After our official announcement as husband and wife (woot!), Dan and I walked down the aisle to clapping and cheering, and I loved every single second of it. We stopped at the back of church and came right back around to the front while our bridal party processed out, and immediately started to try and gather our families for pictures. I didn't know that my mom and a few others had planned a little "bubbles sendoff" for us - the problem was that we had already arranged with Ben + Mindy that we would NOT go outside, as we needed to do family pictures quickly and get on our way to the locations they'd scouted for the rest of our photos. We heard from Jeff that a crowd was gathered outside of church waiting for us with bubbles... but he had to go and tell them we weren't coming out for a good half hour or so. So, apologies to anyone that stood around waiting for us!!!
Family pictures with the Lawlers were a little crazy because the family is bigger and there were little kids involved, but I think we did a pretty good job of getting everyone finished quickly so Kim could leave and get the boys down for naps. I had to tell Nikki that we wanted her in some of the pictures - she wasn't going to be in any of them! Seeing as she will be our sister in law in just a few months, it was important that she be in the photos, so I'm glad she was there for them. My family was quick and easy since there's less of us, and soon enough we were corralling the bridal party on to the limo to head out for the fun pictures!
Mindy was awesome and agreed to ride on the limo with us to the first location, which was right in Oak Park. She had explained to me that they usually don't go on the limo because there's not a whole lot to take pictures of, but because they're so great she came with us for a bit anyways. I have no idea if anything will come of it as far as photos go, but she was there for Thomas' toast and the popping of the champagne, so there could be some fun shots. The first location for photos was up by the el tracks, where we actually did some of our engagement pictures. We randomly saw Bridget's mom when we got there, and people in their cars kept stopping or honking as they drove past us, which I got a kick out of. Ben + Mindy set up the entire bridal party and did their thing, and just from looking around at how they had us all lined up I already know the photos are going to be incredible.
Dan and I decided that we wanted to be the first ones to post a wedding picture on facebook, you know, since it was our wedding. I thought it was insane that literally within an hour of posting it I had nearly 100 "likes" and a ton of comments!
I have no idea where the second and third photo locations were, but know that the second one required all the guys to cross over a VERY busy 4-lanes of traffic. Ben eventually came back across the street for me so we could do photos of Dan and I, and when I got bored of waiting for the traffic to break I stuck out my thumb for a "hitch hiking bride" picture that Bridget took :).
When Ben finally got me across the street and I walked up to where they had the guys standing, I think I actually squealed - I can't even explain how awesome the location was, but the pictures are going to be A.MAZ.ING. The guys all looked so good lined up in their suits and the ties... oh, the ties. They sure were a source of stress throughout our planning because I wanted them to be perfect, but I could not be happier that we waited until we found something we really loved, because I am STILL thinking about how great they looked. Once the pictures of the groomsmen were done I got to get in close with Dan for some more couple pictures, and Ben + Mindy had fun telling us to kiss... and then kiss again... and again. They crack me up.
When we went to cross the street back to the limo I saw Bridget and Jeff standing and waiting for us. As we got closer I realized Bridget had my phone... and as soon as we crossed over to them she said to me "OK, so don't panic..."... which is never a good sign. With a quick explanation we learned that one of our rental companies didn't deliver this lattice screen thing that was a CRUCIAL part of the reception decor. It was supposed to cover the awful "tree wall" that was literally my least favorite thing about our space, and it was also going to have our place card hand wipes and pinwheels clipped to it. Poor Rachel was at the Levy Center in a total panic trying to figure out what to do seeing as she knew how excited I was about that whole part of the setup... I felt awful that she had to deal with it but if there's anyone that I knew would figure out a solution, it was her! Back on the limo we paused the party so Dan and I could try and get in touch with the vendor, who was of course nowhere to be found and totally unreachable. Eventually we called my cousin Jason - the only person we knew with a truck - and asked him to please RUSH to the hardware store, buy two 4x8' sheets of lattice, and get them to the Levy Center as quickly as possible. He was (understandably) not happy, but agreed and ran out right away. As our guests were starting to show up at the Levy Center around this time, we got a couple more phone calls and learned that they figured out a different solution and everything was going to be fine. Unfortunately Jason was already on his way from the hardware store with the lattice... which then didn't get used... but he was a good sport about it and it was really huge to me that he went so far out of his way for me that day.
The last photo location was for the girls, and I freaked out when we got there and I saw the front cab of a semi truck in SOLID TEAL. It literally matched the girls dresses perfectly, and I asked right away if that was where we were taking pictures. Turns out Ben + Mindy are pros for a reason - they explained that the girls dresses were so close to the color of the truck that they would blend, and pointed 15 feet away at an amazing little weathered red barn kind of building that was where we were actually taking photos. Ben + Mindy are also pros at making a girl feel like the boss on her big day and took a few quick shots of me on the truck cab that I can't wait to see. I somehow managed to get dirty grease all over my hands while climbing up on the truck, and Ben saved the day with hand wipes from their van. The last few shots were of me solo and then Dan solo by the red shack, and I still giggle when I think of Dan's face while he hammed it up for the camera and mocked Mindy's pose direction. :)
To be continued...
