We are finally married!!!!!!!!!! :D
Recap:
The wedding was at 10 AM, and I was awake by 4:45 since I was so antsy and nervous. My hair and makeup appointment was at 7 AM, and all of my bridesmaids came along to eat breakfast at the salon. The wonderful lady doing my hair (Jenny at http://savannahweddinghair.com/ ) was amazing! I have A LOT of thick hair and she had it all curled and looking gorgeous in just over an hour! I also don't typically wear a lot of makeup, but she did a FANTASTIC job of making me look "bridal" without going overboard.
(Note: Although it was supposed to rain all day (60-70% chance of thunderstorms all day), it didn't!!!! It sprinkled for about 10 minutes while I was having my hair done and then it was clear and sunny for the rest of the day! Meanwhile, the rest of Georgia was apparently flooding...I cannot believe how lucky we were!)
Our photographers ( http://www.khmasonphotography.com/ )arrived at the hotel/ceremony venue RIGHT as I got back from the salon (around 8:30 AM) and got some great shots of the groomsmen playing with their Nerf guns (groomsmen gifts) as well as shots of my girls helping me get into my very poofy dress, lol.
My husband and I decided we wanted to do a "first look" session, so we met in front of these gorgeous windows and curtains and had a photographer on either side to catch both of our "first looks"...it really could not have been more special. I almost cried at the expression on his face when he first saw me. I cannot wait to see the pictures! We took a few more shots around the gorgeous venue ( http://www.mansiononforsythpark.com/ ) and then I ran back upstairs to do touchups and gather the bridesmaids.
Even though we didn't have a formal rehearsal, we had a day-of coordinator ( http://www.triciahuddas.com/ ) who did a fantastic job of making sure everything went smoothly. We heard from our guests that the processional was as perfect as it could have been! I could see my flowergirl from a window and she did such a great job of dropping her petals! When I started walking down the aisle, I almost started crying again because my dad was so proud and Jordan looked so handsome!
We wrote the entire ceremony ourselves and our officiant ( http://www.savannahweddingminister.com/ ) did an awesome job with it! When we exchanged vows, I almost started bawling! I eventually just had to stop for a moment and I started laughing, which made all of our guests laugh. :) We did a slightly out-of-the-ordinary ring exchange (we repeated after the officiant together and exchanged the rings at the same time), which got a lot of compliments too. Then we exited to bubble-blowing by our guests and the song, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys, which had everyone laughing again too. :)
Immediately after the ceremony, we met up with our families and the wedding party for pictures in Forsyth Park across the street from The Mansion. Even though it was sunny and a little hot, we got some great pictures before sending the wedding party along to the reception so we could take a private carriage ride. One of the photographers came along for pictures on the carriage ride, and I'm so glad she did! About 3 blocks after we left, I noticed my veil had gone missing...we looked behind us and it was in the road about 1/4 of a mile away!! Without hesitation, Jordan leaped out of the carriage (after it stopped) and ran off to retrieve it!! The photographer got pictures of him running in the street and me cracking up the whole time! It didn't help that the carriage driver was laughing and yelling, "Runaway groom!" :D
We made it to the reception about an hour after it started (we had instructed lunch to begin for our guests at 11, so they wouldn't have to wait). The photographer bustled my dress in the lobby before we went down to the banquet room because we couldn't get in contact with any of my bridesmaids. :) She was so freakin awesome! We also had a friend's mother and sister in charge of decorating the room (because it had to be done that morning) and it turned out looking gorgeous! They were so helpful and we were so lucky to have them helping us!
We had our reception at The Lady and Sons ( http://ladyandsons.com/ ) and the food was INCREDIBLE! I don't even know where to start. No one left hungry, not even us! We didn't get to eat much (I was nervous and people wanted pictures), so they sent us home with two giant to-go boxes full of food! Also, John Gallien was our event coordinator and he was very good about calling and emailing me to make sure they were doing everything like we wanted it. I could not be happier with the service and value of The Lady and Sons!
After the reception, we had our closest friends meet in Forsyth Park for funny pictures, including a giant line of at least 25 people jumping in the air at once! Then we stood Jordan in the middle of a sidewalk and had 6 people pelt him with Nerf gun bullets, which was caught on camera by both photographers! :) After about 30 minutes with our friends, we went down to River Street for another hour of pictures of just me and him. Our photographers literally took pictures until the last 5 minutes of the "8 hours of coverage" we were promised in our package! We ended up at Wet Willies, so we sat down at a table and just had a few drinks with them, sharing crazy wedding stories. It was so relaxing because both of them are such fun people and very similar to me and Jordan.
We received so many compliments from guests and vendors who said that our wedding went about as smoothly as weddings can go, which is awesome! Considering I spent 2.5 years planning it, I would hope so! ;)
Overall:
I HIGHLY recommend our photographers. http://www.khmasonphotography.com/
I HIGHLY recommend my hair/makeup artist. http://savannahweddinghair.com/
I HIGHLY recommend The Lady and Sons. http://ladyandsons.com/
The flowers were all from the ladies at WedIdeas ( http://www.wedideas.com/index.htm ) and they were GORGEOUS! No one could believe that my bouquet was artificial, and I loved it! They were also very affordable (my bouquet, with shipping, was only $85). The only possible complaint I could make was that shipping was very slow, so make sure you order well in advance.
My dress was from David's Bridal and I LOVED wearing it! It was only $700 and I didn't need very many alterations. Plus the ladies at the Athens, GA location were super friendly and helpful, so I recommend them too!
I don't really recommend The Mansion, to be honest. Although the day of the wedding went smoothly, and everything was gorgeous, we went through SO much crap before and after the wedding. It was definitely NOT worth the $3,000+ we spent for the ceremony and hotel room (our room didn't even have consistent hot water...for $350 a night, that is unacceptable).
******
We are leaving on Friday for our 3-week honeymoon in England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland!! So professional pictures won't be ready until after we get back, but here are some our friends took:
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