Okay, so here is a little wedding recap as requested. I didn't take any pictures that day, so these are ones I got from other people mostly through text or facebook. I will post some nice ones whenever I get them back from the photographer.
Ryan bought me some really lovely presents for our wedding day. He bought me this really pretty box to keep my rings in. It is engraved with a little message, our names and the date.
He bought also bought me a beautiful necklace engraved with a message from him. This picture really doesn't do it justice at all. I considered wearing it to the wedding, but decided to wear the beautiful pearls he got me for Christmas.
He also bought me a face mask from Lush my favorite store. It was a lovely surprise. I had my hair and make-up done at Lords and Ladies in Pottstown. They did a fabulous job. The make-up was a little more dramatic than I probably would have opted for (I don't generally reach for navy blue eyeshadow) but I thought it looked really pretty in person. They also put in the veil (thank goodness, because I had no idea how to put it in). It was the veil my sister wore in her wedding. I just wore my hair half up and in long loose curls. I was so impressed with the girl who did my hair, because my hair is so fine and never holds a curl. Even with the icky rainy misty weather my hair stayed curled until the next day, which is nothing short of a miracle. She also didn't use pins, she used this stuff thread stuff and literally sewed my hair up in place with a special plastic needle. This is the only picture I took all day:
The weather has been miserable and rainy earlier that morning, but when we got there, it had let up quite a bit. It stayed misty, but we did manage to get pictures outdoors.
When we got there we did a quick rehearsal run through. My poor aunt went to pick up my flowers and her rental car broke down at the florists picking up my bouquet. We had the same pastor that married Ryan's brother and sister in law marry us. We liked their ceremony so much that we asked him to do ours. We took some family photos before the guests arrived. I will share those as soon as I get them. Our photographer was Erin Bertoni and she is so sweet!
Oh, here's a shot of one of my pairs of shoes. I wore these for the ceremony and the pictures. I feel in love with them at Nine West. They were adorable, but terribly uncomfortable. I also had a pair of really cute retro looking bright yellow wedges, which were heavenly to slip into once the pictures were officially over. The were from Joan and David and I actually found them via an ad in my sidebar on facebook. My dress was from a random website that I put my measurements into. The dress came from China a few weeks later.
Soon we were done with family pictures and guests were arriving. It was a very tiny wedding, and I didn't have bridesmaids or anything. My family entered and sat to an acoustic version of Lady Antebellum's "Just a Kiss". I walked in to an instrumental version of Counting Crow's Colorblind (because OF COURSE I had to think of some way to include my favorite band of all time in my wedding).
a little blurry, but a cute shot of me and my dad via Nicole's cell phone
The ceremony was lovely. We were able to include both of our sister's in the ceremony. My sister sang Push by Sarah McLachlan and she sounded amazing. My photographer (who is getting married herself shortly) even asked my sister if she was a wedding singer. Ryan's sister Katherine did a reading about love. It was a lovely ceremony.
We walked out to "Crazy for You" by Madonna. Everyone else enjoyed some appetizers while we were off for more pictures. I only got to try one meatball, but I heard the appetizers were yummy.
This is me and my freshman year roommate Nicole. I was so glad she and her husband Jon were able to come down from New York City for the wedding. Besides my siblings, she was the only one I knew for sure would recognize Colorblind.
Anyways, there were some minor issues with placecards and seating that were worked out quickly. We had a sweetheart table up front for Ryan and I, but Isaac decided he wanted to join us, rather than sit with my parents, and we accommodated him. The waitress came and asked what he would he having for dinner, and I answered "We ordered him the chicken fingers" which was the children's meal. He turned to me, totally offended and said "Well I would rather have steak!". Our waitress obliged.
Isaac with Ryan's parents
The salmon and steak were excellent, although we heard from our vegetarian friends that the polenta was a bit of a letdown.
This is a little collage of pictures my sister in law Deb took.
While everyone enjoyed cake and icecream, we played The Shoe Game which was a total Pinterest find. Ryan's mother agreed to put the questions together and she did a great job. We didn't know any of the questions she was going to ask, which made it a riot.
