The Final Recap of our wedding weekend!

Geez I was doing so well keeping up with my blog and now it has been over a month. I wanted to do this so I would always have the memories since I started my blog after we were married. The day I have waited for my entire life has finally arrived. All of my bridesmaids which was a troop :o) met at Lovelace Cafe for our bridesmaid breakfast. My mother's best friends, my sister in laws, grandmother, and aunts were the hostesses. It got the day started off right. After breakfast we all went to the Rodney Mitchell Salon and had hair and makeup done. They served us Mimosa's while we waited. Jenni my hairdresser did an amazing job on my hair.

Now it was time to head to the wedding site the Governors Club"Pleasant Hill Mansion" to finish getting ready. I savored every moment because I could not believe this day was here. Once Mike and I were dressed the million and one pictures had begun. Mike and I decided to have our pictures done before the wedding. I had originally wanted to wait for our pictures after the ceremony, but a good friend of mine gave me a great idea. Mike brought me my bouquet in a private room. We got great pictures of the initial reaction and also some alone time before our big moment. I really like this idea because it's very intimate. I don't know how people have time after the ceremony to even do pictures. We finished with the pictures and it's ceremony time. Right before I walked down the aisle. I looked out and saw so many people I loved so much and how perfect everything was and just thanked God for everything. I of course started crying. My dad looked at me and asked if everything was okay and the only thing I could say was "It is all so perfect." I then grabbed his arm and started down the aisle to meet my soon to be husband. We had stringed instruments for the music and my childhood preacher did the ceremony. Jack my brother's son put on quite a show during the ceremony, Yote Mike's dog was a groomsdog, and the guys wore pirate flag stickers on one side of their tuxedos. Mike had a few requests along the way and I wouldn't have had it any other way. We are now husband and wife and the party has begun. Mike and I had a room setup for us immediately after the ceremony so we could eat and have a minute together as newlyweds. The food was wonderful and the band had everybody dancing. After we finished eating we cut the cake and had our first dance to "Tupelo Honey" by Van Morrison. The father/daughter dance was to "My Girl". The garter toss was caught by Mike's friend Hien Pham and my bouquet toss was a battle between several girls. I think a couple of them got a piece of it. Mike and I talked to guest and danced some until it was time to go to our hotel room at Opryland Hotel. The next morning bright and early we left for our honeymoon in St. Maarten. This was all made possible by both sets of our wonderful and supportive parents. WE LOVE YOU BOTH!!

My recap of the most wonderful weekend of our life! Part 1

So here it goes...... Most of our family and friends arrived in Nashville on Thursday night. That night we had everyone over for a cookout at our house in Murfreesboro, TN. Friday the guys had fun in Nashville and the girls got pedicures and manicures. Everyone was supposed to be at the rehearsal at 5:30. I totally forgot about that being in the middle of rush hour, so all that being said only 5 people made it. At this point we decided we would wing it because weddings really are not that complicated. Our wonderful rehearsal dinner was at Stoney River Steakhouse in Franklin, TN. Mike and I LOVE LOVE this place. We enjoyed great food, drinks, and lots of touching toasts from family and friends. The two that stick out in my head are Mike and Justin's toast. Justin "I would like to thank Mariellen for having such hot friends and best wishes to you both." If you know him that is definitely something he would say. After dinner my sweet bridesmaids and friends had me a lingerie shower. There were lots of great memories shared and of course tears were shed by all. We finally went to bed to get some sleep for the big day. Our wedding ceremony was out side, so for an entire year I prayed for nice weather. In the middle of the night I was woken up by thunder and immediately started praying for God to move that rain out of here. Here are some pictures from the dinner taken by my sister-in-law Maura McConnell. She also did our engagement pictures.

It's a new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So we rang in 2009 as husband and wife at BB Kings in downtown Nashville. The night started at Past Perfect for dinner and our best friend Conner joined us. We really didn't have any plans after that except to have a good time. Some friends we hadn't seen in a long time randomly invited us to BB Kings. It was a great time and I would definitely recommend it to friends next year.

In February we attended Scott and Katherine's wedding at Riverwood Mansion in Nashville. It was a big reunion with old friends. We all stayed at Opryland hotel and good times were had by all. My favorite memory of the weekend was when Mike jumped in the river inside of Opryland hotel and ran around in it. It was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. The water was so dirty it ate the glue off the bottom of his shoes. HAHA He keeps life interesting that's for sure. This is our prom picture from the wedding!

In March we held the first annual Bar Golf event with friends downtown. We all dressed up in cheezy golf attire and played 18 holes. (well Mike quit at 15) I wish you could see Mike's outfit better in this picture it was a good one. There was lots of dancing and karaoke at many bars. I believe Conner won the game.

We have 3 days before the big 1 year!!!