Wedding Recap {The Ceremony}

First our parents came down the aisle. 

Then my mom and Jason's mom lit our candles, that we later used to light our Unity Candle. 

Then it was time for the wedding party to head down the aisle....

Our little sisters Kara and Ally, then Ryan and Courtney

Jeff and Christina then Seth and Natalie

And finally, it was my turn. That moment, standing outside the closed doors with my dad is one I'll never forget. My dad whispered...."Ready Kid?" 

When the doors opened and all of my family and friends were there, looking at me and standing, I couldn't help but say, "Holy Crap." Thankfully only people in the last few pews heard me. 

When we headed down the aisle I just locked eyes with Jason. I knew if I looked around and saw the faces of all my favorite people I would absolutely LOSE it.

One of my favorites:

Somehow we made it to the alter in one piece.

Then it was time for the ceremony to start. The whole thing was such a blur. I cannot wait to see our video because I really don't remember much of what was said.

We had readings from our friend Sharisse and J's step-mom Judye. It was really special because we asked each of them to choose their own readings. So we got to hear it for the first time during the ceremony. It was really cool and really meaningful. 

Then it was time to exchange our vows: 

When it came time to exchange rings, our Pastor dropped my ring as our Best Man, Colin, was handing it to him. It ended up being pretty hilarious and was a nice ice breaker....it's so serious up there and you're nervous and emotional so it was nice to have something unplanned to lighten the mood. I love this series of photos from when the ring was dropped. You can see Colin saying "It wasn't my fault!"

Once we were all regrouped we exchanged rings

And then they were blessed. 

Our Pastor was awesome and suggested we incorporate a tradition from my religion, Greek Orthodox. So we chose to do the "Common Cup." It's basically a chalice with wine and we each drink from it three times to signify that we are unified and indivisible and have equal share in the cup of life. 

Then we light our Unity Candle

Next our dear friends Bruce and Robyn sang on of my all time favorite songs, Falling Slowly. 

If you haven't seen our Wedding Trailer yet...watch this...the music is a live recording of Bruce & Robyn from the ceremony. 

Next was the marriage blessing.

And finally, it was time to seal the deal with the FIRST KISS! 

My favorite picture of me & Jason from our day: FINALLY Mr. and Mrs.

All photographs by Sara Jayne Photography

This Weekend...

Happy Monday party people! I am in a shockingly wonderful mood this morning despite the crazay allergies that have invaded my head and eyes and nose. 

This weekend was a busy one. 

Friday night husby and I stayed in, grilled steak kabobs and watched an insane amount of college basketball. It was bliss...for those of you who don't know, March Madness is like Christmas at our house. AND WHAT GREAT GAMES! Holy smokes, Lehigh beating Duke? Can't get better than that! 

Saturday, my sweet husband joined me at work to help me and my boss do some final assembly and set up for the Wedding Fair. It was so sweet of him to help us and in return I sober-cabbed his green ass around for St. Paddy's Day. 

We spent St. Paddy's downtown St. Paul with our friends. It was CRAY. They were estimating that there were 100,000 people downtown...and I don't doubt it. I had to wait 26 minutes to go to the bathroom! And while I was LOVING the 80 degree weather, I was not loving the crowd of drunks while I was stone-cold sober. Thankfully, my husband loves me {but more truthfully, loves basketball} so he was more than fine with bailing a little early to head to Champps to watch basketball.

Sunday, my boss and I were at the Wedding Fair. Since starting my new job in September I have been helping to create a stationery side to our business. We named it Paper Event and the plan is to specialize in wedding invitations. Speaking of, if you are on twitter or facebook pretty, pretty please follow or "like" Paper Event! 

Anyways, three times a year there is a HUGE Wedding Fair downtown Minneapolis and this was our first time with a booth. 

The fair went GREAT! It was a really long day but we got a ton of interest and had the opportunity to talk to A LOT of brides, a lot of which seemed super excited and interested to meet with us. I'm really proud of all the hard work we put in to the show and I am praying that we get business out of it to warrant all the long days. 

I hope you all had great weekends and enjoy your Monday. 

xoxox, 

Wedding Recap {The Church}

We got married at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church, an adorable, old and charming little church right on the Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis.

Shockingly, we were running right on schedule and arrived at the church at 1:00pm. 

We knocked out all of the Family Pictures first and then did more Bride and Groom Pictures.

One of my faves:

Another favorite:

And another favorite:

Then it was time to sign the marriage license! First the bride and groom:

Then the Best Man and Maid of Honor:

Then, it hit me, it was time to get married. People were sitting in the church, waiting for me to come down the aisle. I got extremely nervous. 

But, after some help from the Laugh Book and a pregame pep-talk from my Father-In-Law...

...I was ready to go get married! 

All photographs by Sara Jayne Photography

MPM & Olive Cheese Balls

We had another wonderful but busy weekend leaving me with no time to blog, I suppose I could have taken a two hour nap versus a three hour nap on Saturday creating some time but I had all the windows open and snuggly puggle next to me...so let's be real. 

Anyways, shockingly a lot of you mentioned my meal plans when I announced I was going private. I have to say it kind of shocked me because I didn't think anyone gave a rats ass. But since you seem to enjoy it and posting it helps me not only create the meal plan but stick to it...here's my plan for this week:

Mar. 12-Mar. 16	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
BREAKFAST	Cereal w/ Almond Milk, Veggie Sausage & OJ	Cereal w/ Almond Milk, Veggie Sausage & OJ	Cereal w/ Almond Milk, Veggie Sausage & OJ	Cereal w/ Almond Milk, Veggie Sausage & OJ	Cereal w/ Almond Milk, Veggie Sausage & OJ
LUNCH	Chicken Salad Pita	Chicken Salad Pita	Chicken Salad Pita	Creamy Tomato Soup & Cucumbers	Creamy Tomato Soup & Cucumbers
DINNER	Veggie Stir Fry	Dinner @ In-Laws	Steak Skewers w/ Roasted Chickpeas	Tacos	Leftovers
SNACKS	Almonds, Naked Juice, Cottage Cheese, Banana	Almonds, Naked Juice, Cottage Cheese, Banana	Almonds, Naked Juice, Cottage Cheese, Banana	Almonds, Naked Juice, Cottage Cheese, Banana	Almonds, Naked Juice, Cottage Cheese, Banana

Nothing super exciting and no new recipes. I'm sticking with old favorites this week in an attempt to not spend 80 hours cooking and not spend a fortune on groceries. Trying to tighten up the budget you see. 

Also, I've had this recipe saved as a draft for months and am FINALLY sharing it. My grandma has made these in the past but I'm not sure what made them pop in to my mind again. I made them for Christmas and New Year's Eve and they were a huge hit, not to mention super easy to make. Used this recipe found on bettycrocker.com.

INGREDIENTS: 

-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-1/4 cup butter, softened

-1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

-1 cup Bisquick

-1 jar pimento stuffed Green Olives

DIRECTIONS: 

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees

-Stir together cheese, butter and Worcestershire sauce.

-Stir in Bisquick and mix until dough forms

-Pat olives dry on paper towel

-Shape 1 tablespoon of dough around each olive:

-Place about 1 inch a part on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Saving this to Pinterest, if you're interested

Hope you all had a great weekend! 

PRIVATE!

Whoop! 

That was such a tough decision but I am so excited that this blog is private and back to being strictly about ME! 

It feels great! I can't wait to get back in to the swing of blogging after a very long hiatus! I have so much fun stuff to catch everyone up on! 

So, thanks for still wanting to read and I hope you'll continue to AND leave me some love down there in that pretty little comment area!