The Wedding Celebration of JC and JD, June 24th, 2005

[JCJD]

LOL! Ok, ok, it''s not like I''m getting any work done today anyways!

At 1:30, we left the hair salon for the church to finish getting ready. Make-up was applied, we all got dressed, I put on my jewelry, and we sorted out the flowers. A little before 3pm, the photographers arrived, one with the guys getting ready, one with us girls getting ready. At 3pm, J and I were ready to see each other for the first time. He was waiting for me at the altar when I stepped into the sanctuary. I truly cannot describe what I was feeling the first time I saw him on our wedding day. Joy. Excitement. Adoration. Love. It was surreal and absolutely wonderful. Thirty minutes of us just enjoying the magical moment.

 

[MelissaSue]

Date: 7/8/2005 3:18:48 PM
Author: JCJD
LOL! Ok, ok, it''s not like I''m getting any work done today anyways!

At 1:30, we left the hair salon for the church to finish getting ready. Make-up was applied, we all got dressed, I put on my jewelry, and we sorted out the flowers. A little before 3pm, the photographers arrived, one with the guys getting ready, one with us girls getting ready. At 3pm, J and I were ready to see each other for the first time. He was waiting for me at the altar when I stepped into the sanctuary. I truly cannot describe what I was feeling the first time I saw him on our wedding day. Joy. Excitement. Adoration. Love. It was surreal and absolutely wonderful. Thirty minutes of us just enjoying the magical moment.

Awww.. this is soo sweet.. I can''t wait til that part of my wedding day!!! Oh.. I''m crying just thinking about it (Have I mentioned I''m a cryer?!)

 

[icekid]

love your story JC, can''t wait to hear more!

 

[Dodger Gurl]

Ohmigosh, You look BEAUTIFUL!!!
Thanks for sharing your stories, that's awesome!

 

[blueroses]

Ooh, JCJD you just brought tears to my eyes with that last installment. I am so thrilled for you and your new HUSBAND!!!! CONGRATULATIONS and so much joy and love to you both. And you look STUNNING!!! Can''t wait to read the rest!!

 

[JCJD]

My wedding ring!! 3 pics to follow...

 

[JCJD]

This is signedpieces.com's 2mm comfort-fit platinum band with brushed finish. Size is 4.5.

 

[JCJD]

Hopefully you can see here how the band fits snugly against my ering''s accent RB.

 

[MelissaSue]

Your wedding set is gorgeous!!! The plain band is the perfect choice for your lovely unique e-ring.

 

[JCJD]

More of the wedding day!

After our sweet moment alone together, it was time for formal portraits. Surprisingly (with 2 sets of divorced parents and lots of family), the portraits only took an hour!! FYI, if you''ve hired a photojournalist, expect spectacular candid shots and average posed portraits, which is exactly what we wanted and got.
While the rest of the family got a break and started on the Subway sandwiches, us and the wedding party took off with the photogs to take some fun pictures around town. The photo I posted is from this section of the day. We went to this cute little park that has a waterfall and a playground. There was this cute little boy there who was climbing all over the boulders telling us where we could get cool photos - adorable!! While it was great fun taking photos there, it was really hot (95-100 F), so we decided to take all the pics there and just headed back to the church instead of going to another park too.
Back at the church, we joined in on dinner. Since I didn''t want to get food on my dress before the ceremony, we tucked long pieces of paper towel down the front of my dress! I was quite a sight!
Well, after 4 hours in my dress under the camera lights and outside, I was pretty hot so I was drinking a lot of water, so of course I needed to use the little girls'' room. However..... I was wearing pantyhose and couldn''t take them off without unlacing my dress, which we had no time for... So.... (Oh my, I feel closer to you all already...) I had my BMs hold my dress up while I cut the crotch out of my hose...... Ladies!! THINK about your undergarments before you buy them!!!

Next installment: Ceremony time!!

 

[gingerBcookie]

Date: 7/9/2005 1:27:22 PM
Author: JCJD
More of the wedding day!

After our sweet moment alone together, it was time for formal portraits. Surprisingly (with 2 sets of divorced parents and lots of family), the portraits only took an hour!! FYI, if you''ve hired a photojournalist, expect spectacular candid shots and average posed portraits, which is exactly what we wanted and got.
While the rest of the family got a break and started on the Subway sandwiches, us and the wedding party took off with the photogs to take some fun pictures around town. The photo I posted is from this section of the day. We went to this cute little park that has a waterfall and a playground. There was this cute little boy there who was climbing all over the boulders telling us where we could get cool photos - adorable!! While it was great fun taking photos there, it was really hot (95-100 F), so we decided to take all the pics there and just headed back to the church instead of going to another park too.
Back at the church, we joined in on dinner. Since I didn''t want to get food on my dress before the ceremony, we tucked long pieces of paper towel down the front of my dress! I was quite a sight!
Well, after 4 hours in my dress under the camera lights and outside, I was pretty hot so I was drinking a lot of water, so of course I needed to use the little girls'' room. However..... I was wearing pantyhose and couldn''t take them off without unlacing my dress, which we had no time for... So.... (Oh my, I feel closer to you all already...) I had my BMs hold my dress up while I cut the crotch out of my hose...... Ladies!! THINK about your undergarments before you buy them!!!

