Our Big Day - 02.07.2015

And so the day I'd been dreaming up since I was a tiny little girl came and went in a flash. It was here and then, in seemingly the very same breath, it had passed. February 7th was the most wonderful day we could've ever imagined. Even the craziest mishaps are now just silly, laughable memories. Stay tuned to hear all the little details. (Buckle in - It's a long story.)

02.06.15
The rehearsal dinner blew past just as quickly as the rest of the weekend did. Everything was so fabulous. We rehearsed at the church, of course -which took less than an hour might I add. I remember being so nervous about the actual rehearsing part - which ended up being a breeze. The only blip was that my little brother Landon (a Jr. Groomsman) was laying on the back pew of the church burning up with a fever. Which, side note, he woke up the next day feeling perfect and was able to fully participate!

I guess this is a good moment to mention that I was also SICK. Yes, with an awful cold that just WOULD NOT go away. It was not good. I kept joking about losing my voice for my own wedding the whole week before - and then I did.

After the actual rehearsing was done, we headed to the Baylor Club at McLane. Drew's parents booked the president's suite for our rehearsal dinner. It is the most fabulous venue with the most beautiful sprawling views of the stadium, the river, Baylor and downtown Waco all lit up. I can't recommend it enough. It was killer.

Drew's parents had decked it out with pictures of Drew and I, the prettiest centerpieces and complete with an A&M jersey hanging on the wall next to Judge Starr's Baylor jersey. (LOL.) The food was wonderful and the drinks were plenty (unless you were me and were chugging water to attempt to recover your lost voice.) There were roughly 65 people in attendance. We watched a slideshow that I compiled (and shed many tears over the night I thought I deleted it) and friends and family toasted and roasted us. There was dancing and laughing and even sneaking down onto the field.

Our slideshow:

Someday I'll post the professional pictures from the rehearsal dinner, but they are actually not in my possession, so these will have to quench your thirst temporarily.

After it was over, Alisha and Lindsay took me to HEB - where we bought lemons, Dr. Pepper, Throat Coat Tea, lozenges and just about anything else that comes up when you Google "home remedy for lost voice."

After we stocked up on meds, we headed for our sleepover at the Fortress. For those of you who don't know, the Fortress is our nickname for the house I lived in my senior year at Baylor. It has 4 beds, 3.5 baths, a full kitchen and plenty of space for the bridesmaid's sleepover to commence. When we got there Kelli and Sarah had decked the place out with cute pink balloons. There was champagne (well, hot Dr. Pepper with lemon for me), laughing, excited chatter and tons of snacking. Kelli had compiled an hour long video of all of our fun and best times together. We watched the whole thing and laughed for what seemed like hours. Finally, we fell asleep. Naturally I couldn't sleep a wink.

02.07.2015
My alarm went off at 6:30 and I got up immediately. The first one awake, I ran downstairs and started myself some hot tea on the Keurig. Then I warmed up some Dr. Pepper and poured a shot of OJ for an extra vitamin C boost. After I'd downed all three concoctions, I was finally brave enough to test my voice and try to make a sound, so I quietly whispered, "Hello."

Nope, no noise. No luck. Crap.

I started in right away on my one last DIY project. (I do not endorse this. Please have all of your DIYs done before your wedding morning.) Alisha was next to wake, so she came down and helped glitter letters with me. Lindsay ran to Panera to pick up our bagels. Amy got up and headed straight for her 9am hair appointment. So did Alisha. After I'd eaten (barely three bites of my bagel, I was so nervous) I clearly remember wanting to call Drew, but I refrained. I put on my robe, brushed my hair and teeth, and Lindsay, Sydney and I headed to our hair appointments.

Here is video evidence of my lack of voice - we sent this vid to our beloved photographer, Haley, when she let us know she was on her way. Lol. 

Sweet groomsmen doing Pinteresty things

beautiful bridesmaids

This is where the plot thickens. When we arrived at the salon where everyone had been getting their hair done all morning, we were informed of a problem. Somehow there were only two appointment slots open and three of us left to get our hair done. I'd confirmed these appointments weeks ago, it was a total blip. But, nonetheless, it was time to make it work. We all three got our hair done in the time it would normally take to do two. Right after my hair I was supposed to get my makeup airbrushed on, but was told I'd have to wait a little bit until the appointment after me was finished because we'd gone overtime. So, I waited in the salon about an hour while Lindsay ran around town running my errands (such a saint) and Sydney ran to Michaels for safety pins. This little issue put us a full hour behind. We were supposed to be on our way to take bridesmaids pictures at one o'clock, but instead, I was just leaving the salon by then. Oops. 

