Thursday, October 2, 2014

My Wedding Memories: Part Two

  I don't even know who else texted us all these but they make me so happy to look at, it was great when people ran up to us to get a photo :) Also some are stollen from Facebook.. mostly Carly's

Seeing the room for the first time all set up with the uplighting, linens and centerpieces
We had THE BEST DJ who we not only literally felt like we were friends with and kept everyone dancing and the energy so high all night but also took this fantastic photos
We were finally able to eat and try most of the cocktail hour food in our little bridal party room and our awesome wedding coordinator, Julie bringing in some mashed potatoes from the station and drinks
Love that our parents got to have some special time with their best friends 
The moment I walked into the room and them dressed like this - especially Ashley looking so natural in her tux

Everyone was very attentive in helping me get to and from the bathroom quickly if I needed to go (Garty even served as our body guard during cocktail hour so we didn't get lost in the crowd)
 We were all in the bridal party room right after the bus mishaps and Davey gave the best speech on the spot and really turned the day around - a time neither Derek or I will forget 
 Luckily my wand was in my "day of bag" and MOH wanded my hair before pictures AND gave it a touch up before the reception
We loved standing in the back and hearing all the cheers for the introductions 
 Hearing the words "for the first time in public, Mr. & Mrs. Derek Sotherden"
There's nothing like slow dancing and not that many opportunities to do it these days - or to do it alone on the dance floor with a whole room watching you :)

My husband, My best friend, My soulmate, My favorite person, My roommate, My everything 
I LOVE spinning and Steve surprised me with some special spins on the dance floor.  Note the picture on the left - when you see the Maid of Honor with a camera, you look at her and smile

Steve's welcome toast and prayer were great - especially since he mentioned all the different states in attendance not realizing Derek and I had been diligently counting all the states we had two days before with our friends 
Grandma is OBSESSED with Selfies - for months she told us she wanted one on the wedding day and right when we sat down I love that she came over with her disposable camera for us to snap one - if we didn't do a good job, at least we have this :)

Another highlight was looking over at my family's table and seeing how happy grandma looked and how beautiful.  Another other highlight was having Grandmom being able to make it and looking beautiful as well (she missed the bridal shower because she had just broken her hip) and how many people that let me know they were thinking of Dad and how happy he is watching down
Ashley and Dom both dressed as guys
Sam killed it with her maid of honor speech and made me laugh/cry.  I was so proud of her and I know she was nervous because we bonded in school over both being nervous to give our speeches in public speaking.
Ryan killed it too, I just don't have any photos of him
 I LOVED having girlfriends run over to get photos because now I have these memories 
 Checking out my new wedding ring and her new engagement ring with the next two up
Looking forward to the many many weddings in the upcoming years that are also reunions 
 I don't know who took these photos or why but I really like them
 These next few photos are extra special because they are the only ones from my own camera that night
 Married with my husband next to me
He put up and supported wedding planning for 11 months! A non-emotional guy, got emotional when his sister walked down the aisle (this new time must be getting to both of us!)
In Davey's speech in the bridal party room he revealed that the night I brought Derek home he drove home thinking "I just met my brother in law" (although we now do without the "law" and just go with brother)
 These end the "my own photos" for the night
 I loved taking a few minutes to watch Derek have fun
 The cake!!! I've waited my whole life to have an entire huge cake all to myself (and Derek but mostly mine because he's not the biggest dessert fan) I'm thrilled to now have our garage freezer filled with extra, our fridge freezer filled with the top tier which we can eat at a special point soon (probably when we get our photos back) because they are making us a new exact replica for our first anniversary 
 I had been begging Derek not to smash it in my face and when I saw how much frosting he had I got a little just in case - It's actually kind of challenging to quickly cut the cake and get the sliver out and be ready to feed it to each other
 He never seizes to amaze me - we're always balancing each other out - he can think on the spot, I can't
 I love that Derek's friends are my friends now and my friends are his friends now
 I don't even know how to describe this - I love how "not shy" he is
The two times I lost him (it's hard to find your way back in a crowded room) the DJ and/or my friends found him in seconds
 There's few better feelings then twirling around in a wedding dress
Derek had the DJ play zombie nation to dedicate to all the many Penn State fans in attendance 
"Something Bad" was one of my favorite songs at the time of the wedding so we told the DJ to play it right after our photos with my sorority sisters/our college friends so I didn't miss it - I didn't even think of it but it worked out perfectly because Carrie Underwood is our sorority sister too :)
Our unofficial photographer for the night and my honorary sister did a AWESOME job

It made us happy to see our family and friends so happy and having so much fun
Celebrating with my cousins
Her and her sister were dancing machines 
Our eyes were probably getting tired at this point with our "lashes" on 
I love how some of the photos truly captured both of our excitement 
Being able to see friends you grew up with and haven't seen in years (the two on the right are from my "play group" and we've been a group of three since we were babies!)
My "sisters"
All of our friends just showing so much excitement 
The DJ added two extra songs for us to extend the night just a little bit more (in addition to previously added on extensions) and with some people having already left there was plenty of room on the dance floor to finish out the night 
When Derek and I talked about our favorite wedding memories on the honeymoon - both of us had one of the same - sitting at our sweetheart table for just a couple minutes and watching all our family and friends on the dance floor and just letting it sink in
The end of the night… (this was another one of mine)
Married, Happy, Exhausted but still ready to party and head to the after party

Stay tuned for a special weekend post on Saturday.. The Girls Getting Ready


Xo CHS











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