We Went to the Chapel and We Got Married

Yesterday was a happy day for Luis and I because it was our two year wedding anniversary! As we talked about our two years as a married couple, we noticed how different each year has been for us. Our first year of marriage was so different from the second, and as we start in on a "new year," we already see how our lives continue to ebb and flow with time. It's a beautiful thing.

Last year I recapped our first year together, and this year I thought I'd share our wedding day with you! We were so happy and felt so blessed by everyone who attended our wedding and set aside time to spend the day with us. (This is a very photo-heavy post!)

I wanted to have an late afternoon wedding so that I could sleep in spend the day with my family and friends before the wedding craziness started. We had a stylist come to our house and do the hair of my bridal party and my mom as well as some of their makeup. A family friend of the family's offered to help and paint my bridesmaid's nails that day, too. It was so great! We played music and just hung out all morning while we all got ready.

This is me and my best friends trying to finish up my reception playlist... I do not recommend compiling your own music for your reception... It took forever.

Then we packed up and headed to the church to put on our dresses, do the finishing touches and take pictures.

My best friend got me this hanger with my soon-to-be-new last name. I was so glad to have gotten pictures of it, because it got lost that day. I was so sad! Also pictured: my engagement ring and the necklace I wore on that day.

I was SO happy with how the bouquets turned out for myself and my bridal party. The purple bouquet above was what my bridesmaids and maids of honor carried and the white bouquet below was mine. If you live in the Milwaukee/Chicago area, the florist I used was Nudi's Florists. 

Waiting to head to the ceremony site...

 

My parents and I decorated the sanctuary the day before. We were able to save a significant amount of money on final costs by using fake flowers for the ceremony site. Our reception center pieces were also done by the florist who took care of our bouquets, but it made sense to use fake flowers for the ceremony. I mean, you're in here for maybe 45 minutes at the most? It worked out well. 

My dad and I walking in! I walked down the aisle to this song from the movie "Somewhere in Time," which is the movie from which my parents got their inspiration to name me "Elise." So, it's kind of a special movie for me and my family! Also, I knew I was going to shed some major tears walking down the aisle, which is probably the only reason I wore a veil, haha.

Isn't this church beautiful?

Funny story. We had some issues with our rings! Whoever tied the rings to the pillow we used tied them really. freaking. tight. It took all the men to try to get it untied! It was a nice bit of comic relief in the ceremony. I was laughing so hard!

I love this picture of us. We walked out of the sanctuary, looked at each other and just had this moment of understanding where nothing needed to be said. It was amazing.

We took a bunch of pictures inside the church and then headed to Lake Michigan's beach, where our reception site was located, and took some more pictures with our group.

We had our reception at the Illinois Beach Resort in their beachside room. We got to see the moon rise out of the water as the evening progressed! It could not have been more perfect.

For dinner, we served a salad of spinach, anjou pears, heirloom tomatoes, walnuts, and basil balsamic vinaigrette. The main course was a choice of chicken Marsala, glazed salmon, and a vegetarian lasagna all served with roasted red potatoes and marinated grilled vegetable.

We made sure to cut the cake right after dinner so that guests could leave if they needed to. We chose to have a vanilla cake with Boston cream filling.

Speech time! My best friends and maids of honor, Kelsey and Alyssa, did an amazing job. They had the whole room dying of laughter! They also made me cry a little. Haha.

Then we had the mother/son and father/daughter dances. My dad and I danced to "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon.

Luis and I had our first dance be to the song "Everything" by Michael Buble. Another first song runner-up: Griffin House's "Better than Love."

We asked my brother to DJ our reception and he did an amazing job! He was great at keeping people on the dance floor.

As part of our wedding package, Luis and I were able to stay in one of the suites at the resort that night so that we could leave the next morning for our honeymoon to Galena, IL. The room was beautiful and they had fresh fruit and champagne waiting for us when we got there! Luis and I didn't really eat much during the wedding day because of all of the craziness, so we ended up making a 2 a.m McDonalds run. We brought it back to the resort and stuffed our faces on the deck and listened to the waves crash along the shore. It was perfect.

As we drove to our honeymoon destination, we felt so full of love. Not only for each other, but for everyone involved in the planning and everyone who came to celebrate with us. Our wedding is something we look back on with joy and happiness!