The Happiest Day, Vol. I

Putting all cliches aside, February 7, 2009 was literally the most happy, content, sentimental, exciting, nerve-wracking, emotional, thrilling day of my life. Since our wedding day, I have wanted to journal about every little detail of the day so that I will always remember it, and I've decided that putting it on this blog serves as my own journal with pictures included, and it shows you readers- family, friends, {and who knows who}- a glimpse into OUR {love} STORY.

And no lie, I have been working on this post-on and off- for a couple of months now so I hope you have a good slot of time to sit at your computer 'cause it's gonna be a lengthy one! So much so, that I might have to post two or three volumes.

Before I start the timeline, I want to give you an overview of the day.

The "style" of our wedding was very different from the norm. My highest priority in planning our wedding was that our day would directly reflect both of us. Aaron loves the outdoors, and he loves his boots. I love everything feminine and dainty, and my leopard print cowgirl boots.

I wanted a relaxed atmosphere where everyone felt comfortable and at ease... nothing too stuffy and serious. Well, the commitment we made was about as serious as it gets, but I'm talking about the atmosphere here.  I communicated our wedding theme with all the people and vendors we spoke with as:

"a rustic setting with elegant and dainty details."

Oak Hollow Farms in Fairhope, Alabama provided the location for our rustic setting. Growing up together, we attended various functions here and little did we know what this place would mean to us a decade later...

Our ceremony was held under a canopy of live oak trees and afterwards, the guests walked over to the barn to join the reception.

And it was only fitting that we all donned cowboy{girl} boots...

The elegant and dainty details were...

my favorite flowers {that were in season} in all of my favorite colors.

ribbons and bows on everything...

Gold accents...

Our favors were little gold boxes filled with my Grandmomma's homeade fudge and divinty. One priority in planning our Big Day was making every little detail meaningful... I'm just sentimental that way.

And of course, these ten lovely ladies in their frilly, coral, raw silk dresses with their hair just the way they wanted and their own pair of cowgirl boots.

My gift to them was this pretty gold locket and a gold shawl {but thanks, to the beautiful weather, they didn't even need it!}.

Gosh they were beautiful.

Would you like to meet them?

There is Julie... my sister, my proxy bride, and my oldest maid of honor.

and Jessica, my baby sister, my bouquet holder, and my youngest maid of honor.

and Courtney...

and Casey... {you can't see her beautiful face in this picture but this was one of my favorite moments of the day!}

and Jane Gray...

and Sara...

and Megan...

and Lindsay...

and Lauren...

and Claire...

and my beautiful friend and soloist Elizabeth...

All eleven of these girls have been the most special friends in all my life. They are childhood friends, sorority sisters, college roomates... you name it, they've been there. My relationship with each of them is unique from the others. These are friends that every time I see them, we pick up right where we left off... They know way more about me than most people... Each of them has made me laugh until I have cried and/or wet my britches more than once...if I ever needed them they would be there for me and I for them. They each find their different places in all of my special memories in life. I truly love each one of these girls.

Onto the groomsmen...

Aaron chose my Dad to be his best man. If you know our family, or you've been around the blog for a while, you may have noticed how unusually close these two are. They are literally each other's best friend.

His groomsmen consisted of his closest friends from his younger years through college...

College baseball buddies...

and his high school baseball coaches {that he considers some of his closest friends)...

Most of my pictures were taken by Renaissance Photography but a lot of these were taken by my "Uncle John" Holland. He is a very talented recreational photographer. Also, some of these were taken by friends and I stole them off facebook! :)

Jason and Tammy- from Renaissance- not only took amazing photographs, they helped create the fun, light-hearted atmosphere I wanted. The photographers greatly influence the mood of the wedding party because there are so many pictures to take. Jason had us all laughing hysterically and nothing was strict, formal, or very "posed", which I, and mainly all the the dudes, greatly appreciated.

We knew we were taking a huge risk by planning an outdoor ceremony on the first weekend in February. You just never know with coastal weather that time of year... it could be raining and freezing or 70 degrees and sunny. Our back-up plan was to have the ceremony and the reception in the barn and we told everyone to dress warm and even bring a blanket if they wanted! We also served hot chocolate during the ceremony just in case people got chilly. None of those per-cautions were needed...

We all just say God smiled on us that day. The weather could not have been more perfect.

Shall we get on with the timeline?

I slept so hard the night before... no jitters, no worries, just peace in my heart. The "peace" I speak of came in the form of sheer exhaustion- from being dog tired from a week of school and wedding planning by telephone, the ease of mind I possessed because my mother and family members had EVERYTHING under control, and the biggest part- that spiritual "peace that surpasses all understanding" {Phillipians 4:7}. I was completely content in knowing that the next day, I was going to marry the boy I'd been in love with for 8 years and I knew in my heart that God's hand was all over us. It just felt right.

