. They always say that if it's not in a scrapbook, it didn't happen. And while that may seem quite the exaggeration, it's actually somewhat close to the truth for me. I have, I'm certain, the world's worst memory for details once a bit of time goes by. So I need to get this all down! :)

I want to preface the best day of my life by saying how much I love my wonderful husband. Marriage certainly isn't perfect, but neither are people. But it is most assuredly the most amazing blessing. David is such an amazing man, and I could not ask for a more loving, handsome or wise husband. He is the love of my life, and I'm so proud of him and proud to call him mine.

THURSDAY

We started off the festivities Thursday night for the bachelor and bachelorette parties! All of my bridesmaids made it to town in time! We started off at Kanki, one of my favorite restaurants. I don't have very many photos of the party, but I know some of the girls do! Here are a few cute ones I have from dinner — sadly I don't have photos of everyone!

Edith, Lindsey and me

Casey, Kelsey and Edith

After dinner we headed out into Crabtree Valley Mall for some photo games. Of course we had to stop at the Cheesecake Factory for dessert before heading out to City Limits for some dancing! It was amazing how many people paid attention to you when you're wearing a "Bachelorette" tiara and sash. I had men wanting to buy me drinks left and right, and several people gave me marital advice. Although, considering the source, I'm not too sure it was all that sound — rednecks at the local country watering hole ... ;)

I had an awesome time with my girls. They put together the perfect evening, and I could not have had a better time. I was truly lucky to have such wonderful women in my life.

FRIDAY

Friday morning was the bridesmaids' luncheon. I actually didn't take any photos at the luncheon, but my mother and Nicole did.

These were the little name cards I made for everyone.

The luncheon was at Caffe Luna in downtown Raleigh. It was so girly and perfect! The food was delicious. It was several courses, and everyone was able to choose from several different menu options. I think the best part was dessert ... some sort of chocolate cheesecake! It was such a wonderful setting, and I was able to give all of the ladies their gifts.

This is a view of some of the gifts. The bridesmaids got canvas bags filled with all sorts of things — candles, lotions, monogrammed towels, jewelry boxes with their names engraved. The flower girls each had little canvas bags with their names on them filled with treats for little girls. All of the other women in the families got the pink or orange bags filled with picture frames and candles.

I had a wonderful time honoring all of the women who had helped me through the whole planning process and who would come to be such a calming influence on the day of the wedding!

Nicole, me and Gauhara, Nicole's sister-in-law

Reagan and Bailey, my cousins who were the two flower girls, were so cute with their gifts. I'd gotten them these little fairy princess wands as part of their gift, and they were twirling around the cafe playing with the wands. There was one thing in their bags which won't mean much to them now, but I hope they will treasure it one day. I got them each a handkerchief with the following stitched into it:

"For Bailey/Reagan, my precious flower girl,

You are so very young, but the years will pass by and you too will be a bride in the blink of an eye.

You may not remember the day that I married, the part that you played or the flowers you carried.

But there will be a day that will burn bright like an ember.

The day you will wed, you will always remember.

So this is a hankie for the day that you'll say,

'I need something old for my wedding day.'

All my love, Your cousin, Ashley"

Friday evening was the rehearsal at the church ...

But that was just an excuse to have the rehearsal dinner at the Durham Bulls Ballpark!

My mother-in-law put together a spectacular evening, and we were SO blessed to have that unique setting! Everyone had such a blast. We were able to use the field ...

David and his brother and best man, Andrew

Use the batting cages ...

David shows his Major League swing

And use the jumbotron to play video slideshows I'd put together of the bridal party and David and me and also one in memory of David's grandfather, Bill Pollock.

Watching the video of David's grandfather — me, David, Andrew and one of the groomsmen, Steve

We had a wonderful evening! April Sirit, our photographer and owner of Evoke Photography, was able to come out to celebrate with us and capture all of these awesome shots. (I switched to a lower resolution on the rest of the photos, because Blogger was taking forever to load them.)

The wedding party — Back row: Andrew (best man), Eric (junior groomsman), Allison (junior bridesmaid), Andrea (bridesmaid), Kelsey (bridesmaid), Casey (bridesmaid), Lindsey (bridesmaid); Middle row: Steve R. (groomsman), Jake (groomsman), Kevin (groomsman), Nicole (maid of honor), Steve S. (groomsman); Front row: the bride and groom!

After the rehearsal dinner, several of the bridesmaids and their husbands and friends came back to the house to help put together the wedding programs! I had so much on my plate that I just hadn't had time to put them together myself. They were such a huge help, so thank you to Nicole, Edith, Kelsey and her husband Adam, Lindsey and her husband Johnathan, Casey, Andrea and Anna!

Right after they finished, they all pushed me to go to bed. I was so exhausted from such severe lack of sleep, that I don't even know how I was still conscious. I'm such a perfectionist, and I was doing so many things for the wedding that I literally got about 15 hours of sleep in the week leading up to my wedding! Not healthy, huh? I had always thought I would be awake most of the night before my wedding because I figured I'd be so excited I couldn't sleep. Not so with me! I got in bed and fell right to sleep, which is really what I needed. Of course I had to wake up early the next day, but it was so good being able to get so much more sleep than I had been getting.

**More to come!**