I woke up an hour before my alarm, at 6am, on January 17th, 2015. There were no anxieties or stresses on my mind, I just really wanted to get this incredible day started. I was about to take the best, and biggest, step of my life.
When we got engaged I had a lot of preconceived ideas of what I wanted our wedding to feel like. Thankfully, Skylar agreed with my ideas about the feel and personality of the wedding. Both of us are young and easy going, so I didn't want to be going crazy with wedding planning for the sake of putting on a show, I just wanted to enjoy family and fellowship. I wanted everyone at our wedding to see OUR personalities in the decorations and atmosphere. So I started to plan accordingly. I had roughly 5-1/2 months of planning along with full time work and moving. It was slightly hectic, which is why that morning was so wonderful. Everything was planned and out of my hands. My job was to smile, say my vows, and have a wonderful time with my husband, family and friends.
One of the things we decided to do was a first look at a separate location from the church on the day of the wedding. I really wanted Skylar to decide for himself which way he preferred, whether seeing me for the first time before the ceremony or in the orchards. I don't think either of us would change how we did this.
When we got engaged I had a lot of preconceived ideas of what I wanted our wedding to feel like. Thankfully, Skylar agreed with my ideas about the feel and personality of the wedding. Both of us are young and easy going, so I didn't want to be going crazy with wedding planning for the sake of putting on a show, I just wanted to enjoy family and fellowship. I wanted everyone at our wedding to see OUR personalities in the decorations and atmosphere. So I started to plan accordingly. I had roughly 5-1/2 months of planning along with full time work and moving. It was slightly hectic, which is why that morning was so wonderful. Everything was planned and out of my hands. My job was to smile, say my vows, and have a wonderful time with my husband, family and friends.
One of the things we decided to do was a first look at a separate location from the church on the day of the wedding. I really wanted Skylar to decide for himself which way he preferred, whether seeing me for the first time before the ceremony or in the orchards. I don't think either of us would change how we did this.
It would not be my wedding without a few silly faces thrown in.
We had the wonderful opportunity to get most of the posed photos done at a friend's orchard before the wedding. We couldn't have asked for better weather, or, for that matter, better photographers. I was so blessed to have my brother -in-law, Peter, along with his dad and sister, shoot our wedding.
This wedding would have been nothing without the incredible help and support of our families and wedding party. They were a huge part of the success of our wonderful day.
And then there's the little boys. This was the only picture we could get with all of them. Looking back we should have done the photos with them first. My little nephew was the littlest in the bunch at two years old. He is on my lap. This little guy wouldn't leave my side the day before. He held my hand and kept asking "Ma, hep?" which means "Auntie Mal, Help?". It was adorable. He so wanted to be apart of the work.
The little guys trying to run for it are the twins. If you're friends with me on Facebook on Instagram then you're probably familiar with these little guys. I have such a sweet friendship with them and when they heard that Skylar was taking me to FL they were less than pleased. I'll definitely miss these guys.
The little guys trying to run for it are the twins. If you're friends with me on Facebook on Instagram then you're probably familiar with these little guys. I have such a sweet friendship with them and when they heard that Skylar was taking me to FL they were less than pleased. I'll definitely miss these guys.
One of the things I really wanted to be apart of the wedding was details that showed our personalities. These are of a few of the things we came up with.
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."
I considered for a long time how I would remember dad on the day of the wedding. I wanted to have his memory on me some how, to know that he was still there, on our hearts. So, I tied a bag to my boots that had the last letter dad ever wrote to me along with the shell from his 21 gun solute.
The ring from my mom was the something old, my dress was new, socks were blue. I didn't really have anything borrowed.
I considered for a long time how I would remember dad on the day of the wedding. I wanted to have his memory on me some how, to know that he was still there, on our hearts. So, I tied a bag to my boots that had the last letter dad ever wrote to me along with the shell from his 21 gun solute.
The ring from my mom was the something old, my dress was new, socks were blue. I didn't really have anything borrowed.
The ceremony
Music choices -
Grandparent and parent processional - Comme une rosée de larmes, from the movie The Artist
Bridesmaid, flower girl, and sign bearer processional - Married Life, from the movie UP
Bride processional - Hoppipolla, Sigur Ros
Grandparent and parent processional - Comme une rosée de larmes, from the movie The Artist
Bridesmaid, flower girl, and sign bearer processional - Married Life, from the movie UP
Bride processional - Hoppipolla, Sigur Ros
Here's something else we decided to do differently. Instead of having my brother give me away we decided to have both sets of parents give Skylar and I, as a couple, a blessing. Because of my interesting family dynamics it was a hard decision to come up with a way that was involving my mom and step-dad and his parents along with the fact that my brother is really not in a position to give me away as he was not head of me. The only thing I would have changed about this, in retrospect, is having Nathan hand me to Skylar before the blessing.
Instead of separating the vows from the ring exchange we combined them. We also wrote our own vows without the other seeing them. We took advice from our parents on wording and kept everything a surprise from the other.
