And now for the wedding!
We woke up around 5:30 am for our 10am ceremony. On top of it all we didn't go to bed until around midnight the night before, and that was forcing ourselves to lay down...there was SO much to do and no time to do it.
We did the final cleaning of the house, and Brian finished hooking up the outdoor speakers. We found an amazing deal on a set of KLH speakers, (which I understand are a great brand) for $50 dollars a pair! They are so cute, shaped like rocks. You can see them in a couple of pics around the bottom of the pergola. Brian got them hooked up and called me outside. There was the soundtrack I had worked so hard on, playing in surround sound. It really brought the moment home for me, and I think I started jumping up and down...only a few hours to ceremony.
My friend from work came by to do my hair. She was actually a little late, but I hadn't noticed, I had too much to do. I was still running around, shoving our water bottles into buckets and filling them with ice. I started getting pretty frustrated, and Brian forced me to go sit in the bedroom and get started on my hair.
Before I could get started, Brian's real mom, who I'll refer to as mil2 just to make things easier, showed up and wanted to refit me in my dress. She made my dress for me, I picked out the fabric and the style and she had it done within a week. I loved it, although I wish that it would have been fitted even better, but I suppose that's not her fault....I lost 25 pounds between the first fitting two months ago and the wedding day. She had to do some final alterations the morning of the wedding, and had to take in another 3 inches...and after wearing it for about 10 minutes, it was falling down.
So she takes the dress to sew the final alterations and my friend gets started on my hair, but not before I have a breakdown in the bedroom. I'm crying and frustrated, and have no idea what's going on in the backyard. Brian calmly goes in the kitchen and returns with a glass of Woodpecker Cider to help me calm down. He kisses me and returns to finish the final touches on the back yard.....
While I'm getting my hair done, family starts showing up. Brian's dad and step-mom (who I've already referred to as mil, as she is more of a mother to Brian than his real mom) show up with Brian's little sister, Whitney, and they get started on the chair covers, fabric, table cloths, etc. I could not have done it without them...mil and sil were my rocks during the whole thing...They kept telling me not to worry, they wouldn't let me down!
So hair is done, I start on makeup. Brian and I meet up in the bathroom and I do my makeup while Brian shaves. I'm finally calm, and just ready to be married to this amazing man!
We finish up in the bathroom and he comes into the bedroom to help me with my dress....we get it up and over my head and he calls mil2 in to help lace it up....I put on my black converse, which I had INSISTED on wearing, and I was ready. Now I just had to wait for all my guests to arrive.
Fil, mil, and sil had just finished final decorations and had to drive home quickly to get changed!! My friend April was also coming from out of town, but had called and was about ten minutes away from my house....so much for the 10am ceremony!
I got bored sitting in the bedroom by myself so I wandered through the house...mostly family and we took a few pictures before the wedding...
And then everyone showed up and it was time....
Now here is the funny part. We were so concerned with getting the backyard done, we didn't practice the ceremony. Not once. It was a fly by the seat of our pants kind of thing, and made for some funny memories!
Whitney was our attendant. She walked to the alter with Brian, carried the rings and took care of my bouquet during the vows. Some uncomfortable pics of them starting to walk together...Brian didn't know which side to be on, how to hold her arm, or anything....and she had been threatening to do the robot down the aisle for months
Waiting at the alter for my arrival.
I didn't walk very slow and most of the pictures where I am laughing is because my dad kept telling me to slow down...I was racing to the alter I guess!
A kiss from daddy and off we go!
The preacher, a friend of Brian's from work, got started right away...we asked him to make it short and sweet, and it went a little longer than we would have liked, but it was very well done. During the exchanging of rings, the preacher confused us both in the way he said the "repeat after me" part. He said, "Brian (long pause) repeat after me (no pause) Amy"
Brian didn't know if it was my turn or his turn to repeat....I knew because he was putting the ring on my finger, but after a few seconds of him not saying anything, I kinda prodded him and started laughing. The preacher said the words again, slowly, and I broke out laughing!!!
The whole time we could hear a woman crying almost to the point of sobbing, but we couldn't turn to see who it was....It was my mom!!! It was interesting because she's usually very reserved and unemotional about traditional things like weddings...but there she was sobbing like a baby...my whole family ribbed her the rest of the afternoon for crying so loud no one could hear the vows.
We finally got to the kissing part and we grabbed each other so tight...it was finally over!!!
Yay, time to kick back and relax...oh wait, we're still standing in front of everyone....another time when we should have rehearsed something to do....so we stood there and giggled....
Whitney wiped my lipstick from Brian's mouth...although it looks like he's making a snack of her finger.
Someone yelled out for me to show my shoes...
And so we moved around the yard, taking pictures with family and friends...we had no real plans, and we had no professional photographer to tell us where to go, so we just went with the flow...
With my mom and dad..
All the siblings...this was funny because I'm an only child...
Brian's half-sister Angie, they share mothers...Whitney, his half sister, they share fathers, and Sion, Brian's step-brother, mil's son from another marriage....so confusing...see how easy it is to be an only child?
We also like to make fools of ourselves...
We had a blast, and it was over quickly...then I had to get out of my dress....it was SOOOOO hot!! It was thick, made out of a double layer of the fabric and I was melting...my dad came in to dab my face a couple times in between pictures so my makeup wouldn't slide off....Brian jokingly asked for a fierce brow mopping as well, but was denied....
Other pics from all around...
Brian's step-mom, or mil, my creative goddess, who did the final touches and made it more than just a backyard...
We took some pics in front of our cupcake tree...I wasn't out during the preperations, and would have liked a little more space filled, but I loved the way the cupcakes looked and the way the strawberries were cut....we had decided at the last minute to use red velvet cake to match my dress and my uncle had offered to make the cupcakes the night before...I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't offered....these cupcakes were the most amazing cake I've ever eaten...he made them from a mix, but went off recipe and made them so moist...everyone was raving about them....
We draped the inside of a shade tent with mosquito netting and mil and sil bought silk rose petals to lay in the canapy above us....it was a last second thing, as we had to keep the already melting cupcakes out of the sunlight, but I really liked it.
All in all, for the money that we saved and put into our house and backyard, we were thrilled with how everything turned out...we did everything on such a small budget, with so much help from our parents and family, and I really enjoyed every moment of it...I could over analyze everything, like how I really wanted to have the house freshly painted and changed from that aweful grey blue color, and how we wanted to do more planting of flowers, but there wasn't enough time!!! We were thrilled how the final product came out, and wouldn't really change a thing...
We're, hopefully, within the next month or so, going to have our professional pics done with Randy at Port Orleans Riverside, but I've yet to set a solid date with him, and if I keep losing weight, my dress may not fit!! We'll see, it would be a perfect end to everything...
Now, do I wish for a Disney wedding for my 5 or 10 year vow renewal? You betcha!
I'll also share our five days at Disney, coming up soon!!!!
you both look incredibly happy and relaxed - could never tell you had a mild breakdown earlier! 
and I love the look of the black/red on the guys. reminds me of alkaline trio or something 
