Our Pro-bam! (12-02-19)

*Sorry in advance for the long post!*

Wedding Vendor Breakdown:

Venue: R Ranch in the Mountains

Photography: Charla Ayers Studio

Catering: Cabaki’s Catering

Photo booth: Robot Photo Booth

Donuts: Mini G’s Donuts

Floral: Knots and Daisies Sola Wood Flowers

Dress and Veil: Jillian’s Bridal Outlet in Hickory, NC

Suits: Barry’s Better Menswear

DJ, Officiant, Cake and MUA were all close friends who gifted us these things to make our day incredibly special.

We planned for over 2 years. 26 months. 800 something days. I say all of this to say, SOMETHING WILL GO WRONG! No matter how much you plan, something will go wrong. Let it roll off your shoulders and keep on moving. This is YOUR DAY! YOUR INCREDIBLE MOMENT! Don’t let the small stuff sweat you.

So what went wrong you ask?

-Our “wedding coordinator” called me at 2pm the DAY BEFORE my wedding to tell me “Coordinating weddings isn’t my job.” She said there had been miscommunication, (on her part, because I have an email where I plainly ask her “Are you going to be the wedding coordinator?” and she said “Yes.”) ((Let me also preface this by saying our venue included a coordinator in our contract when we originally booked in November of 2017. Our OG coordinator was forced into retirement and the girl I am referring to was her SECOND replacement in 4 months.)) She informed me she was only there to move the tables post-ceremony for the reception and to hand out sparklers during our exit. She literally disappeared at one point completely. BUT THANK GOD! for my AMAZING photographer, who is a dear friend and the best human in the world. She took over as our coordinator, and we literally could not have done the wedding without her.

-We had originally ordered a beer cheese fountain for the cocktail our from our catering company. (Groom’s request.) Due to a car accident days before our wedding, we did not have the beer cheese fountain, and didn’t know until AFTER the wedding. Apparently they put out a bowl of cheese dip instead. None of my guests complained, and I wouldn’t have known otherwise had one of our groomsmen not told us. Again, not a huge deal, I’m glad her people are safe and the only thing lost was a beer cheese fountain.

-I FORGOT TO MAKE TABLE NUMBERS! And I realized this as I sat in my cabin at midnight the night before my wedding. I don’t know how it slipped my mind, but it didn’t even matter. Nobody noticed. I also forgot to change from my wedding ceremony shoes into my reception shoes. So, oh well! Lol

-AND! Last thing, we forgot to have our officiant sign our marriage certificate! THANK GOD she was close by and able to turn around. She is an absolute doll baby.

But, If ^ all of that was the only negative stuff to happen, then I still say we had a pretty BOMB wedding! (And I do. I was there lol)

SO NOW THE GOOD STUFF!

The day does go by quicker than you think. I was up at 7am because I couldn’t sleep any longer, and it was SNOWING! It was literally a dream to be able to sit on the front porch of our cabin and watch the snow fall for a moment by myself before the wedding got into full swing.

My mom surprised me with an iced coffee and I got to have a moment alone with her before my bridesmaids got up and the MUA and photographer got there.

One of the groomsmen came by and checked on us, (he’s been my best friend since we were 6) and brought us After we got ready, we got up the venue for pictures. Hubby and I opted out of a first look, so I had one with my dad instead. But Hubby wanted to do a “first touch”. It’s where we can’t see each other, but we can hold hands and pray together before the ceremony. IT WAS EVERYTHING! It calmed all the nerves that I had. I couldn’t stop crying, my husband couldn’t stop crying, even the photographer couldn’t stop crying. If you don’t want to do a first look, but want something, please consider doing a first touch.

The ceremony went by so fast, I don’t even remember seeing any of our guests. Apparently our flower girls were a little rowdy (they’re, 3 & 4, what are you going to do?) but we never heard them! I only heard my husband and the officiant.

Our reception was incredible! Everything went off without a hitch. My poor husband was so exhausted, we ended up leaving the reception a little early, but that’s okay because we were OFFICIALLY MARRIED!!!!

Our food was delicious, our photo booth and donuts were a hit! Our photographer got some incredible shots (as you can see down below)

My absolute favorite part of the wedding was our first touch. It was such an intimate and incredible moment, it is forever burned into my memories. I remember that moment more clearly than I do the ceremony, LOL!

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is my husband. We are married. We now get to continue on the journey called life together. I am so incredibly blessed that God put Lucas in my life and that he chose me to be his wife.

ALSO! Last thing before the old stuff (pictures) MAKE YOUR WEDDING YOURS! Don’t worry about what others will think or how it’ll come across. We had so many small details that were meaningful to us that others didn’t even notice or didn’t think was weird. Instead, everyone who came just talked about how beautiful and intimate and how US our wedding was. I.E.

-We had a Scottie and when Lucas proposed, he tied my ring around her bandana. She has unfortunately since passed, but our rings were tied to her bandana for the exchange of rings. We also had a signature drink named after our sweet girl.

-We met at a UFC fight. It’s what we bonded over and “our thing.” So naturally, our wedding was UFC themed. Before I walked down the aisle, we had a recording of Bruce Buffer announcing “IT’S TIME!” Everyone loved it! It was the perfect ice breaker and it lighted the whole mood.

-My father/daughter dance was an instrumental version of the song my father named me after. It was just special for the two of us.

-Mine and Hubby’s first dance was Prince Royce’s version of “Stand By Me.” which was important to us because 1) it was bilingual (Hubby is Colombian and Spanish is his first language) and 2) The actual meaning behind the song is so important to us.

Sorry for it being so wordy! I’m just so excited to finally be sharing my “Pro-Bam” with all of you lovely people!! You guys have been such a blessing to me these last two years as we’ve been planning!

NOW TO PICTURES!!

Details "To the Loves That Came Before Us" We wrote letters to our parents.My centerpiecesOur "press passes" for our UFC debut!Ceremony SpaceDrink menuMy grandmother We are blessed to share a wedding date with this woman. She gave me a brooch to clip on my bouquet, and I gave her a matching one.MY BOYS!!!!Hubby and his best man! They've been best friends since 6th grade.Lucas and our best friend Jordan (Ive known Jordan since we were 6.)My girls!!Our beautiful jackets!Details!My mom!First look with my girls!I love my goddaughter more than life itself. She was such a doll!First Look With My DadMy littlest goddaughter. The girls!First touch with Hubs!

First TouchMy goddaughters entry into the ceremonyMy husband when he saw me.MR AND MRS!!My familyHusband's family!Our cake!First dance!Garter TossBouquet toss!!Dancing! I can't with these two! LOL Between my husband and my officiant, they keep me laughing.Our beautiful cake baker and friend!If this doesnt show our personalities, I dont know what does!2 years. 26 months. 800+ Days. All worth the wait.