June 20, 2009
Today was the most wonderful day of my life!
I woke up at 5am this morning, right before my alarm clock went off. Holly Houston and my sister, Amanda Criss, spent the night at our home, so we all got up early to get ready for the big event. Holly and I began to set up the tables outside as our wedding party girls and director, Amy Lear, began to arrive at around 6am to begin hair fixing and getting ready. At 6:30am, Holly and I drove down to Gina’s to get my hair done.
Crickett Oldenburg, our photographer, arrived at the hair salon about 7:15am to take some photos of me getting my hair all fixed. We enjoyed visiting as Gina curled and styled my hair. I left with my veil on and my hair fixed as I called home to warn my family to get Ryan out of the way so that he wouldn’t see me before I had my dress on.
When I got home, I finished putting on my makeup, got my dress on, and began to admire all the bridesmaids that were getting their beautiful red dresses on. About this time, the flower girls arrived and began to get dressed and ready for the big day as well. The ring bearers marched around in their cute little bow ties as the groomsmen helped to carry the baby grand piano outside for the wedding.
When my dress was on and I was ready, the bridesmaids and photographers set me up near a window and called Ryan in to come see me. We decided to do photos beforehand for times sake but made it really special when we did see each other. Ryan was so handsome in his tux and I felt like a princess in my dress!
After we saw each other, we went outside to take photos of us, and then rounded up the beautiful/handsome bridal party so that they could join us in photos. After bridal party photos, we had family photos with our immediate and extended families. By the time we were done with photos, guests had begun to arrive and I went to my room to cool off before the big event.
The bridesmaids and Holly were awesome! They brought me muffins, milk, and lip gloss, and convinced me not to wear hose since it was so hot! J
At about 10:30am, I began to think, “WOW – it’s really happening!” – I looked outside and saw the tent nearly full of people and could hear beautiful music from the musicians, Philip & Joseph Shackelford, on the porch. At about quarter ’til 11am, the bridesmaids, flower girls, ring bearers, and photographers gathered around and I asked Amanda, my matron of honor, to pray for us. It was such a sweet time to join with my precious friends for a time of prayer just before the wedding began.
Pretty soon, it was time for the mothers to be seated, Carole sang, and the bridesmaids and I began to exit the house, headed towards the tent. As dad and I approached the tent, I just took in the sight of all the people, the beautiful bridal party, and the very handsome groom standing at the front. As Canon in D began to play, I enjoyed taking in the scenery for the first third of the aisle and then focused on Ryan most of the rest of the way. I’ll never forget how excited and proud he looked that day. I stole a glimpse of the whole wedding party, then the flower girls and ring bearer, then mine and Ryan’s moms, before focusing my attention on Ryan as I approached his side. My dad handed me off to him and presented a charge to us in front of the congregation.
After dad spoke, Bro. Sammy Burns shared, Ryan and I said our vows to each other, exchanged rings, and prayed as the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was played and sung by the congregation.
We were then pronounced “Man & Wife”, Ryan kissed me for the very first time, and we proceeded down the aisle, a happy married couple!
We walked around the house and up the porch to the wedding cake where I stood in awe. The beautiful magnolias were spread across the cake table
wonderfully! I thought, “WOW! – What a beautiful cake!” We hugged the bridal party as they followed us up the porch, followed by our parents and grandparents. We then cut the cakes and headed back through the house
to a little bench set out for us to sit on while we visited with wedding guests. Holly & Amy fixed us up waters and a plate of goodies to nibble on while we visited with our guests.
Before we knew it, Amy was coming to tell us it was time to go! We headed towards the porch, rounded up all of the “eligible women” in the crowd, and I threw my bouquet, which literally knocked Kathryn Pearson in the head! I then went to tell the people inside the house hello and thank them for coming before heading off to change clothes.
We ran out the front door to our decorated car while being showered with bubbles blown by our wedding guests. We chunked balloons out of the car until we could fit ourselves inside and headed off on our way, stopping a little ways down the road to remove some wrap that was blowing off the antenna!
When we got to West Point, the people at Mr. Bubbles were so sweet to give us a free car wash for a wedding gift! We took our clean car to Tupelo and spent the night at the Courtyard Marriott in Tupelo, MS.