My Best Day

It was a long walk down the aisle for my dad and me (and, I suppose, for all the bridesmaids as well).  We had to walk out the french doors, past all of the guests, under the arbor, and then down the aisle to the gazebo.

As soon as I grabbed my dad’s arm to walk out those doors, I started getting emotional, and I know he did as well.  My dad is a crier.  It’s a fact, and he’s not ashamed of it.  It’s actually one of the sweetest qualities about him — that I guy his size with his type of personality wears his heart on his sleeve like that.  He totally seems like this alpha male prototypical football coach authoritative kind of guy.  You just don’t expect tears from him.

Anyway, we were both on the brink of tears, so what did we do?  We started making each other laugh.  I don’t even remember what we said to each other, but I know that we walked out those doors and the first thing everyone heard was our laughter.  We laughed and smiled all the way down the aisle and it couldn’t have been more perfectly us.

I had to blink away tears when we hugged and he gave me away, but as soon as I grabbed hold of the husband’s hand and we looked up at the minister (a good friend of ours) I knew everything was as it should be.

- jess

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

I chose the first part of this song as the music I walked down the aisle to.  It seemed perfect.  Not only do I love the song, but I love what it represents.

When I was little, I watched Wizard of Oz every single day.  It’s still one of my top 5 favorite movies and I’m mildly obsessed with Judy Garland.  Anyway, my dad used to watch it with me and to this day, he can still recite most lines along with the movie.  When I think of that movie and that song, I think of my dad, who patiently tolerated and even enjoyed my compulsive movie viewings.  What better song could be playing as he walked me down the aisle?

My dad teased me quite a bit, because he claims What a Wonderful World is his favorite song and that’s what he wanted us to walk to, but it seemed far more fitting for the husband and I to play as we walked up the aisle.  Because, as disgustingly cheesy as this sounds, being married to him HAS been a wonderful world.

- jess

GPOYW: So Happy I Could Spin Edition

We knew taking pictures after the ceremony was going to be kind of a pain in the ass, so we took most of the pictures ahead of time.  We knew our wedding party would want to drink and socialize and we’d want a chance to say hi to our guests.

No sooner had I gotten a nice cold gin and tonic in my hand (seriously, the husband and I walked up the aisle and straight to the bar) than the photographer grabbed my arm and told me we had to quick take some shots with just me and the husband.

I thought I’d be annoyed at being pulled away from my booze, but I really was still sort of giddy from the ceremony.  I tried to keep my giddiness in check since I knew it would result in goofy pictures, but I think this one captured the mood just right.

- jess

Who knew such pretty things could come from a grocery store?

- jess

GPOYW: Brilliant Ideas Edition

Since I’ve mentioned one of my most brilliant ideas ever today, allow me to discuss one of my mom’s most brilliant ideas.

I didn’t have much of a budget for flowers.  I just didn’t care.  The wedding was outside, my mom spent the summer obsessing over her gardens, so it’s not as if we needed them for decoration, and I just didn’t place a whole lot of importance on my flowers.

When I finally started shopping around, I realized that prices were OUTRAGEOUS.  My mom had the best solution ever, though: Grocery Store Flowers.  See that pretty bouquet I’m holding there?  See the pretty buckets of flowers?  Yeah, all from the local grocery store.  They put together beautiful bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres for about half the cost of a floral shop.

Way to go mom.

- jess

GPOYW: Watching and Waiting Edition

I had the coolest effing veil in the world for the wedding.  It was called a BirdCage Veil although I kept calling it a bubble veil.  It was modern and free of sparkle or tiaras or anything.  I love it.  Unfortunately, it was such a crazy windy day outside that I hardly wore it at all.  And for half the time that I was wearing it, one of the bridesmaids was stuck re-pinning it.

It was right after the final re-pinning of my veil that I caught sight of what was going on outside.  I heard the “mood music” dying down and all the guests start to get seated and despite the glass of champagne I downed and the anti-anxiety pill that my aunt gave me, I started feeling the butterflies in my stomach.

Although you can’t quite see it in my face yet, it was at this moment that it all hit me that it was really happening, we actually made it to our wedding, and I really started getting excited an emotional.

- jess

GPOYW: Getting Ready Edition

Whilst trying to figure out my “look” for the wedding day, I determined that I wanted a professional to handle my makeup.  I mean, I think I look fine day-to-day, but I’m pretty lazy with my makeup and I’m relatively certain that I’m foundation disabled so I just didn’t want my face to be left in my own hands.

After spending far too much time and energy trying to find someone who would come out to either the house or the salon in River Falls, I finally gave up.  I bought some eyeliner, some false eyelashes (that I totally didn’t use) and scored free foundation and powder (by going to the Clinique counter and asking for a sample — it was by far one of the most brilliant ideas I’ve had and they match the sample to your skin tone).

Anyway, by the time the photographer got there, I was still doing my makeup.  All the bridesmaids were upstairs crammed into one bathroom, and I decided I needed some quiet time and a steady hand to get my makeup right.  I felt bad that I was still getting ready when the photographer came, but I really love this shot so I don’t feel so bad anymore.

Also, I did a way better job with my face than any makeup artist could have, ifIdon’tsaysomyself.

- jess

“L-O-V-E” - Nat King Cole

This is what played while my bridesmaids walked down the aisle.

I wanted something fun and upbeat, but also, the major reason I chose this song was because Nat King Cole was my grandpa’s (my mom’s dad) favorite singer.  Since he died several years ago and couldn’t be there on my wedding day, I at least wanted something to represent him that I would know about.

For my grandma who is no longer alive, I carried Lily of the Valley in my wedding bouquet — just like she did on her wedding day.

- jess

I really was a zen bride.  Honestly, throughout the planning process, the only thing that ever sent me over the edge was the guest list.  Once we hit 400 guests on our invite list and the husband’s parents were still trying to tack on more guests, I lost my mind a bit.  400 guests seemed obscene (we wound up with just over 300 in case you’re wondering) and each additional invite made me want to curl up in a ball until it was all over.  But really, I didn’t get worked up about much.

That is, until the night before the wedding.

We had our rehearsal dinner in a nearby town and wound up being hit with a major storm that evening.  Everyone was at the after-bar a few blocks away from where we held the rehearsal dinner and all of a sudden, the power went out in the bar.  My brother and dad proceeded to get in an argument about who was driving who home and next thing I know, I was following behind behind my dad with a few bridesmaids in tow as he left in a huff.

I was more concerned with keeping the peace in my family than I was with the state of our backyard.  It honestly didn’t even occur to me that anything could tear our circus-sized tent down.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

My zen attitude went to shit the moment I saw the state of the backyard.  Chairs were tipped and broken, the arbor fell down, the tent collapsed, all the decorations were destroyed — it was a disaster.  It was midnight the night before the wedding and everything was a mess.  All I could do was silently cry and try to clean up.

But never fear!  It was my family to the rescue!  Most of my family arrived at 6:00 a.m. the next day to get everything put back together, the tent company arrived around 8:00 to put the tent back up, and by the time I arrived back home from my hair appointment around noon, the entire backyard had been transformed.

Never have I felt such relief or appreciated my family more.

- jess

The homemade wine — complete with personalized labels.  We made so much, we’re still drinking this wine a year later.

- jess