Next installment: Ceremony time!!

OMG --- ROTHFLMAO, snorting gassping for breath... that is hilarious!!!!

crotchless pantyhose aside (which btw, I will think about as i look at all of your wedding pics here on out) you look absolutely stunning!!! your pictures are adorable and you can just see the happiness radiating out of all ya''lls pics. more more more!!!

 

[Blue824]

Date: 7/9/2005 1:27:22 PM
Author: JCJD

I was pretty hot so I was drinking a lot of water, so of course I needed to use the little girls'' room. However..... I was wearing pantyhose and couldn''t take them off without unlacing my dress, which we had no time for... So.... (Oh my, I feel closer to you all already...) I had my BMs hold my dress up while I cut the crotch out of my hose...... Ladies!! THINK about your undergarments before you buy them!!!

OMG That is TOOOOOO funny!!!

 

[IrishEyes]

OMG I am laughing my butt off!! That crotchless pantyhose thing is TOO FUNNY!!

Anyway, you look beautiful and so happy in your picture!! I''m glad your special day went smoothly and you enjoyed yourself, that is the point!! Congratulations and enjoy your wonderful new life with your new hubby!!!!

 

[hoorray]

Date: 7/8/2005 1:09:58 PM
Author: JCJD
The Wedding Day, June 24, 2005!

7:00am: I woke up, 3 hours before my alarm. Decided to cat-nap with my 2 cats on the couch for a couple hours. At 9:30, gave up trying to sleep and showered. After getting ready and gathering all my accessories (jewelry, veil, shoes, emergency kit...), I didn''t have time to have breakfast, so I just had some coffee on my way out the door! After having my ering cleaned at the jewelers, I was off to lunch with my bridesmaids at 11:00am! After some delicious sub sandwiches, we went over to the hair salon for our 12:00 appointments. Despite one stylist styling 2 of my BMs hair, I was the last one done, due to setting all the curls and making sure my hair and veil would last the whole night.

The one cry:

My dad was at the reception site that morning receiving all the deliveries, and he kept calling me that morning with information and questions! Is it OK that they set up the dance floor this way? Can I move this here? Why is this in this location? When is this happening? Someone needs to be here at this time. Who should it be? Etc etc etc etc etc!! He called me about 4 or 5 times between 10:30 and 1:00! And he completely stressed me out! So I''m sitting there having my hair done, and my dad''s stressing me out on the phone, so I handed it off to a BM and had myself a little cry. Ugh.... parents... My stylist has cut my family''s hair for almost 10 years now, so she was able to calm me down and found me some tissues. A little bit later, my dad calls back to let me know he and my BM have it all taken care of and he won''t stress me out anymore - phew!!! So that was my one and only cry before the wedding!

Finally, at about 1:30, all of our hair is done, my tears have been long dried, and my veil is in place! Off we go to the church to do our makeup and get dressed!

Ok -- I was going to reply to this part, and tell you how beautiful you looked, but I have to quit laughing about the next steps in the day......

You looked absolutely beautiful. Your earlier pictures were great, but the actual day of pic just has a glow that you can''t recreate.

Anyway.. I had a HUGE fight with my sister the morning of my wedding over something I just set off on, and really would have normally just passed right by. Tears everywhere, slammed phone, etc. In hindsight, I think it''s just part of the high emotions of the day. I got married at 7pm, so had to hang around all day with the tension building. Crying it out probably helps as long as you have time to get rid of the red eyes and nose...

Now back to that crotchless pantyhose.....

 

[icekid]

OMIGOD JC, that is sooo funny... hehe, there''s a memory you''ll look back on and laugh about for years i bet!

your rings look gorgeous, btw!

 

[JCJD]

LOL! Glad you all thought it was as amusing as me and my BMs did!

Ceremony time!!
So, we touched up our hair and makeup and got ready for the walk down the aisle!! My youngest bro and one of my cousins were candlelighters, and the ceremony started with them at 7pm (Partita III by Bach). Then the grandparents were ushered in, followed by J ushering in our parents. The wedding party was next (Canon in D by Pachelbel), followed by me! (La Rejouissance by Handel). The ceremony was pretty short actually, 30-40 mins, but it was perfect.... what I remember at least. Can''t wait to get the video! For those who love details, we had the opening prayer, presentation of the bride, greeting, scripture reading (Phillipians 2:1-4), wedding message, vows, ring exchange, lighting of the unity candle and acknowledgement of parents (Cello Suite by Bach, played by J''s bro-in-law), closing prayer, kiss, and pronouncement of marriage. And Hooray! We are husband and wife!! Yippeeee!! Following the recessional (The Four Seasons: Spring by Vivaldi) we all crowded into the office at the back of the church while the parents and grandparents were ushered out, where I finally did cry a little bit. The BMs and GM went down the the getaway car to hand out bubbles, the MOH and BMan signed the license and helped steer the guests towards the car, the parents and grandparents formed a receiving line at the back of the church, and we ushered out our guests. With only 80 or so people there it didn''t take long, and we escaped through a cloud of bubbles! My veil was sticking to me by the time we got to the car, but luckily it didn''t stain at all.

