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Wedding pics for the patient ones… (VERY PIC INTENSIVE!!)

Posted : 8/20/2008 11:51:11 PM

I know I should be ashamed of how long this has taken me to give those of you emailing me not just wedding pics, but an actual wedding recap more than just saying “IT WAS INCREDIBLE”. I apologize, but life has been almost as hectic after the wedding as it was before. Tomorrow will be our 2 month anniversary of marriage so in honor of that.. here are a TON of pics for the handful of you who have been asking for them. I really do thank every one of you who helped give me advice, feedback, helped me by sharing all of the wonderful things you did at your own weddings!

We got 842 pics back from the photographer, lol, so I have chosen some of the ones that I feel reflect the mood that day as well as ones that you asked specifically to see.

Here is the recap:

First off, let me start by saying, NOTHING went as planned which I think is fairly normal. THANK GAWD I was able to let everything go. After so many sleepless nights the week before while we finished boats and programs and seating assignments and cursing ourselves for not eloping…. The day came and I couldn’t have cared less what went right and what didn’t. I thought we would kill one another before the day… even after 13 years of living together, but the stress was bad and I was almost not worth being around the 3 days before…lol. I know there are a couple of you ladies on here with upcoming weddings.. I HIGHLY recommend you adopt the “let everything go” philosophy. Embrace the day….. Boneyjean warned me over and over that the day would be over so fast you will miss it if you don’t take it all in.. and she was 1000% right on. Thanks for this advice dear. ;)

I am fast forwarding some to the part where we got to see one another for the first time. I came down 20+ floors in the glass elevator at the hotel we were spending our wedding night. Here are pics of him waiting for me to come down to meet him and our reactions to one another:

We were supposed to go to our favorite park to take pics together with his children (our Maid of honor and Best man), but like everything else that went wrong that day.. we ran out of time. So our “pics in the park time” ended up being our “rush to the boat to get married time”. So instead we walked with the photographer the 8 blocks to the get to the 1800’s ferryboat where the wedding and reception were being held and we stopped in construction zones, trolley stops and transportation depots to take pics together…lol.

My stepdtr was my maid of honor and I had NO other brides maids, and my stepson was DH’s best man. We wanted it just to be the 4 of us together and everything we did, we designed to honor or show our appreciation and love for all of our family. This wasn’t a “wedding” for us.. it was a gift to our patient families and a celebration of more than a decade together. Here area couple of my favorite pics of the 4 of us.. the one of us laughing is my favorite.. we always have so much fun together and this was a moment in time I will not forget with the kids.

jjsmom06

Posted : 8/20/2008 11:57:24 PM

The parasol in the pics was one of my grandmothers as was one of my wedding rings (the one on the far left)

My stepfather drew boat pics and pics of the ferryboat so that we could use on the invitations and all the paper items that we made ourselves. We also kept with the boat theme by making miniature sailboats to use as seating cards so that guests would know their table number for dinner. And on the tables themselves, in keeping with the theme, we handmade boats that had a quote from our wedding ceremony that we wrote ourselves, and a couple of them had one of our favorite Shakespearean quotes we used on the wedding invitations. We gave these big boats to all of our family members as a keepsake. Each guest got a CD with not only our eclectic taste in music, but also recordings of my dh’s a-cappella singing group who performed throughout the wedding.

My Aunt did all of the flowers including my bouquet I wanted wrapped in tulle to stick with a “vintagey” theme. The flowers represented 6 women in my family spanning 4 generations and we had a special tribute to my deceased grandmothers called ‘the story of the flowers” that we framed and placed on the cake table. My Aunt also made all of our wedding cakes.

willowchow

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:00:15 AM

Shelly!!! OMG! I'm so glad you finally posted these. I've been wonderin'. You looked so beautiful. . .that black and white of you two kissing. . .AWESOME!!!

Congratulations, I'm so happy for you both.

Lori

PS--Living here in the Ocean State, I love those little boat place cards. . .so great!!

jjsmom06

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:04:03 AM

Dh and his singing group led the family processional down the aisle singing “Chapel of Love” to all the guests. Once the family was seated, dh stayed on the stage to join his group in an a-cappella version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D… in which their voice mimicked the sound of the strings. They created it special just for our wedding and everyone LOVED IT.

I got the opportunity to walk with both my father and stepfather down the aisle

We had some very funny and unexpected moments on stage during the ceremony… including when we were surprising his kids with “family rings” to show them how important they are in our lives and in our relationship. I love these pics though... they show the true feelings we felt that day of intense joy.

I added these pics because the speeches everyone gave, especially dh’s kids, were so wonderful. I love the one of me reaching for, and then hugging, my stepson after he gave a beautiful toast and told me how much I have meant to him as a “mom” over the years.

