July 30th 2011

One year ago today I was more nervous than I had been in a very long time.

My day started at 6 a.m. when my daughter and I headed an hour away from home to get our hair done for what was going to be the biggest day of our lives.  As we sat in the hair salon getting all prettied up for my wedding I had a ton of thoughts going through my head. is everyone going to be on time? Is the reception going to be ready to go? Am I going to freak out and loose my cool? As all of these questions went through my head I remembered all the Bridezilla shows I had watched and knew I did NOT want to be like any of those girls but also knew that weddings are super stressful to plan and the planning was over the big day was finally here!

First of all I am not one who likes to wear a dress so my husband and I came up with a compromise, I wear a dress BUT I would get to walk down the aisle barefoot! That’s right I was the “barefoot bride”

I would joke around and tell everyone that I was going barefoot so that if I wanted to RUN I would be able to do so with out having to kick off any heels!

Planning the wedding was something that did not go over smooth at all.  I did it completely alone and was beyond stressed.  From the clothing attire to the decorations right on down to the food, I had done everything myself.  The only thing I had someone else do for me were our flowers and the grooms cake, everything else was done by me and me alone. Now why on earth would a bride take on all the added stress you might ask? Well I did because I was on a huge budget and knew that I was up for the challenge.

We did not do a cake, we did cupcakes. I made the stand all on my own and all the cupcakes!

My grandmother made two sheet cakes to sit on each side and then we had the grooms cake.

HA yes my husband is a saints fan!

As for the ceremony, we did not do a the lighting of the candles we did a sand ceremony. My kids were included into this and the preacher talked about us coming together as a family. It was the one part of the ceremony that I shed tears (while my back was turned to everyone)

For the reception we did a POT LUCK reception with my husband and I providing 90% of the food. Sandwiches, fruit, several different types of salads, punch and tea and honestly I don’t remember what else as there was a ton and we brought home A LOT!

Instead of having a guest book for everyone to sign, we had a matted picture frame for people to sign. I did not want to go with the guest book and then have it sit in a box in the basement, I wanted something that I could display in our home.

Then I put together a shadow box that held our marriage license and wedding announcement. I made my own announcements too!

Out of everything the church cost the most! I had ordered my dress online (custom fit) for $112 and it came all the way from China! All in all we spent $1000 by time it was all said and done!