On the way home from the salon, my sweet little from Zeta, Marissa, called me. She was scheduled to sing a solo at our wedding (because she has the voice of an angel) but when she showed up at 1 to practice with our band, she realized she'd accidentally learned the wrong song. Oopsie daisy number 2. I could tell she was SO upset, and bless her sweet heart, I thought she might cry. I wasn't mad or even worried, but rather stumped. Hmmm...how do we fix this? The programs had already been printed. I immediately called Dawson, who'd gotten to know the band, and they quickly worked it all out. The song would be sung by a band member. 

We finally got back to the Fortress, where all the lovely ladies had gotten out of their robes and into their dresses. They each had their hair beautifully done and Alisha was in full swing doing everyone's eyeshadow (MVP). Sydney was pulling out the bottle of champagne and pouring up everyone's flute for a toast. Our photographer, Haley, and her second shooter, Connor, had made it to the Fortress and were taking pictures of the girls, my shoes, and all the details when we arrived. About that time I called my mom to find out why my dress still wasn't there (she was dropping it off) when we all realized we'd FORGOTTEN TO PICK IT UP FROM THE DRESS BOUTIQUE AFTER WE HAD IT STEAMED. Oh. Crap. 

We immediately sent my stepdad on the most important mission of the day, mission get-the-wedding-dress-to-the-bride-two-hours-before-the-wedding. In the meantime, I opened up my gift from Drew. He gifted me some gorgeous diamond earrings and a bible with my new name on it - the most thoughtful gift he could've dreamt up. We all giggled at the note he wrote me because it was written on a piece of notebook paper. LOL. Just like him.

We were an hour and a half behind when the dress arrived.

This locket Lindsay is putting on me was my Mimi's. Poppy gave it to her before they married. She wore it always - and it is part of many fond memories of my early childhood. I have clear memories of sitting on her lap and asking if I could have it, to which she always answered, "Yes. Someday, you can have it." She left it to me. It was an honor to wear it and my diamond tennis bracelet from her on my wedding day.

After my beautiful bridesmaids got me all dressed up and ready to go, we loaded into the cars and headed to the suspension bridge for pictures. We were running too late to be able to grab our bouquets, so - oh well! We went without them them! This is also when I forgot my overnight bag.

In the meantime, Drew was at the Hotel Indigo FIREY mad because they wouldn't let him check into our room. Come to find out, it was a total ruse. Dawson and Leanne had upgraded us to the suite and were attempting to keep it a surprise. On top of that, Drew is an EXTREMELY punctual human (my opposite in every way) and my running two hours behind schedule was driving him up the wall. God love him for his patience with me.

Eventually we were off to the church and the guys were able to get to the bridge for super fast groomsmen pictures. Cuties.

We made it to the church, we got our flowers and started getting EXTRA nervous. This is when I realized I FORGOT deodorant - on my wedding day! Of course Lindsay remembered and packed it.

Above is oopsie daisy number whatever number we're on - the pew flowers wilted because the church was so warm. Oops! It was a BEAUTIFUL 70 degree day in February, and our church didn't quite get the memo. They kept the heater on. Did I notice? Nope. Drew did though - he HATES the heat.

You'd think my dad was whispering something fatherly and loving. He was actually whispering "slam dunk" which is our inside joke. Made us all laugh.

Our unity activity was this cord of three strands. The premise is that the white strand represents the bride, purple represents the groom, and the gold represents God. "A cord of three strands is not easily broken." We LOVED this unity activity as it had a real and true meaning to us. Anyway, it was my job to braid the strand while Drew held it, and we were supposed to remember to bring a rubber band to tie it off at the end, but we forgot. In the middle of the ceremony, I turned around and asked Lindsay for her hair tie to tie it up. Oops.

And so it happened! We were finally, after 6 long years, married! Can you tell how excited we were? LOL at all of my facial expressions throughout the ceremony. The thing I remember most was feeling like I might fall over or throw up or something. I've never been so nervous in my life. I just kept reciting "Don't lock your knees, Kaylee."

