Alrighty folks, buckle your seatbelts and prepare for a monster of a catch-up post. I know it's big but it really needs to be written... I mean, it's not like this was the most important day of my life or anything. ;) What would my journal be if I didn't document it?
So here it goes.
This is what happened on the beautiful day of Friday December 13th, 2013.
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I didn't know exactly how I would feel the morning of my wedding... I think I was just trapped in surreality, none of it felt real. That's really what I remember. It didn't feel like I could really be getting ready for my wedding day! It was also bittersweet. If I thought about it too much I would have cried and smeared my makeup, but this was the last time I'd wake up in my parents' house, get ready in that bathroom, say goodbye to my mom and dad before leaving for the day. I had such a good relationship with both of my parents and so while I was excited to go out on my own (like any healthy young adult does), I was sad to leave their house and the love and security it brought. I was about to embark on the greatest journey of my life and that night I would finally be able to say simply "goodnight" to Taylor instead of "goodbye"... but with that would come challenges. Home wasn't just a place I could come to for shelter, it was a shelter I first had to build. Food would have to be there because I put it there. The power would come on because we paid for it come on. It was scary to think about. I was nostalgic for my childhood, the innocence that I'd be giving up, the safety that came with living at home. I was nervous for independence, nervous about getting to the temple on time, nervous that my hair wouldn't style right or my makeup would look funny. I was also so excited that I could have wet myself!
Thank goodness I didn't. ;) Needless to say, I was a ball of nerves and emotions going into all of this. And then my mom and I left and drove to the temple together. She gave me a little bit of advice on the way over, but really we just laughed and enjoyed the morning. This wasn't goodbye. My mom wasn't sad to let me go, she was happy for me and proud of the decision I was making. In her heart she was celebrating, not grieving, and that made it so much easier to be excited! I love my mom!
So we arrived to the temple at around the same time Taylor did. We checked in, my mom helped me get dressed, I found Taylor, and we waited for our turn to go back to be sealed for time and all eternity. Those few moments (which felt like hours at the time) sitting amongst all of the other eager couples still remains one of my favorites from the entire day. We were nervous and excited. I'm sure the other couples around us felt the exact same way, however we stood out from everyone around us. We were surrounded by very solemn, reverent couples who were obviously taking all of this very seriously... and Taylor and I could not stop chatting, and giggling, and touching, and staring at one another. I remember hearing a similar story from my mom's own wedding morning with my dad. In her words she said that she could really tell that of all the couples in the area that they weren't just in love... they really were "best friends". As I looked at the way we were with one another I had the sweetest confirmation as I remembered the words I had heard my mom say so many times that I wasn't just marrying a good man, I wasn't just marrying somebody I had fallen in love with, I was marrying my absolute most precious, trusted, best friend. :)
The sealing was absolutely beautiful. We were surrounded by an intimate group of people we loved, and who loved us also. Our sealer was the patriarch who had given Taylor his patriarchal blessing and knew Taylor's family very well. It was another precious moment that I remember with great reverence and gratitude. Everything was perfect. And it was the only time that I have ever seen my dad shed a tear, so HA! ;)
While we were on our way out we had the cutest most bubbly escort probably in the history of ever, and I swear she had a big crush on Taylor. :) I can't imagine a cuter more excited old lady than she was! Right as we were getting ready to walk out the doors and greet everybody Taylor got the bright idea that he should carry me out! ...I wasn't so sure. All I could think was that I had a hoop slip on underneath my dress and I would flash everybody or that I'd be too heavy for Taylor to carry or something... so I resisted. But guess who absolutely LOOOOVED the idea? You guessed it. Our cute, crazy little escort who was in love with Taylor and every idea Taylor could ever have... ;) So she started verbally supporting the idea by chanting and clapping and then she ran over to the side door and was like, "I'll hit the handicap button so that you can carry her out without opening the door! Ready, GOOO!!!" And just like that my darling new husband swept me off my feet, carried me out, flashed the crowd, kissed my face, and it was absolutely perfect. :)
We had so many people come and support us on our special day. Besides both of our families we had friends make the drive to come share our happiness. It meant the world to be surrounded by all of these sweet people who had loved and supported me all growing up. It made making this big step so much easier and FUN! There are even more people who came who weren't able to wait to be in the pictures who deserve recognition too but I'm afraid that if I tried to name all of them I'd leave some out. You know who you are! :)
Our favorite thing about this whole picture is Grandpa Webb's face... he is obviously ecstatic! ;)
Here we are with my parents and siblings. Sydnee was about five months pregnant at the time (if I'm doing my math right) but you could never tell! She looked fabulous!
