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Somehow, it seems, that my life has been sucked into a kind of weird time warp and I’ve already been married for over a month. Someone tell me how that happened, please.
I’ve got lots of photos and stories from the honeymoon (teaser: stomach flu, zombies, and sleeping on the floor of Heathrow) but I need to start from the beginning. So today, here’s a quick recap of the wedding October 1 wedding!
My goal when planning the affair was to ensure that I, my husband, the entire bridal party and every guest at the wedding had fun. (Spoiler alert: We had a freaking blast!) I only had one or two very minor meltdowns in the entire 18 months of planning. Weddings are supposed to be fun, right? Especially for the bride! So I made sure that the whole process was enjoyable, from the first appointment to the last dance. Otherwise, what’s the point?
I don’t mean to get too off-topic and into planning philosophy here, but as it turns out, one way to ensure you’ll enjoy your wedding day is to be organized! Having a full year and a half to meet with vendors and work on the wedding meant I could space out planning responsibilities and leave myself time for work and hobbies. It also meant I had time to meet with lots and lots of vendors to make sure I found the right ones for us.
We also had Julianne. I can’t say enough nice things about this amazing woman. She was our fabulous wedding planner. I was the first to get married from my immediate family, and Michael was the same, so we really had no idea what we were doing. Julianne was an absolute genius when it came to things like timelines, costs, local vendors, and most importantly, coordinating the day-of. And ladies, if your groom is skeptical about this additional cost? Remind him that if something goes awry on your Big Day, his brand-new mother-in-law will bring it up with the planner instead of him. Hooray!
So here’s what happened on my wedding day:
9 AM: Hair appointment at RAW Salon with the bridesmaids. I was very happy that I had done a trial run with the stylist. She knew what I wanted and had already done it once on my hair. It meant we stayed on time (done by 10 AM) and I was thrilled with the result. Our photographer, Mike, also met us there and took some shots that I can’t wait to see.
11 AM: Make-up appointment at Studio J Urban Spa. I am a make-up fanatic and I like to think I know what I’m doing in that department, so for a long time I was firmly against hiring a make-up artist for the day. A few good experiences and a trial run the week before at Studio J changed my mind. It was actually a great way to relax and kill time before the ceremony.
12:15 PM: Arrived at the Winspear for final touch-ups and putting on the dress. My gown buttoned up the back and we forgot crochet hooks – oops! Luckily my ladies have nimble fingers and they were able to do me up no problem.
12:45 PM: The Winspear staff told us it was time to go. Up some back stairs, across the second floor (staying far away from the edge so arriving guests wouldn’t see us) and back down the other side to wait in the wings.
1 PM: One by one, the bridesmaids walked. And shit – there was a huge snag on the bottom of my dress. Trust Julianne to have a Bridal Emergency Kit that included a pair of fabric scissors. She took care of it in a second.
1:20 PM: Married! A short, fun ceremony followed by a receiving line. It might sound boring, but with 170ish guests, it was wonderful to have a chance to chat with everyone.
1:45 PM: Family photos! We stayed at the Winspear for these to reduce the chance of a transportation fiasco.
2 PM: Waiting for the limo.
2:10 PM: Still waiting for the limo.
2:20 PM: Finally! We jetted off to d’Lish for a delicious lunch break featuring an all-white menu.
3 PM: Photos in Emily Murphy Park. We saw another bridal party there and I have to say, dang, we had a very good-looking bridal party.
4:30 PM: Surprise! We took the bridal party on a private High Level Street Car. It was an awesome opportunity to relax and enjoy some champagne with our best friends for an hour. Our photog got some great shots up there, too.
6 PM: Check-in to the hotel. Jacuzzi? Check. Leopard print carpet? Check. Oh yeah, it was everything a honeymoon suite should be.
6:30 PM: Arrival into the reception, which had started an hour earlier for guests. A few quick announcements, like the kissing game. Stand in the middle of the dance floor and kiss your partner – the bride and groom will copy whatever you do!
6:40 PM: And dinner is served! Buffet-style, we drew names from a hat for the line-up. For example, “This is the name of the three-year-old grey tabby cat the couple adopted earlier this year. It’s the Waldo Table!”
7:30 PM: The ice cream bar opened up. It was one of the evening’s greatest hits. (So I hear – everyone wanted photos of us scooping our sundaes, but we never found time to actually eat them.)
8:30 PM: Speeches started. Michael’s brother brought down the house and everyone kept it personal, short, funny and sweet. Perfect! Our quick thank yous were a bit of a mess, though – we wrote them on a napkin during dinner!
9 PM: Our first dance, “Home” by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. It sounded amazing being covered by The Wedding Crashers, the 8-piece band we hired for the occasion.
The rest of the evening is one big blur of visiting with family, visiting with out-of-town friends, drinking, dancing and snagging some of the late lunch. When I learned that my dress did not allow for easy bathroom access, I just changed out of it and into a cocktail dress I’d brought in my overnight bag. It sure made the garter toss less challenging.
The day went off practically without a hitch. I’m thrilled it all worked out (almost) as planned and that I was able to be as relaxed about all of it as I was. In fact, I had such a great time, I’m thinking about making this an annual event! That would be great, eh? 
All photos by Mike Van Essen – check out more here!
Definitely the most fun I've had at a wedding, probably because it included two people I care about a lot! Congrats on your big day (again) and yes: please host a big anniversary party next year! Just kidding… sort of.
Brittany, I'm so happy to hear the planning process and wedding were fun for you! I could tell by your personality that you wouldn't get sucked into some of the madness that comes with weddings. I wish you and Micheal a happy marriage together. Congrats!