Although I don’t have any previous experience being a member of a bridal party to draw from, I’m guessing that our morning of wedding preparations was about as relaxed as it gets. Although I woke up at about 6:30AM (darn east-facing window!), I didn’t actually get out of bed until at least 8AM, at which time Lauren’s hair was pretty much done by our favorite hairdresser Krista, who we hired to come to our house that day.

If you are planning your wedding and can arrange to have your hair and makeup people come to your house, DO IT. Especially if they are overall awesome people that you know you will enjoy hanging out with! That’s why we had Krista and our cousin Lara over In addition, you aren’t dependent on the schedule of a salon and it worked with our laid-back style.

That said, here are some pictures from the morning. Our photographer Kelly (from The Last Forty Percent) arrived with her assistant Lindsay around 10:30. They were amazing – they took some pictures of me in front of my favorite bookshelf, and we had some fun when I got dressed – instead of getting dressed in the bedroom, I volunteered (I’m not sure who originally mentioned it) to get dressed on our back porch! They said that this was a first for them (bride getting dressed outside) – I thought it would be fun and it’s not like there’s any neighbors who could see me (as you’ll soon see).

Pictures by Katelyn and Lauren – enjoy our morning!

Hair half done...tweeting!

Mom fixing Leah's dress and having her hair done by Krista...at the same time. Talent!

Lara doing Katelyn's makeup

Bridesmaid's bouquets

The dress is on - no more breathing for me! Doing up the buttons...

Hey! They're laughing at me :p

Admiring my parent's wedding tree - it was blooming so beautifully!

I love this bookshelf.

The photographers went on to see the boys...I was ready to go...so I went back to tweeting!

Finally.

On Saturday afternoon just past 2PM my dad walked me down the aisle at our church. We’ve walked together down that aisle many times before as gift bearers for offertory during mass, and once he even carried me down the aisle at a wedding. I was a flower girl for my aunt’s wedding – very young and scared of all the people watching me!

This time, I didn’t sit back down with him.

This time, I held flowers.

This time was the best time.

On Saturday, I sat down at the front of our church with Denis. When we walked our of the church together, we were married.

(and now I’m crying. Thank goodness I have my own office at work, however temporary it may be)

It’s going to take a few days to post the highlights of the best weekend of my life. Seriously, it was. I feel more secure, happier, and overall in a better place than ever before. Perhaps part of this is the elimination of the stress of all things wedding-planning-related. Maybe it’s the knowledge that now we can move on to the next exciting big things in life – a house, and children. But most of all, it’s just the happiness that we’ve committed our lives to each other. Forever.

Starting out, here are some pictures from Friday – decorating the hall, our rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner at a local winery. We ended the night at a local bar, Molly Blooms – the bar where Denis and I sat and talked (or tried to talk over the music) for hours about six years ago to celebrate a mutual friend’s birthday. It’s where we first really connected. I had *ahem* borrowed a (very) short skirt from Micaela because I knew he would be there – something that was definitely not my style at that time. I wanted to make sure he noticed me, and obviously it worked!

Aunt Rosie, Erica, Leah, Lauren, Aunt Louie

At the rehearsal

More to come soon…

It’s Friday – the day before my wedding.

Since I last posted about the wedding, I have

• unsubscribed to over a dozen wedding blogs.
• abandoned hope of getting through the rest of my google reader.
• registered the url of my married name.
• set out to nab as many online accounts with that name as possible.
• finished our seating chart – a chart that became obsolete not long after it was printed when Mom wrote to tell me that dad’s cousin is no longer bringing her guest.
• finished our favors. It is so aggravating to know that the 150+ ribbons I tied will soon be pulled apart and forgotten. However, they look nice.
• decorated the hall. This was a fun group event – I think we had 20 people at the hall at one point!
• greeted about a half dozen family members who flew in from Alberta – including Leah!
• written so many cheques that my head is spinning.
• received so many good wishes that my heart is bursting!

Here are some sneak peeks at our reception location (a local golf course)…

You can have a sneak peek at my dress on my designer’s blog (AKA Mom’s blog), Couturesmith. Reminder to Denis: Don’t click. I know patience isn’t your forte, but you get to see the real thing in less than 24 hours!

I am excited and yes, I am now NERVOUS as well. I haven’t felt nervous until just a few hours ago. It’s a good kind of nervous, I think! I hope to post a few pics tomorrow as we’re getting ready so check in if you can Now I’m off to get ready for the rehearsal!