Wedding Bells Pt. 1

I do...again, still, always.

I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath to hear about the big wedding. I was very excited to tell you all, but also got caught up in the shit storm that is the US. But we'll just try to put that in the back of our minds for now. 


I left for the Midwest a couple of weeks before Soldier did, and for some reason I had such a hard time leaving him. My flight was in the evening and I moped around all day, tearing up and sniffling way too much. Poor guy, he didn't really know what to do with me. We got to the airport a few minutes early and had a drink, so that helped. 
Overnight flights kind of suck, but this was the best flight I've had in a long time. Everything was on time, my layovers were long enough but not too long, and my luggage even arrived to my destination before I did. Whoa. It was a good sign. 

The couple of weeks before Soldier got there were spent getting all the final details ready for the wedding. Remember those paper flowers I bitched about making? Well MIL put them together and, oh my word, they took my breath away. This one's mine. Ready for the tearjerker part? If you zoom in or look closely you can see some grass, silver ribbon, and pearl pins...those are from the bouquet my siblings sent me last year. I'm pretty sure I choked up every time I told one of them about it. 

We were also able to get in to decorate the reception space a week in advance, which was awesooome. There were a couple of last minute additions for my Phantom of the Wedding to set up, but otherwise it was done and forgotten for the wedding week. 

Soldier got in on...Monday I think. His flights did not go as well as mine: one flight was delayed and his luggage inexplicably didn't make it with him. Luckily it arrived that night. Having gotten most everything finished, we spent most of our time hanging out with our families and friends. 
We had our respective parties that Thursday. The boys went up to his family's lake house to shoot guns, get drunk, and wrestle in the driveway (in that order). 
For mine, one of my sisters planned a really nice evening of drinks and dinner. It was small and classy; she went as far as to have a menu ready and waiting at a fantastic tapas restaurant. She also had some fun questions for guests to answer about Soldier and I. It wasn't a late night and it was lovely. 

Next day we had the rehearsal. There was, of course, a little bridesmaid drama which I guess started the day before, but what would a wedding be without one of the bridesmaids deciding it's all about her? The rehearsal went well, and I got to wear my fancy party dress. 
One thing that was really important to me was making sure each of my siblings (plus my niece) had a special task. My brothers did readings, one sister carried Soldier's ring, another signed the paperwork, and the third made the toast. 

Last summer, my Little Princess (niece) and I were sitting outside and I was telling her how things were working out with Soldier, and that we planned to get married. She asked if she would get to be involved and said that she was too old to be a flower girl and didn't really want to be a junior bridesmaid (she was 13). I assured her that she would be a regular bridesmaid. She said she was probably too young to be maid of honor, and I agreed. Since we didn't have a best man and maid of honor, I decided her task would be to stand next to me during the ceremony, but I wanted to surprise her. I'm not sure she really understood until my mom spelled it out for her at the rehearsal, but I was really glad to have her by my side the whole time. She's such a cool kid.

After the rehearsal we opted to just have a party at my parent's house instead of a traditional rehearsal dinner at a restaurant. We did have it catered, but I think it was cheaper and I know it was more fun. Plus there were just a lot of people. 
Everything went well and was fun, and it was so good to have the family together. We haven't had all 6 kids in the same place in years. It again wasn't too late of a night, but you know I didn't get that much sleep. 

Next up: wedding day!