We signed a marriage covenant that we plan to hang on our wall soon. We both wanted this because we believe that the wedding ceremony is a religious ceremony sealing a covenant between the two of us and God and the state is not the one who defines whether or not we are married. We are married in the sight of God and have made a covenant with Him and each other.
The ceremony was kept short and sweet, just forty minutes, including the processional. It was perfect, no fuss or waste of time. We just wanted to be married.
The ceremony was kept short and sweet, just forty minutes, including the processional. It was perfect, no fuss or waste of time. We just wanted to be married.
And, of course, the much anticipated kiss photo. I think we've brought dipping back into fashion. I love all of the bridal party's expressions.
For all of you that may be interested, this was not our first kiss. Our first kiss happened on November 21st. I can answer more questions about that in a personal email if you feel so inclined.
For all of you that may be interested, this was not our first kiss. Our first kiss happened on November 21st. I can answer more questions about that in a personal email if you feel so inclined.
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Skylar Seargeant!!!
Almost as quickly as we exited the sanctuary we were surrounded by family and friends. There was so much joy it was contagious.
The reception
Before we get to the festivities of the reception I thought I would show you the decorations. I had so much fun creating the style and DIY projects. I tried my best to reuse, borrow, and re-purpose all of the decorations instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a bunch of decorations I, or anyone else, will never use again.
We borrowed a lot of things which was such a huge blessing. One of the things we did do was get burlap from a local coffee roaster instead of buying burlap in bulk, which can be expensive. Instead of spending $10 for a yard of decorative burlap, I bought the burlap from the coffee roaster for $1 a bag. We ripped the seams and ironed them out. The coolest part was all of the prints on the bags. I also asked people to give me any of their extra glass bottles (beer, wine, oil, ect,). I then painted them with yellow and green. I painted most of them myself, which was kind of a stress reliever. Then I wrapped twine around the middle and the necks of the bottles. We also took a few aluminum cans and punched holes in them to make candle holders. Aside from the bouquet flowers, everything else was borrowed. We did buy the metal letters, the white hanging puff balls and the Chinese lanterns.
We had seven layer dip in cups for the horderves and served Texas sheet cake for the dessert.
You'll notice at the front of the stage that there is a bench. This was another thing we did differently. Because we just provided horderves and cake we didn't see a need for a head table. So, for the speeches Skylar and I sat on the bench. Looking back now I would have provided more seating for everyone, otherwise I loved it!
My dear sister-in-law took photos with her iPhone and sent them to me. I forgot to get pictures before everyone went in on Saturday. Flip through the slide show to see all of the decoration photos.
We borrowed a lot of things which was such a huge blessing. One of the things we did do was get burlap from a local coffee roaster instead of buying burlap in bulk, which can be expensive. Instead of spending $10 for a yard of decorative burlap, I bought the burlap from the coffee roaster for $1 a bag. We ripped the seams and ironed them out. The coolest part was all of the prints on the bags. I also asked people to give me any of their extra glass bottles (beer, wine, oil, ect,). I then painted them with yellow and green. I painted most of them myself, which was kind of a stress reliever. Then I wrapped twine around the middle and the necks of the bottles. We also took a few aluminum cans and punched holes in them to make candle holders. Aside from the bouquet flowers, everything else was borrowed. We did buy the metal letters, the white hanging puff balls and the Chinese lanterns.
We had seven layer dip in cups for the horderves and served Texas sheet cake for the dessert.
You'll notice at the front of the stage that there is a bench. This was another thing we did differently. Because we just provided horderves and cake we didn't see a need for a head table. So, for the speeches Skylar and I sat on the bench. Looking back now I would have provided more seating for everyone, otherwise I loved it!
My dear sister-in-law took photos with her iPhone and sent them to me. I forgot to get pictures before everyone went in on Saturday. Flip through the slide show to see all of the decoration photos.
We initially had an idea to use a 4x4 pallet wood square for the guests to sign but the military thwarted that plan due to Nate having to fly instead of drive. So, Jon, Skylar's brother-in-law kindly drew this for us last minute.
Skylar's Paternal Grandfather gave a great speech that will always be remembered by us, and I'm sure the rest of the guests will remember it too.
I was blown away and blessed by all of the family and bridal party that shared memories and encouraged us with their speeches.
I was blown away and blessed by all of the family and bridal party that shared memories and encouraged us with their speeches.
Then we ate some cake and danced the night away
We were nice at first but then I decided that nice isn't quite as fun when you have cake that you can smear on your husband, In my defense, everyone loved it.
Our first dance was to Hunter Hayes' Still Fallin'. There were a couple of other songs that we thought of but this one won out in the end. It's just a perfect fit for us.
And then we made our exit, saying goodbye to great friends and wonderful family. The day was everything I hoped for and dreamed of. It was the perfect accumulation of our personalities and our families.
In other news...
In other news...
Just kidding ;)