WE'RE MARRIED!!!!!! The Wedding Day Details!!!!

I'm SO excited that the day has come!!! We finally got married!!!! It was the absolute most perfect day of my life so far and I am incredibly happy with it!!! The day started out kinda rainy and I was behind schedule but we got my hair and makeup done on time!!! My friend from my old college cosmetology/barbering class, Jamie Anderson, was responsible for my hair and makeup and she did an amazing job!!! I felt so beautiful because of her!!! After I left her salon I headed down to Noah's in South Jordan (www.mynoahs.com) so I could get dressed and ready for the ceremony to be held there at 2:30pm.

Everything was running pretty smoothly but we had a few small hangups in the preparation so we ended up starting the ceremony at about ten to 3pm. It was ok, though, because I was craving my weakness...Coca-Cola Classic!!! Good thing Jonathan's beautiful mom is incredibly sweet and sent one of the groomsmen, Carl (who has been Jonathan's friend since grade school and traveled here from AZ to be there for him) to go on a coke run!!! THANK YOU CARL AND KAREN!!! It was much needed and greatly appreciated! It was a beautiful service!!! It was short and sweet...maybe thirty minutes. My good friend from work, Randi, (who made the cake for me even though she was due to be induced the day of the wedding) offered her father who is a baptist preacher to officiate the marriage. He did an AMAZING job!!! It was absolutely fantastic!!! Randi's mom and sister had to deliver the cake and finish decorating it with the flowers the day of the wedding obviously but it looked PERFECT!!! Her family really helped us out on this whole wedding and we really appreciate everything they did! (She ended up having the baby I think around 8pm!!! SO cute!!! Congrats Randi!!!) We recorded the ceremony so we could have that reminder of it. I walked down the aisle with my Dad to the song Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars (that song gives me chills every time and I don't care how cliche it is). When the ceremony finished we walked down the aisle together for the first time as husband and wife to the song Marry You also by Bruno Mars (again, cliche, but I don't care...it was perfect).

After the ceremony concluded the guests mingled while we sneaked out to take a few shots with our AWESOME photographer, ShaiLynn Draper (www.shailynnphotography.com). We had an amazing luncheon after that including a choice of Rosemary Chicken or Chili Rubbed Mahi served with an AMAZING risotto with caramelized shallots and herb infused olive oil. There were also sides of roasted red potatoes, steamed carrots and asparagus and a spring mix salad with a beautiful balsamic vinaigrette. The beverages that were served were a blended raspberry lemonade and a white grape spritzer. The food was AMAZING and it was catered by Jonathan's work...LDS Hospital. Yes...hospital food that tastes FANTASTIC!!! It's true!!!

When the luncheon ended, the DJ, Mark Lofgren (Highspeed DJ), started playing the music for the reception as the LDS hospital staff served a beautiful spread including an amazing antipasti platter, a meat & cheese platter, and an amazing assortment of fruit. They also served a decadent chocolate cup dessert platter filled with a chocolate mousse that Jonathan made himself and mixed with chopped strawberries and raspberries!!! It was TO DIE FOR!!!! They did such a great job!!!

As guests started showing up we chatted and laughed and danced. It was incredibly fun to see all of my friends and family and meet new people. We all had a really good time!! We cut the cake, threw the bouquet, and tossed the garter about halfway through the ceremony and it was all fun!! We danced our first dance to Halo by Beyonce (yes...I know...I'm SO cliche with the music...again...DON'T care). My dad and his mom cut in about halfway through the song and then with about a quarter of the song left my dad danced with his mom while we finished our first dance as husband and wife. The decorations were EXACTLY how I had imagined them in my head! It was so beautiful and the entire day was just PERFECT!!!

After the guests started leaving I went to get changed and we all cleaned up and went our separate ways. Jonathan and I headed to the hotel to check in and get our things put away before we went out to meet some of his family and friends over at Habit's (a bar) for karaoke night. We had two cokes and took off to go back to the hotel for the night. We had an awesome time but we were exhausted!!! We didn't tell them til we checked out but we stayed at the same hotel as his mom and stepdad!!! HAHAHA They didn't even know until we called them on our way out!!!

This morning we got up and took our time getting ready and packed up. When we checked out we realized that we had forgotten a few things both at my mom's house and his apartment so we made those stops before we took off for the honeymoon. We got sidetracked, though, when we were getting closer to the District....we ended up stopping at Target and Rue 21 for a pre-honeymoon splurge!!! Hahaha!!! I got a whole bunch of summer shirts and he got Criminal Minds Season 5 (our favorite show) and a couple pairs of shorts and some cologne for the trip. We figured we packed too much cold season stuff and didn't have enough warm weather gear for where we were going! We finished at about 11 am and hit the road on our way to Vegas!!! The drive wasn't too bad...we made a few stops and switched drivers a few times (neither one of us really enjoys driving and I was exhausted and was in desperate need of a nap at one point). We made it at about 5 pm and it was a good thing!!! Hahaha.

We checked in at our hotel and let me tell you...IT IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!! Jonathan's best man, Tim, got this hotel all set up for us so all we had to do was pay when we left! He did SUCH a good job because the room we are in is INCREDIBLE!!!! It's a suite on the 10th floor of the Renaissance Marriott hotel near the convention center out here! We took a video tour of the hotel room so maybe if I can figure out how to work the camera I will post it on here when we get back!!! The staff here is absolutely amazing and we are being treated like royalty and getting star treatment!!! The views of the strip are absolutely amazing!!! So far we are having a really really great time!!! Tonight we are planning to just take it easy and relax because it has been such a busy and stressful three months...we're just going to lay back and relax this week and wander the strip. I'll post more about it later but I've already written a novel so I am going to go spend some time with my new hubby!!! I LOVE that we can start our lives together now and I'm so excited for what lies ahead!!! I'll post more pictures of my bridals, the wedding, and our honeymoon as soon as I can!!! Can't wait to share them with you!! Thank you to all of our families and friends who have made this whole experience absolutely perfect!!! We are one hundred percent satisfied with the whole wedding and honeymoon experience and we appreciate all of the hard work that went into this for us! Thank you so much!!! We love you all!!!!