The Big Wedding Post

Holy sh*t. I’m married – and I have been for just over two months! The last few weeks months have been a whirlwind, between finding a house, working a lot, going through the home-buying process, planning a wedding, actually moving into the house, getting married, getting settled into the house, and Jack being gone for the whole month of June.

And because it was a lot, let’s start with the wedding because I have lots of pictures from that, even though it didn’t come first.

I’ll start by saying that I cared very little about most aspects of the wedding, including whether there was a wedding at all. A courthouse wedding sounded very appealing when we got engaged, and after we decided to have a wedding, and even about two weeks before the wedding, since that’s when we moved into our house. But we’re both very glad we had a bigger party.

The things I did care about in planning the wedding were:

• My dress
• The food
• Feeling loved
• Feeling pretty

Jack’s only request was an open bar.

I took care of the dress in October. We decided on food sometime in the winter. The latter two things were pretty much givens, and Jack’s dad took care of the bar and the venue. We had a beautiful backyard wedding at his house. From there, I made my mom and maid of honor do a lot of deciding.

Some details:

• Photographer
• Dress
• Hair
• Hair jewelry
• My rings
• Jack’s ring
• Bouquets
• Other flowers
• Food
• Mini pumpkin pies, coconut cake, brownies, pistachio cookies

The Week Before

I worked the Monday and Tuesday of wedding week, and took the rest off to get stuff done. On my agenda were baking, decorating, and trying to relax and enjoy the time.

The vendor we chose for the tent, tables, and chairs started giving us issues in the week leading up to the wedding. They initially said they would put the tent up early in the week if it looked like it would rain later in the week, but when we asked their plan on Wednesday, they acted as if they had never heard such a thing. It poured on both Thursday and Friday before the wedding, and we were worried the ground might be mushy. Saturday’s forecast looked good, though, since they weren’t going to put it up early, so we opted to ditch the tent entirely. I’m so glad we were able to; I think it was way prettier without the tent. (May 1 felt like a risky choice for an outdoor wedding in Ohio, but it turned out to be the nicest Saturday in May this year!) Problem #1 – solved.

I planned to bake all the desserts on Wednesday. Our power went out just as I was about to put the first cake into the oven. A tractor knocked down a power line. We decided we need to get a generator ASAP since we now live in a rural(ish) area and that kind of thing probably happens occasionally. Fortunately, the issue was resolved in a few hours, but I was still baking after 11pm. Jack helped me for a bit and my mom also came over and helped out, and everything was baked before Thursday, so I was actually ahead of the schedule I’d set for myself. Problem #2 – solved.

The following night when I was vacuuming, we noticed the house smelled a little like sulfur. I started frosting and decorating the cakes while Jack checked it out. He found our septic tank had backed up into our washer. We had emergency plumbers come out at 9pm to fix the issue (and we later got our septic tanks drained). Problem #3 – solved.

The Friday before our wedding was the rehearsal dinner. That day, pretty much everything went correctly. It was a little rainy out, but otherwise really nice. We got the tables and chairs placed where we wanted them and walked through the event flow. Jack’s mom brought a build-your-own taco bar, which was perfect for the casual nature of the night. We got to catch up with a whole bunch of family and friends in advance of the wedding, which was lovely. We got home later than we intended.

Wedding Day

And then it was wedding day! I woke up way too early, tried to go back to sleep in bed and failed, tried to sleep with Ben on the couch and failed, and then did a quick workout of deadlifts and pullups before I took the dogs for a walk. Then, I showered and headed to go get my hair done.

I went for loose waves, with one side braided back and one side twisted back, and the stylist worked my hair jewelry into the look. Susie was getting her hair done a little later than me, so I waited for her after I was done and then brought her back to my house. It was super lovely to catch up with her and show her our place. We sat outside with the dogs for a while before my mom said she was running late to pick us up.

So, while we were originally going to do our makeup at Jack’s dad’s house, we ended up doing it in my master bathroom. My mom brought Chick-Fil-A for us and Jack, and we ate quickly before heading to the venue. And, yes, at this point Jack had seen me with my wedding hair and makeup. He’d also seen a picture of me in the dress. We’re not that superstitious.

Then, Susie and I got into my mom’s car and Jack drove off in his. We were running late, so mom enlisted one of my aunts to take care of the decorating. I texted my maid of honor to tell her I was freaking out about how late we were going to be, and about ten minutes later, she called me with a much bigger thing to panic about: she’d been in a massive car accident with a pickup truck hauling a bunch of huge logs.

Somehow, Hayley was almost unscathed, but her car was totaled, and she’d obviously have to wait to talk to the police and get her car towed. She said she’d be at the wedding, but late. I called Jack first, then the photographer, to tell them that our plans were a little up in the air. Both were, of course, extremely understanding and said we would make whatever work, and it’s all good because she’s okay. I took some deep breaths and cried a little, and then we stumbled upon the scene of the accident.

My mom pulled to the side of the road, and I got out of the car to run over to Hayley. Jack pulled over soon after, but we ultimately decided at least one member of the bridal couple should be at the venue, so he left. My mom, Susie, and I spent about an hour and a half with Hayley on the side of the road dealing with the police and waiting for Hayley’s car to be towed. Susie, Hayley, and I were in full wedding hair and makeup, and strangely, no one seemed to realize this.

People would joke with Hayley about if she had any plans for the day, and she’d be like, “Yeah, I’m in a wedding,” and they would be stunned!

“Whose?” they asked.

“Hers,” she pointed to me.

Guys. I don’t wear a crown of rhinestones and pearls with my jeans and t-shirts unless I’m getting married. I don’t think all that many other people do, either. But you’d think it was the most normal thing to be wearing for the way people treated us.

We got to the venue at about 3:30. The wedding was originally scheduled for 4:30. By the time we arrived, Malorie had already taken pictures of the venue and the groomsmen. All I had to do was finish getting ready before the rest of the pictures could happen. I can’t say enough good things about Malorie (and her second shooter), and how flexible and sweet they were about the shift in timing.

Hayley and I touched up our makeup (like I said, there were tears) and said hi to everyone, and then I got dressed and everything started.

Note: All pictures below are courtesy of Malorie Gwyn Photography.

• 

• 

• 

We started with a first look with my dad.

• 

• 

Then one with Jack.

And then we did bridal party pictures.

Right around 5:15, it was time for the wedding. A huge perk of having a backyard and small guest list was that we didn’t have any real time constraints on the venue and the ~60 people there knew us well and loved us and were incredibly good sports about the 45-minute delay.

• 

• 

My uncle John officiated the ceremony, and the food got there just as it was ending. We of course planned on an earlier wedding, and dinner wasn’t supposed to be immediately after, but a couple people helped set up food while we quickly did family pictures, so we could eat while everything was warm.

We served barbecue, because it felt very fitting for a backyard wedding, and it was delicious. There was pork, chicken, green beans, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. Plus rolls and a bunch of sauces.

Then the dads, maid of honor, and best man gave toasts, and we did formal dances. After that, we ate dessert, and on top of getting a bunch of, “Congratulations on getting married!” I also got a lot of, “This cake/pie/brownie is awesome,” which was great for my ego. Then, Jack and I went off to do sunset pictures, and then the photographers left and we socialized and danced for a long time.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Jack and I planned to leave by 10pm, and we didn’t leave till almost an hour after that. We were exhausted, and it was perfect.

Your turn:

What was the best part of your wedding?