Well I’ve updated you on the half marathon and got a little deep into where we are today and where I’m going in the future and now it is time to recap the most magical day of my life thus far… wedding day!

I cannot even begin to describe how fabulous wedding day was. It went smoothly and although I did find out about a few little arguments here or there throughout the night I didn’t know about them that night nor did I know about anything going wrong or being out of place. So to me, it was just perfect!  So how do you begin to recap a wedding day… I suppose you actually have to start with rehearsal don’t you?

First off, I should mention that I have the very best friends and family a girl could ask for. I had my best friend Kara, my sister Brittney, my wonderful then fiancé, and Tim’s mom up at 7am on Friday morning ready to head to the hall to get some things set up and ready to go for the next day! They spent over 2 hours smiling and laughing over name cards being perfectly spaced out, candies being placed at individual place settings, and a candy bar being perfectly set up so that everything had its place. They even kept going after Tim and I snuck out for a couples massage.

Now those are the best kind of people to have in your life! The kind that knows how important one day is to you so they make it their priority as well. <3 them.

So after the set up, making sandwiches, organizing limo alcohol, and practicing our dance move we headed to rehearsal. And that is where shit got real haha.

I’ve been in a few weddings. Actually at one point I thought they may want to do a remake of 27 dresses because I had lots of bridesmaid dresses stuffed in the closet without a wedding dress there to keep them company. So I’m used to rehearsals and listening intently to the church wedding coordinator and hearing the beautiful prayers the Priest gives to family and friends.I’m used to the bow bouquets and the “am I walking too fast or too slow” questions. I’m used to the mother’s tearing up and the dad’s gazing off into the nothingness thinking of the beverages they are about to have at the rehearsal dinner. So yea I’ve been to a few rehearsals.

But no rehearsal you attend as a bridesmaid can prepare you for your own. There is just something so real about standing up at the alter practicing your wedding day. Then it is a whole other feeling to go to a dinner with 50+ people and just feel so incredibly humbled by the love in the room and the support knowing that all of those people are there for you. THEN you add all of those feelings on top of the fact that you also feel so grateful for your friends and family that have put in the time and effort to help make your wedding day special.

It’s sort of an impossible balance. They are there for you. But all you want to do is celebrate for them.

It is actually a little overwhelming. So overwhelming in fact that Tim and I let it get to us a little too much and pulled the classic “take it out on the one you love”. It wasn’t anger or hurt driving our feelings but honestly it is like being a child again… completely incapable of processing your feelings. An overload on love that is so wonderful and magical that it is hard to believe.

So after figuring our how to process our feelings, Tim and I parted ways- him to stay at his mother’s for the night and me to stay at home with my best friend next to me and another very special great friend down the hall. And that night I didn’t….

bet you thought I was going to say sleep a wink? Actually I didn’t have any trouble sleeping. It surprised me because I was the little girl ready at 3am on my first day of school because I was so excited. But I slept like a rock that day. Perhaps because I was exhausted or maybe because I was so at ease knowing that the best thing that has happened to me in life was about to get even more important the next day.

So I woke up that morning and “snuck” out of the house and yes, Tim and I met for a run. The benefits of his mother only living a half a mile away. The best part was that I ran into my neighbor letting her dog out while I was trying to be sneaky. She didn’t even questions why I had men’s tennis shoes in my hands but simply said “enjoy your run”.

Not so sneaky after all.

Then the rest of the day was just perfect. Not a blur because I really tried to remember to take some deep breaths and look around to take it all in numerous times throughout the day.

We got ready and had fun doing makeup! P.S. if you ever need anything to do your makeup call me! My cousin Brandy is a makeup artists and did mine- she is fabulous!

Then we got to the church and got dressed!

And before I knew it… it was time to walk down the aisle! That was the one moment- with just me and my dad standing at the back of church looking at him fluffing that huge dress to ensure it looked its best and him looking up saying I’m proud of you and I love you that I realized what an important day it really was.

For me, the whole idea of not being “daddy’s little girl” was the hardest part about getting married. I would listen to songs (especially those country ones) about dad’s losing their little girls on their wedding day and they always made me cry. It was one of the things I was most worried about. But standing back there with my arm through my dad’s I quickly realized I wasn’t going to not be his “little girl” anymore I was simply going to be his “little girl who got married to a wonderful man”. He wasn’t going to lose me… we weren’t going to not see each other… but we were taking the next step in our lives together. Just like we always had. Just like when I scored my first soccer goal. Just like when I graduated from high school. Then college. Just like the day I moved to Boston. The day I quit my first job. Something did change that day.

We just took another step in our lives together!

And as the doors open and I took a deep breath I looked at my dad and could not help but to smile. I am one lucky little girl.

And then the first face I saw when they opened the doors was my friend Audrey whom I just adore! It was just the face I needed to see! Laughing and waving- I was so truly blessed to have so many people there to watch Tim and I take the next step in our relationship.

But then I saw Tim. and he looked like this

And I could not have been prouder to call him my future husband.

The hour mass which probably felt like forever to everyone else went by so quickly for me. We listened to beautiful readings selected by us and read by our friends and family… we listened to beautiful music sung my one of my elementary school friends and her mom. We read vows prepared by the church and then those hand written to each other. It sounds cheesy but it could not have been more magical than it was in that moment. It could not have been more magical if we were standing in Hogwart’s… on broomsticks… with the snitch right in front of my face.

Too much? Nah. HP is never too much.

It was perfect.

Our best friends in the bridal party were champs! Holding up signs…

Jumping in the air

and watching us make-out. Or just kiss a little haha.

And when we arrived at the reception site, Greystone Hall, and walked down the stairs in our “beach wear” we were again so humbled by all of those people there! Laughing, having fun, getting to know each other, and just being themselves. Exactly what we wanted them to do!

The reception went by fast! Food was great! People called me Mrs. Stiller.. which was weird

My Dad gave a beautiful speech that made both my sister and I cry

My sister, Kara, and Dana gave heartfelt speeches that made us so happy

We danced.

We did the sprinkler with Peyton.

And we watched our friends celebrate with us

And by the end of the night, Aunt and Uncles even got a little silly.

It was seriously such a fabulous night. We got to see family and friends that we don’t see nearly as much. We got to celebrate our love for one another and our love for the people in our  lives. We got to thank our friends for being there for us. We made our parent’s proud. We made ourselves proud.

So for those of you that were there- THANK YOU! You truly made our day so very special and it means so much that you were there to celebrate. For those of you that have been following all of my wedding planning fun… THANK YOU! It was a magical day and totally worth the pain and heart ache (post to come soon haha) and I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it.

*Special thanks to all of our vendors. I would HIGHLY recommend any of them!*

• Photography: Scott Duncan
• Flowers: Nikki at Perfect Petals
• Cupcakes: Peggy Barry
• DJ: PJ the DJ
• Reception Site: Greystone Hall