wedding wednesday: getting beautified

Now what you've all been waiting for--wedding recaps!

On the morning of August 8th I woke up before the alarm. As I was going to bed the night before I thought of a million and one things I still needed to do. I jotted those items down as I thought of them and started marking things off that list when I woke up the next morning. Bridesmaid K had spent the night so we ate a little breakfast, threw all our stuff in the car, and headed off to get our hair did. We met Bridesmaid A and SIL there. I wasn't a Nazi (hear that, people who left "literature" in my front yard?!) regarding hair so the ladies got to pick their styles. I wanted something slightly different from my bridals and am so happy with how it turned out.

Once we were finished with hair, we broke for lunch at a little tea room. Nothing like dining with fabulous hair and no make-up. Rest assured, we did not walk down the aisle with bare faces. Make-up followed lunch and then we all headed up to town.

SIL and I stopped by the reception site first. I must say, things had come together in my absence (but you'll see more of that much later). Then off to the ceremony site. Once we got there, it was impossible to find the alleged conference room we were supposed to get dressed in. Yeah, after some frustration, we ended up finding it. A classroom. Not exactly picturesque. Sigh...

I'd like to tell you that all the wedding planning stress fell away on my wedding day. It didn't. I can't lie. But you know what? The pictures can.

As soon as my photographer got there, she stole my dress and shoes and they had a little photoshoot of their own.

Not pictured? The soles. My something blue was there. Rhinestones that spelled out "c + w" on one shoe and "08.08.09" on the other. Those shoes had such a good time that a few of my little gems fell right off.

What was I doing while my clothes were being photographed without me? Transferring music to my iPod. Music that was FOR THE CEREMONY. Oops. And quickly writing down one of our readings because my fancy printed copy was at home along with one of my readers (sick).

Moving on... There was a sneaky shot of the flower girl's pail (when in doubt, throw ribbon and a butterfly on it and call it decorated!):

And while we're talking flowers, here's my bouquet. I made it (and forced all the girls to make their own, too). See the butterflies? Yea! What else is in it? Green spider mums, green and orange hypericum berries, orange dahlias, cream and peach roses, and my lovely, lovely orange ranunculus.

It was time to hurriedly put on the fanciest dress I've ever owned:

I loved the back. Loved the beading. Loved the lace. Loved the cut. According to the David's Bridal website, it's an "allover beaded lace trumpet gown with empire waist and cap sleeves." It has a chapel-length train and the ivory lace really stands out against the champagne background.

And we all primped (and helped each other primp). See? Isn't the room beautiful?

And somewhere in there the best man came over with my gift from The Fiance. Remember how he proposed? Well, he put my gift in the base of another snowglobe. It was a diamond tennis bracelet, bezel set (setting is similar to this bigger, super expensive one). Since I wanted a gift that could be worn by our future daughter (or daughter-in-law...fingers crossed), we picked it out together. I love it. Different enough without losing it's timelessness.

And we were ready to go!

Up next? Formals for the ladies (where we reveal their dress color apparently).

(All pics brought to us by the lovely Monique Montoya.)