Nobody ‘Scept You: I Don Casablanca

Once my mom was found it was finally time to put my beloved Casablanca dress on.

 

 

 

I wanted to leave the tiny buttons that lined the back of my dress unbuttoned (because I wasn’t really sure how I would get them all undone at the end of the night), but Mom Scepter and Bridesmaid Fashionista insisted that they button all of the tiny buttons.

 

 

 

 

About the time Mom Scepter finished with my buttons, the emotions I had been suppressing for 20 hours started to rise to the surface.

 

Once my sash, shoes, and dress were on the only thing left was my veil.

 

I was trying to explain the way the clip was supposed to lay on my head, but it ended up just becoming an awkward looking photo.

 

 

The second my mom put my veil on and fluffed it the whole room started getting teary eyed.  I am normally not a big crier, but my emotions had been threatening to spill over the whole day and once my mom began tearing up all bets were off.

 

 

We tried our best to suck it up, but it took all of us a few minutes.

 

(The photo above is one of my favorite photos from our wedding.)

I have no idea what someone said, but at some point one of my bridesmaids cracked a joke to help lighten the mood.

I did my best to stop the tear so I could go outside and see Mr. Scepter for the first time on our wedding day.  What moment made the tears flow on your wedding day?

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal party was gifted.

A short rehearsal was had.

The smell of popcorn causes a small panic.

There was a wedding day brunch.

Our hair became helmets.

Most of the girls got dressed.

The boys learned to tie a tie.

My accessories had their moment in the spotlight.

Nobody ‘Scept You: Bridal Accessories

I always love the detail shots of the smaller parts of a bride’s look, and anyone who has ever met me knows I believe shoes come first and the outfit comes second.  (I bought my wedding shoes two months before I picked out my dress.)  My wedding accessories also represented my something old, new, borrowed, and blue.

My Badgley Mischka shoes were my official “something blue.”

My earring were my something new.

My favorite accessory of all was my great-grandma’s bracelet that my mom loaned me to count towards my something old and my something borrowed.  One of my only small regrets of the day was that in all the hustle of getting ready I forgot about the bracelet and didn’t remember it until halfway through the reception.

On one of the last days of work I had before our wedding, one of my very sweet co-workers gifted me this beautiful handkerchief as a wedding gift.  I loved it to much to unfold it!

With all of my accessories ready there is only one thing left to do: put on my dress!

Of all of the accessories you chose for your wedding day which one was your favorite?

All photos by Lezlie Andrew Photography

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal party was gifted.

A short rehearsal was had.

The smell of popcorn causes a small panic.

There was a wedding day brunch.

Our hair became helmets.

Most of the girls got dressed.

The boys learned to tie a tie.

Nobody ‘Scept You: The Boys Get Fancy

While we spent half the day getting ready, the men showed up 30 minutes before picture time, took 15 minutes to unload and pack the ice chests, 10 minutes talking, and 5 minutes getting ready.  Before Mr. Scepter got dressed MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin delivered his super secret gift.  We had agreed that our wedding and honeymoon was more than enough of a gift for each other, but I had something small I had been saving for a while that I wanted to give Mr. Scepter as a reminder of how far we had come.

When I was 14 I had a friend who saved her movie ticket stubs and made artwork with them.  I’m not very crafty, but I thought the things she created were cool looking so I decided I wanted to save enough and create my own project.  The next movie I happened to go to turned into my first date with Mr. Scepter.  I kept the ticket stub from the movie we saw (and hundreds more in the years that followed) but I never knew what to do with it.  So I stole an idea I saw in a crappy Ben Stiller movie, and turned it into Mr. Scepter’s wedding gift.

Like Mike may have been a super crappy movie, but it happens to be the super crappy movie that started our relationship so I have a small soft spot for Lil’ Bow Wow’s plight to handle being a professional basketball player at the age of 13.

Once Mr. Scepter’s gift had been opened the guys realized they needed to get dressed ASAP to be ready for pictures, so they got moving.  The only downside was that Groomsmen H seemed to be the only one of them that can easily and quickly tie a tie, (the other groomsmen are all doctorate students that almost never have to wear a tie) so he had to help all the men out with their final look.

Groomsmen H helping Mr. Scepter with his tie.

Dad Scepter

Mr. Scepter’s penguin cuff links

With the pinning of the corsages the boys were ready to go!

All photos by Lezlie Andrew Photography

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal party was gifted.

A short rehearsal was had.

The smell of popcorn causes a small panic.

There was a wedding day brunch.

Our hair became helmets.

Most of the girls got dressed.

Nobody ‘Scept You: The Girls Arrive

Our arrival at the venue was met with a cloud, (that passed over as quickly, but caused me a tiny panic attack for about 20 minutes) and these lovely scenes:

To avoid thinking about the looming cloud, we headed into the bridal suite to get dressed and get our first look at our bouquets.

Personal Photo

While I attempted to attach my charm bracelet and my bee charms to my bouquet, my bridesmaids were working on finishing their makeup and getting Tiny Dancer ready.

Personal Photo

Tiny Dancer brought her rehearsal dinner gift to play with while we got ready.  It made for a pretty cute photo op.

