Engagements
Here are our top 10 Engagement Pictures
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The weather was great until we started driving to our second locations. It rained and we waited it out. The pictures from both places turned out great, except for the last few from the second location. I must have been allergic to something because in between each picture I would sneeze. My eyes got all read and watery and my face looked funny because I was trying so hard not to sneeze.
Bridals
Top 10 Bridals/Groomals
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We got these taken at the Noni Gardens down in the Riverwoods. The garden was very pretty, but the weather happened to by bipolar that day. We spent out evening running out when the rain stopped, taking a few pictures, then running back to cover when it started raining again. Then we would do the process all over again. It would go from sunny to pouring to sunny in a matter of minutes. It really was quite the adventure. After only sleeping 2 or so hours the night before and then trying to ditch the rain for two hours I was beat. I was hoping to fit in a nap that day, but never quite got around to it. Luckily the red, tired eyes aren’t too noticeable in any of the pictures.
Going to the Temple
I was able to go through the temple on August 5th for the first time. So many people tried to tell me know weird it was. A few told me that it wasn’t really weird, just different. I’m not going to lie, before I went I was so nervous about going. It’s one of those things that I have known about my entire life, but I didn’t really know about it at all. Luckily Scott’s sister, Heidi, went through for her first time with me. I was glad to have someone there that I knew was just as nervous as I was. In the end it wasn’t as scary or as nerve wracking as I thought it was going to be. Sure, it was a little different, but nothing too weird. I was so happy to have people there for me. My mom, Scott’s mom, Suzanne, Marinda, Aunt Cathy, and Aunt Jill. There were some guys to but I didn’t pay as much attention to them.
The Roast
My family always does a roast before someone gets married. It’s a way for the family to let the new comer know a little more about what exactly they are getting themselves into. So, that evening we planned a dinner and the roast. A family friend hosted the dinner for us in their home, they were so nice to paint and decorate for it. We had planned for it to start at 6:00 pm. I had forgotten how my family tends to view time, for them 6:00 pm means 7:00 pm. Of course the Scott’s family was there by 6:00. I wasn’t sure if I had explained to his parents what they were supposed to do very well, and didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable if they didn’t know what they were doing. But they did great. I learned about Scott’s obsession with Peter Pan, Spagebitty (Spaghetti), and how he would play Batman and Barbies with Heidi. My family wasn’t as harsh as I imagined they would be. I was actually flattered by what a lot of my family had to say. I am so grateful to be a part of both of these families.
Our Wedding Day
My day started off a little early. My photographer offered to take our pictures early so we could avoid crowds and wouldn’t have to have people waiting around as long after the wedding. That meant me getting up around 5:00 am to do my make-up and collect everything that I would need for the day. Compared to my normal schedule 5 am is sleeping in. People asked me if I slept well the night before, I think that if you sleep as much as I do then you can sleep anytime, and anywhere without any problem. I woke up and decided to try on my dress to decide which garments to wear under it. The first top I tried didn’t work, the second… it showed too, the third was no good either. At this point I was about to freak out (How bridezilla of me). Finally the last top I had worked, but it was a close call. I finished up at my house and was at the salon by 6:00 am. Courtney was nice enough to come in that early to do my hair. I picked up Scott and we were off to the temple for pictures.
They went perfectly, the lighting was great, it wasn’t hot and nobody was around. I had forgotten to get a throw bouquet and so we were just going to run by a store to grab some roses. We debated about going home and changing first but that would take more time. So what did we do? We went to Wal-Mart fully dressed for our wedding. We got some pretty strange looks, but we saved time not going home to change.
We had a little bit of spare time, and then it was back to the temple, this time for the real deal. There was a lot more waiting around then I thought there would be in the temple. Finally we went into the sealing room, and I was amazed that so many people showed up to support us. Our sealer was awesome! I have only been to two temple ceremonies so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I loved ours. (I am pretty sure that is how everyone feels about their own) It was great to be surrounded by so many people, Aunts and Uncles that I hadn’t seen in years. When the ceremony was over we went back into the dressing room to touch up my make-up and check my hair. We walked out of the temple only to be surrounded by so many more people. I didn’t realize how many people were actually there for us until I got our pictures back and saw how huge our group was.