And we ended the dinner and dancing with a pedicab ride back to our hotel to start our honeymoon! The pedicab driver we hired wore a tux jacket and bowtie with his black bike shorts…lol.

Dh and I both have said that despite everything that went wrong that day.. it could not have been more perfect. It was exactly "us" and what we had hoped to accomplish for our families

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:07:18 AM

Wow!! Those pictures are absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations!! The things that manage to go wrong are usually things that nobody else notices anyway, unless you point it out to them.

Joyce

jjsmom06

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:12:58 AM

willowchow
Shelly!!! OMG! I'm so glad you finally posted these. I've been wonderin'. You looked so beautiful. . .that black and white of you two kissing. . .AWESOME!!!

Congratulations, I'm so happy for you both.

Lori

PS--Living here in the Ocean State, I love those little boat place cards. . .so great!!

Thanks so much Lori. I feel so crappy I never responded to you. I know I promised you even before the wedding I would email you with a recap and photos.. but life has been crazy with work and family and I didn’t feel right just saying “hi, it went great and here is a link to 842 pics if you are interested in seeing any”.LOL. Thanks so much for all your pre-wedding support. I really do appreciate it. Big Smile

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:16:27 AM

So ... are we not going to get to see the other 813????

Joyce

jjsmom06

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:21:40 AM

fuzzy_dogs_mom
Wow!! Those pictures are absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations!! The things that manage to go wrong are usually things that nobody else notices anyway, unless you point it out to them.

Joyce

Thanks Joyce! I know.. our photographer was amazing. Not only were he and his wife so much fun to hang out with for 13 hours that day, but I have dozens upon dozens of pics I LOVE and that is rare for me. Usually I hate pics of myself because they don’t look like me and don’t seem like ‘me”. I also usually feel that pics of my loved ones are lacking. He did such a stellar job at capturing the emotion of the day and when I look at my family in these pics I absolutely can say “that is 100% them”. Almost every single one of our ceremony pics shows how much fun we were having and that is truly priceless to have.

As for the things that “went wrong”… no one really noticed I am sure of it… but it got to be kinda comical by the end of the day…lol.

jjsmom06

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:31:10 AM

fuzzy_dogs_mom
So ... are we not going to get to see the other 813????

Joyce

LMAO… you are likely the only one who wants to see more than I already posted. Here are a few more for you Joyce that I have loaded in photobucket.

Some ‘getting ready ones” and my stepdtr trying to fix my hair that I hated. My hair lady did a truly fantastic job in my “hair trial” and the actual day turned out nothing like it. I hated it.. but it got a tad better once my stpdtr fussed with it…lol

showing up at the hotel with our dresses to meet "the boys"

I realized as we were walking out the door I hadn't put on my garter and I couldn't do it myself... so my stepdtr had the wonderful task... this was a very funny moment neither of us will forget!

My dress beading detail

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:36:43 AM

Now see?? If you hadn't said anything, nobody would have had a clue that every hair on your head wasn't exactly the way it was supposed to be. It looks absolutely perfect.

Joyce

jjsmom06

Posted : 8/21/2008 12:52:49 AM

Dang... my internet keeps giving out and I lost some more for you Joyce. Let me see if it will work now...

Dh opening my present to him that my stepson swore he would remember to give them when they were getting ready...lol. I got him a very nice looking pocket watch

willowchow

Posted : 8/21/2008 2:33:32 AM

Oh, I don't know how you picked what you wanted for an album, you've got so many just beautiful candid shots.

PS-Don't worry about not responding, I've been there and understand how hectic it is before a wedding and honeymoon. We'll catch up sometime soon.

Lori

TheDogHouseBCMPD

Posted : 8/21/2008 6:20:47 AM

Oh my all of those are just LOVELY! How amazing. I'm glad it was perfect for you.

l.michelle

Posted : 8/21/2008 7:06:04 AM

You are so gorgeous! Your wedding looked perfect! All of the pictures are so beautiful

I especially love the 7th photo (i think it is 7th, i have forgotten now) of you and your husband in the trolley lines, the black and white one, it's gorgeous!

And your boat theme is amazing. I love sailboats, and that is just beautiful how you did it! Congratulations!!!!!

BTmomma

Posted : 8/21/2008 7:35:52 AM

First off, awesome pics!!!! Thanks for posting...

Second... CONGRATS!!!!!

Third... You looked so beautiful!!!!!!!

Fourth - not a bad lookin DH you got there Wink

No seriously! Those are really awesome pics! You looked great!!!!!! Looks like yall had a lot of fun too!!! Congrats and wish you nothing but good luck!!