“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31

September sixteenth, two-thousand and seventeen. The day our lives were joined together to become one.

Ever since we got engaged, our “theme verse” has been Ephesians 5:31. This verse was central on our wedding day… and it’s become real in the past few weeks as we’ve begun the life-long process of becoming “one flesh”.

There were several things that we wanted for our wedding day… we wanted the ceremony to be one that would glorify God and unite us as one. The Word of God, modesty, and God-honoring music were also very important to us. There was a lot of planning and preparation that went into the day… but it was so worth it.

Our wedding day was one long, fast, busy, wonderful day. In spite of the busyness I am incredibly thankful that I can remember just about every single moment of the day. I was worried that things would go by in such a blur that I wouldn’t be able to remember a thing. The day before my wedding, my Pastor’s wife reminded me that my planning was over… I could forget the details of the day and leave things in the hands of my coordinator. I am so thankful for that little reminder, because I felt like I was able to do just that. ♥

(All photos were taken by my photographer Tracy Lagaza)

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Our wedding day started early… I remember driving to the salon as the sun was shining through the morning fog. It was a beautiful sight. Because of scheduling reasons at the salon, my maid of honor was going to go get her hair done first, and the rest of us would join her later. But at the last minute, we decided switch times to insure my hair was done and we were not running behind. In hind sight it was the perfect decision… it kept us on track for the rest of the day.

My photographer arrived just as my hair was finished and I was ready for a snack. 🙂

It was nice to sit and relax a bit while my bridesmaids finished getting their hair done.  We all had fairly simple half-up, half-down hairstyles, but out of the five of us, only one had short hair – so it was a time consuming ordeal. 🙂

Right before we left, my stylist did some last minute touch ups with the curling iron. I  never thought my hair would take so much work to keep it curled! My stylist was great though – I’ve been going to her for trims for a couple of years now, so I felt confident that she would do a great job!

My maid of honor provided lots of coffee for everyone! What a gem ♥

Adam and I planned a “first look” to be at 11:15 am which meant I only had about 40 minutes to finish getting ready once we left the salon and arrived at the church. During this time, the groomsmen arrived dressed and ready, the flowers were delivered, our videographers and photographer were busy, our parents were bustling about getting ready… it was a busy time but not at all stressful… for which I am so thankful.

We girls finished getting ready in the upstairs classroom at our church. It was the perfect spot with lots of windows and lovely natural light to do our makeup and finish getting ready.

Just about ready…

Our first look was going to take place in the little wooded section next to our church building. I loved this spot, however, we were concerned that the ground wouldn’t be dry enough… I didn’t want to risk staining my dress before the ceremony! Thankfully the sun was shining bright enough to dry the ground in time. I was only about 10 minutes late to our first look.

Here is my handsome groom waiting for me…

Our first look was such a sweet and joyous time for us!

We took advantage of the first look and the time before the ceremony to get lots of photos. We got a bunch of shots of the two of us, and almost all of our bridal party photos pre-ceremony. This saved us sooo much time and was a lot of fun too!

Here are the handsome groomsmen… Adam’s brother was the best man, my two brothers, and a mutual friend were the groomsmen. They were such a fun bunch and kept us in stitches during our rehearsal dinner the night before! 🙂

My lovely bridesmaids. They were all such a huge blessing to me the day of our wedding… and so much fun. Love these girls ♥

Adam and I were so thankful that ALL of our siblings could be in the wedding! It made are day even more special since each of our siblings were right there with us.

Our wonderful parents…

We had a 1:30 wedding ceremony, so after pictures we… got even more pictures, 🙂  played piano, had a snack together, prayed together, and nervously waited for the ceremony to begin! It was so nice not to be rushed!

Our ceremony did begin a few minutes late. There was such a long line out the door, that we had to push our start time just a few minutes back to get everyone into the auditorium.

There’s my little bud 🙂

My groom sang to me at the beginning of our ceremony. What a tear-jerking moment for so many reasons. Thankfully, I managed not to cry but it was one of the sweetest and best moments of the entire ceremony!

Our very first kiss ever ♥

Finally Mr. and Mrs!

Immediately after the ceremony Adam and I took a few moments to catch a breather. As soon as we came back there were hugs, and photos, and lots of congratulations. What happy moments. ♥

After greeting and dismissing all of our guests, we got family photos with grandparents and close family members. Because we got so many photos done pre-ceremony, we were able to leave for the reception site in plenty of time…

The reception site was at a local banquet facility, and had been decorated the day before by my maid of honor, her mom, my mom, and myself. The place looked lovely… lots of twinkly lights, candles, and glittery gold everywhere!

The cake was delicious!

Finally after the reception was over, our videographers, our photographer, Adam and I, headed off to a nearby park for sunset pictures.

This was one of the best parts of the day… we knew all the pressures of the day were over… and we were finally husband and wife. Some of the shots we got that evening are our favorites from the whole day.

Oh how I love this man  ♥

Looking back, our wedding day was just about perfect. There are only minor things that we would change. We are thanking the Lord for all that took place that day… to Him be all the glory and praise.

Now we are well into our third week of marriage. Being married to your best friend truly is the best thing ever. We went on a week long honeymoon, came home for a few days then went on another wonderful trip mid week. Now we are back home busy settling into our new house, new town, and new roles as a married couple.  In spite of moving to a new town, adjusting to a new church and new everything… we are doing well and we are incredibly happy. ♥

“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31

There May Be More….

We have a wedding highlight video we are waiting for yet. But I would love to know… Is that something you all would like to see here on the blog? Let me know in the comments!

It’s so good to be back!