Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: Mommy Daddy issues...

From this point out, I debated going in order versus showing events thematically. Let me explain; we broke up all the traditional wedding stuff with partying so no one would be left out or bored. So do I show it to you in order in installments? or show you all the traditional stuff one post at a time and then just have a big party post at the end? I figured that having a mess of reception pictures at the end would be a little... boring? As in, OK, it's just a million pictures of people dancing and singing (probably poorly) along with the music. BUT, in the end, I figured that themes are easier to tell stories with... That was a long explanation to tell you that things are going to be out of order here, but they will better tell a story in the order I'm going to show you... Got it??

Since the last post was about dancing, I'm following with the parent dances. My dad and I danced to Earth, Wind & Fire's All About Love. Why? You might ask. Well, to answer your as-of-yet-unasked question, the first time my dad ever showed me his old records, they consisted primarily of his impressive Earth, Wind & Fire collection. This was how I was first introduced to September, Let's Groove, Shining Star, I mean really! I didn't appreciate it quite as much back then... I was like 'What's a record??' but it stuck with me, so I had to pick an Earth, Wind & Fire song for us to dance to... Well, you know most EWF songs are not at all applicable to a father/daughter situation... All About Love is pretty much the only slow song EWF wrote that isn't... raunchy. ANYWAY, all this is a very long explanation for trying to explain that I wanted a more personal father/daughter dance song than Butterfly Kisses or Daddy's Little Girl... Enough! I know. Enjoy:

 He's in the middle of saying something, that's why he has a fish face.

Then I said something goofy, I'm sure... Basically, we just joked the whole time and kept asking each other how long this song was... Just kidding, I'm sure we talked about sweeter things than that.

 

No seriously, I think we joked about how silly it was to choose Earth, Wind & Fire and about how Mama HATES Earth, Wind & Fire. Probably the point of this was so neither or us got emotional.

I look like that little five-year-old again ↑ Isn't he so handsome?!

 

He was such a sweet gentleman. Didn't step on my dress once! I'm very glad we got our little moment there, even if no one else understood why I could have possibly picked an Earth, Wind & Fire song, I'm very glad I did.

Kyle's story is much easier and quicker. His mom wanted to dance to LeAnn Womack's I Hope You Dance. Probably she just loves that song, a lot. Kyle had no interest in going against her wishes, so that's what they danced to:

Kyle's mom looked so nice (even though she kept threatening me in order to not post these pictures... TOOOO bad!! Ha!) and she was such a sweet and maybe a little too unobtrusive mother-in-law. Don't get me wrong, I don't need her to start nagging, but she's such an atypical MIL, I don't mind a little.

Also have I mentioned how cute it is that she and her boyfriend matched?? With his fancy charcoal suit, metro black shirt and fancy teal striped tie! They were a pretty pair.

I know it meant a lot to her to dance with her son. He was very sweet and attentive.

 I never did ask them if they talked about anything in particular during their dance.

 I think their song was shorter than mine too, so we don't have as many pictures.

 Get ready for head-splitting sweetness:

Too cute! So this was a shorter post and it didn't take me so long. I should be able to post about cake cutting or some other cool thing tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!!

What were your father/daughter, mother/son dance songs? How did you pick them??

Miss a recap so far? Catch up!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: The boys get ready!!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: The girls get pretty!!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: We're ready for our close-up!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: We ceremoniously process!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: My turn!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: We get MARRIED!!!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: We get formal!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: Our model moment!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: Please welcome to the floor!
Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: Slow Jamz!!

Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: We ceremoniously process!

While we finished getting ready, PEOPLE started arriving, as in, this wedding is happening people!! Awww, my cousin Jason looks excited. I was later told this was his first wedding!

Meanwhile, my dad was ready to receive me as I made my way down from the bridal suite.

Doesn't he look handsome??

I loved our few minutes together. I was reminded of all those blogs I've read where the bride talks about what she and her dad talked about before the long walk. We talked about whether or not Kyle liked his gift. He didn't even offer to help me run away :)

Meanwhile, everyone else started the processional (headed by our officiant, my G) while Nick played us in with my favorite music from my favorite soundtrack... Pride and Prejudice.

And my dad and I continue to horse around.

I thought I would lose it just seeing him... But we both held it together...

And the groomsmen continued to usher in grandparents.

Dan with Kyle's paternal grandmother

Kenny with Kyle's maternal grandmother

Keith with my paternal grandmother and then Dan with my maternal grandmother. Everyone was so pretty!!

And finally Kenny with Kyle's great aunt. The music changed as the mothers are escorted down!

Eeeee!! My Mama!!

Of course my brother would escort our Mama!

And obviously, the last to enter and take his place would be Kyle, escorting his Mom!

Such loverly ladies!! And speaking of loverlies, it was time to switch the music again as my ladies took their places!

First came Keri, looking so nice! I don't think I will ever be able to properly express my gratitude to all the girls. But thank you so much. I see these pictures and it makes me think about everything everyone did to make this day go so well.

Thanks for being there and lookin' so sexay!!

Next came sister Jordan. Although there was always a question growing up of whether or not one of us was going to kill the other in her sleep, there was never a question about whether or not she was going to be in my wedding.

Thanks Jordan! And thanks for all your help leading up to the big day. Oh, and thanks for looking for houses for us too ;)

Lastly, of course, came Mia, looking gorgeous. And yeah, need I remind you she had just given birth two weeks prior to this?!

Thanks for... uhh, squeezin' out a baby in time to be my maid of honor? Haha, just kidding, thanks for being awesome and being there for me! Duh!

Finally, we got the signal, and it was time to start our slow journey to matrimony... Do I look scared sh#tless??

