My wedding day started very early when I woke up sick.  It was definitely due to nerves (not about marrying Paul, but about wondering if everything would go off without a hitch).  Luckily, my sweet friend Kelly was staying with me and helped me calm down.  I honestly don’t know what I would have done without her being there and without my friend Christan, too.  They kept me sane and did so much to help me that week.  When I came back from my honeymoon, I found my home perfectly clean, fresh food waiting for us, etc. thanks to Kelly and one of my supervisors at work (both of whom had keys to my house).

But back to the morning of the wedding.  I got up, took a shower, packed a few more things for the honeymoon and then headed off to the chapel to begin getting ready.  On my way there, I saw my dad unloading sound equipment at the reception site and got to stop and see him for a minute which will always be a special memory from that day.  Seeing my mom show up at the chapel with a Sprite and banana for me was pretty great, too.

Here is where I got married…

I found my dress at a specialty wedding shop in Chattanooga.  It was here in plenty of time before the wedding, which was good because it needed quite a bit of alterations.

For my veil, I wore my grandmother’s wedding veil, which is over 50 years old.  She pulled it out of storage for me and we were so happy to see that it was still preserved well.

My garter and the headpiece I wore later on in the day (I didn’t want to wear my grandmother’s veil all day because the netting was very delicate)…

Here’s an up-close shot of my engagement ring!  I chose to not have a wedding band.  I just felt like my ring was complex enough without adding an extra band to it.  I LOVE my ring!

And here are my earrings for the day…

Here is a great shot of the save the date cards we sent for the wedding.  I loved picking these out because I absolutely love stationary, design, etc.

And here are the wedding invitations…

(You can click any picture in this post to view it full size)

For the altar, I wanted very simple decorations since I was having so many bridesmaid.  I went with two vases of all white flowers on each side of the altar.  One represented Paul’s father, who he lost while he was still an infant.  The other was in honor of my deceased grandfather, aunt Sarah and uncle David.

My bouquet!  Again, I just wanted really simple and classic.

Before long, it was time to start getting ready!

Soon, it was time to start putting my dress on.  I was so excited that my photographer captured little Ella’s reaction when I turned around in my wedding dress.

I was so happy to have my stepmother there with us.

I got a very special delivery.  I had told Paul that all I wanted on our wedding day was to have a letter from him.  So much of our relationship is contained in written words (emails, airmail letters, etc.) that I imagine we have quite a legacy to give to our children and grandchildren to read one day.  I wanted one more to add to that list, written on the day of our wedding.

Meanwhile, down the hall, someone was starting to get ready for the day.

For Paul’s wedding gift, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  When Paul was a child, he collected an entire series of books.  As he prepared to move here, he separated his books into two piles — one to sell and one to bring over.  He decided that the only ones he would bring over was this particular series.  Then, by accident, someone took the wrong box and sold the series he had collected for years.  He couldn’t recover them and was pretty upset about it.  I told him that, once he moved here, we would work together to rebuild the collection.  He thanked me for the idea but told me the books were irreplaceable because they were out of print (which was, for the most part, true).

What Paul didn’t count on, however, was my internet sleuthing skills.  I immediately began searching for the books and, though it took many weeks and a whole lot of time, I found all 52 books.  I had them shipped to my office (where my student workers and I gleefully checked each and every book off the list as it arrived), so Paul had no idea.  I asked Kelly to deliver them to him before the wedding began and this is what happened.

I think he liked them, don’t you?

Meanwhile, back in my room, my grandmother Josie came to see me.  It was the first time she was seeing her wedding veil on me.

And then my dad came to see me…

And then it was time for me to pass out gifts to the bridal party and flower girls!

Meanwhile, everyone was getting ready upstairs…

… because it was time for the ceremony to start!

(All photos by my wonderful photographer, Amanda Suanne.)