Our 1st Anniversary: Favorite Wedding Day Moments

Today is our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary! I truly can't believe it. My mom and dad sent us an anniversary card and she wrote how it really feels like yesterday that we were all at Holman Ranch celebrating our marriage in crazy hot temperatures. I have to agree! This year has flown by. We've both grown a lot (marriage sure is sanctifying!) but not without some growing pains. Marriage takes hard work and resolve. It's messy! But our God works through messes and brings about beauty.  I can honestly say I love my husband more now then when we said "I do" a year ago today. We are so thankful for this life together.  I thought it'd be fun to commemorate this day by walking back through some of our favorite wedding day moments. Marriage is SO MUCH MORE than the wedding, but your wedding marks your first day as a married couple and it's so much cause for celebration! I'll always look back on these pictures and recall moments. So I thought I'd share a few with you. Most are not pictures I posted in our wedding day recap series.!This post is more focused on memories I loved throughout our day...complete with a few stories and things I've never wrote about... *** Let's start the night before at our rehearsal dinner. It was delicious and so fun to have everyone together! The rehearsal was smooth sailing, then we headed to dinner. After we ate and everyone was starting to leave, I started getting a little nervous for some reason. Everyone kept asking me "are you ready?!" and I felt my stomach swirling! I headed back to our hotel to relax, shower, get a few details ready for the morning, and read my bible. Then as I tucked into bed, McCann knocked on the hotel room door. He came over to pray with me before I went to sleep. This was one of the sweetest, most treasured moments of our wedding weekend! Side note: he walked into our room, right past my dress which was hanging in the middle of the room, and didn't even notice it, thankfully ;) HA!!
This was a really special time for my parents and I because they were in the hotel room with me. I always loved sleeping in my mom's bed when my dad was gone for business, so my mom and I had our last "sleepover" while I was a Miss. My sweet dad slept on the couch! I went to sleep and woke up around 3am, remembering that I forgot my beautiful gold hanger to hang my dress on! I couldn't believe I forgot it. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was so excited for the day to come, so I fell in and out of sleep for the next few hours. I got up around 7am and noticed I had a pimple on my cheek-- awesome ;) This was a true My Big Fat Greek Wedding moment. I took a hot bath and the pimple resolved itself. We went out on our beautiful balcony and realized the the smoke from the Soberanes (Big Sur & greater Carmel Valley) fire was coming over the hills and settling into the valley...right where our wedding was! I was a little nervous about it, but then realized I couldn't change the weather! My mom and I were eating some breakfast on the balcony and also realized the temperature was increasing rapidly. We had prayed for a warm, sunny day, and boy did God deliver :) I didn't want to faint during the ceremony, so at this point I was praying for a cool breeze to appear.

Next my sweet friend Chelsea arrived first to our room-- she is my hairstylist and bff in Michigan, so even though she was a bridesmaid, she offered to help with the other maids' hair. She did an AMAZING job!! The girls kept coming in (I had them stagger their arrival time, to not feel too overwhelmed with people) and it was really fun to see them, give them big hugs and relax together while getting ready. My maid of honor, Ashley, made a fun wedding day playlist, so we listened to music the whole morning. I had a nervous stomach when I first woke up, but throughout the morning it went away and I started to relax! My gift to my bridesmaids were these gorgeous Love Ophelia robes that they all wore when getting ready. 

Once everyone was ready, I slipped into my dress with the help of my mama (who looked stunning) and Ashley. This was the first moment I truly felt like a bride for the day! I was just. so. happy! Loved this time with my mom getting into the dress we both picked out together and fell so in love with...

 I've always been a mama's girl, so I'll never forget this moment. She is the most influential person in my life in many ways, so getting here, to our wedding day, was so special. I don't take this moment for granted as I know many brides don't have their precious mom's by their side.

Ashley helped me buckle my shoes (because I literally couldn't bend down in this tight fitting dress...ha!) and I remember feeling so pampered, just like a princess.

I headed inside to see my other bridesmaids and this picture just has my heart. This is my good friend, Kate. She radiates joy and and the love of Christ. She has been a mentor to me ever since I was in high school and now we don't get to see each other often, so this was so sweet. She has prayed for me all through my dating years and I couldn't be more thankful.

One of my other favorite moments was showing my dad my gown! I didn't show him until this very moment and it was so fun!! He just loved it.

I also loved taking photos with my girls. It was roasting hot, but we had so much fun!

The First Look & Ceremony: In all my days, I will never ever forget our first look. One of my favorite moments of my life! The tears in his eyes were so sweet. It also calmed all my nerves to see him before the ceremony!

These friends are who helped make me "me", so I am so grateful for their support and prayers through everything. Praying before the ceremony was a really sweet time of encouragement and calming of nerves.

I love this image of McCann giving his mom a hug after he walked her down the aisle. McCann was her last child to be married, so I'm sure it was an emotional day.

Walking down the aisle with my dad was also very memorable. We met my mom at the end of the aisle, who then also walked me up to meet my groom.

I LOVE this picture. It seems so elegant and timeless to me! Stepping up on the "alter" was surreal. This moment was finally here.

Our pastor had us turn to our guests and take a moment to remember this time with everyone we loved most right there with us. This moment definitely sticks out in my mind of one of the most memorable! I'm so glad we did this.

Our ceremony was really special to both of us. We put a lot of thought into it, from our vows that we each wrote, to our first act as husband and wife being a foot washing, to our mom's bringing us our rings; we wanted to honor each other, our family and the Lord with each part of our ceremony.

Our foot washing was really significant because it is a symbol of serving one another, just as Jesus served his disciples. Putting my husband before myself is always something I strive for (and often times fail), but the foot washing is physical act we can come back to and remember.

I just love this picture below...we got done with our foot washing before the song was over, and McCann was whispering something sweet into my ear. I can't quite remember what, but I do remember loving this time together reflecting.

THIS was so fun! We were done with the ceremony and our friends rushed to us to congratulate us!!

Oh my...this image gets me every time. My dad took both my mom and McCann's mom by the arm for the recessional. McCann's dad had passed away a few months before our wedding, so it was a very hard time for everyone with him not there. My dad stepped in and thought of my mother-in-law and how he could make things easier for her. All of their smiles make me so happy!

Reception: This picture always makes me laugh, because it was the funniest thing I've seen as an entrance. I didn't know they were doing it, so it totally got me ;) 

This is another moment I'll never forget. We walked in to Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling" and everyone was cheering for us. Just so much joy!!

All the speeches were unforgettable as well. My dad hid a picture of us that we took in a photo booth, back when I was in 3rd grade, on my wine glass. Cue the tears!! My maid of honor and our best man's were also incredibly heartfelt, funny and touching speeches.

Our first dance was also a favorite moment! We danced to Never Stop by Safety Suit.

 I love this picture of my dad and I watching McCann and his mom's dance. We were just chatting and having so much fun!

One of my favorite dancing pictures ever...this is my brother and his wife. So classic ;) He's gonna hate me for posting this!

I loved taking pictures at sunset. There were SO many bugs up by this tree and our photographer kept saying "I promise I can't see them!" It was hilarious, trying to dodge the bugs and look decent in the pictures. But so worth it ;)

Danielle Poff Photography 
You can see our wedding recap posts here for a more in depth look at the day. 
If you made it to the end of this post, bless you. I hope you enjoyed a little inside peek into our special day! What were some of your favorite moments in your day? xoxo
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