Luuuurve this picture... and it perfectly captures the outward appearance of massive butterflies and heart pounding that was occurring at that moment for what was ahead...

Which you'll have to wait for tomorrow to see!!

Miss a recap so far? Catch up!

Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: The boys get ready!!

Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: The girls get pretty!!

Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: We're ready for our close-up!

Eleven Twenty Five Eleven: The girls get pretty!!

So while the guys got ready, obviously the girls were already well on their way. We went even earlier in the day to a salon in Lancaster to get our hair done (all except me, 'cause I'm easy like that) and got to Riverdale a little late.

Let me set this up for you: we had two hours to get our hair done, it took longer than two hours, we got to Riverdale maybe a half hour late, and then it took about an hour to get the ceremony space ready and go over last minute stuff with the coordinator and officiant and DJ. So now I've got an hour and a half until the ceremony... to do three hours worth of ready-gettin'! Already a little panicky...

Our makeup artists were already there (as well as Ben, duh), so they got started right away on my sister and Keri while I went over last minute stuff with our coordinator/DJ/officiant/future husband:

They looked awesome sauce! Our makeup artists consisted of a lovely young woman and a charming, flamboyantly gay guy, who was awesome. But eventually, the former lovely young woman got her dirty mitts on me... People, I had stuff to do... How long is this going to take?

 

Love this picture of me and my Mama. Look how pretty she is!!

 

She and I were the smart ones who wore button down shirts! Someone's been doing their homework!

Already getting impatient... Mom's almost done. I definitely should have done this myself...

Flamboyantly gay guy makes funny comment, breaks tension.

At least Ben has the sense and skill to make a photo opp out of it. But this is getting out of hand.

Anything interesting on my phone?

Must have seen something to make me laugh. Maybe it was just Ben horsing around behind me:

OK, this is getting ridiculous, and at this point, I remember that our processional order has completely changed since the last time I talked to our DJ. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't bother, just play something, but I knew I could trust Nick to get this right, and I knew I could trust that he wouldn't hold it against me if I was disgustingly nit-picky about it. So someone found Nick so I could take my mind off how long makeup was taking... Oh, you see that Mia is now getting her makeup done... why aren't I done yet?!

 
 Also, see the gift on my lap? I needed to get Kyle his gift as well... and we're running out of time.

Not sure how I have it in me to still see any humor in this at this point... I think Keri went to deliver my gift.

I think I'm almost done at this point, but at this point, I've completely given up on the prospect of getting to take pictures with the girls before the ceremony or pictures on the balcony. I think I was too happy in general that it was my wedding day and I felt the way I was supposed to... But in hindsight, I'm beyond pissed makeup took AN HOUR! At this point we have a half hour to get dressed and get down to the ceremony... no extra photos... :( no balcony... :(

At least Mia looks gorgeous!! Now please go find some alcohol. It's time to squeeze Ashley into a dress!

I'm very happy that we have so many pictures of this, and that my mom and sister are the ones who helped me.

 

Ben, again, making excellent use of the mirrors!

 

 
Love how the dress looks from the side.

It took a long time, but only because they couldn't find the top hook. The dress was loose on me, I'll come back to that later, believe me.

 

Next Mama helps me with my garters (that she made!); my New (I wouldn't normally have made garters a 'New' but since my mom made them, I thought the wedding gods would make an exception, just for me). You can see my Old sitting next to me; my crappy, old dependable, cheap Payless purple-y loafers! I put on my Blue next; the blue emerald necklace my parents got me for my 18th birthday. I forgot to tell Ben that it was significant, so he didn't get any close-up shots of any jewelry.

Next came my hair flower, which I needed a lot of help with... and which took me a long time... so we have lots of pictures of it :)

OK, Mama, help!

Miracle-Worker-Mama got that thing in there so good it didn't move for the next several hours!

OK, so unfortunately, at this point, we have to get moving, but I remember that Keith came in with a gift from Kyle forever ago and I forgot about it till this point.

I told him not to get me anything because he paid for 75% of the wedding, but, when does anyone ever listen to me?! Why should I expect my soon-to-be husband to do so??

Just kidding, but seriously, he got me a very beautiful strand of pearls, very sneakily (he got it from the same jeweler as all our rings came from, so he was always using 'picking up or cleaning our rings' as an excuse to go there and order things).

I love them, I wear them anytime we go out someplace nice, but I couldn't wear them just then (and I knew he knew this) because it meant a lot to me to wear the necklace my parents got me for the actual ceremony. The pearls would keep nicely for the reception.

This was how I became not a two-dress bride, as is the trend now of course, but a two-necklace bride!


At this point, my mom surprises me with my Borrowed; a beautiful, dainty little hanky that my great grandmother made. Now, I was actually pretty blown away by this, especially because she told me she thought it would be too old or fragile for me to use since she also used it in her wedding! She waited until just a few minutes before the ceremony to break it out. While it was all very dramatic and touching (which I don't think my mom intended for it to be) it was also too short notice for me to turn to Ben and say "Quick, get pictures of all this stuff!" My Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue pretty much came together at the last second.

Shooooo! Got all that?? Again, thanks for sticking around, I know I wasn't this eloquent with yesterday's post about the boys, but what could possibly have been going through their minds?! They had plenty of time! We're at T minus minutes now and I need a drink. Thanks to Mia or Ben (I never did figure out which took care of this, but thanks), we had a whole bottle of white wine brought up from the bar... I would have chugged it all if they had let me...

We settled for a nice cup full. I didn't have as many smiles anymore, I was officially getting a little nervous...Next, Kyle and I manage to get in a few individual portraits before we finally see each other!