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!!”

Franklin Rehearsal Dinner….Aloha!

Well, it’s finally happened!  I’ve kept my word, and the pictures I said I was going to share with you have finally come!

This past week and weekend we have been very busy bees!  Tuesday night, Steve went out with Rustin and his friends for a bachelor night full of……..well…..whatever it is that bachelors do….minus the strippers.  All I know for sure is that Rustin most likely did not remember the entire evening.  Or probably most of the entire week, for that matter.  He had a “bachelor week”, and much to my delight, Steve only participated in that one evening instead of the entire week of bachelor madness.

So, getting back to the rehearsal dinner, which took place Friday, May 27th.  It was Hawaiian themed, and the first things I noticed when we got there were these awesome centerpieces.  Live fish!  Now, granted, this type of goldfish usually don’t last more than a month or so before they die, but when I was little, I remember keeping one alive for at LEAST a year.  I know.  Impressive.

Here’s Jen, one of the 3 bridesmaids.  Doesn’t she have beautiful, blue eyes?  They draw you in!

Steve was in the wedding too.  One of Rustin’s 5 groomsmen.  Isn’t it usually the bride who ends up having a hard time narrowing down who the bridesmaids are gonna be, and eventually ends up with more attendants than the groom?  Well not this time apparently.  He’s got beautiful, blue eyes too. 🙂  Please, Lord, let our children get his eye color, but my 20/20 vision!  That would be awesome!  Thanks for listening!

Here’s where the ceremony took place.  Ceremony and reception were held in the lovely backyard of Rustin’s parents, Eric and Wendie.

Look at that happy groom!  But then again, he is always cracking jokes, so this is nothing new.

Back up, sista!  Rustin can never be serious…….as I mentioned in my toast at the wedding. 🙂

Can you guess what Rustin is doing here?

How about now?

That’s right.  He’s dancing down the aisle.

We all danced down the aisle.

Shake that booty, Steve!

Yes, even I got in on the dancing action!  Hey, it’s what they wanted, so I obliged!  Note: There will be no dancing down the aisle at my wedding!

Elizabeth didn’t dance.  She’s the bride.  She can do whatever she wants!

So we ran through the ceremony only one time, I believe, and we didn’t really even go through the whole thing.  We just practiced where we’d stand and when Elizabeth would hand me her bouquet, etc.

Then we practiced walking out.  I didn’t get to walk out with Steve, unfortunately.  And it made it a little awkward, because on the day of the wedding, I was wearing 4 inch heels, so I was significantly taller than Eli, the best man.

Here’s the beautiful bride, Elizabeth, with Krista, another bridesmaid.

Bride and maid of honor.  In about 40 days, those rolls will be reversed! 🙂

The bride with all her bridesmaids.

Then, of course, Steve being the class clown that he is had to come and jump into our picture.

Then one by one, each bridesmaid’s hubby came and took a picture with us girls.

Can you guess which man belongs with which lady?

Ah yes, the Dr. Evil shot.  Don’t ask me why we did this pose.

Rustin had handed out some victory cigars.  Victory for what?  I’m not sure.  Getting through the rehearsal?  His last day as a single man?

Yes, you’re all very cool.  But I don’t think you’ll make it into the mafia.

See that pool in the background?  Just keep that in mind for a future post. 🙂

Best Friends Forever!!!  I can’t believe I’ve only known Elizabeth for a year, and already we are so close.  I feel like I’ve known her my whole life!

Love you, girlfriend!  <3