Oh Happy Day: Part One

I seriously can't believe that the day has almost come that I can say I've been married to my husband for a year.  A YEAR.  Can you believe it?  Yeah, we can't either!  It has been the most fun and challenging year of our lives.  And if you're married, you understand that statement!  Everyone says the first year is the hardest.  If this was the hardest, I can't wait for the rest. Yes we learned to trust God in a way I never knew how to, but it was So. Much. Fun!  Okay...that's for an anniversary blog post later!

In February, my friend Jill {who has an amazing blog that you should read, by the way} posted a photo recap of her wedding weekend.  Since I've yet to share from the plethora of wedding pictures that I have from our two wedding photographers, I thought I'd take a moment to "copy" my friend Jill.  This definitely will need to be broken down into multiple posts.  So, since that's the case, you'll want to come back for the next few days.  I have a problem and cannot narrow down the photos that I want to show you.  Believe it or not, this is only a FRACTION of the photos I have that I could share.  This is probably going to take all week, but make sure you don't miss out, as I'll be recapping the day as I remember it!

First off, 10 days before my wedding, my wonderful mom and I had just gotten off the phone.  When we hung up, she said, "Okay, is there anything you can think of that we need to do?"  My response?  "No mom, I know this is going to sound weird, but I think EVERYTHING is done!"

Press Pause.

Brides...never, ever, ever say this outloud.  Ever!  You'll regret it!  I promise!

Press Play.

I hung up the phone with her, and my wonderful apartment complex had left me a voicemail.  It said, "Call us when you get this."  So I did.  They then proceeded to tell me there were two girls wanting to move in July 1st, which meant they needed me to move out by June 21st, which meant I had to be moved out by June 18th.

Yes. Never say you have nothing that you need to do.

We had tried to get out of our lease in May, and the apartment complex couldn't find anyone who wanted to move in.  Translate, it meant I was moving out on a moments notice.....TEN days before my wedding.

So in the days leading up to my wedding, I had moved out and finalized my wedding leaving little time for seeing my future spouse. Maybe that was good because it left little time to stress about little things!

Friday June 18th came, and I was so super psyched to see my best friends.  I remember driving to the Veranda for my Bridesmaids luncheon and being super giddy!  I was about to marry my best friend! Eeek!  And all of  my best buddies who I hadn't seen in forever it felt like were coming to town!  Then I remember driving into town from my parents house and feeling like I had been slapped in the face.  Throughout the engagement process, I had read a WHOLE lot on the Jewish traditions from biblical times for marriage ceremonies.  The relationship between the traditions and the things Jesus said and did in the New Testament blew me away!  How could the Jews have missed that Jesus was the Messiah?  Everything He did, every comparison he made to us being the bride of Christ.  It all translated to the wedding traditions that they were familiar with.  In that instant, it hit me that the excitement I felt in anticipation for marrying David Adams should come no where close to how I daily should feel about the anticipation of meeting my Savior and being HIS bride!  Definitely altered my focus for the weekend and for the rest of my life for sure!  Yes, it was about David and I, but it was about more than that.  Marriage is a small glimpse and symbol for the relationship Christ desires with us.  Talk about perspective.

Our exciting wedding weekend was beginning.  We chose to get married in our favorite place on earth---Starkville, MS!

The bridesmaid luncheon came and went, and since I blogged about it here, I won't recap.  However, here are a few pictures from the event.  It was held at my favorite place to eat in Starkville, the Veranda.  The boys, of course, could be found out on the golf course during our luncheon.

All of my bridesmaids and the best friends a girl could ask for!

Mother-in-law, Sister-in-law, me, and Mom

My Mom, Cousin Sydney--flowergirl, and My Aunt Pammy

The incredible hostesses and best second "Moms" a girl could ask for!

{Mrs. Martha, Mrs. Dana, Mrs. Cynthia, Me, Jenny, Mrs. Ann, Mrs. Myra, Mrs. Kathy, Mrs. Cathy}

After a fun lunch with my girls and an afternoon of catching up and having an incredible family to put out "fires" that were popping up {who wouldn't plan cheerleading camp in the Palmeiro Center in June? and why would we need parking spots there for our wedding guests? Thanks Dad for getting shuttles last minute! And Daniel too!}, it was time for our rehearsal which took place at First Baptist Church in Starkville.  Since both of us attended Crosspoint Baptist Church, and Crosspoint doesn't have a building, we chose FBC.

