The Wedding Day
So, the wedding day ruled of course. But it started out sort of lame because apparently I wasn't allowed to see (or even talk to) Kari the entire day. However, it got cooler when a bunch of guys came over, hung out, played pool, had tons of pizza, tried the 2nd batch of homebrews (which turned out awesome, btw), played with the pocketbike, etc.
After playing for bit, everyone left, Kevi and I got ready and we headed for the church to get photos, etc. Soon after the photos, people started showing up. 5:30 came around and the organist was supposed to start playing as people were escorted to their seats. The people were escorted just fine, but the organist hadn't shown up yet - besides the million things going through my head just 30 minutes before my marriage, this got me stressed. At this point, I couldn't remember anything we had practiced the day before. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, I couldn't find the organist, a million people wanted to stop and talk to me - stressed, hahaha. So Matthew adlibbed on guitar for a bit while people were seated, then the organist nonchalantly showed up around 10 to 6 and started playing. Had we not been in a church and a wedding not been taking place she would have probably gotten about 17 earfulls from about 5 people.
After all the insanity the ceremony started, I still couldn't really remember anything, but I went with the flow and it went nicely. I was fairly calm and people near me were quietly coaching me through, haha. The most amazing part of the actual ceremony was when Kari walked in. It was nuts. So many emotions thoughout the day, I hadn't seen or even talked to Kari since the day before, then she walks in in the most amazing dress. It was incredible. I teared up instantly, haha.
Besides that the wedding was really nice. Matthew's music was awesome, John did a really nice job, the church looked so good, etc. The only slip-ups, besides the organist were: I didn't step forward and take Kari from Jeff when I was supposed to, at which point he yelled, "DUDE!" haha, Kari started repeating vows while I was supposed to, and Kari's ring didn't fit all the way onto her finger.
After the ceremony we exited to sparklers. I hear they were pretty insane due to the wind, like some people got burnt, etc. But they looked so so good. And thanks to all my friends that didn't launch them at me - I thought for sure that would happen, haha. Then of course we, and 20 of our buddies rode an H2 limo to the reception. It was also a ton of fun. I'm so glad we decided to do that. It was a nice break from the wedding insanity and so nice to hang out with our buddies.
The reception was nice. A local variety band (Freestyle) played, they did much better than I thought they would. Food was great, open bars were nice, the whole event was very classy. Kari did a great job planning it. I don't even know how many times Kari and I looked around and said something like, "all of these people are here just for us - we have the best friends."
At the end of the night, Kari and I went up to our apartment on the 34th floor of the Marriott to find a bottle of champagne, chocolate dipped strawberries, a card from Jeff, and 2 ipod nanos - 1 black and 1 white, of course. I am being married into an awesome family. The Reynolds' put on an amazing party Saturday night.
That said, thanks SO SO MUCH to everyone that was involved in this wedding in any way. Whether you were working/planning for it, traveled for it, or just drove 5 minutes for it. Everything came together so perfectly; it was so nice to have everyone together to celebrate with us. You have truly made our wedding amazing. And I'm sorry to anyone we didn't get to talk to. We tried our best to visit everyone, but talking to 200 people is not as easy as I thought it'd be. If only the reception were 4 hours longer...
Lastly, I want EVERYONE's pictures of the event - whether you think they are good or bad. I want them all. and I want them hi-res.
After playing for bit, everyone left, Kevi and I got ready and we headed for the church to get photos, etc. Soon after the photos, people started showing up. 5:30 came around and the organist was supposed to start playing as people were escorted to their seats. The people were escorted just fine, but the organist hadn't shown up yet - besides the million things going through my head just 30 minutes before my marriage, this got me stressed. At this point, I couldn't remember anything we had practiced the day before. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, I couldn't find the organist, a million people wanted to stop and talk to me - stressed, hahaha. So Matthew adlibbed on guitar for a bit while people were seated, then the organist nonchalantly showed up around 10 to 6 and started playing. Had we not been in a church and a wedding not been taking place she would have probably gotten about 17 earfulls from about 5 people.
After all the insanity the ceremony started, I still couldn't really remember anything, but I went with the flow and it went nicely. I was fairly calm and people near me were quietly coaching me through, haha. The most amazing part of the actual ceremony was when Kari walked in. It was nuts. So many emotions thoughout the day, I hadn't seen or even talked to Kari since the day before, then she walks in in the most amazing dress. It was incredible. I teared up instantly, haha.
Besides that the wedding was really nice. Matthew's music was awesome, John did a really nice job, the church looked so good, etc. The only slip-ups, besides the organist were: I didn't step forward and take Kari from Jeff when I was supposed to, at which point he yelled, "DUDE!" haha, Kari started repeating vows while I was supposed to, and Kari's ring didn't fit all the way onto her finger.
After the ceremony we exited to sparklers. I hear they were pretty insane due to the wind, like some people got burnt, etc. But they looked so so good. And thanks to all my friends that didn't launch them at me - I thought for sure that would happen, haha. Then of course we, and 20 of our buddies rode an H2 limo to the reception. It was also a ton of fun. I'm so glad we decided to do that. It was a nice break from the wedding insanity and so nice to hang out with our buddies.
The reception was nice. A local variety band (Freestyle) played, they did much better than I thought they would. Food was great, open bars were nice, the whole event was very classy. Kari did a great job planning it. I don't even know how many times Kari and I looked around and said something like, "all of these people are here just for us - we have the best friends."
At the end of the night, Kari and I went up to our apartment on the 34th floor of the Marriott to find a bottle of champagne, chocolate dipped strawberries, a card from Jeff, and 2 ipod nanos - 1 black and 1 white, of course. I am being married into an awesome family. The Reynolds' put on an amazing party Saturday night.
That said, thanks SO SO MUCH to everyone that was involved in this wedding in any way. Whether you were working/planning for it, traveled for it, or just drove 5 minutes for it. Everything came together so perfectly; it was so nice to have everyone together to celebrate with us. You have truly made our wedding amazing. And I'm sorry to anyone we didn't get to talk to. We tried our best to visit everyone, but talking to 200 people is not as easy as I thought it'd be. If only the reception were 4 hours longer...
Lastly, I want EVERYONE's pictures of the event - whether you think they are good or bad. I want them all. and I want them hi-res.