One Year!

Well, I've been absent from the blogging world for 3 months.  I didn't mean to take a break but got out of the habit of blogging and it's been hard to get back into it.   I'm very much a creature of habit so it's been hard to add it back into my schedule.  I've been spending less time on the computer too but I've missed it, so I'm back! 

One year ago today, I married my wonderful hubby, Blake!  I can't believe it's been a year already, wow!  Where has the time gone?

I've seen this on a few blogs and thought it would be perfect way for my first posting in awhile!

Wedding ABCs

Attending

We had about 175-180 guests total, plus my Kindergarten students and their families for the ceremony and mini-reception.

Bridesmaids

I had 4 total- my sister was my maid of honor.  Audra's a friend from childhood, Megan is a friend from high school and Kate is a friend from work/"adulthood."  I had a great time with them all; I'm so glad I had a smaller bridal party.  

  

Cake

Simple but I really liked it.  We I ordered a custom cake topper off Etsy.  She customized it to my dress and flowers.  Blake was wearing a Virginia Tech football jersey and I had little Penn State football in front of me.  I absolutely love it- it's in our living room as I type!

 Dress

I love my dress.  It was the second or third one I tried on and fell in love with it.  I think I loved it because the color was a little different than many of the other ones I tried on.  

 

 

 

Engagement

Blake proposed to me on Friday, February 20th!  It was perfect and I was completely surprised.  You can read more about that here.  

Flowers

I chose a variety of flowers in pinks and whites to use in both my bouquet and my bridesmaids.  I was so happy with how they turned out!

 

Groomsmen

Blake had 6 groomsmen so we were a little imbalanced, two girls had to walk down with 2 men!  He had his brother as his best man, my brother, 3 childhood friends and one college.  They look so handsome!

 

Honeymoon

We went to St. Lucia and stayed at one of their Sandals resorts.  It was fabulous!  You can read about it here.

Invitations

We had pocket folds, very simple and we designed them ourselves, had them printed and put them together.  Kate came over to help me assemble and address them too!

 

Justice of the Peace

In our case, this means a priest because we were married in a Catholic Church- the church I grew up in.  We had some drama with our priest.  Originally, the priest who married my parents and my aunt and uncle was going to marry us.  But about a month and a half before we got married, he had to have surgery and called me because he wasn't going to be able to marry us :(  He's fine now though!  So, we went with a parish priest, Father Joe. 

 

Keepsakes

We didn't do favors but our guest book was a book I made of engagement pictures that people wrote messages in and gave advice in.  I love looking through it!

 

Ladies Night

We all met at Kate's house, went out to dinner and then out in Bethesda.  It was so fun!

Music

Very traditional for the ceremony.  Our first dance was Sarah Evans, "I Could Not Ask For More".  My Dad and I danced to Tim McGraw's "My Little Girl" and Blake and his mom danced to "Wind Beneath My Wings."

 

 

Newlyweds

 

 

Old, new, something blue, something borrowed

My old and something borrowed was my grandmother's rosary.  I had the florist wrap it around my bouquet and I love that I carried it down the aisle.  My dress was my something new and my something blue was my undies and my garter. 

Photography

My photographer was Exclamation Imagery and almost all of pictures from this posting came from her!

Question Popping

I love how emotional both Blake and I were during the proposal- something I will always remember, even if I can't remember the exact wording of everything.  I think I was too overwhelmed and excited to concentrate on what he was saying!

 

Reception

We had our reception at Martin's Crosswinds in Greenbelt. 

 

Shoes

I had a little bit of a hard time finding shoes since my dress was a little darker than white or ivory.  I randomly found them at Kohls and then added the "I Do" to the bottom!

Trash the Dress

No way!

Unique

I'm a Kindergarten teacher and I invited my Kindergarten class to the ceremony and then to a little cookie and tea reception after the ceremony.  We also went to a playground to get pictures of the bridal party!

 

Vows

We did traditional vows, probably the most intense and spectacular moment of my life so far!

Wedding Woes

It rained for pretty much the whole morning and then as we were getting ready to leave for the church, it stopped raining and the sun peeked through the clouds as we were getting out of the limo to the church!

X-rated

No way!

Young Kids

Only my kindergarteners and families, it was an adults-only reception.  We didn't have any flower girls or ring bearers. 

Zzzzs

We were both exhausted by the end of the night!  We had about 30 minutes in between when we arrived and the reception started.  I was exhausted at this point!  Blake got me a cup of coffee and I was good for the rest of the night!