Wedding Day Re-Cap!

Hello! I am writing to you for the first time as Mrs. Dianna Haynes! That is so exciting! I still sit and marvel that I am married. I look at Dusty and am like , "you are my HUSBAND" and he smiles and says, 'and you are my wife." It is crazy, it always felt like the wedding was forever away and now it is 5 days past us! I am surprised to report that I did not cry at the wedding. I predicted that the excitement and hormones would have made me a blubbering baby but rather the happiness that I was finally becoming Dusty's wife kept a smile on my face all evening, that whole day I had not a worry in the world (well...I was worried that a child would trip and get hurt when they were running around but that is every adult's fear when kids run...right?).  If you were unable to make it to the big event or even if you were there let me re-cap for you.

1.) What was the date and time of your wedding? April 11, 2014 at 5:00pm

2.) What was the weather like? The weather was gorgeous. High of 75, partly cloudy, not a rain drop to be seen but a nice breeze to keep us cool! LOTS of pollen though, just ask Dusty's Tux!

3.) What kind of food/beverages did you serve? During cocktail hour we had a cheese and cracker assortment (I stole some cheese cubes while waiting to make our grand entrance because I was STARVING!), drink options were water, sweet tea or lemonade (apparently the best lemonade in the entire world according to everyone who told me about it AFTER the fact!), Dinner was a bacon wrapped turkey tenderloin with a whisky glaze, red skinned mashed potatoes with bacon and cheese on the side as mix ins, macaroni and cheese, grilled vegetables (they gave me my own side of just asparagus) and yeast rolls. It was all amazing! Best wedding food ever in my opinion!

4.) What kind of cake did you have and who made it? We had a 3 layer hexagonal cake from Dewey's bakery, the top and bottom layers were chocolate and the middle was red velvet all with white icing and decorated to match our cinema theme. The cake was fresh, moist and delicious, not to mention the fact that it looked amazing. Dewey's did a great job!

5.) Did everyone who RSVP attend? No, we had a few no-shows but it happens, it did lead to lots of left over delicious food!! We did have some FAR away out of town guests make it in from New York (Lauren and John,) Gabby and Joe), New Hampshire (Alex), Colorado (Katie), Massachusetts (Sam and Mike).

6.) Did your ceremony run smoothly? For the most part, our processional got a little out of sorts when my nephews forgot to push mom down the aisle in her wheel chair so she came in right before me and dad, our flower girl and ring bearer walked down the aisle with our best man and matron of honor (which was absolutely adorable by the way!), I forgot to switch my engagement ring to my right hand before the ceremony so I (probably not so subtly) moved it right before getting my wedding ring, and Noah yawned very loudly after we said our vows which cracked everyone up. All in all it was wonderful.

7.) Did your reception run smoothly? It got a little out of sorts, we didn't have a set order of events which got a little hectic, I didn't bustle my train right away so it got in the way of our first dance and tripped a lot of people during the reception (no one got hurt), no one really danced except Dusty and I with our parents but since we aren't big on the whole dancing thing it worked for us and the kids had the whole front outdoor space to play and run and I can't be sure that I spent enough time with EVERYONE because I kept moving around or being pulled aside for a question or something, hopefully no one felt neglected!

8.) Did you get all of the pictures you wanted? Who knows?? Our photographer was amazing, she came and shot our wedding even though she doesn't do photography anymore and did an awesome job. She had 5 photos to me THAT NIGHT and all of them were amazing. Dusty and I had made signs to use in the photos but realized that we left them in the room so we only used one of them and figured we could add the quotes digitally after the fact. I believe that the rest of the pictures will turn out amazing as well and lots of people have shared their pictures with us on Facebook.

9.) What was your first dance song? Everything Else Disappears by Sister Hazel

10.)What song did you dance with your dad to? I Loved her First by Heartland

11.)What song did the groom and his mother dance to? My Wish by Rascal Flatts

12.) What was your last dance song? We didn't have one, no big deal though.

13.) Who caught the bouquet? Lily McLean

14.) Who caught the garter? We didn't do that.

15.) What were your favors? We had boxes of popcorn and little clapboard picture holders

16.) What did you do for your send off? We didn't have one, we took a picture holding a sign that said "to be continued" in the hall where our room was.

17.) Where did you spend your wedding night? We stayed in the Johnson Room right at the Manor House. The room was right down the hall from our reception and it was beautiful!! The bed was comfy, Lauren, Anita, Brittany and Katie decorated our room before we retired for the night which was awesome, and breakfast the next morning was AMAZING!! Best breakfast ever of fresh Blueberry scones, eggs, bacon, fruit, toast, and orange juice!!

18.) Did anyone decorate your car? Yes! Our car had been written on apparently NOT by David & Sierra with Noah's help! Noah kept claiming that it was some woman with black hair that had him draw on the windows, we named people and he just said no until he said that David and Sierra let him draw on it. He was tickled that he got to draw on the trunk (the back windshield), and the sides "but not the front" and he apparently drew potatoes.

