Wedding Weekend
Updated: May 14, 2020
First off, let’s just say our wedding weekend was a little different than the “normal” and looking back on it I am ever so thankful for the exact way it was! When we first got engaged, we had a wedding date set for Friday, July 12th (story on that later) but in the end we changed our wedding date to Sunday, July 28th.
Randy and I had a wedding party of 18 and eight of those people were from out of state. So a million thanks you to everyone that traveled near and far and sacrificed their time to celebrate us all weekend.
Thursday the 25th
We asked if possible that all of our wedding party be in town by Thursday, since we had the rehearsal at the church Friday morning (will explain that). So, We kicked off our wedding weekend on Thursday after the guys had their tux fittings. Everyone headed to my house for a taco night and some firecracker baseball to introduce all our wedding party to each other since everyone was from different walks of life.
Thank you to Family Catering for the most delicious taco bar spread! They are my family’s go to people for catering and are the absolute sweetest family. Couldn’t suggest them more.
Then we played firecracker baseball. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. This has been a fun game that Randy and some of his close friends have played for years, so we thought it would be the perfect activity for the evening. You light little firecrackers and then attempt to hit them into the lake with a tennis racket covered in cardboard. What a sight. I don’t know if it is something I can say to try at home but we sure had a blast.
Friday the 26th
Our wedding Ceremony was at Belk Chapel in Queens University. When we discussed having our wedding the weekend of July 26th, the coordinator informed us that Charlotte was hosting a “24 hour Booty Race” for Levin Children’s Hospital and the roads would be shut down from Friday evening to Saturday evening. The only time we would be able to do rehearsal at the Chapel would be Friday Morning.
So, at 11am we all showed up to Belk Chapel to practice this whole getting married thing. After, we had planned to head to Blaze Pizza for lunch with family and the wedding party!
Then Friday evening was the Rehearsal Dinner!
Major shout out to my awesome in-laws! I had no part of planning the rehearsal dinner, it was a fun surprise. We had discussed what I had dreamed of as a rehearsal dinner and we landed on renting a boat on Lake Norman. This was so special to me since I have grown up on Lake Norman and I wanted to incorporate it into our wedding weekend somehow. They used Carolina Grace Lake Norman for the boat rental and the food was catered through the boat with Bouk Catering.
The rehearsal dinner was beyond anything I could have dreamed of!
They thought of everything! They placed adorable cube photos on the tables with the most beautiful flowers, had poker chips which could be turned in for drinks at the bar. Could you ask for a better setting? The weather was perfect too! After dinner, we played an awesome jeopardy game of Randy and Caroline questions. It was very creative and everyone really enjoyed it! We ended the evening with the sweetest toasts. This was a night I will forever cherish.
Also, my dress is from Macys! I actually got in on a girls trip in NYC back in February. Really funny story behind it, I hadn’t put the dress on since I tried it on in the store (not the brightest idea). So, the night before the rehearsal dinner I tried it on while I picked out my shoes. I freaked out thinking the bow was massive and that it looked like I had Tinker Bell wings. Thankfully, mom pinned the bow in just a tad and I ended up loving the look.
Saturday the 27th
Since neither Randy or I had any type of Bachelor or Bachelorette parties, we wanted to spend Saturday with our Wedding party.
I had the sweetest bridal luncheon at one of our most favorite restaurants, Novanta Pizza. The luncheon included all of my bridesmaids and some of the most important women in my life, my mom, mother-in-law, grandma’s and aunts. It was the nicest time getting to socialize with everyone and eat the yummiest food. After, my bridesmaids and I went to the nail salon for everyone to get their nails and toes done for the big day!
While we were being pampered, Randy’s dad, his best man, had planned a guys adventure day at Kersey Valley with axe throwing and assault rifle laser tag. It sounded like they had a blast!
I mentioned how blessed Randy and I are to be loved by so many people from all stages of life and all over the world. That means 50% of our wedding guest traveled from out of town. Knowing the wedding day would be hectic, my awesome in-laws offered to host an “Out of town guest party” with snow-cones, lots of hugs and quality time spent with loved ones who we don’t see often. Our favorite snow-cone place, Pelican’s, came and set up a tent in the backyard and we had many fun backyard games. Then at the end, Randy and I were sent away to a re-written version of “Sweet Caroline” sang by my father in-law and my sister in-law. Cue all the tears!!!
The evening concluded with Randy and I practicing our first dance at a park and spending some quality time together after a crazy past couple days soaking in all the memories knowing the wedding day would go by in a blink.
Our last kiss before our big day!
Saturday the 28th
WEDDING DAY.
Checkout a separate blog post about our B E S T D A Y E V E R.