Wedding Preview

Isn't it funny how life can keep me from staying updated on the blog?

Lately, I've been trying to stay focused on each moment and on living each moment right then. Like Ferris Bueller, I'm worried that life will pass me by.

So, while trying to keep all the regular plates still spinning, we've been madly preparing for Alyssa & Andrew's wedding, which was on Memorial Day Weekend! It's been exciting, and fun, and I'll be honest -- a bit stressful -- and yet, really really wonderful.

I'm glad we had a photographer there to capture everything, so I could worry less about having my camera handy. In fact, other than a few shots that morning, I took no photos. Most of what you see here was either taken by my brother-in-law, or by Darcie with Alyssa's cell phone. I'm really grateful to them for the shots they've shared with me. Otherwise, I'd have nothing until we get the final edited shots from our photographer!!

So, here are a few snippets. A preview. Of Alyssa and Andrew's wedding day, last Saturday.....

Alyssa was a sweetheart and gave gift bags to each of her attendants. A million years ago, when I got married, I never did anything like that. But apparently, today it's a Thing! Who knew? Not me!

They're all so adorable. I'm kinda partial to the three in the middle that are mine! Alys got each bag personalized with their initials, and filled them with beachy-things. (It wasn't a beach-themed wedding, but beach was the theme of the bags.) 

No stresses for these beauties!!

I can't thank those girls enough for all they did that day!

We'd originally planned to hold the wedding in the same location as the reception, but changed that to holding it in our back yard instead. (In another post, I'll share some of what we were doing to prepare the yard for the wedding.) Since some of the groomsmen weren't arriving until late Friday night, we had a short, informal wedding rehearsal on the morning of the wedding, and then sent all the guys off to get tuxes fitted. While that was happening, Todd was preparing a big sub sandwich lunch spread for all the family members and attendants, and I brought bridesmaids with me to go pick up the flowers: 

I really love the colors and the bouquets were so beautiful! (Alyssa's bride's bouquet is on the right in the middle--her wrist has the navy bracelets.)

The flowers are their own story alone, but the short version is that we fired the first florist, and this is the work of the second florist. And I am so pleased with how they turned out. In fact, we are at T+5 days from the wedding, and the girls' bouquets still look almost the same as that day -- they were THAT fresh.

The florist also made this beautiful arch/spray for the top of the arbor:

Did you catch that? Here it is, a bit closer up.....

So beautiful!!

The girls all assembled in our living room, before heading outdoors for the wedding. Darcie is the queen of selfies!!

Sure love my beautiful daughters! That picture makes me tear up.

The ceremony was simple, and really, the weather was perfect. If anything, it might have been a bit "too sunny" for photos, but that sure beats rain!! Here we go.....

(That's our Cameron on the end as one of the groomsmen, and Andrew's brother, Lee, is next to him as his best man. We were also glad that Brandon and Cecilia were also able to make it [it was a "maybe", due to work, up until the last minute], and super-thankful for Brandon handling the music at both the wedding and reception.)

That was just before Emma-the-flower-girl arrived. She took her job seriously, and later confided to me that she was "so nervous". I think the girls had a challenge with their heels sinking into the grass, but they handled it beautifully.

Todd held it together, but he sure had a tender moment as he walked his girl down the aisle. I'd gotten my tears out during photos earlier, but seeing his face made me (and many others) a bit weepy!

Andrew had not seen Alyssa's gown before the wedding, so that was her surprise for him. Her gown is an ivory lace, with a champagne satin underlay, with a v-neck, cap sleeves and princess seaming. It has that killer row of satin buttons down her back, and we added a satin belt with a blingy accent on the front. It fit her very nicely (especially after 2 rounds being altered!) and is very elegant. Not a bit cutesy at all. Her veil is about hip-length and is edged with pearls and stones. She did not wear it as a "blusher" over her face. She's wearing a string of pearls and pearl earrings from her Aunt Cheryl for both her "something old" and "something borrowed".

Emma continued to toss petals -- onto Alyssa's train -- during the ceremony.

Ha!!

The rings, ... the kiss....

As the recessional finished, Darcie also grabbed this super-fun selfie with all the group of attendants. That's Todd and me way off in the background, following up....

As maid-of-honor, Darcie wore opposite colors as the bridesmaids. We found that "coral" can be hard to match (especially if it's not one of the "in" colors this season), but navy is pretty consistent. Alyssa's other colors are mint green and gold. Our florist even thought ahead, and wrapped Darcie's bouquet with opposite ribbon, too, and then used green jewels in all the girls' bouquets.

Our photographer stole the happy couple away for some shots --

... out in the raspberries and the forsythia, ...

which turned out like this:

I can't wait to see more of the photos -- but it will be about a month. If we don't all die of anticipation, it will be a small miracle!

I'm super-thankful that the day went off [mostly] without a hitch. We definitely had some hiccups leading up to it, and we are also definitely thankful that we threw together a "wedding day emergency kit", because we sure used stuff out of that, too!!

And, ...... it was so wonderful to have ALL of my kids in the same place, once again.

Is this heaven?