My Life: Beautiful Chaos: Mondays are for Memories

This week is part II of memories from my wedding day. If you missed part I, you can click here.

Last week I left you hanging. We had 3 days to plan our big day and not a clue where to start. The first thing we did was call our family and friends to let them know to clear their schedules for Saturday. Then we began making arrangements. We called around a couple of places to see if they had any availability and after a few calls and no leads, we decided on the back patio at our church . The guest list was short, immediate family and close friends, so this was the perfect setting. We also decided that instead of having a traditional reception that we'd go out to eat. Our first pick was O'hana at the Polynesian Resort at Disney, but they were booked. Our second choice, Boma at The Animal Kingdom Lodge was available, so we quickly booked a table for 25. I called an old friend's mom who is a florist and she was able to put together a couple of bouquets and boutonnieres for us. We bought an runner, rose petals, some Christmas lights to put in the trees, and a wedding ring and suit for Matt. Matt's Grandma gave me her wedding ring to use until we could find one that matched my engagement ring (since then we have not been able to find one we like better then the one she let us use and she has so graciously given it to me). I made a hair and nail appointment and bought a dress to wear to the dinner. Other than that we really had nothing else to do but wait for Saturday!

The Friday before all of our friends joined us for dinner at The Cheese Cake Factory and because our wedding was so small we didn't have a rehearsal. Matt and I hugged goodbye that night and didn't see each other again until I walked down the aisle.

Everything was perfect that day! My hair turned out right, the bouquets were beautiful, the weather was gorgeous, and the sky the perfect shade of pink as the sun set that evening. I wouldn't have changed a thing and never looked back at our original wedding plans. We had a blast at dinner with our friends and family and a beautiful couple of days together at Disney. We stayed at the Contemporary and spent the day at the parks. In April of 2006 we had a huge reception where we showed the video of our wedding and shared the story of why we pushed the wedding up. (I think some people still think we are hiding a child somewhere, we're not!) One year later we took at 7 day cruise on the Freedom of the Seas and had a blast!

It's hard to believe it was 5 years ago and here we are 3 houses and 2 kids later. While so much has changed in our day to day lives, so much is still the same. We love each other and are still as committed as we were the day we said "I do."

Here are some of the pictures from our big day. Sorry for the low resolution. I couldn't find the digital pictures and our scanner was taking FOREVER to scan them in a high resolution. These should do.