Show Us Your Life - Wedding Party/ Flowers

It's Show Us Your Life day over at Kelly's Korner again! Today's theme is Wedding Party and Wedding Flowers. After I found my dress, we started working on a place to have the reception. We looked a few places, we thought about the Botanical Gardens or getting a beach house, but when we found the Dam Neck Officers' Club, it was too perfect. It had enough room for everyone we wanted, but had limited space to keep our guest list from getting out of control. It was recently redecorated, it was very well priced (which meant we could have an open bar!), and it was on the beach! After we found the club, picking the date was easy - they were available September 23!

The biggest problem was finding a place that would meet our most important wedding condition: Noelle had to be allowed! That ruled out some churches, and likely meant we'd have to get married outdoors. I am NOT the kind of person that would be okay with that, not because I don't think it's perfect (look at my brother and sister in law's wedding - perfect), but because I would be a complete ball of nerves worrying about the weather. And with my luck, it would totally have rained! But Brian's parents' church (which is where he went to preschool and church growing up) let Noelle in! Everything fell into place perfectly!

Our wedding party was pretty big, but we both wanted to make sure that we included the people that were most important to us. That meant that Brian had two best men (how do you pick between your best buddies?), and I had a Man of Honor. You'll see it all here....

The absolutely adorable and (newly) 2 year old Colin served as our ring bearer. Here he is with Uncle Brian. I can believe how BLONDE his hair was back then (a whole almost three years ago)! This was his first wedding, but now he's a pro!
Here are the guys! From the left are my brother Marc, Pete (co-best man), T and Colin, Brian, Dave (co-best man), Ryan and my brother Matt. Dave was going through a growth period in his hair. He threatened to die it red and show up to my wedding looking like Ronald McDonald. Fortunately he didn't make good on that "promise."

Brian and his Best Dog Noelle! I loved her flower collar. We just got her a black collar to blend in with her coat and the florist put flowers on that matched the bridesmaid's flowers. She looked so precious!

Here she is after her big walk down the aisle! She had to give Brian a kiss before she took her place (next to the water bowl we set out for her).

This picture gives you a few good views. You see the flowers up the aisle, the flower display on the alter, the flowers on Noelle's collar, and you can see Noelle sitting in the aisle watching the ceremony. Okay, she was watching Brian. She was such a special part of the ceremony!

My flowers with our rings in them! I loved them!

Colin running up the aisle!

The whole wedding party!

Me and the girls (and guy)! Instead of having a Maid of Honor I had a Man of Honor - my little brother! Marc and I are only 11 months apart in age, so we're pretty close. It just seemed more appropriate to have him standing up holding my flowers, moving my dress, etc.! He even woke up early and picked me up from my hotel that morning (my parents' house was flooded with family, and I wanted to get some good sleep the night before). He didn't host a shower (my girls did that), but it was perfect! From the left is my friend Darcy who've I've known since high school, My sister Katie, Marc, Brian's sister Allison, and my friend Carolyn, who I went to high school with, worked at the Waterpark with, and who worked for Clinique for ages, so she did my make up! My little cousin Madison was the flower girl!

Next week is the reception! We had a great time, so there will be lots of good pictures!