Wedding Weekend!!

It all started over a year ago with me going with Cramer to buy a ring- hard to believe how fast time went and it was wedding time!

(Cramer was our neighbor in Slater for 8 years.. 3 years ago his mom was killed in a car accident and since then I have tried my best to help in her absence)

 

The weeks building up to this wedding have been filled with all kinds of things- from getting flower girl dresses, to calling vendors, to throwing showers, to endless meetings... it all came together!

 

Rebecca is from Chicago area. She met Cramer at Iowa State so that is where they decided to have the wedding... Here is how the weekend went!

 

Thursday:

After the girls were in bed, I went over to Slater to help with some final details. Earlier in the day Rebecca got a call that the DJ (who was to perform at the ceremony & reception) was not going to be able to come due to kidney stones. ( 3 weeks prior we found out the pastors health had taken a turn for the worst and he wouldn't be able to perform the ceremony!) Needless to say she was on stress overload! After a few phone calls everything got figured out- A new DJ was going to do it, the pastor had a friend to fill in for him, a refund was given, and all was well...  Bring on Friday!

 

Friday:

Today was rehearsal day! They decided to have the rehearsal dinner at Mark's house (Cramer's Dad). They put up a big tent out back, did a little landscaping, a friend made the food, and a band played for a few hours. We picked Reagan up from school and went to central campus at Iowa State for the rehearsal. IT WAS HOT!!! The girls loved running around, but I tried my best to stay in the shade. After we were done at ISU, we headed back to Slater for some dinner.

There was smoked sirloin, bacon wrapped asparagus, stuffed mushrooms, coleslaw, fruit salad, and some desserts. The food was good. It was a very relaxed (a bit unorganized) night. People enjoyed the music, played horseshoes, and visited. Rebecca had a lot of family from out of town so it was nice to get to just talk. The girls loved running around, but we knew Saturday was going to be a long day so we left about 8 to get them (and us)  to bed.

 

 

 Kamryn trying to stay cool at rehearsal!

 

Saturday:

Bring on the chaos!!! I wore many hats on the wedding day! Our day started at 9 with the girls getting their hair done at the salon. They LOVED it!! Reagan was so excited to have a "bump" in her hair like all the bridesmaid. Kamryn just liked all the M&M's she was getting to keep her happy!

After hair was done we didn't stick around too long.  We ran back home to pick up Jon and all of our stuff for the day. Then we dropped Jon & Kamryn off at my parents. Reagan and I headed to the hotel for some lunch with the bridesmaids (this was at 12). Reagan loved hanging out with all the girls. I took some pictures, made sure things were going smoothly with the reception room, checked in on the guys to make sure tuxes fit and they had all they needed. After lunch came the running around for 2 hours!! Rebecca and Cramer had pictures taken outside of the hotel starting at 1:30- then the wedding party hopped on the bus to go to campus with them at 2. IT WAS HOT!! I intended to leave the hotel at 1:30 to go put my feet up for a bit and get ready before having to be on campus at 3:15 for pictures. After working through all of the "kinks" at the hotel, with the help of Deb (another great family friend) I was out of there at 2:20!! Needless to say I didn't really have time to relax- Reagan and I got back to my parents (luckily they only live 5 minutes from hotel) and got ready in record time. Kamryn & Jon were already dressed. I threw my hair up, touched up a little make up, snapped a few pictures and were off. We made it to campus right on time...but girls were already tired. They did good taking some pictures- it sprinkled a little, but didn't help with the heat. After they were done with their portion we headed inside the Memorial Union to take a break. The girls ate some snack and watched a movie for a bit...Kamryn fought falling asleep the entire time. We rode the party bus to the other side of campus for a few more pictures before the wedding started. ( Jon and I were a little crabby by now as well)

 

 

The Ceremony: Started at 5pm

 

 

Because there is nothing close to central campus where the Campanile is, the girls waited in the back row with Jon to walk up the aisle. I was sitting in the second row waiting. The bridal procession took a while because they had walk a longs ways- and it was hot, did I mention that! When it was the girls turn Kamryn just took off, Reagan was close behind and they did great. They dropped their petals and then walked to Cramer. Kamryn just wanted to stand with him, but eventually they came and sat with me. Once the ceremony started Jon just stayed in the back row- which caused Kamryn to do some running back and forth. She was beyond tired by this point so we just let her go. 

The ceremony was beautiful. It was very nice and a bit emotional. During the Lords Prayer the sun broke through the clouds and I think the majority of people there felt the presence of Karen at that time. It is hard to describe, but a lot of tears started to fall.

Once the ceremony was over it was time to head to the reception!!

 

 

 

 

The reception:

Thankfully my parents and Jon's mom were at the wedding and reception to help with the girls. Once we got to the hotel I had a lot of things I had to check on and get done, so I wasn't able to keep an eye on the girls. Kamryn had not slept all day so she was wanting me a lot. After 45 minutes of running around, I sat in the lobby with Kamryn and Reagan's kindle to try and relax. I kept getting asked questions and needed other places so it didn't last long. Due to some unplanned extended family pictures, the dinner was served an hour later than planned. During that time the girls had fun running around and dancing on the dance floor. It wasn't long after dinner was served (at 8pm) that the day started to catch up to all of us. Kamryn was begging to go home, Reagan was not feeling well, and I didn't even touch my food as I was not feeling the best either. Thankfully the girls were staying at my parents so off they went (it was about 8:45pm). I went back and got Reagan some cake to take with her and both girls went without a fight. Jon and I went back into the reception where they were giving speeches, then the dance started. I attempted to sit with my feet up, but it didn't last long. I was in charge of a lot at the reception so if there was questions, everyone came to me. Everything was flowing well, the majority of my responsibilities were over so at 10:45 Jon and I left. I felt bad leaving, but the long day had caught up with me and I knew if I didn't just leave I would be worse off.  Jon and some friends had loaded our car full of wedding gifts and cards earlier in the night, I talked to the people I needed to talk to and pointed them in Deb's direction with any questions, kissed the bride and groom goodbye, and made it home to our bed by 11:10pm....





The end of the night--- girl did awesome all day!!

 

Sunday:

 

Jon and I went back to the hotel around 9:30 for brunch. We took the rest of what we needed to take and then we were off to pick up the girls. We got home around 12:15. I took all the gifts over to Mark's house, grabbed a few things at the grocery store in Slater, and came home for the day. Jon and Kamryn had just fallen asleep and Kamryn slept hard for 2 hours. We were all in bed early.

 

It was a busy weekend and a lot of work went into this weekend. Even though I had a lot of things to do, we were glad to be a part of it. We love Cramer and Rebecca!!!