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2017 WENDY CORREEN SMITH. Powered by Blogger.

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Our Wedding Day



On the tenth of October I married the man of my dreams. Our wedding day was sprinkled with slices of Heaven. It was truly the most beautiful day of my life! 

The Sunday after our wedding, Ryan and I sat on the sofa and took notes about all the memories that we want to cherish forever. We wrote down the ones we want to document so that when we are 90 years old we can remember them! 10-10-15 will remain in our hearts forever, and the joy will continue to fill our souls, and this is my attempt to document the highlights! 

Before my girls arrived, I had a vanilla candle burning, with Helen Jane Long on Pandora. I said a long prayer, to thank God, the Lord above, for making me his wife. As my aunt, sisters, and best friends were helping me put on my wedding dress, Ryan was at his parent's land - Meadow Wood - waiting for me to arrive. We had planned our first look photos in advance, and the plan was for him to do what he loves to do, fish. As I was walking towards him, he caught his very first fish of the day. What are the odds of that happening!?

The arrival. 
My sister, Haley, spent two hours on my hair. She was adjusting it all day! 



First look. 
It's hard to put into words the feeling I had as I was walking toward my groom. I felt overwhelmed with emotions of anticipation, gratitude, love, excitement, joy, and bliss. I just couldn't wait to get to him! 
The ribbons you see blowing in the wind were placed there in memory of my grandma who went to Heaven to be with my papa in July. My mom made it using ribbons that used to belong to my grandma. They were a special part of the ceremony, that I'll share later in this post. 






























Before the ceremony. 
After the First Look photos, we went to the tent to spend some time with our family and wedding party, as we waited for the guests to arrive. The little flower girls were adorable. They were like little fluff balls, bringing smiles to everyone's face. I gave my mom and mother-in-law embroidered handkerchiefs, you'll see the one that I had made for my MIL in the photo below. 



























The photographers snapped this photo as I was checking to make sure I didn't have bugs crawling on my legs. There were several spiders that made it up inside my dress between all the layers of tulle. Thankfully I had zero bug bites when I woke up on Sunday morning! 


Family photos. 
Our families mean the world to the both of us. The foundation of our marriage will be built on the love of our families, and they will always come first in our lives. Love and gratitude for this family of ours, because it's not what we have in this life that matters, it's who we have. 













The ceremony. 
I had two very special men to walk me down the aisle, my dad and my step-dad. We decided to do something a little different with the music. Ryan walked my mom and his parents down the aisle to Willie Nelson - Blue Skies, the wedding party walked down to Vancy Joy - Riptide, and I walked down to Helen Jane Long - Out of it All. 



















Our flower girls did such an amazing job. They took their roles very seriously. Lucca didn't want to stop dropping her petals, even when it was time for her to take her seat. 








When my step-dad gave me away to Ryan, he said "take care of my girl," which made my sister Haley start crying. I saw her eyes full of tears, and after the ceremony she told me she could hear what Jesse had said. He's a simple man, and those words were simple as well, but his love runs deep and it can stir the emotions of all that are lucky enough to know him so very well. 


We started with this scripture reading from Song of Songs 2:10-13

My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”







After our knot ceremony, we exchanged the vows we wrote for one another. 

Wendy
How do I put on paper how much I love you?
I've been working on these vows for a while now,
And still haven't figured out how to tell everyone here,
What you mean to me. 

So I've come up with a plan.
I'm going to give you my best every day. 
Though, as you know, my best can come in varying degrees!
I'm going to encourage you to follow your intuitions, 
Even when your intuitions are conflicted between your mind and heart. 

I'll hold you when things hurt. 
I'll tell you I love you when everything is brilliant. 
I'll kiss your forehead just because. 
I'll call you on the phone even more than Haley does. 

I'll be your best friend, your partner. 
And when I do all of these things, 
I won't have to worry about telling you
Or anybody how much I love you, 
They'll see it and know. 

Ryan
My best friend, 
My brightest light, 
My husband from this day forward; 
You are the greatest, most loving man I've ever known. 

