Wedding Wednesday - Pre-Ceremony

I know, I know.  It's been forever.  I have been a BUSY little beaver, and have completed lots of projects around the house.  I have documented most of it and will be posting about that soon.  Meanwhile, it's time for another installment of Wedding Wednesday.  Today I'll show you pictures of the pre-ceremony.

The morning of the wedding, some super sweet ladies prepared a wonderful breakfast for my bridesmaids and me.  Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of that, but it was such a fun time! After the breakfast, we split into three groups--some of us went to the reception site to check on the decorations, some went to the church to see what the florist had done the night before (she had to go out of town the night before the wedding so we hadn't seen anything that she'd done at the church), and some went back to my mom's house to start getting ready. My sweet sister and amazing cousin (who, by the way, was over 8 months prego at the time!!!!) took on the task of doing everyone's hair and makeup.....they worked their BUTTS off and then only had about 15 minutes to get themselves ready!!

I love this picture!  This is my cousin, Marci, who was over 8 months pregnant.....that's sweet little Tucker in her belly!

One of my sister's beautiful creations!! Ashley Rose has A LOT of hair so this was quite the task, but my sister has some serious skills!!

Sooooo, due to a little mis-communication, there were no pew markers at the church when we went to check it out the morning of the wedding.  My super-hero cousin was not only my resident makeup artist, but she was also our emergency florist!

True to fashion, I started getting a migraine the morning of the wedding so my sweet Aunt Deb rubbed my neck and back and saved the day!

This picture makes me laugh so hard....and is another reminder of the most memorable bachelorette party ever.  Less than a month before the wedding, we went to Kansas City for my bachelorette party. We had been there all of 30 minutes and my finger gets slammed in a window and we spent the rest of the night in the emergency room! Not only had the window busted through my acrylic nail, my real nail, and cut my nailbed to the bone, it also broke my finger! So, due to this unfortunate accident, I had only 9.25 fingernails on the my wedding day and had to resort to press-on nails....how classy is that?! ha!

This is my great-grandmother's cameo pin that I pinned on my bouquet to be my something old.  This was really special to me because I never got to meet her.  She died when my grandmother was only 16.  I've heard she was an amazing seamstress--I like to tell myself that this is where I got my love for all things crafty!

Daddy, if you're reading this, PLEASE don't kill me!  I just couldn't resist putting these pictures on here!  I gave my dad his gift right before the ceremony, and my photographer caught it all.  I gave him an antique handkerchief that I had embroidered with a sweet message. It said:  "Daddy, you'll always be the first man I ever loved.  Love, Erin"  It is such a true statement and I wanted him to know that, even though I was getting married, I would always be his little girl.  I gave my mom a charm bracelet with an engraved charm that said "All that I am, or ever will be is because of you," and it had my wedding date on the back. Unfortunately, I had given that to her earlier in the day before the photographer was around so I don't have any pictures, but she really liked it.  My mama is the strongest, smartest, hardest working woman I know, and she has always been there for me no matter what. I love her dearly!

My bridesmaids made me write my full maiden name one last time.  It was so weird to think that that was the last time I would write it and it still be my name!

My mom and sister (my Matron of Honor) helping me with my dress!  Love them both SO much!

Putting on the veil...one of my favorite parts of my dress!

 

 

 

I know, I know....I had the CUTEST flower girls ever!  Stella (on the left) and Presley Kate (on the right).

This is my sweet Aunt Deb putting the sixpence in my shoe. The sixpence was my something borrowed, and it was SO very special.  This was the exact same sixpence that my grandaddy put in her shoe on her wedding day.  My grandaddy passed away when I was only 15, and it was nice to think that I had a little piece of him there with me.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to wedding planning extraordinaire, Mrs. Ashley Rose Rausch!  I was one lucky bride because one of my best friends and bridesmaids is a certified event planner, and she is DANG good at it!  Ashley, I cannot thank you enough for everything you did!

My Maid of Honor (and bff) ,Morgan, putting my garters on for me. Morgan worked her little fingers to the bone the weekend of my wedding, and was the best Maid of Honor I could have ever asked for.

I love this picture.  Both of my flower girls were in awe of my wedding dress that day, and it was the cutest thing ever. I may be a little biased, but I was kind of in awe of my wedding dress too!  =)

....and I leave you with this....my handsome Daddy!  I love this man.

Well, that's it for today's edition of Wedding Wednesday.  See you all soon.