As a fun little side note those pearls I am wearing belong to my mom. :) They weren't the ones she wore on her wedding, but my dad did get them for her as a gift when they were first married. It was so special and I was so happy and thrilled that she wanted/trusted me to wear them on my special day.
My mom and my sister did so much to make this day as wonderful as it was. They were the glue that held everything together and were able to put things into action while I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to balance everything with finals and a wedding. They seriously were the heroes of the day (plus Syd did a FANTASTIC job as makeup artist for the day...if left my own devices I would have looked much more granola "natural beauty" because I am seriously challenged when it comes to applying anything other than mascara and eyeliner)! LOVE my sweet ladies!
Would you believe that this is only a tiny fraction of Taylor's family? Taylor's dad comes from a family of TEN children, so there are aunts, uncles, and cousins as far as the eye can see when the whole family gets together. Only a few came to the sealing, and Taylor's sister Emily was also absent seeing as she is serving a mission in Pittsburg. :)
It meant so much having some of our friends make it out to the temple that morning, especially ones who weren't able to be there for the actual ceremony! Camille drove all the way out here just to giggle and be in pictures (oh yeah, and because she loves me and crap...) and that meant the WORLD to me! We have been the best of friends since we were itty bitty 7th graders and I can't imagine having a better sidekick there with me to make the afternoon more fun. :)
A few of Taylor's friends were able to make it for the ceremony that morning as well, including his long-time High School best friend Ian who's wife I went to High School with and who was responsible for introducing us in the first place! Crazy, right? Who would have thought that two friends from High School would marry two other friends from High School? :)
I knew from the beginning that I didn't want an over the top reception. We wanted it to be fun and casual, we weren't concerned with how "Pinterest Worthy" it would be. :) We also made sure not to stick religiously to one specific theme/color scheme in order to make decorating more easy! So the three themes/color schemes we worked with were:
- Love Birds
-Burlap and Lace
-Grey and Mint
We had lots of yummy desserts as well as other things to eat and while I know it's pathetic and I sound totally dumb right now... I wouldn't be able to tell you what any of that other food was. :( Not only was the whole planning process a blur, and not only did I not really care at all what was served (so I just gave my family creative license in the food department), but the whole night Taylor and I were kept so busy that by the end of it all we realized that we hadn't been able to eat a SINGLE piece of food at our own reception! Talk about a bummer right? It was beautiful nonetheless, and I heard lots of raving reviews about both the cake pops and the key lime pies (pictured below). :)
A quick shout out to my friend Caleb who made this beautiful cake! He is a culinary student up at NAU and did such an incredible job! It was small, beautiful, and simple. Just what I wanted. :)
Too bad most of it ended up on Taylor's face... ;)
He's such a good sport. :)
Okay... when I said that I didn't care at all about what was served I guess I lied just a little bit... the one thing that I did really want there was a hot chocolate bar! I mean... it's almost Christmas, how CUTE is it to have a hot chocolate bar?!? :D Again, I didn't get to try any of it out, but I heard it was delicious, and I thought the way they set it up was darling. :) Another shout out to Renee who's sweet little boy I work with. She let me borrow her darling chalkboard which really made everything look cuter. :)
We decided right from the beginning that we wanted the whole room to be involved and so we decided to put the "dance floor" right in the middle of everything instead of off to one side like I've seen at a BUNCH of church receptions. Thought it was a little bit slow to pick up at the very beginning our plan worked PERFECTLY! :)
We had a little bit of a fiasco with our DJ... or lack thereof. The DJ we wanted to hire wasn't available the night we needed him but took forever to return or answer any of our phone calls. It was finally right against the wire and we still had no DJ and no confirmations from the one we were calling so we finally enlisted Taylor's friend who was coming down from Utah the night before. We knew that he knew music and would be great at running the party. But... guess what? Apparently getting married on Friday the 13th does warrant a little bit of bad luck because, due to some unforeseen events, he wasn't able to make it to the wedding either! So we were left that day, hours before the wedding, with absolutely no DJ... and we were freaking out. So Ian kindly stepped in at the beginning for us with my brother Travis and together they pulled together different peoples' phones and iPods to get some music going.
