Our Wedding Day

Before the wedding, so many people told me the day would fly by. They warned me the day would be a whirlwind, gone in the blink of an eye. Each time I heard this advice I said, "I know!" and I thought I did know how crazy of day it would be. But I really had no idea how fast the time would move.




Special thanks to Carolyn and Kelly at The Looking Glass!

The day started with four hours in the hair salon getting hair and makeup done. The morning went smoothly and it was the only part of the day that didn't seem to fly by as we each took our turns getting primped. We ran into a slight delay while I struggled to get one of my earrings into a hole that had closed up. But I was determined to walk down the aisle in the beautiful amethyst earrings my mother had given to me as a gift! After at least half an hour and quite a bit of blood later, both earrings were in and we were finally on the road to get ready to leave for the church.


At my mother-in-law's house where the rest of my bridesmaids were waiting, we quickly ate some sandwiches, toasted with some mimosas and rather chaotically dispersed around the house to change into our dresses. My mother and sister helped me into my dress and jewelery and enjoyed a few special moments together before I made my big entrance down the stairs where everyone was waiting.

Photo courtesy of Erin Perrotta of
Perotta Creative

It was a beautiful, early fall day and the sun was shining so we headed outside for some photos. One of our photographers took some shots of all the beautiful bridesmaids, looking stunning in their plum dresses on the porch lined with mums while I hiked up my dress and headed into a patch of tall grass for a mini photo-shoot, risking a twisted ankle wearing my plum peep-toe pumps in the rut-ridden ground. These photos were a lot of fun to take! (Thanks, Erin!)

A few chaotic moments later, we were loaded into the limo bus and on our way to the church. Even as we sang a few lines of "Going to the Chapel..." still, it didn't feel real.

At the church, our florist (who is amazingly talented and also a friend of ours) was waiting for us with gorgeous fall bouquets. Guests were arriving, and my groom was waiting for me to walk down the aisle in just a few moments. As all of us girls lined up and our mothers lit the candles at the altar, I thought for sure this was when the nerves would hit me. But I felt an excited calm as the music played and I watched each of my girls walk down the aisle.

Then the music changed and "Canon in D" began to play. Everyone stood, and as I came around the corner I was greeted with the smiling faces of our loved ones. Overwhelmed by sight of our family and friends I nearly forgot to look at my handsome groom, who was standing at the altar, grinning at me with tears in his eyes. I could hardly hold it together as I made the walk down the aisle, holding my father's arm.

The ceremony was a personal one, with two readings recited by two of our aunts: a reading of a beautiful poem by e.e. Cummings' "I carry your heart with me," and an emotional reading of "Marriage Joins two People in the Circle of its Love."  Our pastor, Reverend Rachel McGuire shared words that Jared and I had written about one another, bringing smiles and laughter. My now sisters-in-law sang a beautiful duet of one of my favorite love songs, "I Could Not Ask for More." And as we lit the unity candle, one of our closest and most vocally talented friends sang "The Prayer."

Although the day was a whirlwind, I remember each part of our ceremony, from the emotions I felt walking down the aisle, to the readings and the music, and the moment we recited our vows. We took the advice of friends who told us to take it all in and truly remember those moments, to look around at our loved ones who were there to support us as we were presented for the first time as husband and wife. One of my favorite parts of the day was immediately following the ceremony, being congratulated, hugged and kissed by our immediate family and friends. I'll never forget the love that filled that room.

After some family photographs at the altar and on the steps in front of the gorgeous church doors, it was off to a nearby park for some photos with our amazing bridal party. We arrived at Cobbs Hill Park just moments before three other limos filled with other bridal partys pulled up behind us, giving us first dibs at some great photos!

I was so happy - elated, really - and it was going by so fast, even as we were introduced at the reception, and danced to "Baby, I Love your Way" for our first dance as husband and wife, reality still hadn't set in that this was our Wedding Day.

The next few hours seemed to pass in minutes as we ate dinner, greeted our family and friends, cut our wedding cake and danced the night away (to what felt like only four songs!) including a fun line dance complete with cowboy boots!

Suddenly, it was midnight and the day was over. Our guests were leaving and my new husband and I were driven off to our hotel where we would stay for just a few short hours before our 6am flight to Cancun where we would spend our Honeymoon. At the hotel I didn't want to take my dress off and admit the day was really over!

As Jared and I enjoyed some much needed R&R in Cancun, we reflected on the day and how beautiful it really was. Everything came together (with a lot of hard work!) flawlessly, and we were surrounded by the people we love with such love and support - it was a beautiful celebration of our love and the most amazing start to our marriage that we could have asked for!

I can't say enough to our wedding vendors, family and friends who helped the day come together. A special thanks goes to:

Our church, Immanuel Baptist Church and our pastor Reverend Rachel McGuire
Our Musicians and Singers: Eric Hauck, David Hauck, Bryce Gebhardt, Kelsey Gebhardt, Patricia Carpenter - you are all so talented and made our ceremony beautiful and memorable!
Our reception site, Whittier Party House and Kris Rohloff who helped us pull it all together
Our Hair Stylists Carolyn and Kelly at The Looking Glass: thank you for your hard work and amazing hair styling
Aubre Fox who did our makeup helped us girls looks beautiful!
Our Florist Sarah (Butlin) Scorse who did such an amazing job with our flowers
Our awesome DJ: Whirlin' Disc DJs
Our baker Mary Butlin who made our cake so beautiful and delicious
My uncle, Danna Magar who made such an awesome cake stand
My uncle Eric and our friend Steve who took video
And of course, our photographers: Erin Perrotta and Lori A. Coleman - Perrotta Creative

Thank you to our parents, family and friends who shared in this special day with us, for the love and support as we begin the rest of our lives together!