We decided to take the long route to the reception to try and elicit some honks and shouts from fellow drivers, but we were surprisingly disappointed! Only a few people looked at us, let alone honked or waved! Oh well.

We wanted to arrive at the reception after most of the guests, so we met with the photog in the historic district downtown (where our reception was also) to take some sunset pics. Not much of a sunset, but it was great fun! We had people yelling and clapping for us and random strangers stopped us to take our picture!

Tomorrow: Dancing the night away!

 

[JCJD]

This is us cutting our cake.

 

[amyi]

The cake looks delicious with the berries. And is that your bouquet standing up in the middle of the table? Neat!

 

[JCJD]

amyi - Yup! Good eye. Those who were interested in my veil before have a better shot of it too.

 

[IrishEyes]

ooooh, that cake looks yummy!!

Again, you look radiant!!!

 

[MelissaSue]

Oooh.. prettttty cake.. And that veil is just sooo gorgeous. I kind of want one. I love how it tapers down.. Can''t wait to see more pics!

 

[JCJD]

The Reception!

We finally arrived at the reception, and started off with our first dance. We learned a fox trot routine to Nat King Cole''s (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons, and it was a hit. The dips were crowd-pleasers especially. The father-daughter dance was to Lee Ann Womak''s I Hope You Dance, and then we had general dancing. I mentioned in another thread that the strings holding my bustle up were slipping, so by the end of the f-d dance, my dad was stepping on my train too, so my sis and PA had to pin it back up. We got to eat a little and mingled, and about an hour later we did the toasts, cut the cake, and did the bouquet/garter tosses.

I despise 2 things about wedding receptions: The Dollar Dance, and the Chicken Dance, so I made it known that we wouldn''t have either one at our wedding. Unfortunately, my BIL was in charge of the playlist (no DJ, it was DIY), so when my father requested the chicken dance (specifically because I didn''t want it mind you), he had it on the computer! There''s some awesome pictures of me realizing what was happening, my dad laughing hysterically, and everyone (including me.... eventually) laughing it up doing the chicken dance!!

It was pretty funny, and I''ve never seen so many people run TO the dance floor for the chicken dance in my life!

All-in-all, it was perfect, and we didn''t want it to end! There''s nothing quite like being surrounded by people you care about on the day you marry your true love. I had a smile plastered on my face the entire night.

The next day we had the post-wedding brunch, opened gifts, and we left for our honeymoon!! Woo-hoo!!


And now the question is, do I start a new thread for the honeymoon, or keep adding to this one? Whaddaya think?

 

[JCJD]

IrishEyes - It IS yummy!! Pound cake with french vanilla icing. Had some more leftovers for breakfast today.

Melissa - Thanks!! They did such a great job with it! I WISH I could post the professional pics, but they''re locked and we won''t get our CD for another 4 weeks. I sent you a PM.

 

[Tybee]

I LOVE this!
You got me crying and laughing too! I feel like one of those silly commercials.."I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats..." So beautiful! Thanks for sharing the details!

 

[blueroses]

Awwwwww!!!!!!!

It sounds just PERFECT and SO sweet, and I just LOVE the cake picture--you guys look just radiant!!

I think you should just keep the same thread going for the HONEYMOON details

So thrilled for you two!!

 

[icekid]

oooh i missed the picture before! i love it though. the cake looks great, you still look fabulous. your reception sounds like it was amazing too! so glad you had such a special day, and blueroses is right, let''s hear about the honeymoon

 

[JCJD]

Thanks ladies! I''m glad you''ve enjoyed hearing about our day, it was great being able to re-live it somewhat through the storytelling. The honeymoon stories will have to wait until after we get our pics developed, but here''s a sneak-peak!

We went on a 7-day cruise on the Carnival Conquest, from New Orleans, stopping at Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, and then we spent 3 more nights in New Orleans. The cruise was awesome, food as far as the eye can see, and the weather was mostly beautiful - caught Tropical Storm Cindy on our last night in NO.

 

[treysar]

Wow -you look SO BEAUTIFUL and SO VERY HAPPY! Congrats!

 

[Croí]

I did a site search to find the details of your wedding JCJD and I can''t believe I missed all of this !!!

HOW TOTALLY FANTASTIC ! This whole thread, start to finish, has put the BIGGEST smile on my face (not to mention the face-splitting laughter induced smile over the hosiery!!! too damn funny !!!)



CONGRATULATIONS ! You honestly look beyond stunning and waaaaay beyond happy - you look like you are on a cloud of joy and I am sure that is just how you were feeling too.

Do you have a link online to the rest of you photos yet ?

(says she who still hasn''t done hers either !)

I am SO HAPPY for you, for both of you.

happiness, health, light and love to you always
*bearhug*
C

 

[JCJD]

My sister took these pics!

My hair - side view.