The Wedding

Friday was the big day! Kevin and I dropped the boys off at the kennel, made a last-minute stop at Wal-Mart for Rhonda and stopped to pick up the fresh flowers at Annette's florist here in Ashland. I felt so responsible for those flowers! We arrived, delivered the flowers, took some pictures and checked in at the Hampton Inn. Julie and Josh had goody bags for each guest filled with bottled water, snacks, hair care, etc. It was such a nice touch! The hotel was very nice, too. Kevin and I both slept good and the staff and breakfast were great.
We got Julie and Josh a spice rack filled with jars of spices. I had to wrap the octagon-shaped box which ended up not being so bad. The top of the box had the handle, so I added tufts of white tissue paper. I made a gift tag and tied on some yummy wide ribbon.

Julie was already dressed once we arrived. I took some snapshots before they all headed off to get group shots with the photographer. Julie had a simple veil and I added some tiny bling stones to give it some sparkle. I loved this one of her fixing her hair. Actually, I loved all the pictures from this day. :) Life is about details and I love to capture them with my camera.

I'm not sure what all was in her bouquet. I know roses and freesia, but there is something else. Annette had added some beading which was neat. The stems were wrapped and it make such a nice elegant bouquet.

For her "something old", she had stones (diamonds, rubies) from her late paternal grandmother's jewelry reset into a new ring for this special day. She had her dad place it on her hand before the wedding. Love her simple french manicure.

The photographer took several pictures before the wedding. She even had Julie and Josh take the golf cart to various parts of the golf course for some stunning shots. I love this one of them together. I might be partial, but they are both so gorgeous! See her new pearls? Sweet!! I think you can see here, too, how the beading is in the bouquet. The stems are wrapped with ribbon and more beading. That matched the beading on her dress.

Brooke (maid of honor) and Devin (best man) went along with them on the course.

Julie's dad Don and Josh's dad Dick. I got them to stand together while they were taking a break from pictures.

I can't believe I never took a picture of Josh's mom with Rhonda, but I did get their flowered bracelets. The flowers can be removed and each mom has a keepsake bracelet to wear. Kinda neat I thought. Julie said that was one of her favs about the flowers....the bracelet. Sherri's was white and Rhonda's was pink.

The ceremony was held outside and the reception was in the Grand Ballroom. Things were set up so that when guests arrived, they entered the front door and stopped at the guest book table before going down the hall to the right to reach the outdoor area. My mom did the flower arrangement and photo collages of the two of them. The photographer had made an awesome book with various engagement photos. Guests could use the silver Sharpie pens to sign the black pages of the book with their best wishes for Julie and Josh. Since I knew I would get too choked up on the videographer's tape, I opted out of talking and just signed a heartfelt message in the photo book. I was able to say what I needed there...and spare them the tears. :) You can see the gift table in the foreground. I forgot to take a pic of the card box that I decorated. Oh well...

Once outside, the guests received their program. Rhonda did them on the computer and cut them. We stamped the pink rose on the first page and a smaller one on the last page. I love how they turned out. I liked Julie's choice of wedding colors and I think the combo looked so elegant in all the details of the day.

I took so many pics of the ceremony, but will share the basic ones. Here are the guys all lined up. I love how Josh isn't taking his eye off the end of the aisle where his beautiful bride will appear. *sniffle*

Morgan didn't drop any fresh rose petals as she wanted to hold Brooke's hand the whole way. She just held up her basket for everyone to see. Notice how her cute little dress has flower petals in the bottom part. We were so glad she walked with Brooke. At rehearsal, she and Jake wanted nothing to do with it. :) I don't have a picture, but at the back of the lawn area, my brother Steve played Amazing Grace on the guitar during the Prelude. It made my grandma cry. *sniffle* Some people think of that being a funeral song, but that is the BEST song ever if you ask me. Its words are so powerful and one of Julie and Josh's favs. Oh, and cute black shoes on the bridesmaids, huh? Everyone had nice pedicures and manicures that morning.

Jake walked with Jenny. Ahhhhh...yes, he did it! See the girl on the left with the cast? That's Brittany, the guest book attendant. Just behind her is Tom, Josh's godfather. He's the one who lives downtown at the Miranova where rehearsal dinner was. I didn't take pictures of every bridesmaid, but Julie had six, plus Brooke as maid of honor. They included Josh's sister Megan and some of Julie's longtime friends.

Here comes the bride, all dressed in white! Wow! All I can say is Wow...and then wipe the happy tears from my eyes. She just looked so happy. Her dress looked stunning on her!

Pastor Larry talked about how Don was the first man in Julie's life before they did the "giving the bride away" part. I love how you can see Josh in between them. Oh, and you can see the back of her dress. The criss-cross part on the back and how the train starts. You can kinda sorta see the bling on her veil, but it is subtle since I used the tiny stones.

Instead of doing unity candles, they chose to do a sand ceremony. Before the ceremony, the moms came forward and poured the two colors of sand in the vase, one at a time. During the ceremony, Josh and Julie poured more of the individual colors at the same time, mixing them as one. That part signified the unity. It was appropriate, too, since Julie loves the beach! During this part, my brother played Canon in D on the guitar. It sounded so nice! You can sort of see the beading on her train here.

Mr. and Mrs. Josh Smith!

It's official! Wow! Unfortuately, I had failed to snap a pic of the exhange of rings since I was watching so intently. I also forgot to get a pic of their hands together at the reception. Oh well. I'll get that another time. Julie's ring is so sparkly! Josh got a wide platinum band with no stones. It doesn't show here though unfortunately.

The girls helped get the bustle just right. We took more pictures while the guests mingled on the terrace behind the Grand Ballroom. It was nice as it gave the photographer time for more group shots and family shots. It is cute, since she was truly laughing here as all those girls tried to get her "bum" just right. hee hee The one groomsman Brandon was checking it all out. LOL! The girls in this pic are left to right: Morgan, Jenny, Jenn, Megan (Josh's sister). Brittany is squated behind Julie. Brooke and Heather's faces aren't showing, but they are behind Julie, too. If you look closely, you can see their earrings. Rhonda made them to match the bridesmaids' necklaces.

Ta-da! There it is...now she's ready to mingle with guests and dance the night away! You can also see one of the bridesmaid's feet here. Julie had a goody box with essentials for the day for each bridesmaid. One of the things was a pair of flip flops decorated with pink and white bling stones. Ahhhhh...comfy! It is funny that some of them already were out of their high heels!

The weather was perfect. The ceremony was held on the east side of the building so the setting sun didn't blind us. It shone through the trees and cast delicate shadows on Julie's back while they said their vows. *sniffle* It made for a nice setting for the pre-reception on the terrace, too.

Ok, whew...that took a while to post. I'll be back in my next post with details about the reception. Enjoy these photos for now. You can click any of them for a closer look. Thanks for stopping by! I'll have to say, it is almost 6pm now on Sunday and I am still in my pajamas. I haven't had a lick of energy for anything today and have napped on and off with the boys. Kevin has been up in our bed resting as he has a nasty cold/bronchitis again. He's taking a bath now and I have to feed him supper.

Check back for the reception details tomorrow or later this week. I have to go back to work tomorrow. Bummer, dude! I was having so much fun in wedding mode!