A Homemade Wedding Homestead-Style: The Ceremony Aftermath

I could hear the chuckles as we left the church to the sounds of "Forever and Ever, Amen". People couldn't believe we were playing that song for our church wedding. But it fit us perfect, and had the vibe that I wanted. I could barely contain myself from skipping and jumping down the aisle.

Behind us, the rest of the group trickled out, smiling and breathing sighs of relief I'm sure.

A cool thing about this photo: Just to the left of Jenna's face are her mom and dad.

An impromptu receiving line was formed just outside the church doors, and I proceeded to display my finest faces.

If nothing else, I wear my heart on my sleeve. Its written all over my face.

I'm pretty sure we hugged and spoke with every one of our guests (at least the ones who went to the ceremony, ahem). There was so much joy and love and happiness going around.

I made sure to snag one photo with my three ushers before Cowboy H and I whisked off for our own private photo shoot.

In the meantime, the guests slowly made their way to the reception site (a pretty rough 3 minutes down the road) and got ready to party.

Up Next: The Down-Home Barn Party Begins

Of course, I can't forget Applemoon Photography. Thank you for the beautiful pictures!

A Homemade Wedding Homestead-Style: The Ceremony

Or, we seal the deal for the second time.

Since I am Catholic (not a very good one lately) we had a Catholic wedding ceremony inside a Catholic church. But not just any Catholic church. This church is the only Catholic church in my hometown and is dear to my heart. It is the place where I was baptized and the place where I used to altar-serve. Like I've mentioned before, I wanted everything to have as much meaning as possible, so even though its not the most gorgeous church in the area, it was the only one considered because it holds so much meaning to me (and now Cowboy H).

Sidenote: I did not add any decorations to the church because I was too cheap, and thought it would be a waste of money, i.e. it was not that important to me. The church already had flower arrangements in it, which were bright red and white. I hate red. During the rehearsal, I made a note to myself "Have the coordinator remove the flowers before the ceremony" which I completely forgot about. Halfway through the ceremony I looked up and say those dagum red flowers, and thought to myself "Aw, man. I forgot to have those taken down. Oh well". Good thing for black and white, you can't tell what color the flowers are!

The ceremony began with a welcome from the priest. This priest has a long history with my family, as he was the principal for the school my mom taught at when I was born. He also remembers my parents from when they were in high school. Like I said, everything and everyone had very special meaning.

Photo by Katie

Then a series of readings from the Bible were read. My girl Cassie read the first reading, which comes from the Old Testament. I tried to find the booklet with all our readings marked in it because I was going to torture y'all with each and every word stated during the ceremony, but I think I forgot to get it back from our priest. That's how sentimental I am. Whoops.

Then comes a responsorial psalm, which is taken from the Book of Psalms. A line is read, then the entire congregation chimes in with the response. My friend Juan did the honors here.

Cowboy H's sister read the second reading, which comes from the New Testament. It was a huge deal for her to read for us. She used to be painfully shy, but willingly offered to stand up in front of 150 people she didn't know and speak into a microphone. It really meant a lot to us.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the red drapes. There was just red, red, red everywhere. Any other color but red...

The priest then read the gospel, which comes from one of the four books of gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.

I believe the priest then addressed the couple (us) but honestly, I don't really remember. I'm going to go hang my head in shame now.

And then, it was time to say our vows (again). I was just a little giddy. We opted for the traditional vows, and repeated after our priest.

Ha ha, I forgot to mention, that I became sick in the last few days before the wedding. In the middle of the ceremony I had a major coughing attack, which I refused to let out. During all the readings I had my head buried in Cowboy H's armpit trying to muffle the sound of my hacking. Needless to say, my vows were less than heart-stopping. I could barely get any sound out of my mouth. At least I made the people laugh.

And then it was time for the rings. You may remember we had a little, ahem, ring trouble. So we borrowed a ring from a family friend, who, ironically was married by this exact priest a year and a half before us. The same ring was blessed with Holy Water a second time by the same priest. It goes unstated that their marriage had better not fail, being doubly blessed and all.

Cowboy H slid mine on my finger nice and easy first. Please note my bouquet on the altar behind the priest. The night before, our coordinator managed to forget to tell us when the bouquet should be handed back to me, so Jenna jumped the gun and gave it to me right before the ring exchange. I didn't know what to do with it, so our priest grabbed it from me and set it there. Just another one of those moments.

Then, I was my turn to return the favor.

So far, so good.

And then it got stuck. Right at his knuckle. But he told me before the ceremony that it would fit, so I tried to jam it onto his finger. By golly, that ring was going on if he said it would. And Cowboy H grimaced. And then I cracked up. And so the ring was left were it was, halfway up his finger. Sigh.