Later on, Taylor's brother Ryan took over most of the DJ'ing and Taylor did lots of the MC'ing himself (isn't he cute?). Even though it was crazy and took a little bit to get off its feet, it was successful in the end and I'm so grateful to everyone who stepped in to help out with what could have been a total disaster!
I just have to say how much I love this picture. :) That is all.
And this one...
Oh, and this one too... :)
Most people are familiar with the traditional tossing of the bouquet and garter. It's fun and nearly everybody does it at their weddings, but... call me old fashioned but I didn't exactly want my little brothers and our grandparents, etc. to see Taylor going up my skirt, nor was I really keen on throwing the gorgeous bouquet that we had paid for and which was put together carefully by a family friend across the room BEHIND me. I'm uncoordinated as it is and throwing something in front of me is hard enough... that poor beautiful bunch of flowers wouldn't have stood a chance is I threw it blindly behind myself! No, I wanted there to be more meaning. So what we decided to do was play a slow song and have all of the married couples come out onto the dance floor. One by one the couples would be eliminated starting with the bride and groom until it came down to the couple who had been married the longest. I knew that it would be Taylor's grandparents that it ended up with, and I absolutely adore his sweet Grandma Webb so I was so happy seeing the bouquet going to her. She was so happy and texted us later that weekend telling us that she had gone up and down the street showing all of her friends the flowers. :) I'm so glad that we decided to do it this way! It gave everything so much more meaning and I would have MUCH rather had this beautiful moment with my new grandmother than having Taylor up my skirt... that's what the Honeymoon is for, not the reception. ;)
Another fun thing about the reception was the CHILDREN! So many children! I loved to babysit while growing up, and I became pretty busy the older I got and the more my name got out around the ward. I didn't even need to have a job in High School because of all the babysitting gigs I had! One of my favorite parts of the night was seeing all those old sweet families come out to support me and seeing all of their kids all grown up and beautiful! Some of them I remembered when they were just little ones and now they were nearly teenagers! It was also fun having so many little girls around because when they're in a room and there's a woman with a wedding gown on...? She looks like a princess. It was so funny, but I found myself swarmed on multiple occasions by cute girls who wanted to dance, talk, be held by me, etc. I loved it. So many of these little girls I had known since they were little babies. I had rocked many of them to sleep, read them bedtime stories, played games with them, and watched them grow up. I was honored to have them see me as something so beautiful and elegant, because heaven knows that I'm no princess! ;)
Also, I just need to brag... look at how handsome that cute husband of mine is! :)
And, just like we hoped there would be, there was lots of dancing. :)
Lots of it. :)
It was the one thing Taylor said he cared about for the reception. I could make it look and go however I wanted just so long as there was dancing.
And there was... SO much of it! :)
Our wedding day was really everything that we hoped it would be. It was perfect, really. All we wanted was to have a night to celebrate with people we loved and to have FUN! We wanted it to just be a big party. Nothing super fancy, nothing super crazy, just good ol' fun. And it was. By the time we got home that night we were exhausted and I'm so grateful for everybody who made the whole day possible so that for the rest of the weekend Taylor and I had nothing else to worry or stress about. :) Such a happy, happy day! It was everything I had dreamed it would be... just better. :)
And that's all folks! It's getting late, but later this week I'll try to upload some pictures from the honeymoon! We really were awful at taking pictures so there aren't that many, but it was still a blast and is worth documenting. :)
Peace out, and have a wonderful night!
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