In your eyes I have found my home. 
In your heart I have found my love. 
In your soul I have found my mate. 

You've taught me peace and kindness, strength and integrity, 
The beautiful bliss of life's most simple joys. 

You've shown me what it means to be good and true, 
What it's like to wake up each day
With faith and hope --- and a fearless, grateful spirit. 

I love you for so many reasons, but I love your heart the most ---
Your true, kind, open, and compassionate heart. 

Our love has always felt both incredible and inevitable, 
A miracle that's meant to be, 
And my most cherished blessing is to know that I am yours. 

Today surrounded by the ones we love, 
I vow to honor, inspire, and respect you for the rest of our days. 

I'm yours, Ryan, forever and always: 
All that I am now, and all that I'll ever be. 







In this photo, between Pastor Houston and me, you can see the ribbons blowing in the wind.  This is from a past post: 

Yesterday was the best day of my life. Dream come true. The best part of the day was after my dad and step-dad walked me down the aisle and gave me to Ryan Smith. The moment my hands were in his and our eyes were connected, I could finally take a deep breath and I felt peace and bliss. As we were exchanging our vows, if I looked away from his eyes only for a moment, across the water and in the trees were pink and blue ribbons blowing in the wind. My mom had made a ribbon display to hang between two trees next to the water and behind the tent. She used ribbon that used to belong to my grandma. When my eyes caught the ribbon blowing, I could feel the breeze on my skin, and I could feel my grandma's love all around me and in my soul. It was the most euphoric feeling I've ever experienced and the closest I've ever felt to Heaven. As soon as we finished our vows, there was a bird in the tree above us singing the most beautiful melody.



We had an extra long kiss. I'll take the blame for it. I heard my mom go, "ohhhhhh!" in her seat, and then I realized I had been lost in the kiss, in front of all to see! Ryan is still teasing me about "the kiss!"




We ended with a prayer and this scripture reading from Ecclesiastes 9:7-9

Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.


















The wedding party. 
My sisters and our friends, the ones that have been there for us through thick and thin, the ones that have seen us at our very best and our very worst, and loved us through it all. Here's to our friends that have become our family. 































Us. 
Once we finished the wedding party photos we ran off with Amy and Mandee to take our romantic sunset photos. We had no idea the sun was going to illuminate the land the way it did. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had so much fun riding around with my uncle on the golf cart as we stopped in different areas for our photos. At one point we were taking the golf cart up a hill to an old barn. It didn't take long for us to realize there was too much weight on the golf cart to get up the steep hill. I turn around and Mandee is hiking up the hill! I panicked for just a moment because I thought she had fallen off the golf cart, as soon as I realized she had jumped, my nervousness turned to laughter. Talk about dedicated photographers!
While we were taking our sunset photos, everyone else was back at the tent. They had the cotton candy machine going for all to enjoy. The kiddos had fish food to feed the fish in the pond. There was a photo booth set-up in front of the ribbon display. There was music and cocktails and laughter as all waited for us to return! 
























This photo below is our very favorite. It was part of our sneak peek set of photos from the photographers. We had emailed it to Ryan's parents. Ry and I were out to dinner one night soon after the wedding and his parents called to point out something in the photo that we hadn't even noticed. Just to the left of Ryan, in the grass, and illuminated by the glow of the sun you'll notice a cross in the grass. It took our breath away and only reinforced all the magic and love from our angels that we felt on our wedding day. Since the very beginning of our relationship we've been blessed with signs from above that help us fix our gaze on what is unseen in this world. 

Set your mind on things above. Col 3:2


The ring on my right hand, was my grandma's ring. I had bought it for her one Christmas when she was living at the nursing home. She used to love to wear jewelry, but she couldn't have her nice stuff there, because she could lose it. I got her that ring so she'd have something to make her feel fancy. She loved it. Everyone would compliment her ring and she'd always tell me how much people loved it. She wore it every single day and didn't even take it off for showers. It was the one and only piece of jewelry she had on when she passed away and I sentimentally wore it on our wedding day in memory of her. 






