Wedding Party Attire - Wedding Planning via iPhone Pics (Part III)

This is the photo that inspired all of my wedding party attire.  I wanted the different styles, different colors, and this color tone.  First I found a company that made dresses in the colors I liked.  I decided on Little Ruffles Bridal and the dresses were $116.00 each after shipping and custom sizing. I am very pleased with this company.  They had great customer service, good shipping time, and wonderful quality dresses.

Some of the colors were not available, and I ended up going a little more strong on the blush color along with the grey. I ordered swatches and narrowed down the four colors.

Then I chose some styles for the girls to choose from.

I had each of my girls choose their own shoe.  I wanted them to get nude wedges.

For the guys, I wanted to go simple, and cost-effective (cheap, rather).  And I wanted grey.  I met with a florist about renting suits, but by the time all the costs added up, I did not feel comfortable asking the guys to spend that much.  So I searched, and searched, and searched online for something that I liked that was well priced.  We decided on grey dress pants and vests from Sears, which were $45 total.  We asked that the guys wear any black dress shoes, a black belt, and a long sleeve button up white shirt. 

We bought the guys' ties (including our dads).  A friend of mine had just ordered some ties from Cheap Neckties for her wedding and recommended them.  I love this company -- great ties, cheap prices, and lot of options.  We went with $5 ties.

I love how all the outfits turned out!

Flower Girl & Ring Bearer - Wedding Planning via iPhone Pics (Part II)

I definitely had a vision of what I wanted my flower girl dress to look like.  I loved the tulle skirt and the fancy strapped back.  Instead of finding an overpriced one to buy, my mom took on the task of making one herself.  She did an amazing job!  She made the tulle skirt, and put a slip underneath so it wouldn't be scratchy.  She took the front of a t-shirt and covered it with lace material.  She then made the back using loops and ribbon.  I LOVE how it turned out -- and my flower girl was the most beautiful flower girl in the history of them all.

She practiced her flower girl smile for months before the wedding.  She perfected it!

I originally wanted my ring bearer to wear suspenders, but I changed my mind and decided I wanted him to match the guys in the wedding party.  My sister was able to find a perfect outfit for him -- white shirt, grey vest, grey dress pants, and black dress shoes.  He wasn't too excited to try his outfit on, but these pictures are some of my very favorites of this boy.


I wasn't sure how he would do during the wedding.  During rehearsal, he cried the whole way up the aisle while being forced to hold Rylee's hand.  My sister had prepped him for the wedding -- talking about it, telling him what to expect, introducing him to Rylee, attempting to show him wedding videos...  He pulled through.  He looked so handsome, and he was such a big boy.

Together they were the perfect pair.  I could not be more happy with our flower girl and ring bearer.

Wedding Dress - Wedding Planning via iPhone Pics (Part I)

Soon after Keane asked me to marry him, we discussed the wedding date and location.  After that, I began searching for my wedding dress.  Because my sister lives nearly four hours away, and Lindsay lives four states away, it was not very feasible for us to get together to go dress shopping.  I opted out on that special time for a more relaxing dress shopping experience -- online.  It was a decision I quickly made, and I do not regret it one bit.


I was able to narrow my searches to fit my ideal price range, and then by style.  I looked on countless websites, and I saved numerous photos of beautiful dresses.  I then started narrowing my choices down to dresses that were most fitting for me.  I then ran some of my final choices by my sister, who told me that one of them was "the one."  I agreed, and I bought it.


It came from TideBuy, and it cost a whopping $281.29.

I anxiously waited its arrival.  When it finally arrived, I hid away in my bedroom and tried my wedding dress on for the first time.  I loved it.  I tried taking some photos, but it was very hard to take satisfying selfies.  

Soon after, I met with a friend of my mom's who had agreed to alter my dress.  I believe I went three or four times total.  First she took in a lot around the waist, chest, and shoulders.  I had ordered a size 2, but I should have paid a little extra to get a custom size dress.  She also had to take apart the mid-section as the maker of the dress had simply cut lace out from the seams in the smooth section.  Aside from the major lighting difference in the following photo -- you can tell the major alterations she made!

A few weeks prior to the wedding, I went for my final dress fitting.  I was very pleased with the way the dress looked, fit, and felt.  I believe I lost about 5 lbs between this dress fitting and the wedding day, so the dress fit a little extra well on the wedding day -- that's a plus!

My mom cut a heart from one of my dad's blue shirts (something blue) and stitched it inside my wedding dress, against my heart.

4th of July

Since the wedding, I feel like I can finally enjoy summer.  Instead of endlessly thinking about all the things that need and can be done in preparation for the upcoming wedding, I can now relax and take moments to appreciate this wonderful time of life that I am in. 


I realize that in the last six months, I haven't taken as many photos documenting our every day life, and I really have enjoyed doing that since I have been blogging. 


