The Journey of Parenthood…

Wedding Weekend: Pre-Ceremony

We all met at the Casa Monica Hotel for pictures. Zach dropped Mom and I off and went to find parking (of course it just so happened to be bike week and spring break and some pirate festival thing so it was pretty crowded!) so we had some time to kill as we were the first ones there! We ran into Dad and Audrey so we hung out with them and got some pictures 🙂

Mom and I had a good weekend spending time together! It was nice that she was at all the same things I was at and we could still be together for everything 🙂 I know it’s a hard thing for a mom when her son gets married. It was tough for Mrs. Charlotte to let her baby boy go and I think it’s tough for ALL moms (omg I’m DREADING it already!) You know the saying “a daughter is your daughter for life, you lose a son when he gains a wife” and that’s true! Mrs. Charlotte did everything for Zach then he met me and now I do it all (well I don’t iron…or put his clean clothes away…)! It’s my job now to take care of him and help him get to Heaven, the torch has been passed as it should be. This wedding weekend I thought Mom dealt with “passing her torch” with a lot of grace. I’m sure it was so hard for her emotionally to go through that and to be without Nana, her very best friend, there with her. I hope I did a good enough job stepping up and being that best friend!

Remember in my venting post how I talked about people surprising me? Well Audrey and I have had our fair share of issues over the years (my dad and her have been together for a lloooong time like since I was 10 but just recently got married) and typically we do the whole polite thing when we see each other but don’t go above and beyond to be bffs or anything. I was SO happy at how the weekend went with her! Both Mom and I were blown away by how sweet and loving she was to both of us! I had a talk with both her and Dad after the wedding and thanked her for doing that. It’s WONDERFUL after so long to finally feel like all that mess in the past is where it should be…in the past! I truly feel like we’ll be able to move forward and that the slate is wiped clean and I think she feels the same way. It’s such a great feeling and I’m very thankful to her for making those first moves. I’m also thankful that Dad has her in his life as Uncle Spear just seems to be getting worse (he now has pneumonia in both of his lungs, keep on praying for him please!) and I’m sure it would all be so much harder for Dad to handle if he was alone.

I’m SO glad we decided to buy Kye a little suit! Isn’t it so cute?!? And it matches Zach’s tux so well! I actually found it on Ebay new for only $18!

Once Brandon and Chrissy arrived (they were with Javon taking their bride and groom pictures) we all went out to the fountain in the St Augustine square for pictures. It was so sweet when Mom first saw her son on his wedding day!

I get my organization and hardcoreness about holidays and planning from Mom…I get my crazy amounts of picture taking from Dad! I don’t think I saw him put down his camera once the whole day!!! Can’t wait to get my cd of them all from him 😉

This makes me laugh! Javon saw a horse and buggy and wanted to do pictures with it so Brandon chased him down. Doesn’t it look like a shot from an action movie or something?

I worked pretty hard to look awesome for this wedding. I went to the tanning bed almost EVERYDAY (and it was torture and such a PAIN having to wait to go until after Kye was in bed so Zach could watch him) and I got much more strict on my diet. When the day approached I was pumped as I thought I was looking pretty dang good! Well I DID lose a lot of weight I guess b/c my dress, which fit me FINE before, was WAY too big. It was also VERY wrinkly. I didn’t realize it until 10:45ish and we had to go so I didn’t have time to try to get the wrinkles out. Then I also attempted to do my OWN hair. If you have noticed in my pictures my hair looks the same every. single. day. There is a reason for this: I suck at doing hair. I used to want to go to cosmetology school, not for the license to do hair, but just so I could LEARN how to do it in case I have a daughter someday! I didn’t want to pay the girl who did everyone’s hair for the wedding to do mine b/c she charged $40 and I just felt like that was too much for what I wanted. I was planning to curl it but when I practiced at home Zach hated it and thought it looked too “puffy” so I just did it straight and stuck some back. The big dress, the wrinkles and the hair all amounted to me feeling very un-confident! So basically all the tanning and dieting were for nothing as I didn’t even feel pretty anyways 🙁 oh well!

family pic in front of the fountain

my hott husband! don’t you just LOVE a man in a tux?

Chrissy let us pick out our own dresses! Her requirements were that they needed to be from David’s Bridal and they needed to be in the taupe color. Wasn’t that so nice of her? I LOVED my dress and also loved the price (only $99!). It even has pockets! I plan to wear it again on our cruise in October but I may need to get it taken in before then as I don’t plan to gain any weight!

Liz and I showing off our dresses

 Had to add this one of the whole wedding party!

Poor Kye again wasn’t allowed to crawl. I HATE how when he crawls on concrete his shoes get ruined and pants get so yucky. He enjoyed walking around though with anyone that would help him to do so!

Ben did a reading in our wedding and it’s so ironic b/c he did the SAME reading in Brandon and Chrissy’s wedding too! I felt like out of all the cousins Zach and I had the most bonding time with Ben. I love that as we all get older I feel like we only get closer. When Nana passed away I worried that we’d all start to grow apart but I think we’re all devoted to making sure that doesn’t happen. I love how Ben rocked his pocket square from our wedding day! I’m so glad that at least one of the guys held on to his 🙂

After pictures we all walked through the streets of old town to the ceremony location. I brought a pair of flip flops to wear for the walk and I’m so glad I did! When we got there some of our family was already there so we spent some time visiting before we went back into our rooms to get ready. My cousin, Susi, took control over my camera for the ceremony which I appreciate SO much! She did great!

signing Brandon and Chrissy’s picture

this makes me laugh…Uncle Chip looks like a security guard for the picture haha

I love how relaxed everyone was and how casual the whole thing was too. It wasn’t stuffy and strict to the schedule or anything. It was nice that the wedding party got to mingle with people before the ceremony even started! 

Liz, Mom and Joey being true gangstas

I love how happy they all are in this picture: Jason, Dad, Brandon, and Pop-Pop (Jason’s grandpa)

Kye got some Uncle Brandon kisses!

Auntie Amy helped watch Kye until he was needed

Getting to be “behind the scenes” yet not be the bride was pretty cool! On your own wedding day you’re SO busy and so absorbed in it that you don’t really get to see the details and really spend quality time with the guests. I LOVED being a bridesmaid as I got to hang out, have fun, relax, yet still be part of the show! 🙂 Chrissy was a pretty relaxed bride though which made it easier for the rest of us. I remember feeling like I wasn’t going to let ANYTHING get in the way of having my day and I think she felt that same way. If stuff went wrong, you just go with the flow and try to enjoy it! We all gathered in a back room to wait until it was time to start!

Kye had fun playing with the flower girl, Gracie

Chrissy’s bouquet

I really liked Chrissy’s dress and thought it really fit her personality and style. I was lucky enough to get to be the one with her when she found “the one!” She actually bought another wedding dress after this one but ended up coming back to this one again and returning the other one (I never saw the 2nd dress but I’m glad she chose the one she did!). Here we are moments before she officially became a member of my family!

Emily Parker
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