Afterward the shoe game, we took a group shot with everyone at the wedding (see, told you it was a small wedding, we all fit in one picture) and then we headed moved the party up the street to the Limerick Bowling Alley.
the only shot of me I have found from the bowling alley. My mom made me and Ryan "Bride" and "Groom" t-shirts.
I was trying to think of something fun to do besides dancing at our wedding. I love dancing but I thought it might be awkward with such a small group of people. Then it occurred to me that Limerick Bowling Alley, where Ryan and I had our first date was almost right across the street. We have taken our kids there for family dates many times since, so it seemed like a natural choice. My dad arranged for us to have some lanes to ourselves for a few hours. Some people stayed in their wedding clothes and some people changed. A few people bowed out, but we had a pretty good group that made it over to the bowling alley. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was a great way to break up the formalness of the wedding and really get people to mix and mingle and have fun with each other. Almost everyone stayed the whole two hours that we rented out the lanes for, even my very pregnant friend Becca, who was a total trooper.
stolen from Selena's facebook -- isn't she adorable?
It was SO MUCH FUN! Thanks Mom and Dad for everything you did to make everything that day so special! And also to my sister Jennifer and brother in law Drew, Aunt Kathy, my grandmother and others who travelled a great distance to be there with us.
We broke the "no cell phones" rule for this quick pic.
We are saving our honeymoon for a cruise this summer when we are both able to take more time off of work, but we did schedule ourselves a little spa day. We enjoyed sauna time, a Givenchy shower and a couples massage. Ryan was so relaxed, partway through the massage I heard him snoring!
I ended up in the emergency room Friday night after I finally called my doctor about a nagging ache in my side. That combined with my low grade fever, nausea, and general feeling of "blah" left him convinced I could have appendicitis. Two rounds of blood work, an IV bag full of fluids and a CAT scan later, it turns out I just have a terrible UTI.
Wedding planning is still causing me to lose a lot of sleep. There are a few important elements still aren't in place, RSVPS that haven't been returned, things I still need to do, people that need to be called, etc, etc, etc. I either can't fall asleep at night and/or I wake up at night for whatever reason and then my mind starts racing and I can't fall back to sleep. No bueno.
Isaac is also throwing up all the time in school (but never at home...). Their policy is barf = you have to go home that day which has necessitated a lot of juggling around of schedules on the part of me, my mom and Ryan. One of us has to drop everything to pick him up, and then watch him for the rest of the day as he runs around the house, fever free and full of energy, eating everything in sight. I dunno if he is making himself throw up, or faking it, or if he might have some kind of reflux or what, but it's getting old. Yesterday when the school nurse called me at work again, she sort of got the brunt of my anger. I was like "I'm a working mom! I'm a teacher! Did anyone actually see him throw up?" He got a big lecture from me last night about faking it, and I scheduled him a doctor appointment later in the week to rule out reflux or something. Any suggestions or ideas on that front are welcomed.
In addition to all that I have going on in my life, in a moment of temporary insanity I agreed to be a witness on a courtcase. I was just served my subpoena last weekend. A lady I worked with when I bought my house was fired from her company for shoddy work performance and is now suing them claiming she was fired because of her race and gender. The company I guess started going through their files and found my scathing write up of my experience working with her and now wants to use me as part of their defense. Which I think is actually really interesting and I would like to be of assistance. It is unfortunate that the timing is early February.
Anyways, this isn't meant to be a list of complaints. There are so many good things happening in my life right now too. My parents and Ryan's parents finally met each other at a nice dinner hosted by my parents. I think everyone was a little nervous but all was well and the world didn't end. We also had a nice birthday dinner for my dad on Sunday and played Apples to Apples. My brother Tom inspected my car, so miraculously the 2003 Alero remains roadworthy for another year (or until she is replaced by a minivan or SUV crossover, you know, whichever comes first). There was a Groupon deal on tickets to the Home Show in Philadelphia, so we are taking Ryan's sister and mom next weekend and they seemed so pleased. Ryan and I have seen some great movies: Argo and Silver Linings Playbook. Highly recommend both of them. Finally, my brother gave the three of us tickets to the car show in Philadelphia and we had a great time. Here is a picture from there:
