The Wedding: Getting Ready

The minute I woke up on Sunday I had butterflies in my stomach.  Its crazy how you prepare for one day for almost a year and then its finally here.  Thankfully the butterflies went away the moment I saw Josh.  I know its tradition for the bride and groom not to see each other but I am so thankful this is one that we broke.  Seeing him, both in the morning and then after we were dressed, was seriously the best thing for me that day.  It calmed my nerves and made me re-focus on what the whole point of the day was, US.

Josh looking great

To save us some hassle, my Aunt Mary offered to drive most of the wedding supplies down to the lodge.  I can't say how much of a help this was as it was crazy enough trying to wrangle all of our personal things.  Josh and I headed down shortly after and settled in at about 11 am to our respective dressing areas.  The hairdressers were already in place and the girls were already getting beautiful when I walked in.

I loved being able to just hang out with the girls, drink mimosas and snack on yummy food before the wedding.  After the girls were done I popped into the chair and they got my hair and make up done.  I think this is when it really hit me because here I was ready to get into the dress, the girls were in their dresses and the photographers/videographers were circling around.

The boys getting ready

Dress time came and luckily it went pretty smoothly.  My dress fit perfectly and we were able to get it on without any major hassles.  After some donning some accessories, I was off to see Josh! We decided to do the first look, like I said above, because one we didn't want to not see each other before walking down and two we wanted to get some photos outside as Starved Rock State Park is so beautiful.

The girls putting on their make-up

Josh looked great in his uniform and we got to take some time just the two of us, taking pictures and filming. Although the cameras were there it really felt like it was just us for a bit.  After getting some of us we brought in the bridal party and family.  I was so impressed how the photographers got everyone in and out.  With large families and little kids this was a relief.  By the time 4 pm rolled around we were just relaxing and getting ready for the ceremony at 5.

My dress ready to be put on

For me this meant pulling the hundred pine needles out of my dress.  During the pictures they had collected in the tulle train and were now sandwiched between the layers.  We even found a few in the bathroom that must have fallen out of the inner layers of the dress.

My beautiful flowers

Pine needles out, hair touch ups, photos complete....It was wedding time!