The Prayers of the Faithful were then read by my dear friend Lauren, who has a couple of blogs of her own: The Next Adventure and Lauren's Next Adventure.

The priest then gave us our final blessing.

Finally, we got to face our guests and were pronounced officially married by the priest! I promise you, Cowboy H is excited too.

And THEN, we got to kiss! Hahahaha.

I realized, at this moment, that I hadn't really kissed him all day, and just grabbed him! Everyone started laughing.

Cowboy H was a little confused. But he survived.

Just as we were supposed to be walking back down the aisle together, we had a music glitch and there was an almost awkward silence. However, my baby cousin Amelia ran out of her seat to me and gave me a cough drop. Yes, she handed it to be because I was coughing so badly during the ceremony.

It was easily one of my favorite moments of the whole ceremony. It was so pure and sweet.

Then, the music started up and down the aisle we went to the chords of Randy Travis's "Forever and Ever, Amen"!

And then, we rode off into the sunset!

Up Next: The Reception Kicks Off

All photography credit goes to Applemoon Photography, unless otherwise noted. You guys rock!

A Homemade Wedding Homestead-Style: Arrivals

*Still* raining. Yesterday brought blizzard conditions, thunderstorms, flash floods and even a tornado to our area. Be careful what you wish for.

We arrived at the church about 30 minutes before the ceremony start time and my brother-in-law delivered me directly in front of the doors. A bunch of guests were already there, milling around outside since the church's wedding coordinator wasn't there yet to open the doors. I was so excited to see everyone there, I couldn't wait to get out of the car.

Once I did, the hug-fest began.

My friend Juan, on the right with his girlfriend. We went to high school, and ran track, together. We were both hurdlers. Funny enough, we both ended up at the jr. college in town together; I playing volleyball, he on the athletic training team. Then we both moved to the LA area, but at different times. I think we're stuck with each other. And oh yea, I went to his Sr. Prom with him.

This is Cassie's mom. While I have not spent a lot of time total with this lady, I feel at home with her. Really, she feels like my mom to me. She actually really reminds me of my mom, too. Maybe that's why Cassie and I always felt like old friends from the day we met. Strangely, even though Cassie and I have known each other since before 6th grade, and Cassie had visited me almost every summer, our moms had never met each other! They met for the first time at the wedding.

This is my baby cousin, Amelia. My mom has eight brothers and sisters; my mom is the youngest. Most of my cousins are old than me, and their kids (my second cousins) are closer to my age. But Amelia is actually our generation, and she's the baby! She LOVES me, to put it mildly. I should have hired her to be my personal assistant for the day.

At some point, we figured out a side door was open, so we sneaked in the church and opened the front doors, so all the guests could take a seat. Plus, it was freezing!

My girl Mel (of the chaotic morning prep) and her husband passed out the homemade programs.

Remember when I said I misspelled a word on the program? See "Amazing Grace"? It used to say "Amazing Graze". I guess sometimes our brains are elsewhere, like the pasture with my horse.

This is one of the other two girls I would have had stand up with me had we actually had a wedding party (how many 'had's can you fit in one sentence?). Once we cut it down, I still wanted her to be involved so I asked her to be a reader. School teacher that she is and all, she responded "Greeter? You want me to be a greeter? Why, I'd love to." So, passing out the programs it was. And she did a fabulous job.

Just before the ceremony, my sister-in-law decided her dress was too low cut for her duties as a reader, and asked me to pin it.

Photo by my cousin, Joelle.

I'm so glad someone caught this moment of me getting fresh with Tiff!

Then, suddenly we were shuffled inside and the doors closed behind us! Our priest gathered all the participants at the back of the church and gave us a little blessing.

Photo by my cousin, Joelle.

I bowed my head, and attempted to put on a serious face.

Up next: Let's Get This Show Started!

Once again, hat's off to Applemoon Photography!

A Homemade Wedding Homestead-Style: The Pit Crew

I must have spoke too soon, because we are completely socked in now. The rain started yesterday afternoon and is supposed to continue through the entire week, with some sources even reporting it will last until early next week.

This is our Pit Crew hard at work, 4 hours before dinner was even supposed to be served. The Pit Crew was comprised of what I consider my uncles (and maybe a real uncle or two), men who have been very close friends with my parents since their high school days or before. When my family has parties, these are the people that come. When, growing up, we would go camping, these are the people we would go with.

This guy was sorta kinda the head of the Pit Crew. He was my dad's Best Man at his wedding. My dad was also his Best Man. They are still best friends, and cannot go a day without seeing each other. His oldest son is my age, and we graduated high school together. Unfortunately, our parents also have pictures of us in diapers together.

