Our Sweet Beginning: Bridal Party and Family Formals

Not only was our wedding day special because it was the day we became husband and wife, but also because we were surrounded by our incredible friends and family. They are the people who have shaped us, supported us, and loved us through so many different phases in our lives, and it meant the world to have them all beside us as we began our journey into married life.

 

Real sisters and sorority sisters :)

Me and my Maid of Honor, Brian and his Best Man

With our flower girl and ring bearers

In addition to more casual pictures with our bridal party, we also did formal pictures with our families. In keeping with tradition, of course. :)

My family

Brian's family

With our parents :)

With my parents and grandparents

With Brian's dad, sister, and Grandmom

The next post in our wedding recaps is an important one (maybe the most important!): our ceremony!

Our Sweet Beginning: My Bachelorette Party!

Now that things are starting to settle down and we are getting situated in our new home in the lovely Peach State, I really want to get back into the swing of regular blogging. I hope I remember how! :)

I do want to do a couple of recaps of our big wedding events. Our wedding day was the the most perfect expression of us as a couple and probably the happiest day of my life, so I am really excited to share the details! I don't have my hands on all of the professional pictures from our amazing photographer yet, so those posts might wait just a little while. In the meantime, I wanted to share pictures from my bachelorette party, which was held exactly one week before our big day.

My lovely bridesmaids planned a fun-filled night to celebrate my last official outing as a single lady! We had a yummy Japanese hibachi dinner (my FAVORITE!) with the bridal party and my mom and (soon to be) mother-in-law, and then headed Girl's Night Out event at my favorite local vineyard, Boordy, with some of my very favorite people!

We sat on the lawn, sipping wine, eating cupcakes, and listening to some live music.

Then, we headed over to a local bar for some good old fashioned shenanigans. It was a night that reminded me of our fun college days. :)

Such a fun time! I am so lucky to have these girls in my life, and I have definitely already felt the sadness that comes with having to say "see you later" and move away from such amazing friends.

April (Bridal) Showers :)

I am down in Savannah for Spring Break (yaaahooo!) and while Brian's at work, I thought I should do a little bit of catching up on my blog. :) The first weekend in April, my bridesmaids threw me the most beautiful bridal shower ever! The theme was "April Showers Bring May Flowers," and all of my girls, with my mom and Brian's mom, made the day so special!

I started out the day by enjoying some of the delicious food (like my sister's now signature Curry Chicken Salad with croissants) and ran around to greet everyone who had come to celebrate my day!

The food spread!

Delicious desserts....cupcakes and cake balls! :)

Then, it was time to open presents! Brian and I have certainly been spoiled by our friends and family, and I can't wait to finally have somewhere to set up all of our new kitchen things! While I opened gifts, all of the guest played Bridal Shower Bingo. Before I started, they filled out their card with gifts they thought I might receive. When I opened it, they crossed it off on their Bingo card. I thought it was really cute and took some of the focus off of me while I was the center of attention, which made me much less nervous. :)

Opening a gift from Shannon....a "woozie" aka wine glass coozie :)

Filling out Bingo cards!

But, by far the BEST part of the whole day was celebrating with a room-full of family and friends who have supported Brian and I throughout different parts of our lives, and now as we plan our wedding. I can't believe it's been ten months since we got engaged, and our big day is just around the corner!

Me and another Lauren, one of my good friends/running buddies from high school!

Me and my Phi Mu sisters :)

Me and my amazing bridesmaids!

 It was a perfect shower, and I am so grateful for everything these ladies have done for me to make the days leading up to our wedding special and memorable. :)

(...and because I can't even believe it, here's a screen shot from the app on my phone that's been counting down the days until our wedding since we set the date. Crazy!)

The Girls!

There weren't many questions when it came to my bridal party. These girls were the ones I knew would be standing up for me the day I walked down the aisle. It took me a while to chase down and make dates with all of the girls I wanted to ask. It was really important to me to ask them each individually (which made the process take forever, but I'm still glad I did it that way), and I wanted to do something special to let them all know how much it means to me. I am beyond lucky to have these seven (yes, seven!) wonderful women standing up for Brian and I as bridesmaids on our wedding day.

Jennifer and Rachel, my two younger sisters

 

Kathy, Brian's sister and my future sister-in-law

Kristi, my sorority Little

Joella, my sorority sister
  

Amber, my sorority sister

Amanda, my longest friend

In addition to these lovely ladies, my cousin Jordan will be a Junior Bridesmaid.

My flower girl will be my cousin Zoe!

I wish I could put into words how beyond great and supportive these girls have been, not only about our wedding but ever since I've known them. They have truly shown me what friendship means.  I am lucky to be surrounded by so much love on what will surely be one of the most memorable and important days of my life!