getting ready

the girls

 
three stylists came to my aunt's house to do our hair. here, i'm getting the final touch - my veil.

   
breakfast and mimosas

meghan recording the chaos.

 
my inner girl-scout prepared our emergency kit

the lovely and talented julie strating did all of our makeup. in my aunt's laundry room.

 
fake eyelashes - before and after. loved them!

my beautiful engagement ring and lovely manicure

 
my shoes and the brooch for my sash

   
old/borrowed (dan's late great-grandmother's handkerchief), new (my dress), and blue (crystals on the bottom of my shoes)

 
the tote bags that i made for my bridesmaids. you can also see the bracelet that i made for each of them.

 
matching bridesmaid earrings (also made by me) and the bridesmaids' sash and pin.

 
my beautiful dress - time to put it on, girls!

 
my sister and matron of honor megan takes the lead.

 
this is a two person job - my sister-in-law carrie helps out.

 
after a thumbs-up from my dad, it's time to bustle.

 
some dress bodice detail.

 
my favorite part, the sash.

8 girls coifed, made-up and dressed in under 4 hours. do i look ready to get the heck out of there, or what?

   
lipstick, a bag of candy for the limo from our nephew, and we're off!

the boys

 
the boys begin arriving at the home of a close family friend while dan digs into breakfast

   
teri had lots of great food on hand!

first meeting

dan and i decided to see each other before the wedding so that we could do all of our photos before the ceremony and reception.

dan waiting for me to arrive.

 
the gorgeous diamond bracelet he got me as a wedding gift.

flowers

my sister and i both worked at a florist, and so we did all of the flowers ourselves - bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, centerpieces, etc.

portraits

the bride

the groom

the bride and groom

the girls

 
amy had us walking through some grungy back alleys, but it was totally worth it!

the boys

the wedding party

we went to taps, which is one of the places dan and i went on our first date.

 
we bought everyone a round of shots.

the obligatory formals

 
dan and i with pastor greg; my mom & dad, grandma and sister

dan's parents, sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and niece

ceremony

 
our diy invitations

 
i made the candle wrapper and my sister made the unity candle arrangement.

   
branch arrangement, program cover, and door wreath - all diy.

 
baskets of programs and bubbles.

 
see - people actually read the programs while the string quartet played prelude music.

 
our moms lit the sides of the unity candle; our fabulous doc aletha telling us it's time to start.

 
my dad walking me down the aisle; dan's reaction.

i had bustled my dress for the outdoor photos pre-ceremony and was worried that it would be all wrinkled, so I didn't take it out for the ceremony.
it really didn't matter to me - trains are kind of a pain.

 
during his sermon, pastor greg had us turn to look at our parents while he talked about what a great example of marriage they have been for us. it was my favorite part of the ceremony!

 
my parents; dan's parents.

 
dan's aunt read 1 corinthians 13; my aunt and godmother read ecclesiastes 4:9-12

 
we lit the unity candle while our soloist sang 'the prayer 'with the string quartet. she's my student employee and is an opera major - it was beautiful.

 
vows and rings.

the rings.

sealing the deal!

 
mr and mrs.

making it legal.

reception

cocktail hour

 
we had drinks and appetizers in the club's living room. i was glad for the opportunity to partake - i was starving by that point!

   
what was left of the place cards before the photog arrived; details decorating the living room; the diy wreaths were moved fromt the chapel to the ballroom doors.

 
our guestbook table displayed our parents' and grandparents' wedding photos along with candles representing each of our deceased grandparents. we asked our guests to sign little cards, which we will be putting into a scrapbook along with the group photo of each guest table that our photogs took.

ballroom

   
toasting flutes; diy candle centerpiece and diy table numbers; delicious caramel apple favors

 
closer view of the diycandle centerpiece; diy floral centerpiece.

a pianist played throughout cocktail hour and dinner. we're very glad we splurged on this, as it was much classier than recorded music.

intro and cake

 
we were introduced to "your smiling face" by james taylor. the bridal party was introduced to "crazy little thing called love" by michael buble - i'll spare you those photos.

 
our cake was made by the club's pastry chef. it was fabulous - white cake with raspberry filling and chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling.

toasts

 
dan started by welcoming our guests. he pointed out that i had designed and created virtually everything about our wedding day and told me how much he appreciated it. i was very touched.

my beautiful sister and matron of honor gave the next toast. it was very heartfelt. i love her!

dan's best friend and best man andrew was next. it was hysterical.

 
bromance.

dinner

 
dinner was breast of chicken grand traverse (with a cherry stuffing), potato puff, and green beans almondine. it was divine.

 
on the left, we're watching the photo slide show that dan's dad put together for us.

dancing

 
dan and i danced to "man and wife" by michelle featherstone.

 
i danced with my dad at the same time dan danced with his mom to "you've got a friend" by james taylor.

bridal party dance to "everything" by michael buble. we asked our bridal party to dance with their dates rather than akwardly dance with the person they walked down the aisle with.

 
busting moves.

 
at left, the two pregnant bridesmaids made it out there for the cha-cha slide, one of the few "organized" dances we allowed.

and they lived happily ever after...

thanks for looking! :)