To start things off, the entire bridal party had to "practice" our dance that was choreographed by my Maid of Honor, Bethany.  No we didn't dance down the aisle, but we did dance.  You'll want to stay tuned to part three or so for the fun dance we did!

Please enjoy some of the photos that Rebecca Long{our photographer for Friday} caught. {And if you're looking for a photographer, please check out Rebecca's stuff--she's awesome!}

Everyone tried to listen to Bethany's directions attentively, but you can see the confusion in their eyes!

My brother and my best friend!  The two best dancers of the group!

There was lots of laughing and fun while rehearsing.  It was much needed time with our friends before we headed to rehearse for the important part of the weekend.

Let the excitement of the weekend begin!

At this point, I'm thinking..."I seriously can't believe this weekend has finally come, and I get to spend the rest of my life with this man!"

After Dance rehearsal, it was off to wedding rehearsing time!  Everyone moved to the sanctuary and began visiting again...

Soon, my favorite wedding director ever, Mrs. Cindy, took charge.  She made the evening so enjoyable and not stressful!  We had discussed this over and over, so no one had to ask the bride questions.  I'm so thankful for her!  There is absolutely no way our day could have run as smoothly as it did without her!  In the next few pictures you'll see her doing what she does best!

Oops, did I fail to mention that I had TWO wedding directors?  And trust me, for the monster of a wedding I had in my head, we needed them both!  Mrs. Cindy has been like a second mom to me over the years, so it only seemed fitting to me to have her sit down front during the wedding. Because of this, we had a second director, Mrs. Paula, who was in charge of the actual day.  So thankful for how hard they both worked to make it such a successful day!

Meet my beautiful bridesmaids and proxy.

And my precious cousins, Hayden and Levi.

And the FABULOUS musicians.  Trust me when I say, they did NOT have an easy job!

Jesse seating Grandmother.

This is a very special lady to me as well.  Apparently she reads the blog though she's only told my mom that.  Her family and my family are very close family friends, and it was definitely super special to have them there!

My bridesmaids don't like shoes! :)

My beautiful maid of honor practicing her dance.  You'll see more of this potentially Monday!

Anna and Andy singing while Bethany dances.

My flowergirl! :)  She once asked me if I was going to wear a purple dress and a crown in the wedding.  I think she likes Princesses!  Anyone else think so?

And now, I think I should introduce you to our wedding party:

Meet our Maid of Honor and Best Man, Bethany {who you saw mentioned above} and Mr. John who is David's dad.

This is Megan and John

And here is Katherine and my brother Daniel.

Followed by Anna and David's brother Jesse.

Next up are Laura and Tanner.

And now David's sister Danielle and Andy.

This is Brittany and Rusty.

And finally, Kate and Michael.

These people are some of the most important people in our lives.  All of them have shaped and molded us into the people that we are today.  They knew that we didn't take lightly asking them to be in our wedding.  That's not something we or they took lightly.  We weren't just asking friends to hang out with us onstage and wear matching tuxes and dresses.  No. We were asking our friends to commit to stand with us and say we affirm and believe in y'all and we will commit to pray for you for the rest of your life.  Love them all.

Oh yeah...this is my handsome husband. Almost husband at this point.  He's definitely the most important part of this post!

And finally, meet Marianne.  Marianne and I got to know each other well when she would stay with me while visiting her then boyfriend, Chris.  Chris was one of David's roommates.  Chris and Marianne are now married, and they came to see us last week! Marianne was my bridal proxy.  In the South, we have stand in brides the night of rehearsal.  I don't know why.  I looked everywhere to find out why. I never figured out why.

Maybe it's because....yeah, I got nothin.

I'm sure I'm telling our pastor what I would like for him to say! Haha.

Rehearsal was super impressive.  We started on the dot at 5:30pm and ended on the dot at 6:30pm.  I told you my wedding directors were the best!  

I hope you enjoyed part one.  Yes, at this rate, you'll know our wedding story by Friday.  That's fine with me!  This seriously was the happiest, most incredible, wonderful, inexplicable, relaxing, perfect weekend ever!  I would go back and do it in a heartbeat. Seriously.