Our Wedding Day

Derek and I got married on September 25th and I learned that it is true what people say. It really was the best day of my life.

One of the things that I've enjoyed since that day is reminiscing about it with friends and family. I like hearing stories about the things that happened at the wedding that I didn't get to see. Like that at least one guest was planning a proposal while he danced with his lady. Like how there was a missing bouquet that no one ever told me about. 

I thought a behind the scenes look at our wedding might be a fun way to capture the experience on our blog.

Breakfast

The morning of our wedding was super laid back-just like I hoped it would be. My dad made omelets and bacon for all of us girls and we sat around the big table for at least an hour just refilling each others cups of coffee and cracking jokes. Breakfast is a sacred ritual for a Kerr and I was so happy to share the experience with my favorite friends on such a special day. 

Breakfast was followed by the getting ready time.  Which was also laid back.

Mom and Dad
The behind the scenes all-stars of the wedding were definitely my parents. I can't express how grateful I am for everything they did. I know that the wedding was ultimately about Derek and me, but the truth is, it was a really special time for my parents and me as well. Every wedding task that accomplished was celebrated with a lunch out together or big dinner at home. Wedding manicures? Check! How about flights of wine to celebrate? Those memories are really special to me.

Our wedding was also very handmade and we spent a lot of time working out all the details together. See these? My mom wrote out every guest's name.

 And these? My dad spent a whole weekend baking every one of them.

Of course these are just two examples and there are so many more. Their fingerprints were all over this wedding. Especially the tab. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Here are some of my favorite pictures of them from the wedding.

 Drawing maps for all the family.

This is Keith, one of my good friends from college who was also my neighbor when I lived at Frankie. He is a big fan of my parents and thinks my mom is one of the most adorable people ever. He is right.

My parents dancing to their song-The Tennessee Waltz.

Rain
Most of the behind the scenes drama at the wedding was related to the weather. I don't know if you remember, because sometimes I forget, but it rained. Rolling thunderstorms were predicted for the whole day and it poured down hard for about 45 minutes right before the ceremony.

The rain meant that we had to move the planned outdoor reception into the barn. I was sick about it the day before. But that was really foolish as you can see.

At the reception, our friend Aaron advised us to take a look back at the barn as we drove away. He said that he and his wife had taken a walk outside to see the stars (because of course the rain cleared up) and that the sight of a red barn full of lights, music and love on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere was beautiful. He was right. It was so much more perfect than we could have planned.


Sneak peek
Derek and I chose to see each other before the wedding on the advice of our officiant and good friend BV. I'm so glad that we did. We chose to make this a private moment, so this is the only picture I have to share.

Isn't he handsome? I was standing in the library on the other side of that door. We had a moment to say some nice things to each other about how we had been wishing for this since we were fourteen.


Ceremony

I actually have nothing very behind the scenes to share about the ceremony. It was very intimate and I feel like everyone had the chance to see and hear everything that happened. The only thing that I hope you didn't see or hear was my nose running. I managed to mostly hold it together tear wise through the vows but I cried as I bowed my head during the prayers. Which made my nose run. This was fortunately not documented on film as you can see.

Choreography
We received many compliments on our dancing skills. We took a couple of lessons before the wedding but it was mostly a frustrating experience. The practice sessions we had in our little kitchen turned out to be the most helpful. However, the song we chose to dance to had a few funky pauses and this part where the singer held out the word "Looooooorrrrd", the music dropped out, and we had no idea how to dance to it. So, we just planned to kiss during those parts. So this...

And this...

Were totally planned.  I was actually whispering, "Okay it's coming in 1, 2, 3..." and then thinking about holding that kiss for the right number of beats so that we could smoothly move back into dancing. Fooled you, right?


Bride to be

From the beginning Derek and I knew we wouldn't be doing the traditional garter and bouquet toss. It just wasn't our style. However, all of the Frankie ladies and Monroe men knew that Becka and Cody would be the next ones to get married. So on my way out the door, I grabbed an attendant's bouquet out of a centerpiece and said, "Hey, Becka? Think fast!" while throwing it straight at her face.  What choice did she have but to catch it? She was predictably embarrassed but she caught it. And then Cody proposed a few weeks later and they are getting married this summer.  You're welcome, guys!

Okay last one.


Goodbyes
So this is the last thing that everyone else probably remembers from the night. We we ran threw a shower of lavender toward the car, drove off, and lived happily ever after.

That's mostly true. The only trouble was that it started to rain as we turned off of Red Corral Ranch Rd. Naturally, Derek turned on the windshield wipers. However, due to certain decorations that had been attached to the windshield wipers unbeknown to us, the wiper blades broke off. Derek had to pull over, in the rain, on a hill country road, in his wedding suit, to change the wiper blades. Which, fortunately, he knew exactly how to do.  And right then, I knew that I married a good one.  The best one.