The Big Day

On July 25, 2009, Brian and I got engaged. Shortly thereafter, we started this blog to document all of our adventures in our quest to plan our perfect wedding. And when I say that all of our hard work, all of our late night planning and preparation, all of our discussions led us to our perfect day, I am not kidding. It was nothing short of perfect!

From the weather, to the dress, to the flowers, to the hair and make-up, to the cupcakes, to the people, to the music, to the excitement, to the photobooth, to the love, it was all so perfect, and we really could not have asked for anything more.

We held our wedding on Friday night, August 6, 2010. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning of that same week we found ourselves drenched in rain with threatening thunder clouds looming low overhead. On Thursday around 10 am the clouds cleared, leaving behind a wonderfully beautiful sunny day with a nice, warm temperature. Because it had just rained the for the past couple days, we were surrounded by lovely lush greenery everywhere. Goodale Park looked fantastic!

THE REHEARSAL

We had our rehearsal on Thursday afternoon, which went unmistakeably well, and then we all headed over to our rehearsal dinner location: Due Amici. It was beautiful. Everything was set up perfectly. There were candles and beautiful white tables. The exposed brick on the walls of the room made us all feel so cozy, and the food. The food! Delicious! Marvelous! Absolutely wonderful! We had a few additional guests that were not part of our wedding party join us for our rehearsal dinner. We had a slideshow of pictures of Brian and I growing up, we had lovely individual dessert cakes with the letters 'B & E' written on them, and we had such a fantastic time! (This perfect night was a precursor to our perfect day!) We all headed out to Bar Louie for a quick drink after our rehearsal dinner where even more of our out of town guests met up with us. We could already feel the love and excitement! It was all just so perfect.

Thursday night found Brian staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Columbus, OH (along with many of our out of town guests), and I headed back to the homestead with my Mom and my sister, Amy. The next time we say each other we'd be saying our 'I do's'!

THE WEDDING DAY

Erin's Morning
I woke up at 6:12 am. There was no going back to sleep. I immediately checked my eyeball. (Jack poked my eye out the night before when we were rough housing.) It was still swollen and red. So, after Amy and I went to CVS and Walgreen's in search of something to clear my eye up, we were headed back home to pick up Mom. The three of us traveled to the eye doctor. The nurses were so sympathetic. They fit us in an emergency appointment because it was my wedding day. Fortunately, it felt much worse than it actually was. Jack had scratched the inside, white part of my eye, and the doc gave me some eye drops and a prescription for ointment and I was out the door. At this point, the morning itinerary had already been scratched. (No pun intended.)

Jack initially was invited to the ceremony, but after the night before, we decided that he would spend the day and night at puppy camp. Mom and Amy dropped Jack off while I gathered everything I needed for the hotel and the wedding night. When Mom and Amy returned, we headed to the hotel to get ready.

Once we got to the hotel, I got really excited! Brandi had already gotten her hair done, Tamara was in the process of getting her make-up done, and Shanna was next in line for hair. There was so much excitement! I layed on the couch with frozen blueberries on my eye to help reduce the swelling (and pain) while the hustle and bustle went on around me. I felt calm. I was excited, but I was just so happy to have everyone that meant so much to me around, and all in the same room.

I got my hair done first, and then my makeup, and all of a sudden, it felt like we were all running behind. We kept getting little updates on where Brian was, and it started to get a bit rushed. I was ready and whisked off to the park with our photographer, Kim, our videographers Dustin and Devin, and Brian's Mom, Mary, by Scott, my stepdad. I just couldn't wait to see Brian!

Brian's Morning
I woke up in the morn and showered. I went to the complimentary breakfast that was offered at the hotel, and then headed to Phoenix Links Golf Course to play golf with the wedding party, extended family, and friends. (Yes, there were nearly 30 people! And yes, we showed up all together ready to tee off on hole 1. The starter was not too pleased with us, but we convinced him to allow us to start on any hole. This ended up being the most unorganized method of golfing. My group of six got through about four holes...if that.) After 'golf' we went to Bar Louie for lunch, and headed back to the hotel to get ready.

I was excited, anxious, and could not wait to see my beautiful bride.

Once I was ready, I headed over to Goodale Park where I was to meet Erin. It was an absolutely amazing day!

Our Wedding Day
We met at the gazebo at Goodale Park. We decided to meet beforehand to take our photos since our ceremony was going to be a bit later in the evening. Our bridal party was to be picked up by the trolley at the hotel. We were all going to hit a few locations around Columbus to take pictures. Strangely enough, our bridal party arrived in two taxi vans. The trolley was a no show, and because we've always been told that, 'when life hands you lemons, make lemonade,' we decided that the bridal party would remain at the park and wait for the 'new' trolley, and Brian and I would pack in our photographers car with our videographer and his assistant and go take some photos and shoot some video. (This was one of the best periods of time throughout the day!) We went to Whetstone Park of Roses and shot some incredible photographs in the wild flower area. We then scouted a few industrial locations around Columbus and did some more modern wedding photos. We even climbed a rusty old fire escape (yes, in my wedding gown and shoes!) to get the perfect shot. Troopers we are, I tell ya! (Channeling my inner Yoda.) When we finally met up with the bridal party, they had been partying in the trolley at the park, and we were nearly 45 minutes from show time!

The bagpiper met us on the trolley and started warming up. This really was the only time I was nervous throughout the entire day. The bagpipes just invoked so much emotion! Everything was pretty much going as planned. The videographers put a mic on Brian, Scott (our pastor) and Scott (my stepdad) both met us at the shelter house, our day of coordinator, Terri, assured us that all was going as planned and we were ready to go, and off the trolley went.

Our ceremony went off without a hitch. It was beautiful. It was short and sweet, and I remember thinking, 'I can't believe were actually getting married right now!' (I was paying attention to the pastor, too...I think...) It was so exciting to be there with Brian. It was so exciting to offer our love to each other in front of so many loving family and friends. It was just an absolutely incredible day!

After the ceremony and group photos at the park, we headed to the reception. Once again, the place was just impeccable. I felt so loved. I felt so excited. I felt so happy to be there with my true love. The reception looked even more fantastic than we had envisioned, and we had a fantastic time! I think everyone had a fantastic time, and that is exactly what we wanted! It's true that the day and night pass by very quickly, but not once did I feel like it was going by too fast. I distinctly remember thinking at one point, 'we have so much time left for our reception!'

I never was one to have my wedding already figured out, but this day, that Brian and I created, was exactly what we wanted.

It was perfect.