We had a wonderful Independence Day.  My family always gets together at my aunt and uncle's, but this year was different.  With our wedding only six days prior to the holiday, and some changes in our family's lives, we chose to "skip" our traditional 4th of July.  I hope this is only skipped for this one and only year, though, because it is a longstanding tradition that I believe nobody wishes to see dissipate.

So this year, we filled our day with family and friends.  First we went to see my cousin Lindsay at her family's BBQ.  She had flown in from Arizona for our wedding and would be leaving the following day. 

We then left there for our neighbor's Fish Fry at their lake.  Kaden and Kylie were able to swim with lots of kiddos there.  My brother and his friend, Isaac, ended up joining us as well.  Toward evening, we all loaded up and went to our nearby town to watch the fireworks.  I think I would feel like I missed something if I wasn't able to watch fireworks on the 4th of July.  We joined Keane's brother and some friends and family to watch the small town fireworks display, which lasted about 17 minutes. 

After we left there, we went home to watch Keane and Kaden light some fireworks in our backyard to complete our day.

This was the first holiday Keane and I spent at husband and wife, and I loved every bit of it.

Wedding Planning - A Little Sentimental

Here are a few of my thoughts this past month leading up to our wedding:


06/01/14


It's June 1. It's our wedding month. We get married this month. It's on all the calendars. I feel so ready and I then I still can't believe how soon it will be here.  I'm feeling very sentimental. I am thinking about the days I lived with my parents, when I was involved in their every day lives and details, and when they knew I'd be there the next day, and the next.  I think about when my brother saw me every day and felt part of the same family as me. We are obviously the same family, but we also sort of have two of our own families since we live in two different homes now.  I miss sitting on my sister's bed watching her put on makeup late at night and make faces in the mirror. We would listen to music loudly on her boom box and have sleepovers in her bed, just me and her.  I have been living a life so different than that for years, but to think of myself as growing up...as a grown up, who will be married, a wife and a stepmother, it's life-changing.


06/10/14


We are down to the wire.  I wish I would have written more about this wedding planning journey, but through all the lists and planning and thinking and creating, writing about it was the last thing I felt like doing.  The entire wedding planning has been fun.  I find an idea and I create it.  Lately I have been delegating a little bit more because I realized I didn't have all the time needed to finish everything on my own.  My sister is making my card box and ordering our favors.  My mother has made so much including my garters, bouquets, signs, table runners, and will be making the cakes!  I have so many people offering to help, and I appreciate it so much.  If there has ever been a time I have felt very appreciative for the people in my life, it is right now.


06/17/14


Eleven days. 11!  It seems surreal that next weekend Keane and I will be getting married.  This wedding that has been played in my head over and over, will be played out for real.  I had a wedding nightmare last night!  Those are real things.  And I haven't even been worried about much!  I dreamt that the photographer never showed up for the wedding, that we forgot to do the sparklers & fireworks, and there were only about 45 people there (when we are expecting about 175).  The wedding planning is all complete.  There are only a few things left to do, and they are things that will easily get done between now and then.  I am nervous to see how my planning will turn out.  Will things look like I envision?  Will they go as smoothly as I hope?

We Are Wed

Oh, there's so much to tell.  There was so much leading up to the wedding, so much that happened the day of and the two days prior, and there's so much to share about it afterwards.  However, I'm trying to find that happy place between all of the excitement and all of the exhaustion.

I want to share it all, but I think it will take many posts.  Do I start from the beginning?  I think I'll start from the end.

Today.  I'm so very happy.  It feels so right to call him my husband, and to hear him call me his wife.  It feels so right to change all of my account names to my new name.  Mrs. Brooks.  It seems so right to see my beautiful ring back on my finger with a band attached, and to see the handsome ring on his. 

I have seen very few photos of our wedding day yet, only the few that have been posted on social media sites, and I am so anxious to see the rest! 

Yesterday, I fell asleep at work.  We didn't take off any days from work after the wedding because we wanted to save our vacation days for a delayed honeymoon in August.  Needless to say, getting up Monday for work was a bit torturous.  I haven't felt this exhausted since, I don't know when.  Then, after work, we ate Mexican for dinner for the first time as husband and wife, and that felt just right.

Sunday - the day after the wedding, we were able to sleep in at the hotel until 10:00!  We then joined my family for breakfast before heading home, unloading vehicles with countless wedding items, opening gifts, napping, picking up the wedding site, eating leftovers from the rehearsal dinner, and finally, crashing in bed at night.

Saturday, our wedding day, was perfect.  Some may not call it perfect because it rained.  It poured on the day we were to have an outdoor wedding.  There were chances of possibly strong thunderstorms at 3:00, the wedding was to start at 4:30.  The thunder came rolling, and the rain came pouring down, at about 2:30.

My dad had to quickly load up the sound equipment, the Guest Book, Programs, and Paper Fans.  Keane and I had to discuss our "back-up" plan.  We decided to let all of the guests arrive (even if they sat in their vehicles) until 4:45, and if the rain did not let up, we would then tell our guests to head to the reception hall, where we would have our ceremony there.

