9.18.10

It has already been 2 months since I became Mrs. Dunn! We got our wedding photos in the mail this week so now I can finally post about our amazing wedding day and have pictures to go along with it! 

We chose our wedding date of September 18th because this is the date we celebrate every year as our "anniversary".  We don't exactly know when we became "boyfriend/girlfriend", so we use the 18th as our date since it was our first kiss!  When Matt proposed last November, I knew we had to make it work to have our wedding on 9/18.  It even fell on a Saturday in 2010 so it couldn't have been more perfect.  On our wedding day, we had been together for 6 years! High school sweethearts through and through :).

Engaged 11/20 at Monument Circle

If you know me at all, you know my phone is my life.  Well, not my life and I guess not just my phone...my calendar in my phone.  I use it for everything and I would feel so lost without it.  Here is what it said that day...

Our wedding and reception were outside under tents at Riehle Plaza in downtown Lafayette.  It was absolutely perfect.  It was so cool to see the plaza transformed into our wedding venue.

The day started at the salon with my girls where we got our hair done. My cousin brought us some McDonald's egg mcmuffins and mimosas...quite the combo :). I also went to Merle Norman to get my makeup done. I am not the best at doing my makeup so I thought I'd let a professional take care of it on my wedding day.

 Here are a few shots of the details...

My awesome dress

There was actually a flower that looked very similar to this that was on the top left of my dress.  We ended up taking it off the dress, making it into a hairpiece, and that is what I wore in my hair!

Only fitting to have a CityBus in a picture...we did have our wedding at the train/bus depot  :)

GO COLTS!

LOVED my shoes and flowers! I love green :)

The beautiful rings

I had some bridal shots taken before the wedding and my handsome groom did as well :).

I love how my flowers pop against the white of the dress and veil :)

My favorite! He is just so handsome :)

Matt and I decided to do a "first look", which means that we saw each other before the ceremony.  It was just the two of us (and the incognito photographers) alone; no one was able to see us together, and it was so amazing. I know a lot of people don't like the idea of seeing each other before because it makes walking down the aisle "not as special" or it's "superstitious", (and I thought this way too at first), but it was actually the best thing we chose to do.  I felt like we had that half hour before to just relax and spend some one-on-one time together before the craziness of the wedding.  We also got to take our time for our pictures and didn't have to hurry to make it to the reception.  I still got butterflies and got emotional walking down the aisle to my husband, and Matt says he still felt that rush of me walking down the aisle. I felt that seeing each other before made it that much more exciting to walk down the aisle, and much less nerve-wrecking.  I am SO SO SO happy we chose to do this and I would recommend it to anyone who is considering it!

Walking out of the elevator with Matt having his back turned

:)

This was so cool :)

Here are just a few of my favorites of the two of us...

My beautiful bridesmaids

And the handsome groomsmen

The whole party

Our ceremony was beautiful.  It was short, sweet, and to the point.  We actually got a lot of compliments on the ceremony itself.  Maybe I should take up a living in writing wedding ceremonies...nursing as a side job. We had a sand ceremony instead of a unity candle and I used sand from Lake Michigan's beach where I grew up.  All the sand on the tables with the table numbers were Lake Michigan sand as well.  I still vividly remember our ceremony ( I know its only been 2 months, but everyone told me it would be a blur and I wouldn't remember) and I loved every second of it.

 I love how Matt and I didn't take our eyes off one another the entire time; I love how my dad whispered to me as I wiped my eye not to cry because it would make him cry and there were too many people watching :) ; I love how our niece and nephew were so adorable walking down the aisle and behaved so well standing through the whole ceremony; I love how our moms went up to our sand and put their own in together; I love how I could see tears in my bridesmaids eyes and I loved their huge hugs after the ceremony was over; I loved seeing the smiles on all the groomsmen's' faces and their cheers afterwards; and I love that all of our closest friends and family were right there to celebrate the day with us.

After the ceremony, it started to sprinkle rain.  It rained for about 10 minutes while the bridal party waited under an awning to go take our pictures.  The bar was the only thing not under a tent and from where we were standing I could see the bartenders still serving through the rain, no umbrellas, and their white shirts getting soaking wet.  What troopers! After the rain was done, a double rainbow popped up.  How perfect! Kind of like someone was saying "thanks for tolerating that little bit of rain on your wedding day...now here's a little token of my appreciation-a rainbow!"

Here is our yummy and pretty cake...

Loved our red velvet cake!

He looks so mischievous here, but he behaved himself with the cake :)

Our reception was a blast! I was worried I'd be too busy talking to dance at my own wedding, but it ended up being a perfect balance.  I was able to talk to just about everyone, plus dance my heart out to Lady Gaga and sing my lungs out to Piano Man with everyone else out on the dance floor.  That was definitely the best night of my life and we are so glad we were able to share it with the people we love :)