December 29, 2012

We had the most perfect wedding day imaginable.  I don't even know where to begin recapping that, but I'll try.

The night before was the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner.  That all went very smoothly...I was surprised, actually.  You know how rehearsals usually are...they never start on time, take forever, & end with everyone in a bad mood.  As far as rehearsals go, it was pretty easy.

The rehearsal dinner was beautiful.  We really loved seeing everyone meet & get along so well.  Not many times in your life do you find all your family & friends from every stage of life in the same room together. 

The next day was perfect.  Everything was just so easy.  We saw each other before the wedding, which made the day so much easier.  We weren't nervous & really got to spend the day together instead of avoiding each other.  It was probably one of the best things we did having all the pictures except a few extended family ones done beforehand.

I still wanted to be able to walk down the aisle to Grayson when he saw me that first time, so that's what we did.  It was just us & the photographers & it was so great to have just those few moments together.

After that, the fun began...taking all of our pictures outside on a day with a high of 40.  It was freezing, but I'd rather be cold for a little while & have the pictures I really wanted.  Well worth it.  We used Paperlily Photography & loved them.  We had 3 photographers & it didn't feel like we were just posing forever.  I love all of our pictures, so I'm going to try to pick some favorites to show, but that's almost impossible.

The actual ceremony was one of our favorite parts of the day.  We'd read the order of service so many times & rearranged & reworded & to finally get to actually say & hear those words was great.  We wanted the wedding to present a clear picture of the Gospel & how marriage was designed as a depiction of Christ's relationship with the church.  Afterwards, people told us exactly that.  We loved hearing that all the planning we'd done for months actually accomplished what we'd wanted.

On to the reception...I knew what I wanted, but my mom, aunts, grandmother, & our caterers did pretty much everything to make it all come together.  It was perfect.  Everything was so beautiful.

And just a few more...

Next up, honeymoon!

Best Question Ever

I don't quite know where to start this post...

I guess I'll begin with Wednesday...we had a prayer meeting at church, & Grayson & I sat with his parents, rather than with our friends like we normally would.  I didn't think anything about it, but now I know this was the beginning of his scheming...

Friday morning my friend Kelly texted me & asked if I could come by the church by 6:30 that night & pick up some leadership stuff that she wanted us to read.  I told her I couldn't come then (I already knew we were going to dinner), but that I would get with her sometime this weekend & get it.  Right after that, Grayson texted me & asked if I got the text from Kelly & said that we could just stop by on our way to dinner.

Friday after work, I was expecting him to be at my house when I got home, but he wasn't.  I knew he'd be picking me up soon because we had to get to the church before Kelly left.  I didn't even know where we were going, so I called to see so I would know what to wear.  He was very cool during all of this...

Once he picked me up & we got to the church, I asked if Kelly was coming out or if we had to go in.  He said we had to go in.  My response: "she can't meet us?  Doesn't she know I'm starrrrvinggg?"  He just laughed.  So we're walking towards the church (it never even occurred to me that we weren't headed toward the building where her office is), & when we got to this grassy area, he said "so...I have a question..."  He got down on one knee & just said the most perfect things I've ever heard & asked me to marry him.

I obviously said yes...

 

And I never told him that I would want pictures...but he knew.  Kelly & Darby were hiding & taking pictures.  I love that he just knew I would want that, & knew who I would want there.

 

I love that he's giggling here...

 

And oh yeah...he gave me this beautiful ring.  It's more perfect than anything I could've imagined.  And he picked it out all by himself :)

 

Here are the scheming girls...love these 2 so much.

 

After some picture-taking & oohing & aahhing & hugging & giggling with them, we left for dinner.  We ate at One Midtown Kitchen in Atlanta.

And then maybe made one stop on the way home...

I'm pretty sure the fact that, when he said something about going somewhere else for dessert, & I reminded him that Krispy Kreme was right down the street, is part of why he's marrying me.  I affirm his love of hot Krispy Kreme donuts.

But joking aside...when he proposed, he talked about how in the Bible, marriage is clearly described as a picture of Christ's relationship with the Church...it is a picture of the Gospel.  This is our goal & is what we want our marriage to look like.  We want to preach the Gospel through our marriage.  I love that he said that...it's not about me & not about him, not about a ring, or a wedding...it's about a marriage that portrays the Gospel, & that is our desire.

So in 124 days, this incredible man becomes my husband, & I couldn't be more thrilled.

372 days later...

On August 19, 2011, I met Grayson Carr.  I had no idea at that time that he was the one that I've been praying for for all these years.

Day 1: May 19, 2012 - this cute boy asked me out.  I wasn't even sure it was a date, but I very quickly understood that it indeed was.  We went to dinner & just had the best conversation...so much of it related back to things we'd been talking about in Sunday school.  I couldn't believe that I was sitting across from the table from this guy that I'd known for almost a year, but had never known him like this.  I'd had very few one-on-one conversations with him, but here we were talking like we'd been best friends for years.

Day 3: May 21, 2012 - we went on a walk at a park close to my house...during this, Grayson shared something with me that just showed me a huge part of his heart.  I knew then that this was the kind of man I wanted to marry.

Day 29: June 17, 2012 - this is the first time that Grayson met my family...& he told me that night that he was going to marry me.  [Having said this, I'm sure my mom will take credit for it all...since it was on the day he met her that he told me this.]

And today...372 days after this amazing guy walked into my life, 98 days after that great first date, Grayson Carr asked me to be his wife.

More details & pictures to come...