Going to the chapel...or croquet lawn, that is

I woke up two Saturdays ago (I can't believe it's been two weeks already!) to the sound of rain and a pretty gloomy day. Surprisingly, I had had a restful sleep and felt ready for the big day. The rain didn't even really bother me because I knew we had a good Plan B just in case and there was nothing we could do about it so I got up and started getting ready.

Our hair appointments started at 10 am so the girls and I headed to the Westin and Gene did my hair in between working on everyone else. I loved how it came out, and the two paisley hair pins I bought to stick in the back worked perfectly with the overall theme.

Once we were all done, we zipped over to Port Royal and snacked a bit on lunch while we worked on centerpieces and other decor.

Then it was time for make-up and getting dressed. My cousin did an amazing job on my make-up (as she always does!) and I felt radiant. Our photographers came around 2 and started shooting us getting ready and then went over to take shots of the (late) guys. While they had their cameos, I got zipped up in my dress and all finished up. I love my dress and thought it was the perfect mix of simple and elegant. It was, however, a tiny bit tight after a week's worth of home-cooking with the family so it made it tough to breathe. I even had to have my girls unzip me for a little while so I could catch my breath and calm down a bit. Once we were all dressed, we went for our photos, bouquets in hand. I had purchased some antique green ribbon with paisleys on it and it was wrapped around everyone's bouquets for another paisly touch. The rain finally stopped and it was just very gray out, which didn't bother me a bit. It also dropped the temperature about 20 degrees from earlier in the week so there were definitely moments of shivering while we took pictures, but it was fine.

Once we had the all-clear, we headed back over to the clubhouse (we had been getting ready in the locker room) and waited for our cues. Kelly, my matron of honor, stayed with me while my dad walked my mom down the aisle and I got a little emotional but I knew if I started crying it would never stop, so I told her not to let my dad get too mushy when we walked together.

I'm a little bummed because I had worked so hard on the ceremony music with Ryan and our musicians were a little difficult to deal with, so I had really wanted to soak in what they played but I was in a cloud from the moment I hit the top of the steps to go outside until basically the ceremony was over. I do know I tried really hard to ennunciate my vows so people in the back could hear and I was all smiles staring into Ryan's eyes. It was beautiful!

After the ceremony, we went off into the woods to take more photos with the group, and then Ryan and I went to a tunnel connecting Port Royal and the Westin for some more photos. I am very curious to see how these "tunnel of love" shots turned out. Unfortunately, we were gone for so long that we missed the cocktail hour and went right into getting introduced.

We went into our first dance from there, and again I didn't let myself get too emotional so we just talked about what a great day it had been so far and how much fun we were having. The fun continued with an amazing dinner, wonderful, heartful toasts and yummy cake before everyone got to dancing. I think we suceeded in our goal to throw a really fun party - it seemed like everyone had a blast and I know we did, for sure.

At the end of the night we had them bring out sliders and mini-milkshakes, a nod to our late night Steak 'N Shake trips after going out. Then it was over and we left in a burst of sparklers on the front steps, getting into my dad's convertible and driving off.

It was a beautiful day and so much fun and I know I will remember it for the rest of my life. I certainly couldn't capture it all here, but hopefully that is a good glimpse of how the day went. I'll post more photos soon.