It was the best day of my life!

The day began with the ladies and I going to the hair salon to get our hair and makeup done. They did an absolute fabulous job! We all looked amazing!

We then went back to my parents house to get ready and the photographer came by around 12:30 for some pictures of me, my family, and nej and lj. We got some really amazing shots I think. Some of them were taken on the landing of my parents stairs, which was really special because we have pictures of my mom standing in the same spot on her wedding day.

The weather was gorgeous. Sunny and probably 25 degrees or so. Couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

The limo picked us up at 2:00 and we headed to the church. We arrived fashionably late at 2:10 (the ceremony was supposed to start at 2:00, but I wanted to be a little late, when else would 100 people be all sitting and waiting for me? hehe). Once we got there, the ceremony began moments later. As lj and nej left for their walk to the front of the church and it was just daddy and me standing there, I started to lose my composure, so I told him a joke to keep from crying.

The ceremony was amazing. Just what I wanted. There were a few times when I thought I was going to cry and the tears welled up in my eyes, but I was able to hold it together. I can't wait to see the video for the wedding so I can watch the ceremony again because it was so beautiful.

After the ceremony, we had the receiving line which was nice because people got to congratulate us minutes after we were married.

Then it was back in the limo for our trip to the reception. It was about a 30 minute drive to the reception, complete with champagne. It was a lot of fun!

When we got to the reception location, we took a few minutes to check into our rooms and freshen up for the formal pictures. Wow, the honeymoon suite is absolutely gorgeous! Huge kingsize bed covered with rose pedals, large jaccuzi tub and fireplace, and the biggest bathroom I have seen in my life. The building is gorgeous, we love it there, so I think we're going to make it an annual thing to stay there for our anniversary.

Then it was time for our formal photos with family. The area is beautiful with lots of rocks and water. For the photos with the wedding party, we walked across the river and took the photos on large rocks right beside the water. What an amazing spot. It must have been a strange sight to see a bride and groom and wedding party walking down the side of a road, we got lots of honks, that's for sure. I cannot wait to see the photos, they must have been amazing since the scenery was so beautiful and of course the people looked amazing too!

By the time we got back to the lodge, it was almost time for dinner, but we headed up to the room for a little break to sit down and collect our thoughts. Then it was time to make our entrance into the reception around 6:00. The meal was really good, way too much food though! At least nobody could complain about being hungry! Some people made comments about how the food was the best they have ever had at a wedding. It was very yummy! We then had a dessert buffet, which was amazing! Then it was time for speeches, which were perfect. Everyone had some really touching things to say. I can't wait to watch the video to see them again because there were some really funny parts too!

Around 9:00 we had our first dance which was perfect. I really enjoyed it. Then we danced with our parents and then it was the wedding party dance. After that, it was time to party! The DJ did an awesome job. The dance floor was never empty, people had a great time.

Around 10:00 we did the boquet and garter toss. The florist forgot to make a toss boquet, so I tossed Jen's, but it ended up that she caught it anyway, so it worked out well! Then we cut the wedding cake.

We tried to mingle with people as well as have fun on the dance floor, I think it was a good mix. Everyone was having a wonderful time, MANY people said it was the best wedding they'd ever been to. Of course I'm biased, but I truly think it could not have gone any better. Everything was just the way I wanted.

The reception was over around 1:00, so people retired to their rooms at that point. It was really neat that the recpetion venue not only had an absolutely gorgeous dining room, but it had many rooms for people to stay over. And people made use of it! The rooms in the lodge were fully booked and I think most of the motel units were also booked.

I can't wait to see pictures. The day was perfect (I know, I use that word a lot, but it was!).

And now I'm married to the man of my dreams! I could not be any happier. I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with CT, he really is an amazing guy.

Yesterday, we had breakfast with those who also stayed over, and then headed to my parents house to open the gifts. We are completely blown away by everyones generosity. We received mostly cash and gift cards, which is fabulous! We did receive some gifts too, so that was great. But we received an overwhelming total of cash, so we are going to head to the bank to open up a joint account because I don't want that much money sitting around the house. I think we will use half of the money we received to pay for the honeymoon (it will almost cover our entire honeymoon), and the other half we will put in the joint account and then we'll think of what we want to use the money for later. We also received LOTS of gift cards, so we are all set! I am completely blown away by how generous everyone was, WOW! I guess a lot of people love us!!!

We leave at 5:00am on Wednesday morning for our honeymoon, so today will be spent running errands and then we'll pack tomorrow. So, I'll be sure to post when we get back. We get back late on Sunday, Sept 23rd, but I have the 24th off work too.