Things to Remember About Our Wedding Day

Image by Ashley at Paige Photography 

We survived a wedding and a honeymoon, and we've been back to reality for 4 days. Hardest 4 days, ever! Hahaha! 

I'm excited to transition this space into more of a journal of our life together. A space to remember the recipes we love, the adventures we take, the life we build together. I'm sure this space will evolve over time, and I'm excited to work on it. 

Our wedding was held at Stonewall Resort on May 26th at 6pm. The day was beautiful, and I'll be sharing images from that day with you once we get them back. The sneak peeks that our photographer sent us were absolute perfection and I'm so excited to see more! 

Things from the wedding weekend that I hope I never forget: 

1. GOD'S FAVOR. Throughout the entire engagement, wedding planning, moving, wedding, and honeymoon I've experienced favor in a way I never have before. God's provision was so evident over us during this season and it's built faith in me in a new way. I never want to forget the financial provision, the extra bonuses that just showed up, the stress-free wedding planning, the JOY and PEACE that just flowed into my life. 
2. Moving out of my apartment. Man, this hit me like a ton of bricks and I didn't really expect it. As a single gal, I've lived by myself for 6-7 years. Leaving my home and putting all my stuff in someone else's house was WEIRD, and I felt a little sadness that the season of being on my own was coming to an end. I had a lot of pride that I took care of myself for so long, and I was afraid of what was coming next. I'm happy to report that all is well. HA! I never want to forget that there was an 80% chance of thunderstorms that day, and it didn't rain at all until around 6pm for 15 minutes. I also never want to forget eating a giant burger with Kyle and my parents at Pufferbelly's that had mac and cheese on the burger after our first load was taken to Kyle's. And then the ice cream floats afterward. 
3. Our "fight" the day we got our marriage license. I think Kyle and I were both experiencing nerves, fighting through change, and just trying to deal with the anxiousness we were feeling leading up to the wedding. I picked up Kyle from work the Wednesday before the wedding to head to the courthouse to get our marriage license. I don't think we said 10 words to each other the entire drive to the courthouse, while we navigated downtown, and as we made our way to the second floor. The records department was empty and quiet, and a cute older lady led us down to one of stations while she asked us questions to complete our application. While we waited in silence, I noticed an entire window sill filled with rows and rows of little solar-powered toys that would dance or move according to the level of sunlight they were receiving. They all clicked in unison and I found the whole display amusing and hilarious. I mentioned it to Kyle but he wasn't as amused or entertained as I was. The woman who helped us asked Kyle some identifying information, and then it was my turn.....I ended up spelling my mother's middle name incorrectly twice and didn't notice until the completed application was printed and handed to me to sign. The lady even asked me and spelled the name back to me and I still confirmed the incorrect spelling. I blamed "bride brain". We left the courthouse in silence, and I drove Kyle back to work. We sat in my car for a few minutes without saying anything and then he left to go back inside. I was so upset that I ended up driving to my parents' house even though I was supposed to stay at our new house to get things unpacked and organized. 
4. Our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner - what a great day! My dad and I were able to spend most of the day together. We ate breakfast at Apple Annies in Morgantown and picked up a few last minute flowers, our wedding cakes, and the candlesticks we used to decorate our tables at the reception. That day was relaxed, and it was wonderful just to spend quality time with my dad right before walking into this new season. It was one of my favorite memories of the weekend! We ended up meeting my mom, sister, and brother-in-law at our venue to unload all the decorative stuff. Our planner, Kelli, took care of all the decorating for us which was such a relief! We got back to the house just in time to shower and get ready to leave for our rehearsal...which went seamlessly! Truly! So quick and easy! We all left the rehearsal and drove to my old church for dinner. Kyle's mom had put together a Bahama's theme dinner complete with leis, coconut decorations, and Caribbean music. It was a lovely party, and even MORE lovely because our families meshed together so seamlessly. It was such a relaxed evening and made me so excited for the next day.
5. The Wedding. Literally went off without issue, stress, or anxiety. I had such a peace and an excitement in my spirit that I was able to relax and be present the entire day. That was one of my only prayers for the day as I didn't want to rush through and be too busy going from task to task to actually enjoy. My sisters, mom, and I got ready for the day at my parents' house while my dad and brother-in-law went on a Segway tour of the resort that my dad literally built. Hahaha! We headed to the resort around 2, and Kyle and I accidentally arrived at the same time. I gave him instructions to stay in the room and close the curtains ASAP so he didn't accidentally see me before the wedding. I walked into our holding room and my bouquet had already arrived. It was so gorgeous and perfect that I thought it was fake at first. It was the most beautiful arrangement of flowers I'd ever seen! So pretty! Before long, our photographer showed up, pictures were taken, people stopped in to see me, we ate snacks, talked and laughed! I thought I'd left a bag with all my details in it somewhere, but one of my sisters ran out to the car and thankfully found it! Everything that afternoon went by so fast that we went from taking my portraits to literally running up the steps to get ourselves together to walk down the aisle. My grandmothers and my dad saw me and we all hugged and cried a little. It was such a sweet moment to be in the holding room with my dad, just the two of us, as we prepared to walk down the aisle. We looked at each other and I said, "are you ready"...and my dad said, "let's go get you married". He had to remind me to slow down as we rounded the corner...and had to remind me to stop when we reached the end of the aisle. Our ceremony also went by in a flash. I don't remember anything that was said because I literally thought Kyle was going to pass out. He was holding on to my hands so tightly. We exchanged vows and he immediately relaxed. 
6. The reception. Our reception was everything I dreamed of. Literally. A few weeks after we got engaged, I had a dream about the reception location set up with long tables filled with our closest family and friends, so that's what we did. Stonewall set the space up and it was more beautiful than I could've done myself. Truly. We showed up to the reception after our photos ate dinner, danced, cut our cakes, talked, laughed! My mom's boss sent us a s'mores bar to enjoy with our families at the fire they made for us. It was the best night and it went by so fast. I took a moment to pause and just observe the party. We had the reception under a covered patio strung with twinkle lights. The tables were covered with white linens and decorated with greenery and gold candlesticks. We tried to keep the decor simple and it was beautiful. My sister Elyse DJ'd for us via a Spotify playlist. We added our family and friends songs so they could dance to their song when it played. Dad and I danced to "My Girl" and Kyle and his mom danced to a song that I can't remember! Ah! The evening was beautiful, and everyone lingered until around 10:30. 

The day was a dream. Filled with joy and peace. We had 60 of our closest friends and family, and I wouldn't have done anything differently. I'll be sharing more soon! 

xoxo, The Harts