Wedding Day Part One

Yesterday was my bother Matt's wedding! I have a lot to say about it so I'm going to divide it into two separate blogs: the preparation and the actual event.

My sister, her boyfriend Matt, me, and Jordan before the wedding

Wedding Day Part One: The Before

I never realized how much work went in to planning a wedding until I was a part of one. From the big choices of dates and locations to the smallest decorating details there is a lot to take care of. Many of these decisions are made far in advance, but the week before a wedding is still a very busy time. Thursday morning, my mom and I worked on making food for the rehearsal supper the following night. Thursday afternoon and evening was spent decorating the reception hall. Friday morning, more food was made and the rehearsal supper site was set up and decorated. The rehearsal took place at the church on Friday night, and afterwards, we headed to the rehearsal supper. At the supper, we ate and then my brother and sister-in-law handed out gifts to the wedding party. Included in the bridesmaids' gifts were jewelry for us to wear the next day. The necklace and earrings were a gorgeous fuschia that went perfectly with our cobalt blue dresses. After the rehearsal stuff was picked up, the wedding party all headed for home to get some rest before the big day.

Helping Matt get his cuff links on

Early on Saturday morning, I went to get my hair done. My mom scheduled my appointment at the only hair salon in my tiny hometown. My sister is not a big fan of the stylist there, so she scheduled an appointment with her friend from high school who just graduated from cosmetology school last winter. I wish that I would have followed my sister's lead and gone somewhere else. We'll just say that when I got back from my appointment, the 8o's called, and they wanted my hair back. I'm talking tight ringlet curls piled on top of my head and sticking out from the sides and back in all directions. It was a disaster! Thankfully, my sister's friend was able to free some of my hair from its time-warped tangle and make me look semi-normal. Because my hair had taken so long, I had to rush to finish my nails and make-up and get dressed in addition to helping my brother get dressed. By some miracle, we ended up making it to the church right on time, which proved to be a not-so-great thing...

My sister and I goofing around with the matron
 of honor's husband  while we were waiting.

The photographer was late. Two of the other bridesmaids were late with their hair. Some of the groomsmen showed up late. The ring bearer's pillow got misplaced. All in all, we didn't take pictures for an hour and a half after we first got to the church. In the meantime, we tried to entertain ourselves by taking goofy pictures and dancing in the church basement. Finally, we got all the pictures taken, and the wedding was ready to begin.