OUR WEDDING: GETTING READY

and My Favorite Part of our Wedding Day

The day before our wedding, it poured rain. I mean literally poured. All day. We had to rehearse in our Plan B location which was inside the Barn of Summerfield Farms. Our outdoor rehearsal dinner was moved under a picnic shelter, and everyone kept telling me that “there was no way we could have our wedding outside.” Because of this, I woke up on the morning of our wedding mostly eager, but a little sad. I full expected to look out the window and see tons of rain and muddy puddles everywhere. To my surprise, however, it was only misty and the ground was not as soaked as I had imagined it would be. I guess my bazillion prayers to God the week before to give me sunshine worked!

So, my girls and I gathered up our things and made our way to the Bungalow to start getting ready bright and early. Hair and makeup was set to start at 9am, and if you are a bride, I definitely recommend not starting any sooner than this. We all stayed up the night before super late, so we were moving pretty slow even at 9am. Earlier would have been even worse. The Bungalow at Summerfield Farms was the cutest old farmhouse that had been totally renovated to this luxury, light and bright comfy home for us girls to hang out and get ready in. Blush & Bobby’s began setting up their stations and one of my bridesmaids, Anna Scott, started on the cinnamon rolls! This was my one wish for my wedding morning, so I literally couldn’t wait for them to be ready. Seriously just imagine the morning of your wedding day in the cutest cottage overlooking your ceremony site surrounded by your favorite girls on a brisk morning with cinnamon rolls in the oven. It. was. perfect.

About 10am, the staff was asking me if I was planning on moving inside or did I want to keep the ceremony outdoors. I had been watching the weather radar all morning, and the storm was moving away from us, but it was still a huge risk and honestly too early to tell what 5pm would bring! As I stared at the Little Tree (that’s actually a huge tree in the middle of a field), I just knew in my gut that we were supposed to hold our ceremony there. So, I quickly exclaimed “outside!” with absolutely no grounds to back up the fact that it wasn’t going to be raining. Nervously, I ate my cinnamon rolls and prayed for sunshine. I got pretty good at this prayer by our wedding day haha!

Then my girls and I started getting ready. We steamed our dresses (so very thankful that my bridesmaids steamed mine! That was not an easy job!) and let Laura and Katie from Blush & Bobby’s work their magic on our faces and hair. Most of my bridesmaids had never had their hair and makeup done before, so it was so sweet to see them at their best and see how excited they were about it! We sat and chat about the good ole days, and they each talked about how they met me and their hopes for mine and DJ’s relationship in the future. Again, so perfect. I gave all the girls their gifts from me which were these pink and white floral satin robes with their names embroidered on them and a soft makeup case with their first initial! I also had a robe, but mine was white and the embroidery said “Painter.”

About another hour in, I realized that I didn’t have any jewelry for my dress, and the “extra” earrings that I packed just wouldn’t cut it. I called DJ and asked him to go to the Kendra Scott store at the Friendly Center in Greensboro, NC to pick up these earrings I had been eyeing for quite some time. It was super impulsive and crazy. He definitely had plenty to do that morning like go pick up our wedding cake and get himself and his groomsmen ready, but, of course, he made time to go buy me these earrings that completed my bridal look and made me feel like a million bucks. Thanks babe! <3

Then, something amazing happened. As I was chatting with our wedding coordinator, Sarah, the sun started to come out. Just a tiny peek from around the clouds, but just enough to give me hope for our outdoor ceremony with sunshine! The next few hours brought more and more sun until the ground became totally dry, and it was as if it had never rained in the first place. I am forever grateful to God for moving an entire hurricane system just so we could have our dream wedding day. There is no other explanation for this other than Him.

The next few hours were pretty uneventful. We each just took turns getting our hair and makeup done and our vendor team started to pour in. Before we knew it, the quiet house we started with was busting with people! We had photographers, videographers, family members and a few straggling guests that were lost on their way to the ceremony all hanging out at our house! My bridesmaids and I took photos in our robes, we popped some champagne, sprayed it everywhere for the cutest photo and then it was time to start putting our dresses on! Time started to FLY at this point! I always tell my brides that the last 2-3 hours before ceremony will fly by, but that isn’t even the word for it. It was like the last time I checked it was 11am and I blinked and it was 3:30pm. My mom and stepmom helped me get into my dress, and then I really started getting nervous. After seeing myself all put together, I was so proud of my vision for the day and loved my bridal look. Classic. Romantic. Southern. Everything I wanted.

I made my way out to front yard of the Bungalow where my bridesmaids were all waiting with their backs to me for a “bridesmaid first look.” I was SO excited to see their reaction! I counted down 3, 2, 1 and they all turned around with tons of “OMG’s” and screams of joy! I even made a couple of them cry, but I won’t call anyone out. 😉 We took several bridesmaid photos together, and I took some bridal portraits of just me before we made it over to the first touch with DJ.

This was my favorite part of the whole day. They had warned me beforehand that he was super nervous which I thought was so sweet. I stepped up the stairs beside the Barn and saw his hand sticking out from around the corner. I grabbed his hand and said “hey babe!” only to hear him start to cry immediately at the sound of my voice. Talk about swoon. We had letters that we had written to each other that morning that we read to each other as we held hands and dreamed of seeing each other. He cried the whole time, and I got a little teary eyed too. Our moment was finally here, and it was too good to be true. We prayed together (which DJ said I had to say the prayer because he couldn’t since he was crying) and just sat in that moment together right before we were about to say our vows to each other. Guests started coming in, so we ended with him kissing my hand and off we went to hide away before the ceremony started.

When I got back to the Bungalow, my dad was waiting outside for me for my “father/daughter first look.” I honestly hadn’t even thought about this moment leading up to the wedding day and had told our photo/video team that it wasn’t a big deal. They saw right through me and made it a big deal, and I am so glad they did. This is why it’s so important to have a photo/video team that understands you even better than you understand yourself! I walked up behind my daddy and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and tears filled his eyes. It was such a special moment for us that I will always cherish. If you haven’t added a first look with your dad to your wedding, you should.

After that, it was just moments before the ceremony was set to begin! The final guests started filling the seats at the ceremony, and our bridal party lined up to be sent down the aisle. I waited on the front porch of the Bungalow outside of view of the guests for my signal to meet my daddy. The music started to play. It was finally here. The moment we had waited our whole lives for. I was getting married! Tune in next Tuesday to hear the rest. You definitely won’t want to miss this.