Friday, August 27, 2010

Happily After All: The Family Portraits, Part One

After our grand exit, we made an announcement for all immediate family and the bridal party to join us back in the church for pictures.  Everyone else hung around for a little while and then made their way back into town.  To this day, I'm still not really sure what everyone did in between since I left so much time before the reception.  I'm sure some of them went back to their hotels to freshen up, and I think my parents actually left our garage open with some drinks and chairs if anyone wanted to stop there for awhile since it was on the way.

If you remember, I put an insert into the back of our program that outlined a plan for our pictures.

And while we kind of followed that order, it actually was a little more spur of the moment.  First we started with our officiants, and then we moved on to the families.  It actually went pretty quickly, and without a hitch.  I got all of the pictures that we wanted too, which surprised me.  I went about it in a pretty methodical method.  I started with my mom's side of the family and called out each individual family to come up and take a picture with us.  I made my way through all of my aunts and uncles and then at the end of them all, I called them all back up for a large group photo.  Then I went on to my dad's side.  After that, I called up my godparents to get pictures with them.  Then we proceeded through Mr. T's sides in the same manner. 
It ended up working really well, even though I was shouting orders throughout the whole ordeal, everyone said it was nice and organized and was the best way to approach the situation.

Oh, and just a warning...I have the most awkard forced smile which will make an appearance in some of the pictures.

First the officiants:

My dad's side of the family:
My dad's parents.
My dad's sister and her husband.
With her two sons and their grandson, our ring bearer.
My dad's brother, his wife, and their son.  Their oldest son couldn't get away from school.  He's in the middle of his PhD in physics or something ridiculous.  It seems like he's been in school forever!
This is my Grandma's sister, my dad's aunt.  It was so nice that she was able to make it, we don't see her very often.
The whole group on my dad's side.  We make a pretty small family!

My mom's side of the family:
 My mom's mom.  My grandpa passed away when I was in 8th grade.
Her oldest sister, her husband, and their three daughters.  The one on the left just got married a year ago and their son was almost a month old then.  On the right in the orange is with her fiance.  They got married a month later =]
Her younger sister and her husband.  They live in Vegas and we hardly ever get to see them.
Her third sister, her two kids, and her boyfriend.
And the baby of the family, her younger brother.
And the whole group.  You'd think with her having four siblings, we'd be a little bigger.  But not all of them had children, so now we're filling in with husbands and grandkids =]

My godparents:
 My dad's brother, and my mom's sister.

Mr. T's dad's side of the family: (the relations will all be to his dad)
 His parents.
His brother and three kids.  The oldest daughter wasn't able to make it.
His sister, her husband, and their two boys.
His other sister and her two girls.  Her husband wasn't able to make it.
His oldest sister, and her boyfriend.
 The whole gang.  They're all located within 40 minutes of us here, so it's nice to have people to visit when I'm feeling homesick.

Mr. T's mom's side of the family: (all relations will be to her)
Her parents weren't able to make the trip.
See if you can follow along on this one.  This is her husband, his wife, and their three children.  On the right is their oldest daugher, her husband and their two kids.  On the left is each twin son with their respective girl.  The blond son has a girlfriend, and the other has a fiance.  They're getting married in October!
Her other brother and his wife.
Her sister.  She has two sons.  One lives in Ohio and wasn't able to make it.  The other lives in Arizona with his wife and daughter.  They're expecting a son around December.  They couldn't make it either, unfortunately.
Her other sister, husband, and son.  They also have two daughters.  One is married and they had just left for the Peace Corps in Fiji.  The other is married but was almost popping with their first son so they couldn't make it either.
The whole group.  Even with so many people missing, it's one big family!  They're also all within 40 minutes of us, so we have some great get togethers from time to time.

Mr. T's godparents:
 His godparents are his two aunts on his dad's side.

 And that's probably enough pictures and confusing family connections for one day.  Tomorrow we'll do our immediate families with parents and siblings, and then also the few we got of the bridal party.


Next up:  Family portraits, part two.

Unless otherwise stated, all pictures are by Brandy Swartz of Photography by Brandy.

In case you've missed anything...

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Happily After All: We Walk Down the Aisle Again!

After we said our vows and walked down the aisle, the rest of the bridal party followed us out.  At that point we asked that everyone remain seated, and then Mr. T and I actually went back in to walk down the aisle again.  We decided early on that we didn't want to do a receiving line.  While I like the idea of it, I find it extremely awkward for the bridal party to be hugging and saying hello to all these people that they don't necessarily know.  But at the same point, we wanted to greet everyone that was at the ceremony.  So we started at the front of the church and dismissed the guests row by row so that we had a chance to speak with each and every one of them.  It took quite a bit of time, and I was a little worried about everyone in the way back of the church, but I asked a few of them afterwards, and none of them really seemed to mind waiting. 
After we said hi to each of them, they headed outside and started the tunnel that we would eventually walk through after getting to everyone.
 Our bridal party started the line-up and everyone else fell into place and started visiting with each other while they waited for us to come out.

