Franklin Wedding: The Ceremony

It’s wedding ceremony time!  I gave my camera to our friend Steve (all 3 bridesmaids have hubbies named Steve) and told him to take as many pictures as he wanted.  Well, he sure didn’t disappoint!!!  I had over 600 pictures from that day.  I’m still not finished editing them all, but here are a few from Elizabeth and Rustin’s wedding ceremony.

Here’s Rustin dancing down the aisle.  I think it caught everyone by surprise.

If you look closely, you can see Steve and me peeking over the fence in the background.

Then everyone danced down the aisle, one by one.

Here’s one of the other Steve’s.

Jr. Bridesmaid, Rachel.

It’s my honey bunny’s turn!

He really got into it.

Here’s Jen!

I don’t remember this groomsman’s name, but he threw candy into the audience!

It’s my turn!

Don’t ask what I’m doing…..a pirouette maybe?

I’m such an embarrassment!  Don’t ever ask me to dance down an aisle again!

Best man, Eli.

Ryan ran down the aisle and did a quick spin at the end.  🙂  Such a good sport.

Sam skipped down the aisle, with her poofy dress bouncing along with her.  So cute.

Here comes the bride!!!  She didn’t dance.  It’s kinda hard to dance to a wedding march.

Such a beautiful bride!

Rustin looks like he went into military mode.  He was so serious at the first part of the ceremony.  He finally let loose a little during the vows.

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”

I love this look they gave each other.  It was the first time Rustin smiled since he saw her walk down the aisle.

And…..back to being serious.

Look at her pretty tea length dress.  Perfect for an outdoor spring wedding!  And of course it lets her show off those hot pink pumps!

Reading the vows.  Rustin made his into a rap song….or was it just supposed to be a poem?  I couldn’t tell.

One of Elizabeth’s vows was to watch one sports game with him per week without falling asleep. 🙂

She also vowed to cook dinner for him once a week….and Elizabeth HATES to cook.  So that was a big one!

I love a wedding where the bride cries. 🙂

And also when she laughs!

Rustin’s parents’ backyard made a beautiful wedding venue.

I’m handing her Rustin’s ring.  I also got to hold her bouquet…which made me happy. 🙂

The exchanging of rings.

I now pronounce you husband and wife!!!

Kiss the bride!!!!

He picked her up in a big whoosh of white dress, and carried her down the aisle.

And then we all followed.  By the by….look how awkward I look next to the best man.  I’m what…..6 inches taller than him, at least?!

Then we all stood around outside the gate for several minutes before someone told us what we were supposed to be doing. 🙂

All in all, it was a lovely, and sometimes corny ceremony.  I don’t think I could have imagined it any other way.

 

Franklin Wedding: Pre-Ceremony Photos

Elizabeth and Rustin did not see each other before the wedding ceremony as is tradition, but the girls and guys did take pictures separately before the ceremony.  Here are a few of those pictures.

The wind kept blowing a tree branch in Elizabeth’s face, so Jen helped pull it away.

Showing off her hot pink heels!

Elizabeth and me…..bride and maid of honor!

Hand on the hip makes your arm look thinner! 🙂

We had our own personal paparazzi.

Well hello there!

The ring bearer was Rustin’s little brother, Ryan.  And he would not let me dance with anyone but him!  Such a ladies man!

Ryan making his move!

The flower girl, Rustin’s little sister, Sam.  Such a cutie!

Jr. Bridesmaid, Rustin’s other little sister, Rachel.  Yes, all his siblings are quite a bit younger than him!

There he goes again!  Trying to steal the bride!!!

The nice thing about living in Tennessee….lots of greenery to use as a backdrop!

This one’s my favorite.

Me and my love!

Close up!

The wait begins….30 minutes until ceremony time!

Rustin and his future father in law.

The boys striking a pose.

Oh geez.  Boys…. it must be next to impossible for them to take a serious photo.  Next post….The Wedding Ceremony!!!

Franklin Wedding: Getting Ready for the Big Day

As usual, whenever I’m looking forward to something, or I have to wake up early for something, I always wake up well before my alarm goes off.  Elizabeth and Rustin’s wedding day was no different.  I had to be at the salon at 10:30am to get my hair and makeup done.  In addition to having my hair/makeup done for the Franklin wedding, this was also going to be a run through for my own wedding day.  And since I needed to have nice hair and makeup for their wedding, I thought I might as well schedule the run through for that day.  I know, smart, right?  I woke up around 8am, fed the cats, let the dogs out, and got dressed.  I needed to make a couple stops before I went to the salon.  One was to pick up hair extensions and false eyelashes at Sally Beauty Supply.  In order to have the fuller look I wanted, my hair stylist, Maegan, suggested that I get some hair extensions.  And I was definitely happy that I did!  And false eyelashes are always fun, and make your eyes pop.

When I got to Rustin’s parents’ house (where the wedding was taking place), all the girls were in the bathroom watching Elizabeth get her hair done.

Here’s a close up of her up do.  So pretty!  And I love the flower.

Elizabeth was trying to decide if she wanted to wear her veil or not.

The other bridesmaids and I convinced her that a veil was definitely the way to go on your wedding day!

This “Bride” robe that I bought her came in really handy.  And it was so pretty too!

Here’s Jen applying some makeup to Elizabeth’s eyelids.

Then Elizabeth added some more makeup.

And then I added even more makeup.

While the rest of the girls got ready, Elizabeth went over her vows.  Both Elizabeth and Rustin wrote their own vows.

Can’t forget the garter!  Ooo la la!

It was my job to help her lace up her dress.

I had practiced a couple weeks before the wedding, so it was easier than it looked.

I love the look of a lace up back!  Unfortunately, my wedding dress zips up, but I think I’ll live. 🙂

It did take quite a while to lace her up.

Here’s the flower girl, Rustin’s little sister, Sam.  Such a little cutie!

Hello!  My name is Joanna.  And I have hundreds of bobby pins in my hair.  Sure, they make my hair look pretty, but after a few hours of them tugging at my skull, I developed head aches in several spots around my head.  But you know what they say, “Beauty knows no pain!!”