I wasn’t quite ready to get into my own dress, so I helped my girls get into their lovely dresses.

Helping Lil Sis/MOH Dolphin zip up her dress.

Side-zippers are apparently a two person job.

After all the girls were dressed I was ready to get into my bridal gown, but my mother had vanished from the room and I wanted to make sure she was there for the moment I put my dress on.  I set out to go look for her, but was quickly shoved back into the bridal suite because the men had arrived and were hanging out about 15 feet from our bridal suite.  MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin left to find Mom Scepter and to deliver Mr. Scepter’s secret gift.

Was your mom a part of helping you put on your dress or did you want for her to wait to see you until you were fully dressed and ready?

Unless otherwise indicated all photos are courtesy of the amazingly talented Lezlie Andrew Photography.

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal party was gifted.

A short rehearsal was had.

The smell of popcorn causes a small panic.

There was a wedding day brunch.

Our hair became helmets.

Nobody ‘Scept You: Hair, Hair, Everywhere

When our wedding morning brunch was over we had a few hours to kill before we needed to be at the salon for our hair appointments.  I tried to take a nap, but I had too much on my mind to sleep, so I spent two hours on the couch flipping channels and trying to calm the growing pit in the bottom of my stomach.  Time was flying and before I knew it, three hours had passed and it was time for me and my girls to get our hair done.

I let the girls pick any hair style they wanted, and all of them chose to go with up-dos.

MOH Dancer’s super long hair

Bridesmaid Fashionista

Bridesmaid Fashionista’s Finished Hair

Bless Mom Scepter for bringing a bottle of champagne

MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin posing for the camera

We had plenty of time to spare, so I had my hair done last in the hope that if I had it done later in the day it would stay put further into the night.  (Spoiler Alert:  They put so much hairspray in my hair not only did it stay up the whole night, but it took 4 shampoos before my hair felt semi-normal again.)

I have no idea why I looked so pissed in this photo.

…And wa-la! Everyone’s hair was finished and it was time to meet our photographers at the venue.  Did you get your hair done at the salon or did your hair stylist come to you?

All photos in this post are personal.

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal party was gifted.

A short rehearsal was had.

The smell of popcorn causes a small panic.

There was a wedding day brunch.

Nobody ‘Scept You: A Bridal Brunch

Some brides say they have trouble sleeping the night before their wedding, but I passed out the moment we came home from the movie and slept until my alarm woke me up at 8:00 am.  I am not a morning person (no matter what morning it happens to be) so MOH Dancer and Bridesmaid Fashionista started my morning with a “It’s Your Wedding Day” dance and song that they made up on the spot.

A few months before our wedding I was telling MOH Dancer that I wanted to find a way to spend as much time as possible with our friends and family that had come into town for our wedding.  Since we were leaving at the crack of dawn for our honeymoon, the day after our wedding was not going to be an option for us.  Luckily MOH Dancer’s mom came to the rescue and offered to throw a wedding day brunch for all the women in town for the wedding so I could spend a little extra time with them.  Brunch is my absolute favorite meal, so despite the fact that I was still clinging to my bad mood from the night before, I was trying to push my emotions aside and prep myself for the see of smiling faces and delicious food.  Momma Dancer did an incredible job setting up the room and cooking the food.

Momma Dancer is a fellow UT grad, so we had to have a shot with our horns up.

MOH Dancer, Myself, and Momma Dancer

Lil Sis/MOH Dolphin and Mom Scepter

All of my lovely girls

My college friends chowing down

Bruch lasted about an hour and a half and it was the perfect way to spend the morning of our wedding.  I was so glad to be able to spend some extra time with my friends, and it helped to keep my moodiness at bay.  What did you do the morning of your wedding?

All photos in this post are personal.

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal party was gifted.

A short rehearsal was had.

The smell of popcorn causes a small panic.

Nobody ‘Scept You: Déjà vu

I apologize for my absence for the last month and a half.  Life and work gets really busy for us (and the rest of the world) around the holidays.  In the last month alone we have traveled about 2,000 miles and have attended three weddings!  Going to so many weddings had me reminiscing about our own, so let the recaps recommence! 

 When I left off we had just ended our short rehearsal and it was time to say goodnight to all of the extended family.  I scheduled our rehearsal dinner/rehearsal to end early (8:30) on purpose so I could spend some time with some of my good friends who had come in to town for our wedding.  Amarillo doesn’t have a ton of night life, so we opted to go to a late movie.

Image from themoviedb.org

While the guys opted to see Ted the ladies took a different route and chose to watch Channing Tatum shirtless for two hours.  I was so excited to be able to have some fun with my friends, but for whatever reason, my mood was starting to turn from relaxed and happy to sad/upset/somber.  Something about being in the same place where Mr. Scepter and I had began our relationship, exactly 10 years earlier, made me super aware of what was going to happen the next day and all of the emotions I had been suppressing for three days bubbled to the top and began to cause an inward freakout.

I wanted to say an official “the next time I see you we will be getting married goodbye” to Mr. Scepter, so I met him in the lobby of the movie theatre in attempt say goodnight and calm my freakout.