Luckily, that didn't have to happen.  At about 3:30, the rain let up.  The guys were able to take some photos outside, and then they went to the wedding site while the girls took some photos.  We had previously taken some photos on the deck in between prior rain showers. 

The guests started heading by the house, on their way to the lake, where the wedding was to be held in a short amount of time.  I hid in a car, hoping not to be seen, sat, and waited until it was close to 4:30...wedding time.

It was perfect.  It was perfect because it wasn't raining, and all the guests had still shown up, granted their feet got muddy or their hair got moist, they were there. 

My beautiful bridesmaids, our flower girl, and I got out of our two vehicles, hid behind the "pipe and drape" system that we had set up to stand behind, while one of our photographers held down the curtains so the wind wouldn't expose me, and we took our turns walking up the aisle, like we had so quickly practiced the evening before. 

First went my mom, to be walked to the front by my little brother.  We waited for the music to change.  When it did, Karla left from behind the curtain, then it was Lindsay's turn.  I was getting so nervous.  The photographer and my dad were discussing whether the "pipe and drape" was too close to Kelli's SUV in chance of it falling.  My dad offered to move the vehicle, but I couldn't have him leave my side.  It was almost our turn to walk up the aisle, and I needed him there beside me.  Then it was Kimberly's turn.  She left, and soon after Kylie took her turn walking toward the wedding ceremony.  This left the flower girl and ring bearer, and it left my father and I.  Keane's sister, Kelli, was there to help guide Rylee and McCoy when it was their turn.  Keane's sister, Kim, was there holding the back of my dress up so that it wouldn't rip on the rough terrain.  She was to lay it out flat when we reached the shorter grass.

My nephew, who so hesitantly (and while crying hysterically) walked with Rylee during rehearsal, said, "The wedding starting?"  When he was handed my Aunt Rhonda's Bible, he said it was too big.  But Kelli helped him tuck it under his arm, I reminded Rylee that if she got the chance, she could drop some flower petals along the aisle, and off they went.  So perfectly.

It was our turn.  We waited for what seemed like 0.0004 seconds, and when the rest of the wedding party had taken their places, the music changed to Trace Bundy's guitar version of Pachelbel's Canon.  At the first beat, I took my first step.  The photographer reminded me that they will wait for me...to take my time.  I think I did.  We took off.  My dad said that he only gets to do this twice in his life, and this was his second, and last, time.

We walked toward my groom.  I watched for the short grass, and when I reached it, I stood and looked around at all the guests standing for me.  It was so sweet.  When Kim told me I was ready to go, we took off again.  I looked for my groom.  I spotted him.  I watched him and I walked, and my eyes darted around a little, but I was focused on Keane, and I was anxious to get to him. 

The ground was soft from all of the rain.  My heels were sinking into the ground slightly, and did especially later as I stood in one spot.  My father and I approached the officiant, my cousin, Jeff.  He said a welcome, and asked who gives me away.  My father said, "Her mother and I."  We eyeballed for Keane to take his place, where my dad would give me away.  He gave me a kiss on the cheek, and handed my hand to Keane. 

I had shortened the ceremony after rehearsal, because it seemed entirely too long, and I was pleased with how it turned out.  We had planned to release doves during the ceremony (pure white homing pigeons that my aunt and uncle have raised), but shortly before the wedding, Lindsay spoke to her parents on the phone who were hesitant about bringing the doves as they cannot find their way home in the rain.  As we stood at the alter, I remembered the doves.  I quietly asked Keane, "Are there doves?"  He smiled and said yes. 

We both said, "I do."  We repeated our vows.  I said a special vow to Kaden and Kylie (without losing my place like I so terribly did at rehearsal):

Just like you have shared your wonderful father with me, I will share the love I feel for him with you.  I promise to be fair and to be honest, to be available for you as I am for him, and to continue to earn your love, respect, and true friendship.  I will not make attempt to replace anyone, but instead make a place in your hearts that is for me.  I will be a mother and a friend, and I will cherish my life with all of you.  On this day, when I marry your dad, I promise to love and support you as my own.

Kaden handed my ring to Keane, and Keane put it on my finger.  Kylie handed Keane's ring to me, and I put it on Keane's finger. 

Lindsay sang Norah Jones' version of Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender so beautifully.  Keane's father later told her that Elvis would have been proud.  Keane and I poured white and brown sand into a beautiful hourglass that I splurged on because I wanted it so badly for us to keep in our home forever.

We released the doves, who flew right over our guests' heads, up into the air, only to come back in a big circle around the wedding, getting the location sorted out so they could head back to their home.  We were pronounced husband and wife, Keane kissed his bride, and we walked back up the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Keane Brooks.  Keane and I then released each guests, row by row, as our receiving line. 

That is how our wedding went.  So perfectly and so beautifully.  I will expand more on the events leading up to the wedding.  I will share the items I purchased for the wedding, and recommendations and suggestions I have for wedding planning.  I will share many photos and my wonderful feelings of all of the above and much, much more.

Until next time...

Mrs. Brooks