Wedding Day Part 1

Everyone told me the wedding day would be a blur and would move really fast, but I actually didn't feel that way. I really felt like I was able to soak it all in and move at a pace I felt comfortable with. In the morning, I tried on my dress one more time and noticed it felt pretty big so I planned on drinking a lot of water and getting some good salty snacks to fill it in. Ness met me at our apartment and then we drove together to our hair salon, but first we stopped by the Lincoln Square German Market for pretzel bread, cheese and waters. It was the perfect little snack. My stylist ended up having a family emergency and they had this other stylist double booked so I had to sit there for awhile waiting which stressed me out a bit, but once she got started, I realized it was going to be ok. My mom came and met us at the salon too. She saved the day and got me a big gulp :) It definitely took awhile to do my up do, but I absolutely loved the finished product - I actually liked this style more than the one I was supposed to get! She did such a great job and I felt like a beautiful bride! Next, my mom went and picked up sandwiches from Costello's for us which we enjoyed while we waited for the make up gal to arrive. They found out that I was getting married and gave us a free sandwich. Love it! My friends, Ryann, Darcy and Jamie came over too. Ry and Darc had picked up our flowers from Dilly Lily and they dropped them off for us. They were SO beautiful and over the top. We loved them! The girls hung out for awhile when I started to get my make up done. It was so fun to have them around and I couldn't wait to see all of my best buds at the venue before the ceremony. The girls took off and we wrapped up my make up and my mom's. I really loved how it turned out! We requested an Uber town car and Ness and I took that over the venue and my mom drove our flowers and other items we needed. It was really fun riding the short distance with Ness and getting excited together. We arrived at the venue and I sent Ness in to check to make sure Rob was out of site before I walked in. Then I got upstairs and got to see some of my friends and family before getting into my dress. Several of them had been setting everything up with Jamie for a few hours already. I'm very grateful to my coworker Sarah, Jamie, Caitlin, Shalva and Nicole and their dates for helping with everything to make sure it all looked beautiful. One of our photographers, Maura, was up there with us to capture all of the special moments and some glamour shots before we got everything started. We popped some champagne and I received a beautiful card and Tiffany's Infinity Bracelet from Rob and I sent down a card for him too. In the mean time, Rob was running around like crazy downstairs chatting with people and making sure our sound was working. It was a bit more hectic for him beforehand than it was for me which i feel badly about! I sent my bro down to usher with Rob's brother-in-law, Tom and I sent the girls down to take their seats and some to do their jobs like programs and yay flags and then I was just up there by myself for awhile. I started to get really anxious and was looking down at the chaos in the atrium of the venue. No one was sitting down, my dad's boutonniere was missing, candles weren't lit - it was really hard to be stuck up there - NOT running the wedding. I even chatted with a maintenance man because I was stuck up there by myself for so long waiting to get started! But eventually everything came together and I think we only started about 10 minutes late! I finally wrangled my parents upstairs, my dad got his boutonniere and the ceremony music started, played beautifully by Rob's younger bro, Cody and his wife, Lynn. I couldn't see, but I know Luke and Bella did a great job as our ring bearer and flower girl. I could tell by all of the awwws. Then I knew me and my parents were up. I took a deep breath and my parents took their mark. Soon it was my turn to walk down the catwalk over the ceremony site to Iron & Wine's "Such Great Heights." I honestly could not stop smiling. I had the biggest grin and I was so excited! I was overwhelmed with happiness and excitement to marry Rob! I met my parents at the foot of the catwalk stairs and then we walked down the main aisle together. Dad kissed my cheek (accidentally stood on my dress) and said their 'we dos' and sat down. Then it was time to get the ceremony started! More on that later :)