On the morning of February 7, my mom woke me up like she always does... playing with my hair and scratching my back... My dad woke me up like he always does... by running and jumping on top of me and squeezing the life out of me {only Boston wasn't blaring from the loud speakers too}. They both layed on my bed, with me in the middle, and we talked about the special night before {the rehearsal dinner} and of course the day ahead... My mom left me a little card on my bedside table when they left the room and as soon as I started reading it, I of course started tearing up.

I got up and got ready for my bridesmaids "bruncheon" at the Casto house. I wanted to have something fun to keep me upbeat and busy that morning... it worked!

I did my own makeup because I just can't give up the reigns on my face... but I did NOT trust myself with my hair. All I did was wash and dry it and put hot rollers in it before the brunch.

Mrs. Stephanie Casto, Courtney Calhoun, Mrs. Bonnie Wiggers, Jane Gray Wiggers Bledsoe, my Aunt Joan {Holland} and my cousin Leigh Holland.  I would say they were each the hostess with the mostess!

Obviously, we all wore our PJ's... I wanted the girls {and myself} to feel as comfortable as possible.

We ate and laughed and ate some more... I had some butterflies in my stomach but I ate anyways... no need to be bridezilla!

After brunch, Julie, Courtney, and Jane Gray took me to go get my hair done by Amberly at B-Butterfly in Fairhope. Amberly has been cutting my hair for many years and I felt completely comfortable in her hands.

She knows I'm all about some poof! Can you tell?

She anticipated the very loooong and windy day my hair was about to endure and made sure that it would hold it's curl and "poof" all day.

The girls each had to take turns holding my veil up because their arms kept tiring out. I was having fun, but the nauseous-anticipation-butterfly in the stomach feeling kept trying to set in.

I kept looking at the veil in my hair and I just felt like a bride... that was enough to make me giddy!

While we were at B-Butterfly, Mom and all the bridesmaids were at my house getting ready.

When we arrived, mom had the door locked and I was wondering why it took her a long time to open the door.

Well that's because I was about to be greeted by 8 lovely ladies in my favorite shade of melon! They were a sight to see {from my point of view}. I got reeeeally excited!!

Even more exciting, was putting on my bridal gown. Mom and Jessica helped me get into it and the "getting ready" part of the photoshoot began.

I wore my engagement ring, of course, and pearl drop earrings that my mom gave me. My grandmomma gave me a sixpence for my shoe {that she also wore on her wedding day} and two wheat pennies for good luck. My mom also had my handkercheif embroidered.

My mom helped me put on my garter. The ribbons on the garter represent the Chi O's that have worn the garter before me {which was only one :)} and the color of each ribbon represents the color of your bridesmaid dresses.

Jane Gray's were obviously blue.

My wedding dress was the very first one I even touched when we started the hunt.  I tried it on and it was almost perfect... but just a little too simple for me.

I love dainty details and I knew I wanted lace on my dress and buttons down the back, so we {my mother and I} came up with the idea to customize it.  We took the same monaco lace that was on my veil, and added it to the front and back of the dress. We also added the buttons going down the back.

The only thing about wearing a wedding dress outdoors is keeping it clean!

Aaron had to help me with my dress most of the day... then eventually, I just gave up.

I loved my veil just as much as I loved my dress.  It was so windy that day which looked pretty in some of the pictures...

But all day I was "fixing" it... You know, trying to keep the poof in my hair when the wind would pull the veil down.

Back to the timeline... Am I ADD?

We took a few more pictures at home...

And then we made our way to Oak Hollow to start the photoshoot.

The boys were just chillin' on the porch when we arrived... no sight of my groom just yet though.

First, I had to put my heart under the emotional toll of seeing my Dad for the first time in my dress.

"Come on Jill, you can do this. Hold it together, just hold it together. Swallow... just swallow hard."

Think happy thoughts... dancing in the living room, running together every afternoon after school, hearing that distinctive voice over every one else's at my track meets and basketball games, playing H-O-R-S-E in the driveway, talking for hours on long car rides...

"I love you when you're good, I love you when you're bad, I love you when you're happy, and I love you when you're sad. You know what? I love you all the time."

And, as always, I get that big hug...

... and I fall apart.

Well, we all did.

And then there's the laugh after a cry that is just good for the soul!

The moment wasn't just about Dad and I... it was about how much he loves all his Carter girls.

After we had all "gotten our act together" I looked over Dad's shoulder and got a glimpse of the ceremony sight. This was my reaction...

And I headed on down to see my man!

My little maids of honor took special care in making sure my veil and dress looked pristine before I saw my groom.

And then I made my way down that aisle.

And well... pictures are worth more than a thousand words... {that I will not be repeating} {hehe}

It was a very special, intimate moment that only the two of us will ever know about.

Mmmm...mmmm....mmmm...

I think I may have been floating that day...

and it still makes me happy just to reminisce... I hope you enjoyed it too!

This will conclude Volume I and I will post Volume II tomorrow. Stay tuned!