Tying the Knot

We prayed for snow, instead God sent us what turned out to be the absolutely perfect wedding weather, and actually quite unusual weather for the month of February.  While just a week or so ago we had had over a foot of snow, February 19th, 2011 turned out to be a near 60 degree, bright sunny day.  Perfect!  So glad the Lord always knows best ;)

It was early September when Drew Babe asked me to be his wife and, without a doubt in my mind, I said "duh" "yes".  With a little over five months to prepare, wedding preparations were quickly in full swing.  I still swoon over the thought of a wedding, so planning my own was definitely a joy.  This was the day I had dreamt of and prayed for since I was three years old, when I was determined to marry my dad and Elvis Presley (guess nobody told me he was, well, dead).

After ripping out pages of magazines, perusing photography blogs, and imagining "the big day" in my mind, I finally had a vision for February 19th.  Little by little the pieces came together with the help of my extremely organized mom and numerous of other people.

Drew and I eagerly maintained a constant countdown to the day where we would become husband and wife (and finally get to go on an amazing honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean!:).  I couldn't wait to walk down the aisle to the arms of my best friend, and promise to stand by his side "til death do us part."  Our desire for the wedding ceremony was to give all the glory to the One, who had brought us together and promises to faithfully carry us through our marriage.

Following the wedding ceremony, a picture-perfect limo ride with my husband, and numerous necessary wedding pictures (my cheeks never hurt so bad....yes, the cheeks on my face), it was time to get down.  With over 250 people attending, we were super excited about our wedding dance party reception.  Of course, we did all the usual reception activities, but then, with a surprise dance, we opened up the dance floor with a bang.  Not only did we have dancing, where even my grandparents joined in, there was a ice cream sundae bar, complete brownies, whipped cream, and gummy bears, for everyone to enjoy.  What a par-tayy!!  It was exactly what Drew Babe and I had imagined.  A celebration.

I could go on and on about the most wonderful day of my life so far, but I'm sure that wouldn't interest you as much as pictures of 2-19-11.  Come on, admit it,  I know everyone prefers pictures over words :)  Hopefully you can get a little glimpse into the day where I became Mrs. Martin and began a lifelong journey with my Drew Babe.

I wanted something a little different, so my two sweet flower girls carried these found here on Etsy.

It took me FOREVER to find the perfect guestbook, but again, Etsy prevailed. 

Notice the little rhinestone "I do" :) 

One of my dreams was to have my dad in his Marine dress blues as he walked me down the aisle.

This was the best picture I could find to show our "branch" decorations.  Most of the tables had vases filled with pool salt, yes cheap-o pool salt, which we placed the metallic silver spray painted branches into.  We had extra large branches decorate the area behind the head table.

Drew Babe and I loved the architecture of this church...light and airy with those marvelous exposed beams.

                                                                        It's official :)

mmmm my favorite part, even though I forgot about it that day....oops

Because we wanted to have entire families at our reception, we decided to have fun little things for the kids to do, like this huge paper banner where they could draw or write to their hearts content.  We also had crustless PB&J sandwiches for the little kiddos :)

Bubbles and light sticks :)

My mom put this together with black and white photographs from our parents and grandparents wedding days.

My bouquet with the "something blue" brooch from my grandma.

We also had a photobooth set up at the reception, so we were able to get fun photos of almost all our guests.

Don't worry we are certainly not condoning under age drinking, it's sparkling cider....seriously.

Definitely had no idea this happened :)

The dance floor was like this pretty much the whole night!

And we're off!  Two weeks before the wedding Drew Babe surprised me with our honeymoon: a cruise to three ports in the Caribbean. 

K&D: 2~19~11

All pictures by Melanie Wasko.  And, no, I am not being paid or persuaded by either the photographer or Etsy to promote their sites.  I just really love both Melanie Wasko Photography, because she did our wedding pictures, and Etsy, because of all the great/creative finds.