I am not sure if any of us brides or grooms ever really sleep or rest the night before our wedding day as our minds are so fixed on the fairytale dream unfolding, but as the sun rises we wake to find it is our wedding day; a day when dreams really come true. On this Sunday morning in April 2015, I woke to realize it was my wedding day. A day Timmy and I had both dreamed of for some time now, and it was finally here. Oh, the excitement was in the air.
Kayla (a bridesmaid) had stayed the evening over at my house and like excited girls for any special occasion we stayed up to after eleven o’clock getting everything ready for the special day. It was around seven o’clock in the morning when we awoke, to realize we had to be at the salon in less than an hour to meet the remaining bridesmaids for our hair appointments. We quickly got dressed and ready to head out to the salon in Kayla’s boyfriends truck; a girl needs to arrive in style, right? 🙂 With rushing out so quickly, there was no time to fix any breakfast so McDonald’s was a must for these two girls. I was concerned of already being late for the hair appointment, but Kayla quickly told me “the bride must eat so she doesn’t get grouchy”. She knows me all too well, so I totally agreed that food was a must. LOL. After all the girls had their hair perfectly fixed, it was time to head to the soon to be in-laws house where our makeup would be done by Lauren Kelley. It was kind of a funny site to see Tim’s (the soon to be father-in-law) face as us ten girls coming walking into his living room. His facial expression was priceless. What used to be a home with only one female in it, he now had makeup and girls everywhere he looked.
With hair and makeup to perfection, it was time to head to the wedding venue, Kalioka Stables. As we were headed to Kalioka, we saw Timmy and his guys pulling out of his neighborhood also headed to the wedding venue. It was now a race to beat him there so I could get inside before he saw me. Kayla took care of things and got us there in plenty of time to get in and hid before the guys arrived. As we arrived, I remember feeling so special as I watched all the staff and wedding vendors working hard to make this day so special for us. When we were in the planning stages, Timmy and I along with our moms met with some amazing wedding vendors, one of which was Naman’s Catering. At the consultation, we were served samples of food items in which we could choose from and were actually able to sit and talk with the owner, Alec Naman. One of his amazing coordinators, Ginny McElhaney-Simmons, took care of all the details of our menu and event for us, and we knew our wedding was in great hands. We also had the BEST baker for our cakes. Mrs. Judi Freeman, also known as DeeDee by the groom, was going to create the most amazing cakes for us. We really didn’t have a typical wedding consultation with her, since she is Timmy’s grandmother and we get to sample cake choices on a regular basis. Marrying into this family has extra sweet benefits. 🙂
Timmy and I had decided we wanted to have “first glance’ pictures taken of the two of us before the wedding ceremony. I was so nervous but EXTREMLEY excited about seeing him for the first time as his soon to be wife. One of the two things Timmy asked for during the planning stages was for me to wear my hair a certain way and to have a candy station table at the reception. Therefore, both of these elements were important for me to make sure happened. As I walked in the room and saw him standing there, all I could think was wow, he is so handsome and he is about to be my husband. He had the biggest grin on his face, and he liked my hair; hehehe. It was a perfect moment!!
The moments leading up to the ceremony were a little nerve-racking as the sky was pouring buckets of rain, and us needing to make a decision of whether or not to move the ceremony inside. Timmy and I had really had our heart set on having the ceremony outside, so with the confidence in our wedding coordinator, Cindy Squires and the staff at Kalioka Stables, we decided to leave the ceremony outside and wait out the rain. Cindy kept us all very calm and had every detail under control.
The rain ended up slacking up for us to hold our wedding ceremony. While most guests had to still use umbrellas and Timmy’s dad, Tim, and my sister, Deeann, held an umbrella over Timmy and I as Brother Bo Curry married us, it was still picture perfect. I was marrying the man of my dreams and rain or no rain was going to stop me from enjoying every moment of this day.
The ceremony was beautiful and perfect in its rainy way. Now it was time to enjoy the celebration with all our family and friends who took time to make this a very special day for us. As soon as Timmy and I walked into the reception I wanted to go straight to the cakes to see Mrs. Judi’s, aka DeeDee’s, fabulous work in creating us our dream cakes. They were perfect!!!
So many people put so much effort, work, and thought into the details of this day. The food, venue, cakes, entertainment, flowers, and decorations could not have been any more perfect or beautiful. Each went above and beyond my dreams.
Timmy and I feel so blessed to have such amazing family and friends. So many people came to celebrate with us and we hated we didn’t get to speak to each and every one of them, but we truly thank each of them for making this moment in our life one of great memories and lots of love.
A few things we learned along the way:
~ Having a wedding planner and/or coordinator is a must.
~ Time goes by quickly so don’t wait to take care of wedding details.
~ There are lots of little details which go into planning a wedding.
~ Don’t be shocked at the prices. Weddings are costly so be prepared.
Photography Provided By: Photography By Jaclyn Robinson
Baker: Cakes By Judi, Mobile, AL
Caterer: Naman’s Catering, Mobile, AL
Florist: The Rose Bud Flowers and Gifts, Chickasaw, AL
Wedding Planner & Coordinator: Cindy Squires with Squires Farm Weddings
Entertainment: Kalioka Stables, Eight Mile, AL
Minister: Brother Bo Curry
Bridal Attire: David’s Bridal
Bridesmaids Attire: Fancy That Formal, Saraland, AL
Groom and Groomsmen Attire: Fancy That Formal, Saraland, AL
Hair: Genesis Hair Salon, Mobile, AL
Makeup: Laruen Kelley