Wedding Wednesday: Here Comes the Bride

A little music to go along with this part of the processional: 

Once everyone else made it down the aisle it was my turn.  I really don't know if there are words to describe the feelings at this point.  It wasn't really nerves more of excited anticipation mixed with a disbelief that after over a year of planning it was finally here.  I know that really doesn't make much sense but trust me when I tell you it really is an indescribable feeling.

Making my way upstairs 

Not sure what I was looking at (probably one of the kids)
but this was one of the best pictures with my veil

That picture I believe was taken just after the doors were closed and my dad and I were the only one's left to walk down the aisle.  Again I know the expression on my face makes me look like I am terrified but I think it really was just another rush of emotion for what was finally about to happen.  I think I was also telling myself "don't cry- you will look like a blubbering idiot and you will ruin your expensive makeup" over and over in my head

My dad and I in place 

And it begins!

Wedding Wednesday: The Processional

Now that we were all dressed and knocked some pictures out before the ceremony it was time to get this wedding thing started!  This is another picture heavy post with not much needed in terms of commentary so enjoy!

The Ushers: my brother Ethan, my cousin Jenna, and our friend Justin

 Seating of the Grandparents and Parents:
Because everything is better with music push play to enjoy the music that was played during this part of the ceremony:

Nick's Grandma McGeehon

My Grandma and Grandpa Kingma

Nick's Mom and Brother

My Brother and Mom

Our moms placing the unity cross*

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen:

Junior Bridesmaid: my cousin Lilia

Nick's cousin Ethan and my college friend Sara

Our friends Jon and Jenni

Our friends Brandon and Katie

Best Man: Nick's brother Trevor and Maid of Honor: My sister Sarah

Flower Girl: my niece Emily, Junior Usher: my cousin Jenna
and Ring Bearer: my cousin Camden

One of my favorite pictures from the day!

 So I lied you are actually getting 3 posts today just to keep your Wednesday exciting!

*Will explain the Unity Cross during the ceremony post

Wedding Wednesday: Some Very Special People

I've been waiting to post about these very special people for a while now.  When Nick and I were deciding on our wedding party I had a very hard time choosing bridesmaids.  I have been blessed beyond words with many many amazing women in my life and it was very hard for me to limit the list to just a few. I wanted to honor all their roles in my life in a special way.  As I mentioned in last week's post a friend of mine asked many of her closest friends to be her "Something Blue" and stand up with her in spirit for her wedding.  I loved this idea but wanted to do a little different take on it.  After much brainstorming with my aunt and sister I decided to ask these special women to light the candles for the ceremony.  Using the the lighgt as a symbol of the light each of these woman have been in my life.  I even came across this poem which perfectly illustrated what each of them meant to me:

I've seen the light

And it's in you,

In everything you are

And in everything you do

It's a perfect light

That shines for all to see

It radiates from you

And has pierced the heart of me.

The light is from a friend.

It's a light that keeps me warm.

It lets me know how loved I am,

And keeps me safe from harm.

To you my friend I am thankful,

In each and every way.

For you lift my spirits up,

With every passing day.

To know that you are there for me

It makes me feel alive

Because it is your friendship's light

Upon which my love thrives.

It is your light of friendship

That gives my world its glow.

I sent each woman a card with that poem asking them to light the candles for our wedding.  Unfortunately for lots of reasons not all of them were able to make it to St. Louis for the wedding.  The lovely ladies that were able to make it did a beautiful job setting the stage for the ceremony.  Here are some pictures of the beautiful women: 

Today is going to be another 2 for 1 Wednesday with another post coming this afternoon!

Wedding Wednesday: A Little Somethin' Somethin'

Before we move on to the ceremony pictures I wanted to share some pictures of some of the details.  There were lots of little things that I put a lot of time and energy into but none of them meant more to me than the few details I am going to share today: My "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."  A few of these were very easy decisions for me and I knew almost as soon as I started thinking about it what they would be but I wanted to make sure everything had special meaning and in the end I had a few unexpected additions and changes but all of them were very special to me.

First my "Something Old"

That pearl necklace belonged to my Grandma Leader who passed away 3 years ago this month.  The pearls came from Japan and were a gift from my dad to my grandma when he was stationed in Japan with the Navy.  I really wanted a way to carry her with me on that day and I thought her pearls were a perfect way to have her with me all day.

