OUR BIG DAY!!

As planning for the wedding started, choosing a date was turning out to be a lot harder than I thought!! Garrett and I threw around several dates for our wedding. I love the patterns of numbers and I have always tried to use my favorite number, 5, in parts of my life or find it in the numbers around me. For instance, I was the number 12 in softball during college. 5 was already taken, sad, but 5+7 (my other favorite number) = 12! ha ha... so Garrett and I tossed around Oct. 5th 2012, January 5, 2013 as possible wedding dates. The decision to get married January 5, 2013 as our wedding date. It best suited all parties involved.

I was having a real sad feeling about that date because planning a winter wedding was something I never imagined for myself. Garrett and I started per-marriage counseling soon after our engagement and during that time we decided that we were going to choose a date that worked for us, and decided to get married sooner. August 12, 2012 was the day we would hold our actual wedding.

We began planning an engagement party to make sure our out of town family would be able to make it out our wedding. We also spilled the beans to out of town family too that we would be getting married in August. As the day came closer, our counselors helped us realize that my family would be very saddened to know it was my wedding the day of.

We began to share with family members that the day had been changed, and when the real wedding would take place. Many were happy, a few were confused, and some were sad. I shared in the sadness too, especially with my sister Lindsay. I was risking her not being at the wedding with the new baby on the way, and unsure of how life would be after the birth.

Planning turned into high gear, and within 3 weeks, our WEDDING was here!!!

     It was a beautiful, HOT day! We had so many people there helping set up and organize the  ceremony and reception site. We planned a small wedding, at the Red Cross Building downtown Vancouver. We held the ceremony outside on the brick patio, and the reception was inside the beautiful historic building. Here are little glimpses of our BIG day!

 Getting ready at my little tiny apartment, which was a total mess!!! My hair and make-up was done by Jessica Gandy. I originally decided that I was going to do my own hair and make-up to save money, but last minute (the week before) I had asked Jessica. The story behind that, Jessica was a neighborhood girl that Kelsey and I went to school with along with Jessica's brother. I happened to look on facebook and liked Jessica's hair. I just emailed her and asked if it was something she would be interested in doing. Jessica lives in Idaho now, and was going to be visiting family in Vancouver the weekend of the wedding so she was delighted to help!! LUCKY ME!! Jessica flew in the night before the wedding and we met to go over what I was thinking for hair and make-up! She did a fabulous job, and my hair stayed for most of the honeymoon!!

                                              Katie, one of Garrett's younger sister's and Kyron

 Flowers were all local and hand picked. I went to Dave's Dahlias, Saturday morning and picked most of what I could. Dave and his wife life down the street from my mom's house. Mrs. Radkie taught as our local elementary school. She was my sister's teacher and also Garrett's teacher! She also sings in church with my Grandma!! I loved having so many connections in making this wedding! My BFF Kara also recommended Wayne's Dahlias.Wayne and his wife are a retired couple that own a beautiful dahlia farm. I walked down the rows and marked the flowers I wanted for the wedding. They picked and wrapped them for me, which made making arrangements very easy!

If you look closely, you can see the PURPLE mom added to my dress!!

Pictures turned out beautiful! With so many textures
and backgrounds provided by the Historic Fort. I love how the colors of the flowers and dresses POP off the brick and the white wood!

This is one of my favorites! It looks like a magazine add.

The details of our wedding were so simple. I designed the wedding program and printed them off at home. The Better Together sign came from left over wood in my Brother-in-laws yard! The cake knife and server were used in both of my sister's weddings. We added beads of each sister's wedding colors

Kelsey found these R napkins that made a great finishing touch!

Aunt Kelly giving me a Hankie from Ester.

MY SHOES!!!

This candle was our symbol of Garrett's late father Robert. It was on our alter

We stayed traditional and this was our FIRST look!!

Sealed with a KISS!!

SISTERS! SO happy they were here to share the love!

BABY CONRAD!!!!

The birds on our cake were Garrett's Great Grandmothers. I saw them on his mother's counter and asked if I could use them. We had no idea what we were going to put on top! These were perfect!

We had so much fun celebrating our new marriage with family and friend!! We left the wedding in Garrett's truck and headed to a surprise (for me) honeymoon. We headed east out to the Gorge. We spent 3 days at the Skamania Lodge. We entered the room filled with decorations! Garrett's aunts came to the room before the wedding and decorated it with a sign, candles, and flowers!! It was great, I have never had a sign before! Our room came complete with a bottle of wine and glasses, I'm not sure if we were supposed to leave the glasses but I took them to remember our stay (plus, my mom has hers from their honeymoon!). We also had complementary breakfast, which I was in love with! SO MUCH BACON!! and a s'more package to roast at their fire pit. More to come from the honeymoon adventures!!!