After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the back of the church.  And even though it did take quite awhile, I'm really glad we took the time to do it since we didn't make it around to everyone at the reception (but more on that later!).  I would definitely recommend it to anyone over a receiving line.  It was more personal that way, and people could remain seated and relaxed until it was their turn.
And then it was time for our grand exit!  I love the way these pictures turned out with the bubbles and all of our smiling family and friends.

It also made for a couple funny pictures where we're both trying to avoid bubbles in the mouth or eyes.

In the beginning I had a couple different ideas of doing ribbon wands, or fun little pom poms to toss, but I'm glad I went the easy route and did the bubbles.  To me, it's just a simple classic look, and there wasn't any clean up involved.

After we made it to the end of the tunnel, we stuck around for a little bit talking with people, and then it was time to head back into the church one more time for formal family portraits.
(personal photo)

Next up:  Family portraits!

Unless otherwise stated, all pictures are by Brandy Swartz of Photography by Brandy.

In case you've missed anything...

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

$35 CSN Stores Giveaway!!


I know some of you might be familiar with CSN stores, as I've offered a pretty great giveaway from them in the past.  For those of you that aren't, you're about to me!  They offer just about anything and everything you could possibly want at amazing prices.  And with Labor Day weekend right around the corner, are any of you planning some fun outdoor picnics and family get-togethers?  If so you might need to stock up on supplies.  How about some Corelle dinnerware?  It would be perfect for the outdoor setting since they never break!  I actually bought my parents a set for their camper so they never have to worry about breaking dishes again and they don't have to use the cheapo ugly plastic dishes.

Head on over there and take a look at what they have to offer.  You could literally spend hours there getting lost.

How would you like to have $35 to try out their line of stores? Well, that is exactly what I am offering one of you guys!. So here is what you can do to enter.


Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! Preferably your email address.

 
1. Follow my blog...nice and simple! (1 Entry)

2. Tell me if you have purchased from the CSN Store before? What was it?  If you haven't, what would you like to buy from there? (1 Entry)


3. Post about this giveaway on blog and leave me the link to it. (2 Entries)
 

4. Tweet this giveaway. (1 Entry)

Check out this #giveaway from @happilyafterall and CSN Stores! http://tinyurl.com/2foaf7t

I'll give you guys a week for this one, so the giveaway will end on September 1st at midnight. There will be a post announcing the winner on the 2nd. The winner will be chosen at random using random.org.  I will send the winners email to my CSN contact and she will contact you directly with the coupon code.  This giveaway is open to US and Canada.



Good luck guys!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Happily After All: The I Do's

Our ceremony probably lasted 30 minutes in total, and the majority of it was spent during the readings, solo, and message.  It seemed like once we got to the "I do's" the rest of the ceremony just flew by.
We said our vows, which by the way were just the standard vows taken from the wedding ceremony program the pastor had.  Neither one of us was very interested in writing our own, or even writing the ceremony for that matter.  We were happy to pick out the readings and solo, and then leave the rest to the pastor to follow the traditional layout.  I can't speak for Mr. T, but for me the decision was based solely on the fact that any time I think of a wedding ceremony, I revert back to all the traditional vows and proceedings that I heard growing up.  When it comes to things like this, I don't like to rock the boat.
I think I was laughing a little in the process of trying not to cry.  And it probably had a little to do with the fact that I was pledging the rest of my life to my just about husband! 

So after the vows, the best man handed over our rings and Pastor Benke blessed them.

Then it was time to slip them on!  I forgot to switch my engagement ring over to my right hand ahead of time, so there was a little fumble when I pulled it off quickly and switched it over.  Apparently everyone saw too, because I got teased about it later on.

And then before you know it...we were married. But it wasn't over yet.  We still had to light our unity candle...

...and present roses to our mothers.  We kept this a surprise ahead of time, and I think they both really appreciated that we took the time to thank them for all they did in raising each of us.  First was my mom, and then Mr. T's.

Then it was back up to the altar again, where we had the whole church join us in the Lord's prayer.

And then....our first kiss as husband and wife!

And then it was official...we were actually married!  Pastor Duey announced us for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. T and that was that.

Then we made our way down the aisle, and the rest of the bridal party followed.
 
Next up:  Our second exit and the bubble tunnel!

Unless otherwise stated, all pictures are by Brandy Swartz of Photography by Brandy.

In case you've missed anything...

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