My "Something New" and "Something Blue"

The "something new" was the hardest one for me.  Like I said I wanted all of them to be something meaningful which made it difficult to make this one happen.  I finally just gave up and decided it would be my shoes.  If you recall I was obsessed with them but then I got a few surprises that ended up being perfect "Something News"

The first "something new" was a gift from my dear friend Katie.  Just before the ceremony she gave me that beautiful pouch.  It was filled with amazing smelling potpourri.  It was such a touching gift and was a perfect way to carry her love with me.  The other 2 things in that picture were my "something old part 2" and my "something blue part 2" (turns out I ended up with 2 of each of them except my something borrowed).  The  one on the top was actually Nick's christening bonnet that his mom gave me.  It is actually made to come apart and make a handkerchief but I was too scared I wouldn't remember how it came apart so I just left it in hat form.  The one on the bottom was a gift from my lovely friend Sarah.  For her wedding she asked many of her closest friends to be her "Something Blue" and stand up with her in spirit.  She gave each of us a handkerchief as a gift.  She had a baby about 2 weeks after our wedding so for obvious reasons was unable to travel to St. Louis.  I thought carrying that handkerchief was a nice way to have her with me on the day as well.

My other "something new" and "something blue" were both gifts from Nick.  One I have had for a very long time and the other was a surprise wedding present:

Attaching them to my bouquet

"Something Blue" is the blue pendent.  Nick gave that to me a very long time ago when we were dating for the first time.  When he gave it to me it was actually a ring.  My sister also had a ring from an old boyfriend.  Her's was a ruby (my birthstone) and mine was a sapphire (her birthstone). When Nick and I broke up my sister and I decided to have our cousin make both of them into necklaces and we swapped them. Both were beautiful pieces and this way they wouldn't just sit in our jewelry boxes and they would be enjoyed. When Nick and I got back together she gave it back to me.  I wear the necklace almost every day.  I knew I wanted it to be a part of the day but since I was wearing my grandma's pearls I couldn't wear it as a necklace so I decided to attach it to my bouquet instead.  

My other "something new" was pearls wrapped around my bouquet.  These were the surprise Nick left under my pillow the night before our wedding.  He knew I was wearing my grandma's pearls but wanted to get me something special to remember our wedding day.  The gift meant the world to me and I felt bad I wasn't wearing them so I made a last minute choice to wrap them around my bouquet.  

The other things on my bouquet were also special ways to remember important people or significant things.  The angel has a very special meaning that is a long long story but was a way for me to have 3 very special people from college with me.  The opal also belonged to my grandma and the cross was a gift I received when I was confirmed.  

Lastly my "something borrowed"

The earrings I wore were borrowed from my Aunt Jennifer.  When we were dress shopping and picked out my dress she mentioned that she had a perfect pair of earrings for me to wear.  They were small and subtle but I think they were perfect.   

Even with a few surprises I think it turned out to be a perfect bunch of good luck charms.  

12 Days of Christmas (give or take a few or 11)

So about a week ago I had this ambitious plan to do a 12 Days of Christmas blog series similar to this one.  I however, am a failure and could not get my act together.  I am also not nearly as creative as Katie and have no fun crafts to post about so 12 posts was probably a bit ambitious anyway.  I did promise all of you a peak at just what Christmas looks like at the McGeehon home so without further ado:

The Official McGeehon Christmas Blog Post

To kick things off I thought I would start with a short walk down memory lane:

Our first Christmas tree together.  

Our First Christmas Card

Now a look at Christmas 2011:

Front of our Christmas Card

Back of the card

I just discovered Mixbook.com recently via Groupon but I loved that they had double sided holiday cards.

Now onto what the house looks like.  It took us a week and a half to get everything decorated and in its place.  Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest (I haven't figured out the best camera setting for pictures in the new house yet).  This will also serve as a look at what the house looks like all put together because I realized I failed and never shared pictures after we had everything moved in.

Outside Lights

Living room from the kitchen

Living room from front door

Another shot from the front door

Table on behind couch

Dining Room

The Snowman tree in the dining room

Office

Office from other angle (check out the jersey)

Guest bedroom

Guest Bedroom from other direction

Bathroom (yes it gets decorations as well)

Master Bedroom

Kitchen

As you can see we haven't done any painting yet or really any big renovations but at least everything has a place and is more or less put together.  Our bedroom is probably the saddest room of all.   We are still on the hunt for a new bed spread so I have been putting off most of the decorating until we find that.  It still has NOTHING on the walls but hopefully very very soon we will paint that room and remedy the situation. I will also post about our fun photo collages that we have created soon.

Hope you enjoyed the look at Casa McGeehon in all its Christmas glory!

ps bonus points if you guess how many trees we have in our house.

Wedding Wednesday: The Girls Strike a Pose

Once we were all dressed it was time to knock out some pictures of just the girls before the ceremony started.  Here is a sampling of some of the pictures:

Girls with the jersey