Personal Photo

After our goodnight we parted ways to enjoy the movies with our friends.  I loved getting to spend that time with my friends, but to be honest by moodiness persisted.  All I could do was go to sleep, and hope the next day would bring a new mood.  Did you experience any weird mood swings before your wedding?

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal party was gifted.

A short rehearsal was had.

Nobody ‘Scept You: A Super Short Rehearsal

We hadn’t planned on having a rehearsal, (our venue charges an extra $200 to have rehearsal the night before the wedding) but we wanted to do a very quick run through just to make sure everyone knew what order they were walking in/who they were walking with.

Once dinner had been cleared away we rounded up everyone at the back of the room and Brother Scepter attempted to walk everyone through the order of the ceremony.

Mr. Scepter waits for his cue

I wanted the girls to walk down the aisle by themselves, so once Mr. Scepter walked his mom down the aisle the guys entered from the side, and the girls were free to start their walk.

Sister Scepter making her way down the “aisle”

We tried to get Tiny Dancer to practice her flower girl role, but she informed us that it wasn’t “Aunt Cakes” wedding day, so she didn’t want to do it.  We couldn’t really argue with her point, so we let her skip her part, and Dad and I made our way down the aisle.

I loved the awesome ribbon bouquet MOH Dancer made for me.

Brother Scepter explained a few details of the ceremony, and with that we wrapped up our rehearsal.

The entire rehearsal took about 10 minutes, but since everything went smoothly the next night 10 minutes seemed to be all we needed.  How long did your rehearsal last?

All photos personal. 

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

The bridal part was gifted.

Nobody ‘Scept You: Gifting The Bridal Party

We wanted the rehearsal dinner to be a small thank you to our bridal party, so we chose to give each of them their gifts between dinner and dessert.

My brother (our minister) and his friend, Tanner, (who played guitar during our processional) were leaving on a month long mission trip to Slovenia two days after our wedding, so we gave each of them a funny card with some cash inside for their trip.

Brother Scepter and T with their singing cards

Our flower girl was very excited about her role in the wedding, so I decided to give her a few companions to practice with:

 Tiny Dancer with her Barbie Wedding Set

Each of the groomsmen received their tie to wear for the wedding, and a mini cooler that included a steak from the Amarillo Stockyard and a nice bottle of whiskey.

Groomsmen M with his new tie!

All of the groomsmen plus their dates

We gave BM J a “bonus” gift.  BM J loves a nice whiskey so we gave him a specially engraved glass to commemorate the occasion

BM J with his new glass

For the my amazing bridesmaids I chose a pair of flats (to wear during the reception) and a piece of jewelry for each of them.

MOH Dancer and Bridesmaid Fashionista received these Steve Madden flats:

Image Via 6pm 

And MOH/ Lil Sis Dolphin received a new pair of Toms.

Image Via Nordstom

Each bridesmaid was gifted a different piece of jewelry that represented their personality.  For MOH Dancer, I chose a beautiful bracelet from Dillards.

This isn’t the exact one, but it was very similar.  Image Via Dillards  

MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin loved her pair of whale earrings:

MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin with her TOMS

For Bridemaid Fashionista’s gift I took inspiration from her Pinterest board and bought this ring for her:

Image Via Etsy seller FabulousWire

Her reaction was priceless:

Once gifts had been passed out, dessert was served!

With dessert finished, it was time to start our mini-rehearsal.  Did you hand out gifts at your rehearsal or do it at another time?  What did you give your bridal party?

All photos personal unless otherwise noted. 

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.

We stuffed our faces.

Nobody ‘Scept You: The Rehearsal Dinner

I never got around to blogging about out rehearsal dinner, but we decided to have a medium sized rehearsal that included our bridal party, their dates, our immediate families, grandparents and any aunts and uncles that had made the trip to be there for our wedding day.  In the end we had about 25 people at our dinner.  We chose to hold our rehearsal dinner at our favorite Japanese Steak House, Sakura. Sakura is technically a hibachi style restaurant, but they also have a nice event room in the back of the restaurant that was the perfect size for our dinner.

We pre-chose three options for our guest to choose from and Mr. Scepter’s mom made cute menus to display the choices:

Once everyone had made their dinner selections the photos commenced!

Mr. Scepter’s Family

Myself, MOH/Lil Sis Dolphin, and Brother Scepter (aka our minister)

MOH Dancer and me

Brother Scepter entertainer our flower girl, Tiny Dancer

All of the bridesmaids!

MOH Fashionista and I celebrated with a Lemon Drop

My Parents and Siblings

Mr. Scepter and His Groomsmen

Myself and the Best Man. And yes, he is wearing a Best Man button. We bought it for him as part of a long running joke and he loved it so much he wore it for all of our wedding events except for our ceremony and formal pictures.

Me and Mr. Scepter

Our food was so delicious I forgot to get any pictures of it before I devoured it (you can sort of see it in the picture above), but if you ever happen to be in the Amarillo area I highly recommend Sakura.  What kind of food did you have at your rehearsal dinner?

Next up:  We gift the bridal party.

The recaps began.

We received an awesome gift.

The girls got pampered.