Pictures went a little longer than I had planned on them taking and we were a little late for our luncheon. The food was great, we had a choice of beef, chicken, or fish and then we had three choices for dessert, berries and ice cream, lemon something, and a chocolate fudge cake. Everything that I tasted was great. Because pictures went late, the luncheon went late, and we still had to set up for the reception. The reception started at 6:00, and we got there at 5:30 to set up. I was almost in tears as we tried to rush and get everything put together. On top of trying to get everything set up we were supposed to take pictures with our bridesmaids and groomsmen.
We were rushing to get the pictures done as people were starting to show up. Then once we got in our line I had no idea what was going on for the rest of the reception. I had so many people there to help out, and as far I as I know everything went pretty smoothly. I am so grateful for everyone who made everything go work out! I also got many compliments on our food selection. Thanks, Grandma and Brook for the tarts and Cream Puffs and for helping with everything! I didn’t hear any complaints, other than how long our line was, so I will just assume everything else went okay. Our cake was huge, a couple tiers of lemon raspberry, and a couple chocolate.
A little into the reception we cut the cake, that way people would eat it and we would end up with enough cake to feed a small country.
Then we got back in line and greeted more people. The reception place was great. The owner of the reception place, not so great. I think she was deemed “The Dragon Lady” by our wedding party. At exactly 8:00 (the time my invitation said our reception ended) The Dragon Lady grabbed my hand and was pulling me away from the line so I could throw my bouquet an do our first dance. My cousin Emma from Washington caught the bouquet.
There were only a few more people in line. I was surprised that she was so pushy about getting everything finished. She just wasn’t a very nice lady at all. We had our first dance, and honestly, I wish the song we chose was shorter. Rocking back and forth for 4 minutes really isn’t very interesting for anyone.
Then we had my daddy daughter dance.
We changed out of our fancy clothes and we were off. We stayed the night up in Salt Lake at the Grand America Hotel. It was the perfect day, no huge glitches and no major break downs.
The Honeymoon
I knew the day that Scott was going to propose, so he decided to keep where we were going on our honeymoon a secret from me. He did such a great job not spilling the beans. He never let any hints slip other than the fact that I needed a passport. I did a good job not asking. We had let his whole family know it was a secret and that I wasn’t supposed to know. We had stuck around for a week after our wedding to make sure we were there for Scott’s sister’s wedding the Friday after ours. After the ceremony we were waiting for them to come out of the temple and Uncle Reid came up and said “When are your guys taking off to Cancun?” I thought that he was just trying to trick me, we have gotten a lot of “So… Idaho for the honeymoon” or “Yeah it’s good to stay close to home, St. George is great this time of year.” I thought that was what this was too. Then when I looked at Scotts face I realized that the secret had been revealed and we really were going to Cancun. We left the next morning and it took forever to get through the Mexican airport. When you finish customs you go through another security gate, you push a button, if you are green then you are free to go, if you’re red then you get to have your bags searched. Of course, I got red. She opens my suitcase and the items of clothing that I had on top just happened to be the things I received at a bridal shower. They pulled out a thing or two, looked at me and then continued to search through the rest of my bag. AWKWARD. Then we were off to the resort, which was amazing! They had an infinity pool, and while standing in the pool it looked like it lead straight into the ocean. The water was the brightest blue I have ever seen water be. It was also perfect temperature, no cold shock when you first got in.
We spent our days eating tacos, nachos, and quesadillas and our evenings watching movies, playing on the beach, or at the shopping place across the street.
One of the days we went to Chichen Itza. We signed up for the Express trip, we left the resort at 8:00 am and we got back at 3:00 pm. It wasn’t as express as we thought it was going to be, but it was very cool.
On a different day we went snorkeling at two different National reefs. It was cool seeing the fish, Scott even got to see a barracuda. The honeymoon was great. It was nice to have time to relax, and just hang out, although I am not very good at it. We came home the following Saturday. I got stopped at security again at the airport and they had to check my bag again. Then Scott got stopped at the gate and his bags were checked. I guess we look like terrorists to the people at the Mexico airport.
I still cannot believe that it has been a month already. It has been fun, other than the fact that I never get to see Scott now that school started. This post was a novel, but there has been so much going on that needed to be written about.
