wedding recap: first look & before the ceremony!

This is what I saw looking out the hotel room window.

I remember asking, "Can I go yet?! Can I see him?!" and I was told, "You have to wait until he gets down there!" I was just so excited to see Tony! I felt sure that seeing him would make me less anxious. 

I took the elevator downstairs with Kandise and my girls and then waited in a hallway while Kandise went out to make sure Tony was ready. When she gave me the signal that I could come, I had to stop myself from running. As I walked down the hall, I started to cry. It was starting to feel real. As soon as I opened the door though, I stopped crying and walked over to Tony.

Here's what T told me: 

"Alanna or Melissa, I forget, came and told me not to come out until she told me where to go. I think it was Melissa. She came back and led me to that backyard garden. I was feeling nervous. And excited. I just stood there and you came. I felt very excited! I thought, 'The day finally came!'"

I don't remember what we said to each other. I think he told me I looked "so beautiful" and I told him he looked "so good!" I just remember feeling okay. Like, Yes, we're ready. We're getting married. Everything is okay. Everything is good. Everything is great!

We were running a little early so we went up to the lobby to wait for the taxis that were going to take us to Odell. 

Then we moved outside to wait. And I asked Melissa, "Where are the taxis? You told them 5:45, right?" 

Side note: I was all, "How do you even hold a bouquet?! It feels weird. Am I doing this right?" I was thisclose to switching mine for one of the smaller ones.

Surprise!

The girls surprised us with a limo!

We arrived at the park and I was ready to get married! Really. We were supposed to take family and wedding party photos first and then have the ceremony, but I was just too excited! (Plus, it looked like it was going to rain so I wanted to try and have the ceremony before it did.) 

Sometime before we got to the park, I remember asking, "Can we just get married right away?" and someone said, "Well, when is Sally supposed to get there? You need her." Oh, yah. 

So we got to the park and Sally was there! "Yay! You're here! Let's get married!" And then someone reminded me, "You have to wait for everyone else." And I was like, "Everyone else?!" "Um, yah, your mom, your brother, your grandparents." Oh, yah. 

And then there they were! Everyone was there! And afterwards, I wondered, Did I even say hi to them? I just remember saying (maybe shouting), "Good! You're here! Go down there! We're getting married now!" 

(A week later, my Nan told me that I was just like a little girl, excited on Christmas morning. I like that description :) 

(Photos by Kandise Brown)