Sunday, June 30, 2013

Lemur L'amour: It's Go Time

Pictures ended right on time around 10:30 and we started getting ready for the ceremony. The prelude started just minutes later, played by Mr. Lemur's two sisters and sister-in-law on the violin and viola and his father on the piano. They played a mix of classical music and modern hymns—I'm actually honestly not sure what all was played! A few months earlier, I had given my now father-in-law a list of song preferences and told him he could do whatever he wanted with the rest of the music. One less thing for me to worry about and of course it sounded fantastic.

All photos by Niki Marie Photography.


Guests started arriving. This picture is one of my favorite moments—my aunt meeting her sister's granddaughter for the first time. She's such a cutie!


I didn't follow the tradition of staying hidden until the ceremony began. Instead, I used the precious moments before the ceremony to greet guests and mingle with the our guests. I wouldn't have missed this time for the world.


As the time for the beginning of the ceremony got closer, I realized that almost everyone was there except for two families from my church back home who had made the 16 hour trek down to be there for the wedding. So we had two problems: 1. Each family has five kids for a total of ten children under the age of 12 entering the ceremony late and 2. The doors to enter the room were on either side of the front fireplace, which means there was no sneaking in to the ceremony late! My dad called them and discovered they were about fifteen minutes away.

To be honest, this is something you just have to be ok with if you choose to have a kid-friendly wedding. For me, there wasn't even a question. We would delay the start of the ceremony until they got there. It was important to me to have them there as we said our vows and I also didn't want the rest of our guests to be disturbed by commotion as they came in. Everyone seemed content sitting and chatting so we just hung out for another ten minutes.


Finally it was time to get in position. We gathered near the back and prepared for the shift from mingling to processional. Judging by my laugh, my sister's boyfriend was entertaining us while we waited.


Then, just as if we hadn't been waiting all day for this moment, it was go time.

Did you have any hiccups that delayed the start of the ceremony? What were your emotions leading up to the processional?

Also, check out this cute graphic Mrs. Armadillo made for me! Need to catch up?
The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Lemur L'amour: Everyone Together

I'm pretty sure our family pictures will be boring to most people, so how about we cruise through these? I do want to include them though as a tribute to both of our amazing families who traveled from all over the country—and world—to be with us!

All photos by Niki Marie Photography.


My parents—don't ask what tie my dad is wearing... I have no idea!


My family.


My family with spouses and boyfriends added—missing one—we don't fit!


My sweet grandparents!


Both sets of parents—this is one of my favorite of the family pictures.



Mr. Lemur's family is even larger than mine!


And last but not least, Mr. Lemur's grandparents.

I had given our photographer a list of the pictures I wanted, and she did an amazing job of getting all the groupings quickly and accurately. In less than fifteen minutes, we were done with pictures and people were arriving. The ceremony was about to start! Or so we thought...

Did you have family pictures at your wedding? Did they go quickly?

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Lemur L'amour: Our Bridal Party

After finishing couples pictures, it was time for pictures with our bridal party—also known as four of our siblings! Miraculously, we were still on time and cruised through these pretty quickly.

I have the most gorgeous sisters in the world. We're one and a half years apart each and still get mistaken for being the same age—or asked who's oldest. I was so thrilled to have them standing next to me on my wedding day.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.



Those ones are the serious posed ones. But these next ones are my favorite...



Then it was the guys' turn, while the girls went inside to get warm. Seriously. So cold. 


No guys, pose for real...


Better.


Awh. 

Then we headed up the hill to snap a few pictures of all of us together. See Mr. Lemur's youngest brother on the left and my oldest sister on the right? I don't have a single picture of both of them smiling together. I have several with my sister smiling and several with his brother smiling though...


\

Right on schedule, we headed inside for family pictures in front of the huge fireplace.

Who did you have stand up with you on your wedding day?

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Lemur L'amour: Standing in the Road

Confession: When I read other bees' recaps, I usually find the posts with couples pictures the least interesting. I think, how can you possible have sixty pictures of the same two people? Then it comes to my wedding...and I'm seriously considering dragging this out for ten posts so I can show you EVERY SINGLE PICTURE.

Kidding. 

Sort of. 

I narrowed it down to my ten favorites, and I'll totally understand if you're not interested—cause, well, they're ten pictures of just Mr. Lemur and me standing in the road. But if you are...READ ON.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography!




Come away with me.





My absolute favorite.


I felt ridiculous doing this—but we may have almost pulled it off?



Does it get any better?

Thanks for humoring me. You guys are amazing. 

Did you do couples pictures before the ceremony? How did you narrow it down from dozens of pictures to just a few to frame? Because that's my next project...

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Lemur L'amour: The First Look I Didn't Know I Wanted

I'll be honest, guys, I didn't know if I wanted to do a first look. I was super nervous about if it would turn out, or if we would look really awkward, or if I would rather just see Mr. Lemur privately at first. Oddly enough, I ended up pretty much just leaving the first look up to fate—and Niki.

When I told Niki I was ready, she told me to wait in the living room and she would get Mr. Lemur. I was so freakishly nervous. I think I was actually more nervous to try to make the pictures look good than to see my future husband—how ridiculous is that?

But my fears were completely unfounded.




*** As usual, all images by Niki Marie Photography ***

I feel like I should say something to break up the pictures, but I have nothing to say, so...




So happy to finally be together.




So there you have it. I didn't even know I wanted a first look, but these are some of my favorite pictures of all of them. Just pure happiness and the realization that WE ARE GETTING MARRIED!

Did you do a first look?

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Lemur L'amour: Let's Get Dressed Already!

Finally my mom arrived and I put on my dress. Unfortunately, it wasn't really a "cute picture of your mom zipping up your dress" moment. It was more like "oh please let this dress zip..." Which it did, and it fit perfectly. Once I got it over my rib cage.


*** Once again, all photos by Niki Marie Photography ***

My mom was able to help me adjust my dress, though, which I'm thankful for. She also helped me put on my grandmother's antique necklace. Both of my cousins' wives wore it in their weddings, which makes me the third grandchild to get married in three years and feature this amazing piece of jewelry.


I touched up my mascara one last time...


...added a little more lip gloss...


...and it was veil time!


Along with my grandmother's necklace, I wore Mr. Lemur's grandmother's earrings. Unfortunately you can't see them much in these pictures but I promise they were there!

Meanwhile, my sisters were getting dressed and putting the finishing touches on their hair and makeup with more help from friends.




At 9:30 almost on the dot, it was first look time. I was as ready as I was going to get!

Did you manage to stay on schedule the morning of your wedding? What special touches are you including in your bridal look?