the ceremony - processional

Ok! We are making progress :) Ryan has finished writing his thank you notes and he just needs two stamps and they'll be off in the mail! Together, we've blogged all the way up to the actual ceremony. So here goes...the biggest moment of our lives!

At this point, Ryan was waiting up front with Dr. Jon. I was waiting in a room off the front foyer with my bridesmaids. I was nervous & quiet, if only because I was trying to remember my vows.

First - the lighting of the unity candle by our parents:



Seating of my aunt Debbie (our reader), grandmother (Ryan's - MeMe), and mothers
Music: Great is Thy Faithfulness


I love this photo of Ryan's mom. You can tell how proud she is of him and what an emotional, momentous time this is!

I love this photo of my Uncle Bub escorting my Mom. His tie just radiates awesomeness! Mom looks like she's having a grand ol' time too :)


And then the groomsmen & bridesmaids. Some are more photogenic than others :)
Music: Sheep May Safely Graze, Bach





I love this picture of our siblings. You can tell they're both beaming at Ryan and excited for what he's about to see.

And the littlest members of our wedding party, the adorable Sands girls, Emily & Catherine, and Jaden.

girl time

While Ryan had a good time cutting up with the guys, we girls had fun being sweet...
L to R - Ashley (friends since 2nd grade, went to GT & pledged same sorority), Beckie (friends since kindergarten), Lauren (friend & co-worker), Holly (my sister & best friend), Meg (sorority sister), Lindsay (college friend & roommate)

And a little sassy :) Think Beckie wins for most sass here:


A long, long time ago I posted about gifts. Well, now you can see what I got the bridesmaids! A former co-worker of mine, Jen, makes jewelry (yes please studio) and she agreed to custom make pearl necklaces. I wanted something classic, and I love pearls. So pearl necklaces seemed obvious. But I didn't want to have just pearl necklaces. So Jen came up with the perfect idea of a pearl flower on a silver piece. She also made earrings to go with them. They turned out so cute and I was sad that I didn't order a set for myself!


While on the subject of girly things, I really loved how our flowers turned out. Ladybugs did our wedding party flowers and they could not have done a better job. Very reasonable pricing for the quality and beauty that we received, plus great, friendly service. Being located right around the corner from my parents' home was also really nice & convenient :) If you couldn't tell by our old website and our save the date cards, my favorite flower is the stargazer lily.

I also love daisies, and these complemented the pink in my lilies so perfectly:

8/29/09 - going to the chapel

So then we made our way to the church and our room for final preparations.

Something borrowed, old & blue!

This ring belonged to my grandma (I affectionately called her Nana). When she passed away, my mom got most of her jewelry, and this ring was one of her favorites. So my mom let me borrow it :) I was so happy to have something of Nana's to carry down the aisle, I know she would have loved to be there in person. I was very, very close to her!

Ryan's mom gave me a beautiful handkerchief with my new initials. I wrapped it around my bouquet and carried it down the aisle as well! She wrote me a beautiful note that made me tear up and want to cry. I'm so blessed to be a part of the Duckworth family!


And the preparations are completed with something new...my dress!


I only had to use the bathroom once that day, thank goodness! It was a beast to get on & off and the bride's bathroom was the size of a refrigerator. Not easy to get in & out of even without a big dress on. Thank you Holly & Ashley for helping me out :) True friends!


Next post...the reveal!!

8/29/09 - back to the marriott

So after we finished getting our hair done at the salon, we headed back to the Marriott to get dressed. My wonderful sister-family/hostesses - Raegan, Michelle, and Tashi - brought mini bottles of champagne with cute straws! It was a great time to just chill and relax before heading over to the church!






Dress packed up & heading out the door!

8/29/09

Happy 2010!

Now let's finish blogging about our wedding day :) Slowly but surely!

After the rehearsal dinner, we went out with our wedding party to one of our favorite places, the Bee's Knees. I took it easy because of the flu, and we girls headed back for a little slumber party fun at the Marriott. I'm not sure what the boys did, but I think they probably had a lot of fun at their golf cottage.

Then the morning of our BIG DAY arrived! I was up early with Holly and went back to my parents' house to put finishing touches on stuff.




Then we headed to Halo to get our hair & make-up done/bridesmaid luncheon. I have some funny pictures of my bridesmaids that I'm sure they do not want published to the world :) But I have a picture of me getting airbrushed and pictures of family & friends who came out to hang out with us.

weekend recap

Did I "survive" my first dress fitting? Well yes I did :) Thankfully, it still fits. The biggest alteration will be shortening the dress, since it is about 2 feet too long on me. It was really fun, and I wish I could show you pictures, but then that would just ruin everything now wouldn't it? My mom, sister, and my mom's friend Phyllis came with me. I love Phyllis because she knows how to sew, and we tried to figure out how they made the veil I really want. It's almost $300!! But I haven't been able to find a veil like it anywhere else. I'll keep looking though.

Here's a picture I can show you though...Holly in her Maid of Honor dress! I don't think it's bad luck to share these. She is getting a different dress from the bridesmaids, because she's that special :) It's wrinkled from shipping, but you get the idea. I just love the back!

On an earlier trip, she modeled the bridesmaids' dresses. I love these so much, especially the cap sleeves!


After the dress fitting, I went home and found that a wedding present had been shipped to the house. I honestly hadn't been expecting anything, and was quite curious as to what it could be & who it was from. Well, surprise of surprises, it was from one of the voiceover talents I work with occasionally out in LA. I have never actually "met" him - we only talk over the phone when we have promos to record. But he totally surprised me and sent a wedding gift - 8 placemats and 8 napkins from Macy's. He totally made my day!


Also after the dress fitting, Holly & I spent many hours addressing invitations. My dad did his calligraphy on all the inner envelopes, but he ended up not being able to address all the outer envelopes. So, he gave Holly & I a little crash course on calligraphy and we tried our hardest to address the envelopes as beautifully as he would have. I forgot to take pictures of Dad's calligraphy, but here are some older photos from a weekend where we assembled everything. The invitations were kind of a pain to put together, but Holly was a pro and caught on quickly!




I got back to Atlanta on Sunday and did a little shopping. I found some great summer dresses at Old Navy! I think the yellow one will be good for the shower this weekend, and the pink one for my Atlanta shower & bachelorette in early August. The pink one is my favorite shade of pink, one of our wedding colors :)

I also stopped by Nine West, my favorite shoe store, and got these for the wedding day. I'm a flip flop kind of girl and can't imagine wearing anything else on my wedding day, hehe. Plus, they were on sale! Can't beat that.