#GoingToTheUpchurch The Big Day!

With the end of the year coming soon, I really wanted to share the last installment of my #GoingToTheUpchurch series, where I've detailed our wedding which was May 30, 2015 (was it really that long ago?!)

So far I've covered. . .

How He Asked

Our Engagement Photos

My Bridal Portraits

The Pre-Wedding Festivities

Our Rehearsal Dinner

Honeymooning: Savannah & Charleston

and today will be the final installment-The Big Day itself!
But before we jump in I want to let you know about my vendors, in case you're an Alabama bride (or Georgia!) because they were a dream team 😍
Venue: South Wind Plantation
Photographer: Amy-Cole Photography (she is amazing and made my day perfect-if you need photos in Alabama & Georgia, call her!)
Bridal Boutique: The Quality Shoppe
Menswear: Sam Stewart Formalwear (Anniston, AL)
Florist: The English Cottage (Ashland, AL)
Catering and Cake: The Glass House Catering (Munford, AL)
All professional photography in this post is from Amy-Cole Photography.

The morning of our wedding was bright & beautiful, perfect weather.
Thankfully, the rain that had been in the area on the 28th had moved out and everything was sunny and dry for our special day.

 We started the day out with Starbucks (duh) and Chick-Fil-A (double-duh) and then headed to Exquisite You Salon for hair & makeup (& mimosas!)

 I'll probably say this a million times, but I had the most fun group of friends with me that day!

 Mrs. Dina did my hair for both of my proms in high school & has been such a great family friend-I couldn't think of anyone else I would want to do my hair for my wedding.

 These girls did my makeup & kept the party going in the salon!

 Amy's sweet second-shooter, Robyn was able to capture a few photos (& help my husband learn how to work cuff links 😂) of Christopher getting ready.

 After the salon, we headed to the venue (about 15 minutes away) where the girls finished their makeup, touched up their hair, and we finished getting ready.

 I thought there was a photo of the gift I got Chris (this watch) but I guess not...anyway, my sweet husband picked this set out as my gift from our favorite jewelry store.
The pearls were classic & simple and were beautiful with my dress.

 Y'all, aren't my friends stunning?!

This was one of the most special parts of my day-my mom sewed in a piece of one of my daddy's blue shirts in the shape of heart.
Y'all I am a daddy's girl and loved having that little piece there forever!

 My mom helped me into my dress and then my girls gathered around me and my bestie since jr. high (Katie Bain, I love you!) prayed over me and our day.

Details:

Our wedding invitations were from Minted, I loved the classic look-they were a favorite.

Both mine & Chris' rings are from our favorite jewelry store; Couch's Jewelers.

His is a tungsten band & my ring and band both are from the brand Tacori.

 My oldest sister, Trystan did all of our lettering for the wedding-those special touches made the wedding in my opinion.

 Is this board of events not the greatest?
All of our chalk boards were borrowed from friends and family, it was a collaboration of love!

 We decided to go with koozies as our wedding favor since we both hoard them and we love how they turned out!

 My sister who did all of our lettering chalked my favorite love quote onto this antique sideboard-I love it!

 For our reception food we had a served buffet & my sister lettered our menu; all favorites of ours!

 Our florist took my vision (soft, sweet, and southern) and turned it into perfect centerpieces.
They weren't overwhelming, but left the prettiest touch on the tables.

 Since it was the end of May, we offered our guests bottled water while they waited for the ceremony.
We surrounded it with pictures from our engagement shoot!

 Along the aisle, we had shepherd hooks with mason jars filled with flowers similar to our centerpieces.

 I ended up ordering our cake topper from Etsy and the shop sent us two, so our florist used one in the buffet table's centerpiece.

 Instead of printing programs, my sister used a huge borrowed chalkboard to letter our program out for people to see as they entered.

 I gave my florist total freedom in creating my bouquets, all I wanted was once again soft, sweet, and southern.
He knew I loved hydrangeas so he added those in, of course!
The lace around the base is from my mother's wedding dress-it was SO special!

 I've know Tess & Tylin since they were itty-bitty and I was SO happy they kept our guestbook for me; two of my most favorite girls in the world!

 We chose a Shutterfly photo book with our engagement photos in it and I love looking at it still.

 Our venue had a wagon that my Mom covered with family quilts & we used it as a gift table.

After both the guys & girls got ready, we headed down to the Barn for the first look. . .

 We exchanged letters & then. . .

 I saw my groom! Although I'll be honest with y'all-I was totally peeking through the slats on that door 😉

 After our first look, I did one with my daddy & y'all-if you're a daddy's girl like I am, I highly recommend doing a first look with your dad!

 He totally cried & I totally loved it!

After all of the first looks were over, we did all of our couple & bridal party pictures so we could go straight to the reception after the ceremony.

 My sweet niece & nephew were our flower girl & sign bearer-they were adorable & perfect!

 I loved having some shots right here & not just because that light is so buttery and beautiful, but because we took our engagement photos at South Wind as well & I loved recreating those.

 If you were to ask me to pick a favorite picture, this one would be it!

 Another special detail about our day is that we had three pastors near & dear to our hearts, participate in our ceremony.
The pastor that officiated our wedding was Dr. Tommy Miller who was my childhood pastor, then we had Brother David Phillips & Brother Jerry Colquette who both prayed over us during the ceremony.

Right before we walked out for the wedding, we were all packed into the groom's room & my sweet niece wanted me to put lip gloss on her, so you best bet that I did!

 Then it was time!

The families were seated to "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars (it was a violin cover)
The bridesmaids & groomsmen walked down the aisle to "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perry (a violin cover)
And then I walked down the aisle to Daniel Jang's cover of "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran.
I honestly still can't listen to that song without tearing up-I love that version.
My dad and I stood quietly behind the barn doors as the piano music started and when the violin music began, the doors opened and I stepped out-it was totally magic.

 If you're worried that doing a first look will make you less emotional when you walk down the aisle, don't even worry because we got more emotional walking down the aisle than we did at the first look-it was so sweet!

 We did the unity cross during the ceremony & I love that it's something that is displayed in our home & I think of the wedding and our love every time I see it.

 Then, the kiss!

We walked back down the aisle to Randy Travis' "If I Didn't Have You" and I loved it!

 Right after our ceremony ended, we snuck back up the the house for a few pictures on the porch, this might have been my favorite part of the day because we got to soak in just a few minutes of being husband and wife.

 Then look at these faces of those two excited newlywed kids!

 Our first dance was to Mean to Me by Brett Eldredge 💖

 My daddy & I danced to Your Daddy's Boots by Dustin Lynch & it was perfect for the relationship between he, I, and Chris.

 Chris & his mom danced to My Wish by Rascal Flatts.
Our wedding photographer said she had to step away from taking pictures of them because what Debbie was saying to Chris was too sweet & was making her cry!

 We did a very simple two layer cake with fresh flowers & served small sheet cakes to our guests!

 And then we danced the night away (so many of my favorite people are in this shot!)

 At the end of the night our photographer grabbed us all for one last group shot-minus a few groomsmen, whoops!

 Then it was time to leave!

 Does it get any better than a sparkler exit?!

 And then we climbed into our truck and headed home to take a shower because we were both so sweaty (gross, but so true!)

After a quick shower, we headed over to hang out with some of our friends before calling it a night, so we could head out to Savannah the next morning.

Our wedding was an absolute dream and couldn't have happened without the help of all of our friends, family, fabulous vendors (who have all become friends), and more.
That day was seriously my favorite and I'm so glad I shared it all here on the blog for y'all to see!

Until next time. . .
xoxo,