And it Comes Back to Us: The Details

Now that the recaps are finally finished (and I managed to do it by our second anniversary, which is today, yay!), I wanted to do one last post to showcase some of the little details of the wedding that I may or may not have already shown.  Let's start!

Up first is a better look at our ceremony and reception site, the Kirk House.  This is the view I had when I walked under the arbor and down the aisle:

And it Comes Back to Us: We Toss and the Reception Ends

When we were finished playing some wedding games we'd planned out, we gathered all of the single ladies and single men for the bouquet and garter tosses.

The girls and I were up first...looks like the competition was getting pumped up!

And it Comes Back to Us: Wedding Games

After the bouquet and garter had both been tossed, it was time to finish off the rest of the reception.  First up was a game called The Anniversary Dance.

And it Comes Back to Us: We Dance with our Parents

Since the food was eaten and the cake was cut, the next thing on our reception itinerary was the father/daughter dance and the mother/son dance.  Mr. L and I had decided for awhile to combine these two dances.  Neither of us are big on dancing, so after reading a few posts over on Weddingbee about the different ways we could go about this, we decided to combine the two dances.  We ended up choosing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World".  Little did we know at the time that it would become an "homage" of sorts to our next home =)

And it Comes Back to Us: Let Them Eat Cake!

When we took the last bites of our delicious dinner and finished listening to our loved ones give toasts, we filed all of our guests inside the house and did the cake cutting.  (And yes, I actually did eat at the wedding, thank God!)

I love this picture because it shows nearly all of our guests!

And it Comes Back to Us: It's Time to Eat (and Toast)!

When the last notes of our first dance song were complete, it was finally time to do what, quite frankly, Mr. L and I had been looking forward to the most out of the reception -- dinner!

And it Comes Back to Us: I Just Can't Take My Eyes Off You

After revealing Mr. L's incredibly awesome Boba Fett groom's cake, we walked down the front steps of the Kirk House and were officially announced as husband and wife for the second time that day =)

And it Comes Back to Us: I'm Boba the Fett

Finally, after spending about an hour dealing with family and couples portraits, it was time for me to reveal my final wedding surprise to Mr. L!  (FYI, I'm pretty stoked that this post has happened to fall on Star Wars Day -- May the Fourth be with you, everyone!)

We walked through the back of the house (the cake was positioned in the front room) and I prepped him on what he was about to see.  And by prep him I mean I told him nothing and then whipped out my little blue iPod Nano.  After pressing play this song filled the room:



(FYI - it's kind of NSFW, so don't blare it!)

And it Comes Back to Us: We're Husband and Wife! Now Let's Take Pictures

Right after we officially got hitched, our guests made their way to the refreshments located right outside of the house, and Mr. L and I had to have couples portraits and family portraits taken.  The following are a few of my favorites!

And it Comes Back to Us: The Ceremony

Be prepared -- this post is picture and description heavy since I'm making the entire ceremony into one post!

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After our portraits and our minor wardrobe malfunction that set us back a half hour, it was finally time to get our ceremony rolling.  Our chaplain, Mr. L, and his best man Jonathan made their way to the altar as I stayed inside to wait for my cue.

And it Comes Back to Us: Portraits

After the girls and the guys got dressed and ready to go, our photographer took both Mr. L and me (separately, of course!) either outside or around the house to have some portrait photos taken.  Although I don't have all of the pictures taken that day, here are a few!

And it Comes Back to Us: The Gentlemen Dress Up

While the ladies and I were busy getting our makeup done and hair finished, the boys were downstairs in the Kirk House having themselves a good ol' time!

Mr. L and his entourage busied themselves with putting the finishing touches on their outfits and keeping up a lighthearted atmosphere with jokes and laughter.  In the picture above, Mr. L's mother is seeing Mr. L for the first time in his snazzy dinner dress whites!

And it Comes Back to Us: The Girls Get Prettified

After doing what I could to help set up some elements of the wedding, my hairdresser told me we'd better start on my hair before any more time passed by.  I agreed with her, and upstairs we went!

It was mostly quiet while we sat in the roomy middle area near the top of the stairs.  My mother was very busy setting up the decorations outside, and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law hadn't arrived yet.  I definitely enjoyed having a little quiet time while my hairdresser and I politely yet excitedly talked about the day ahead.

(Clips of me getting my hair done from our wedding video)

And it Comes Back to Us: May 15th Arrives

Mr. L and I are currently getting settled in Hawaii, and since we may or may not have access to internet, here are some pre-written scheduled posts to keep you guys entertained!

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The night before our wedding, I thankfully had no issues with sleeping. I figured it might take me a long time to drift off, but I must have been pretty tired from the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner since I passed out around 12am.

Mr. L apparently had a good ol' time the night before. He and some of his friends left the rehearsal dinner to go watch a movie and hang out in the hotel room, laughing and enjoying his time with his buddies.  I'm so happy he got to spend more time with his friends -- being in the military means lots of long-distance friendships, so he definitely got in some good quality time with his buds!

(Just a quick reminder of how much they love each other so very inappropriately.)

Before the Big Day: We Rehearse and Then Eat

Mr. L and I are currently getting settled in Hawaii, and since we may or may not have access to internet, here are some pre-written scheduled posts to keep you guys entertained!

And we're back in chronological order by the way =)

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I remember being relatively calm on Friday the 14th of May -- the day before our wedding. It was a beautiful, warm spring day, and I distinctly recall my mother and I fervently praying the weather the next day would be the same. We did have a backup plan for our outdoor wedding just in case of rain, but we certainly didn't intend on using it if we didn't have to!

Before the Big Day: In Which I Find a Dress

Mr. L and I are currently getting settled in Hawaii, and since we may or may not have access to internet, here are some pre-written scheduled posts to keep you guys entertained!

By the way, I'm going a little out of chronological order for the next couple of wedding recap posts -- bear with me!

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Since Mr. L had (finally!) officially proposed to me, it became time to start the search for the perfect wedding dress.  There are pretty much a handful of choices in our area to shop for a dress, and since David's Bridal is the biggest bridal store around, we opted to start there first.

Before the Big Day: A (Venue) Hunting We Will Go

Mr. L and I are currently getting settled in Hawaii, and since we may or may not have access to internet, here are some pre-written scheduled posts to keep you guys entertained!

By the way, I'm going a little out of chronological order for the next couple of wedding recap posts -- bear with me!

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So...I have a little confession to make.

My mother and I sort of looked at venues before Mr. L and I were officially engaged.

I guess that's pretty harmless, right?  Except there's more.

Before the Big Day: An Afternoon Tea

On the Saturday before the wedding, my dear friend Bonnie was gracious enough to throw a fabulous afternoon tea party for me! We all dolled up in pretty dresses and had ourselves a fabulous time =)

(Gorgeous decorations, plus my MIL, myself, my mom, and my nephew!)

Before the Big Day: The Bridal Shower

Waaay back in the Spring of 2010, my lovely sister-in-law/MOH threw me one amazing bridal shower!

(Arriving at the party and seeing everything for the first time!)

And it Comes Back to Us: It's Wedding Recap Time!

A little while after the wedding, soon after I'd started up my first blog address, I did a mini review of sorts of the vendors of my wedding.  Now that much more time has passed (we're coming up on a year and a half now!), and since I did complete my honeymoon recaps, I figure it might be time to actually focus on the wedding before I forget any more details.

One of my absolute favorite pictures, taken by my lovely SIL