Kelsey and Brandon's Wedding (Part 2)

I'm back with more details and pictures from Kelsey's wedding. I managed to get quite a few pictures throughout the day, even though I mostly tried to stay out of the way of her pro photographers. However, there were a few moments where I couldn't resist and I wanted to have my own pics!

We started off the day getting ready with all of the girls at the Marriott downtown.  We had a pretty relaxing morning with barely any problems, everyone was excited and still couldn't believe the day had finally come!

Getting ready

hair touch ups

Gorgeous flowers!

Kelsey with her new monogram

Almost everyone got their hair and makeup done throughout the morning and then we put our dresses on a little later.  Kelsey got her makeup and hair done last, then she was ready to put on her gown. :)

Sarah with one of the bridesmaids' bouquets

Getting the MOB ready

Putting on the dress!

Tying her sash

so pretty!

pretty blush bow

Finishing touches

ready to go!!

Me in the bridesmaids dress

Kelsey and Brandon decided to do a first look, so we went there at 3 for them to meet and get some pictures together. Then, we took bridal party pictures before heading to the church for the ceremony.  Kelsey finally got to open her card from Brandon there.

Waiting for the car to leave

Reading Brandon's card

At the ceremony, I gave Kevin my camera and he got a few shots.

Ceremony

Seating of the mother of the groom

Seating the mother of the bride

Sarah walking down the aisle

Kelsey walking down the aisle on her way to Brandon

We took formal pictures after the ceremony and then everyone headed to the cocktail hour and reception at The State Club.

Pictures with Brandon's family

Pictures with Kelsey's family

Moss covered Ms on The State Club entrance

the foyer

Mini coke bottles

the wedding cake! 

Cocktail hour

The main reception was in a tent on the patio. Everything looked so great, even though it was pretty hot ;)

Sweetheart table 

Brandon's Bourbon Bar

Centerpieces

Pretty tables

The new Mr. and Mrs.

First Dance!

 

Dancing :)

the tent

Kevin and I at the reception

the reception

Listening to the maid of honor's speech

Kelsey and Brandon had their getaway to NCSU pom poms and it was a great ending to a wonderful night!

Making their getaway!

Bye!

Just Married! Congratulations!! 

Congratulations Kelsey and Brandon!!

Wow, what a weekend! (Part 1)

We survived!! I can't believe it's already come and gone... Kelsey and Brandon's wedding weekend was a whirlwind, but it was so much fun and everything was beautiful! Yes, both Friday and Saturday the actual high temperatures were 105, tying the all-time record for Raleigh, but we made the best of it!

I know Kelsey will want to do lots of recap posts of all of the details that she worked so hard on!  But, I will give you a glimpse into all of the pictures that I took over the course of the weekend. Plus, I can't wait to see the pictures from her professional photographer!!

Friday we had the bridal luncheon at Caffe Luna in downtown Raleigh, hosted by her aunts. It was a really fun time and a great chance to relax and catch up with everyone before the business of the weekend really set it.  Kelsey also gave us our bridal party gifts, which were pretty earrings from J. Crew and monogrammed tervis tumblers.

Everyone at the luncheon

Kelsey with 5/6 of her bridesmaids

Me and the bride! 

Friday evening was the rehearsal at their church and then the rehearsal dinner at 18 Seaboard.

Rehearsing the ceremony

Rehearsal

Almost married ;)

Rehearsal dinner

Brandon's Groom's Cake

Me and Kevin at the rehearsal dinner

Pretty hydrangea and mercury glass decorations

Cutting the Groom's Cake

It was a wonderful day and night, we were all so excited about the upcoming day! I'll be back tomorrow with more and pictures from the wedding!

BIG weekend ahead!!

The upcoming weekend is huge! I'm so excited about everything that is coming up.  Kelsey's wedding festivities start tomorrow morning and her wedding is on Saturday.  But, at the same time, we're getting a truck load of grass delivered on Friday!

Me and Kelsey at her bridal shower

I can't believe this weekend is finally here for Kelsey and Brandon.  Tonight I'm picking up my bridesmaid dress from the tailor. Friday we have the bridal luncheon at Caffe Luna, which will be delish, I love that place.  Then, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at 18 Seaboard are later Friday night! Saturday we will start getting ready pretty early and I'm super excited to spend the day with Kelsey, her family and the rest of the bridesmaids. Her reception is at The State Club, where we had our reception, so I know it will be an amazing event. I can't wait to see all of the details that she's been working on! Sweet Memories is even doing the cake... yum, can't wait!!

We were originally going to also getting 9 pallets of Emerald Zoysiagrass sod delivered tomorrow. But now we're pushing it back a little to early next week. We've got the yard all prepped and we're ready to put down the grass.  It was seriously a ton of work to get it to where we are now, but so worth it.  They say that getting your grass to thrive after installation is all about the prep and we really have taken that to heart.

Our current yard, ready for sod!

That's a picture of what it looks like right now. It looks kind of rough, but I know it will be a good base for the sod. Let's just hope the weather doesn't burn it all up. We're planning to go crazy watering it to get it through the hot days ahead. I think it will be fine, it will just take a lot of effort to get it to take root. I can't wait to post pictures of the lush green grass!

Emerald Zoysia grass we're getting 

Speaking of weather, I can't believe how insane it is that all of these things are just happening to land on a temperature record breaking weekend. If we install the grass on Tuesday or Wednesday, I think the heat will be mostly over, so the grass should live! Let's hope we stay cool at the wedding though!

I'll be back next week with a recap of the wedding, lots of pictures hopefully, and pictures of our yard! :)

I'm still here!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while! Things have been really busy at work and home recently, I just haven't had as much time to blog. So, I figured I'd do a quick post to update you on what we've been up to recently.

Two weekends ago I went on my friend Kelsey's bachelorette party weekend in Wilmington. It was a ton of fun and really great to get away and relax.

Last weekend, Kevin and I went to the beach since he didn't get to go the weekend before. ;) We were also celebrating the craziness at his work finally being over... so happy to be back to normal schedules!

Next Monday is my birthday, but I will be spending it in Salt Lake City for a conference for work.  So, we're going out this Friday to celebrate with my friends. I'm super excited and we're going to try a new restaurant in Raleigh, ORO.  It's tapas style, which should be interesting and hopefully that means we will get to try a lot of different dishes. 

Saturday, we are taking a big step and tilling up our yard in preparation for new sod! We have already started killing the grass and weed mixture that was there... which should make the process much easier and stop the weeds from coming back.  I will make a separate post detailing the process and before and after pictures. I can't wait to get our new grass, I think it will really help improve our curb appeal! Here's a picture of our grass right now, can't wait for it to be gone ;)