Speaking of which, here's the son. He was a last minute addition to the Pit Crew so he did not get a custom-made apron. However, he played a crucial role in the ring saga, as he got married about 6 months before us and let us borrow his wedding band for the ceremony. Unfortunately, it wasn't a perfect fit. More on that later.

This is my Uncle Jimmy. He is my dad's youngest brother and my God-father. He is a surfer-dude and a beach bum. Really, he lives right on the beach. I love my Uncle Jimmy. And, there you see the custom aprons I made for the crew the day before the wedding. Not only did I want them to protect their clothes since they also were invited guests, I wanted to give them a "Thank You" of some sort. Plus, they looked really cool.

This is my Uncle Joe (or one of them I should say, there are two on my mom's side). He is married to my God-mother, one of my mom's older sisters. This guy is part of a Roadster Club and has a 1920's Ford Roadster, painted bright orange. When my brother and I were younger, we thought he was the coolest guy ever (okay, we still do). He was on the Pit Crew primarily to make is Famous Garlic Bread. Trust me, if you love garlic, you will LOVE this bread. If you don't like garlic, STAY AWAY.

There on the left in the burgundy shirt, is my "Uncle Paul". There really are no words to describe him, but I love this guy. He's the one that you want all your boyfriends to meet, cause he will scare off the weenies. He can also weed out the good ones. His ties to my family also go back to before high school. He now teaches English at my (Catholic private) high school, which is unbelievably hysterical if you know him.

Over on the right, is my "Uncle Marc". Unfortunately you can only see his back. Marc is one of the guys that goes on our annual summer backpacking trip. Again, my parents have known him since high school or earlier.

I know a lot of people could not imagine asking their guests to work at their wedding, but I couldn't image any other people doing it. First off, there isn't a better BBQ crew in the area (my completely unbiased opinion, of course). Secondly, I really wanted the wedding to be as personal as possible. In fact, the only people involved in the wedding who I didn't know before I started the planning where the photographers. And even they felt like old friends. Honestly, having these men cooking up our main course made me so excited.

See? Okay, well maybe the food on the grill contributed a little bit.

Or wait, it was time to head to the church!

Let's get these blue boots moving!

Up next: People are actually coming!

All photographs in this post (as well as all wedding posts so far) are credited to Applemoon Photography.

A Homemade Wedding Homestead-Style: Best Friends and Brothers

This was our bridal party.

Unfortunately, that's the only photo I got back with all four of us, and the only one not making a funny face is Trent.

Originally, we weren't going to have a "bridal party" since Cowboy H didn't know who to have and I had three girls that I KNEW I wanted with me. I didn't want any of this lop-sided business so we decided to forgo the whole thing. Then, our officiant told us we needed two witnesses at the ceremony, so we decided to just have one person each, who would also serve as our witnesses. Fortunately Cowboy H's brother was able to make it out, otherwise he wasn't sure who to ask.

This crazy lady has out-grown the best friend title and pretty much moved to sister.

We met each other in FIRST grade. Actually, we met before first grade, in Albertson's grocery store after taking our entrance tests for first grade (private school). In second grade we wore the same dress to school on picture day.

We went to school together all the way until the end of high school. While we are almost complete opposites, we always fit together, complimented each other. I made Jenna tone down and relax; she made me act more like a girl and brush my hair. During high school we were almost inseparable.

Please note the creeper in the background is actually smiling.

While we have grown apart somewhat, we always come back to each other. I mean, after 20 years together, it just doesn't go away. That's why I call her my sister now.

Okay, let's put our serious faces on now.

Naw, don't let them fool you! While these two are several years apart in age, and haven't lived together for quite a while, they don't miss a beat. I was so so SO happy Trent made it out (from Missouri); it wouldn't have been the same without him standing next to Cowboy H. He seriously lived up to his Best Man duties too. He escorted me around, ran errands, and made sure to supply my favorite (and only) alcohol to the bar. Thanks bro!

While we were busy taking additional pictures such as these

Butt pincher!

and these

our photogs were also busy capturing some candid moments.

Talking to his beer can since I wouldn't allow it in the picture.


Pinning on a bout.


I like your skirt, Granny.

In the background, the BBQ pit was fired up.

Can you see us in the background? We love BBQ!

You know what, I'm going to save my BBQ crew for a whole new post! They deserve their own after all the rib-eye and chicken they cooked for us! Plus, I want to tell you about each of them, since they were not a hired crew. They were specially selected vounteers!

Stay tuned!

Next time: The Pit Crew and we finally head to the church