19. Did you take a honeymoon? Yes, we went to Wilmington, NC and are currently still ON our honeymoon. Note the water at the beach is flippin COLD in April!

20. Would you do anything different? While sitting in a movie theater yesterday we thought it would have been cool to have random movie trivia while people were waiting for the ceremony to begin but besides that nope because our wedding was awesome.

60 day's left- Are you on the list?

I've mentioned before that our guest list was cut from almost 200 people down to about 60 including us. This was such a difficult and horrible experience but it was unfortunately necessary and while I know that many people took the cuts personally I am glad to be having a smaller wedding.

In the process of planning our big day we have changed our venue many times. At first it all seemed so easy, booked the first place we went to had everything planned but then everything turned on it's side and instead of letting the bad times win we sat down and made a new plan and when that fell through we made another, and when that had to be tweaked another until we have what we do now. It broke my heart to even consider a short list but we made 3 total, one for all the guests we wanted to invite, one for 100 people even and one for 50 (turned 60). In the end it came down to finances and when that happened I sent a message out to everyone who had been sent a save the date that ended up not making the top 50. I explained that the situation was out of our control and that the decision was heartbreaking and hoped that they knew his was not a reflection on any hard feelings just that when it came down to the wire I couldn't accommodate everyone.  I would like to say I got all positive responses to this but I admit I was dragged through the ringer a bit which I took with a grain of salt and moved forward hoping that one day those people will come to an understanding and realize it was not meant to be an offense.

I can't say that there weren't benefits to having a shorter guest list. The printing and postage was much cheaper than planned, i am only waiting on like 15 RSVP's and it has only been a couple of weeks since we mailed the invitation, catering costs dropped, and I am pretty sure that I will be able to speak to every person at my wedding rather than just a quick hello!

 While many of my friends and family will not be able to join me on my big day I know that it will be wonderful because when all is said and done I will be married to the most amazing person who makes me happier than anything in this world and who is making me a mother!

250 Days Left!! - What to Expect- Seating

Ah, the dreaded topic of our seating plan. I think if this wedding has one more area in which to stress me out it is going to be in making the seating plan. Since we are having plated meals that will be submitted beforehand, everyone must be in the seats to which we assign them, which makes our job much harder. Just in case sitting 10 random relatives at a table wasn't already stressful there comes the issue of seating during the ceremony and THAT is where I expect complaints.

Background: Our ceremony and reception are being held in the same room which means we will have it set up almost exactly the same all night. The Crystal Ballroom at our venue is perfect and it was kind of special to be able to have our table in the exact spot that we exchanged our vows. It was also going to be much more money and hassle to either pay for another room in the building for 30 minutes or make guests travel from one location to another for these events. We landed on the single room option and our event coordinator at the venue has instilled confidence in how it will turn out.

What to Expect: You may be standing for our entire ceremony, but it will be probably max about 30 minutes, if that. We will have some chairs moved from tables into rows to create an aisle for immediate family and for anyone with VERY young children or anyone who is injured but these seats will be filled at primarily our discretion. I know it may seem silly that you may have to STAND but this will give you more freedom as to where to be, you can be on the second floor or the first and maybe see the wedding from a POV that you have never experienced! This is one thing about my wedding that I KNOW is going to upset people but honestly, as mean as it sounds, I don't want to hear it, I have stood in line longer to get into a crummy movie or to pay for some groceries so I feel that standing (while I am doing the exact same thing), isn't too much to ask someone. After the ceremony, Dusty and I will make our escape to get some photo's done with our bridal party and family while our guests are offered some snacks, will have access to the pub and can take their seats inside when they are ready waiting for cocktail hour to be over so they can see us again and eat some yummy food then dance it all off!

280 Days Left!! - What to Expect: Drinks

After reading hundreds of wedding related posts I can tell you something that they all mention that kind of ticks me off. Every one tells me how tacky, inappropriate, and inconvenient cash bars are. They all say how you should go all out and offer a full bar to all of your guests to ensure they have fun. Well, this morning I had the last straw, and to clear anything up I determined what my next "what to expect" post would be.

Background:
I for one have never been much of a drinker. The most I have ever had was two or three weak drinks in one night. Dusty isn't a huge drinker either, not that he doesn't like to drink occasionally, it is just not a priority. I know it can be relaxing or even a bit fun to indulge once in a while but it isn't what I think of when I think of my wedding.

What to expect:
Two words for you: cash bar. As inconvenient as it may be for a guest at my wedding to break out their wallet for a jack and coke, it is ten times more inconvenient and costly for me to budget an entire wedding's alcohol intake. At our reception there is a full bar literally two doors down from the ballroom that would be very accommodating of guests wishing to acquire some spirits for the occasion. We have worked out that water, soda, tea and champagne punch will be free and unlimited and I for one think that is more than reasonable. Weddings are expensive and pumping guests full of booze is not at the top of my priorities. I don't mind the drinking, I just don't want to pay for it.