Ryan and I burst out laughing when we saw this photo. We have no idea what we were looking at, or talking about, when they snapped this photo. I'm still laughing as I try to remember what could have been said at that very moment. 











The reception. 
As we finished up the photos and headed back to the reception, the sky was beginning to look more and more like artwork. There was a cool breeze and everything was glowing. It was obvious everyone was having a grand time when we returned! After we took our seats we immediately started the food line. Ry's uncle had been working on our dinner for weeks in advance and the barbecue was a total hit. Guests were telling me it was the best wedding dinner they'd ever had. As we were eating dinner I looked at the sky and it was the most beautiful color of pink and blue, just like the ribbons that were floating in the air. It was magical. Then there was an airplane that was flying above us and all the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. A few photos were snapped of the sky and the airplane that you'll see below. 





















Our first dance was to Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton - From Here to the Moon and Back. 


Haley and I danced with our dad and step-dad to The Temptations - My Girl. 



My sisters, Haley and Mallory, did their speech together. I knew when they whipped their speeches out of their bras we were in for a treat! They had the crowd laughing and tears forming, all at the same time. 


Ryan's best friend Steve gave an awesome speech too, much laughter was had by all, and Ry and I had to giggle because it looked like he had laminated his cards. 



We had our cake lady make special cupcakes for the little ones that were in the wedding. I thought that having cupcakes made would help keep my niece Addy out of the wedding cake. She is obsessed with cake, and it's inevitable that a finger mark will be made in all cakes. And our wedding cake was no exception, because there was evidence of the guilty child who could not resist her temptation for a taste of the icing. We couldn't get upset, she's just too cute! 






Our three layer cake was Pumpkin Spice with cream cheese filling on top and bottom and Pink Champagne in the middle. I'm looking forward to our one year anniversary so we can eat that top layer of cake! 























The night was all that I could have dreamed it to be, and more. My only wish would have been for it to last even longer! 

Ryan's parents had planted this mimosa tree a few weeks before the wedding, in memory of Ryan's grandma (his father's mother) who had passed the year before. We hadn't mentioned the tree or the meaning to our photographers, but they captured this photo and even included it in our presentation. It was a special surprise to see how beautiful this tree shined on our wedding day. 



Sharing our magical day would not be complete if I didn't express our gratitude to everyone that helped make it what it was. Our wedding was on his parent's land, and they diligently worked for months to make it feel like a resort for our big day. Ryan's brother and sister-in-law were there every weekend to help his parents work on the land. His sister was in charge of our music and helped come up with ideas to style the land with fall displays of mums, pumpkins, hay, and rustic signs. His aunt and uncle did the catering and the food was amazing. My mom helped me make the bouquets and all the centerpieces. She also made the ribbon display in honor of my grandma. My sister Mallory had the adorable flower girl dresses made. My sister Haley did my hair. My brother collected wine bottles for the centerpieces for months. My aunt did the day of coordinating! Our best friends Jen and Brett had their entire family in the wedding. My best friend Tiffany flew in from New Jersey twice, once for the bachelorette party and then again with her hubby for the wedding weekend. We are blessed with the most kind and loving family and friends! 

Vendor Contacts

Officiant Pastor Houston from Timmy Gibson's group
Photography by Bright Umbrella Photography
Bouquets from The Bouq
Centerpiece flowers from Trader Joes
Tent, table, and chairs from Celebration Party Rentals
Cake by Rebekah Foster

Now I am Mrs. Smith and I get to spend my forever with the most loving and kind man I know. He's my sweet baby! 

Stay tuned for our next adventure. We just bought a new home and we'll be moving the middle of January. We have big plans to renovate it before we even unpack and I'll surely be sharing BEFORE + AFTER photos. We cannot wait to be parents and dream of filling our new home with the sound of little feet (nope, not pregnant yet, but praying for the blessing of children)

Thanks for reading about our wedding day. Love to you and yours! 

xo Wen and Ry

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