This car is my Poppy's, it's been in our family for years. Since I was little Poppy has been fixing it up for my Mimi. Mimi passed away about the same time it was finally complete. It holds a special place in our hearts and we were ecstatic to use it in our wedding. Best getaway car ever.

This is the DIY I was working on at 7am. At least it turned out cute!

A girl I work with (Alissa, owner of OhOlliePaperworks) chalked all of the boards for me! Because she's the bomb.

This room took a VILLAGE to put together. So much love for my mother who spent months worrying about this room. It turned out perfect.

Dawson built this giant cupcake stand in his garage. Along with the beautiful rough cedar arch we stood under as we married. Did I mention he also hand-tied all of our flowers and bouquets? Every last bud was arranged by him.

This is where it gets good. About 8 weeks before the wedding dad and I decided we were definitely going to do a fun father-daughter dance. Well, the week of the wedding Lindsay and I finally choreographed it. I taught it to dad (Like 5 people total knew about this secret dance) three days before the wedding, and we were only able to practice together ONE time. We were both so nervous. In fact, right before we walked down the aisle I whispered "Don't worry about the dance dad! We'll scratch it." To which he replied, "Nope. We're doing it." 

My dad does not do choreographed anything. He was so afraid he was going to forget the steps and embarrass me, while I was just afraid I was going to forget because dad was completely dependent on my verbal cues. When our song started I think we both thought we were going to throw up. He kept whispering "This doesn't sound like the right track!" Well, it was. 

I love the background of the picture above. Everyone LOVED it. They gathered around to watch and laugh and yell and cheer. It was SO much fun. Dad loved it too, believe it or not (after it was over, that is.) A special thank you goes to Gina for getting him through it, encouraging him, and for giving him the idea of downing a drink or two to calm his nerves beforehand. It was such a success and everyone was so surprised. Dad also now knows how to cupid shuffle and jump on it. Added bonuses.

Ooops - I had to!

Bouquet Toss!!

Syd caught it!

Amy didn't want it - (far left)

Yay John! You next!

Haley Rynn you are adorable.

And off we went! Off to the Indigo to be surprised by our beautiful room. If you've made it this far, you're in for a treat - theres more. Once we got back to the hotel, we were grabbing our bags (SHOUT OUT LINDSAY FOR GOING TO THE FORTRESS MID-RECEPTION TO RETRIEVE MINE - she lost her keys while she was there and missed like an hour of the reception because of it. You. Are. Awesome.)

Anyway, we were grabbing our bags when we realized the leftovers from dinner didn't get put in Poppy's car. We were STARVING, so what do we do on our wedding night? We call Amy and Dawson and they run to Whataburger to get us some food. Best part, they realized while delivering the food that their room was right across the hallway from ours, literally. So great.

Here is the picture proof. LOL. Ps - that was the best Diet Coke of my life.

The next day we woke up and went to breakfast with everyone downstairs at the Indigo's restaurant. This was extra fun. Getting to see everyone one last time before they left Waco was a highlight. Good food and better company. 

We took this photo before we went downstairs for breakfast. Yay married! 

When we loaded up our stuff and went to get in the car to drive to Dallas and prepare for our trip to Cancun ... Drew's car wouldn't start. It was the last oopsie daisy of the wedding. It was kind of hilarious, honestly. It was a small fix, but we did have to have it towed and took my car to Dallas. 

Our day was perfect. Absolutely perfect. All of the crazy little things that went wrong leading up to the wedding and the day of the wedding didn't even matter. I was sick, no voice, almost no dress, late, no flowers in pictures, smeared my eyeshadow, no little solo, we ran out of soda, ran out of cups, I almost lost my diamond bracelet, left my bag, Drew's car wouldn't start --- but even after all of these silly little things - Drew and I are just as married and we are just as crazy about how wonderfully our big day went. I know I'm biased, but seriously it was the best and most fun wedding I've ever been to. Our wedding party (SHOUT OUT to each of you) was such a solid group of friends. They rolled with every punch and made everything better than we could've ever imagined. We wouldn't change a thing. It was just as perfectly imperfect as we are and we will forever be grateful to every single person who lent a hand.

I can't wait to share the videographer videos! They still aren't quite ready yet, but stay tuned. Look for our honeymoon details next time! 

XO,

Kaylee