Wedding Recap: Getting Ready

I’ve been anxiously awaiting starting a new series on my blog for MONTHS now… almost 8 to be exact.

As most of you know Scott and I got married last July, and I’ve been putting off sharing details of the wedding day until I got all of the edited photos and wedding album from our photographer.

Well I’m excited to announce today is the day I can start Wedding Wednesdays on the blog!  Each week I will devote a post to details of the wedding day filled with pictures, stories and advice for brides-to-be.

*All photos used in this and all wedding related posts are from Elegant Imagery.

Getting Ready

I woke up the morning of Friday July 22, 2012 with a spring in my step.  Ignoring the fact that I couldn’t get any sleep for the life of me, I was getting married and I couldn’t wait to start getting ready!

A few of my bridesmaids stayed over with me the night before in the honeymoon suite of the Grand Bohemian, and I asked the others to show up by late morning in their Bridal Party Tees to get started on hair and makeup.

I was the last to go on each, and had some amazing stylists handling all of the stresses for us.

Demarco Mireles with Stella Luca has been doing my hair for about 4 years now, so I trusted him along with Jessica Hartwick to do the girls’ side buns.

For makeup, I hired Kat from MAC and she brought an assistant to help do 9 bridesmaids, 1 mother of the bride and 1 bride.

Whew! Anyone else Starbucks to get through this one?

I spent the morning laughing, crying, but most of all staying unexpectedly calm.  I wasn’t worried about how my hair and makeup would turn out since I had trials done for each, feeling good after each one.

*ADVICE (passed on from a bridesmaid of mine): Try to schedule your wedding day makeup trial a day you’ll be around friends or family.  I had my trial the morning of My Bridal Shower and everyone confirmed that Kat did a great job.

As I sat and chatted with my girls, I kept staring at everything I would soon be wearing down the aisle.  I had to have these earrings the day I tried on my wedding dress, from Priscilla of Boston.

(Anyone notice the HB abbreviation? It just so happens that used to be my nickname in high school).

 I had to have these shoes, again from Priscilla of Boston.

This Maria Elena bracelet, as my “something borrowed” from my bridesmaid Brittany, which was worn in her as well as another bridesmaid Ashley’s wedding.

This “something blue” garter set, handmade by costume designer and friend, Bunkie Tate.

These pair of reception sneakers from Urban Outfitters.

This reception dress and sparkly booty shorts, also handmade by Bunkie.

And finally, sitting on my very own customized hanger hung the dress.

I LOVED how my bridal hanger turned out, and I still have it displayed in our laundry room to this day.

I asked my mom to come during the last two hours, so she could get her makeup and hair done too.  Being the saint she is, she also brought sandwich trays from Panera and snacks for all of us.

With about an hour left until we had to head out for pictures, the flowers arrived and everything felt so real.

Before I knew it, it was time to put my mimosa down and start getting dressed.

I decided at the last minute to go against a headpiece and instead asked for two live lime green orchids.  After looking at our photos, this  turned out more beautiful than I could have pictured and I’m so happy I did that.

As the final touch ups were happening I knew we were almost ready to head down to take pictures.

*ADVICE: If possible, try to schedule extra buffer time in your “dressing room” time.  I took at least 20 minutes to talk with my videographer, and he was able to interview me and some of the girls one-on-one.  After seeing our wedding video short, that 20 minutes added a lot of personal meaning to our video.

I took a few deep breaths, looked out the window for a minute and just soaked in the moment.

By the way, this Vera Wang veil, was also borrowed from a friend.  I couldn’t believe how perfectly it went with my dress, almost like I bought it specifically for it.

And just like that, everyone was ready to head downstairs.

To be continued next Wedding Wednesday…

In the mean time, see what recaps are coming up on the new Wedding Page!