Wedding Recaps

This summer has been full of weddings for us...and when I say full...I really only mean two. But those two were weddings of some VIP's in our lives so they made this wedding season feel a little extra "full".

April is now not only my Birth Month (aka: a national holiday in this household) but now includes the wedding anniversary of one of my closest friends. Stacy and Steven got hitched the weekend after my B-day (April 14th) in Raleigh. Let me start by saying it was an honor and a privilege to get to stand with my bestie on her big day as a b-maid and I can't wait to watch their lives unfold together as husband and wife. Although I attended this wedding sans David, my trip to Raleigh was still a super special one. There's something about spending the few days leading up to your best friends big day with your fav girls that pulls at the heart strings just a little bit! Getting to see all the details (esp. the ones I got to help with a little here and there along the way) come together for her was probably one of my fav parts. There's also something about standing with a best friend and watching the love of her life pledge his love and devotion to her that's also super special and is a moment I will hold near and dear to my heart forever.
By the end of the night there were def a few happy tears shed for my bestie. I must say bmaid duties are tough....it's almost like giving away your best friend to the man of her dreams....something that should be so easy...but still deserving of a few heartfelt tears. I love these girls with all my heart...married or not we'll be besties forever!!!



The second wedding this year was last weekend in Orlando. I should probably preface this whole paragraph (however long it might get) with how much we were both looking forward to this trip. David's brother Eric and his ever so faithful and patient bride Kim had been dating for 10 YEARS!!!!  I'm not sure if ya'll know this or not...but 10 years is like a whole entire decade of dating. For that reason (and many others of course) I could not think of two more deserving people in this world to FINALLY tie the knot. As a joke David and I say we're on the "Kim and Eric plan" --- and I'm sure they get a lot of jokes about waiting forever to finally take the plunge...but their wedding proved....good things do come to those who wait.Their wedding week extravaganza was beyond perfect. If I said it was the wedding of the decade....I would not be lying.  
I should also start by saying how much I LOVE David's family. (All 765843967894357 of them...ok just 10 but still sometimes it feels gigantic) All of his siblings...from the oldest to the youngest and everyone in between....brothers and sisters alike will go out of their way to make every moment of every occasion the best...and this wedding was no exception. Although it took 2 days for everyone to finally arrive (with a fam of 10 siblings + kids + spouses/significant others....that's pretty darn good)....it was non stop love, laughs, and amazing times. 
While majority of down time was spent at the pool...there were a few days with specific plans. Friday the brothers and other groomsmen/friends played golf while some of us had a Disney day.

I had made dresses for the girls...and they were absolutely adorable in them!! We all got split up once in the park but I would have LOVED to experience the Magic Kingdom through the eyes of a little princess!! Turns out everyone had an awesome awesome day!







After Disney was the Rehearsal Dinner...aka another fabulous night with the Domis fam. Kim decorated their neighborhood club house esp. for Eric (in all Clemson orange and poker theme...his two fav things) and it was awesome.

This photo quality kinda sucks but who knows when the next time all siblings (+ their significant others) will ever be in the same place at the same time and in the same picture no less....so sometimes you just gotta take what you can get!

There was a "southern style" dinner and their friends and fam took the time to get up and say a few heart felt words of congrats to the happy couple. It was awesome to hear stories and to hear all the love in the room for two people was pretty awesome as well. It reaffirmed my suspicions that the Domis fam is a wonderful one to marry into and this may be in bad form to say....but since everyone else was already saying it anyway....I can't wait till its our turn! ;)

After tons of fam time the big day finally arrived and the Domis family gained another!! I cried 3 times in the ceremony...first seeing the look on Eric's face when he first saw his bride (the church was very open so there was really no hiding her)...when they both got choked up during their vows (it was amazing the love that was between those two in that blessed place...amazing)...and when they were presented to their friends and fam as Mr. and Mrs. and her dad was crying (I'm pretty sure I would have carried my dad back down the isle with us if I saw him in tears...but it was such a sweet moment). So lots of things were official...me being a crier at weddings was one of them.

After the ceremony the party got started in the most massive of hotels I have ever seen in my life. The Gaylord Palms was a resort and convention center and I kid you not...there was everything from a ship (that was a restaurant) in that hotel...to alligators....to a water park (ok it was just like 3 huge water slides and 2 pools...but that might as well be a water park). Cocktail hour was in a castle like "fortress" for cryin out loud! It was amazing...and their homemade Sangria was pretty good too! ;) After cocktails we hiked the 3.5 miles (not really but it was a pretty far haul across the massive hotel) to the reception ballroom...which was HUGE and so beautifully decorated.
After the bride and groom were introduced they wasted no time...they danced a very short first dance...thanked everyone for coming and immediately told everyone that the party started NOW....and from that point on....people were either on the dance floor or at the bar....oh yea and they probably hit up the 758643968493 food stations in between. Their reception was anything but traditional....and it was everything that was "them". And I think that made it AWESOME.

The food was amazing (I had fish tacos)  the drinks were amazing, the cake was DELISH, the photo booth was hilarious, the music was spot on, even the bathrooms had sursy's for the guests. Kim seriously thought of anything and everything and wrapped it all up in one sweet sweet package of a wedding.  I don't think anyone could have had a horrible time if they TRIED!!!! And I'm pretty sure that is one of the perks of waiting a lifetime to marry the perfect man for you....you get a wedding full of love....from all of your friends (who they both acquired together along the way), to your families who know that you are the perfect couple...perfect for each other in every way...with 10 years of a life together to prove it!
So while "the Kim and Eric plan" may include a lifetime of waiting for that bling....their wedding proves that it is definitely worth the wait...for so many reasons.

I don't know how many times "your next" was said to us over the course of our trip (or how much its said to us in our everyday lives in general)....but if we can end up as happy as all of the married Domis' then I don't care how long it takes to be next....I would be happy waiting a lifetime. Returning to Iowa was bitter sweet....the bitter part being that we had to leave sunny Florida and return to Iowa...the sweet part being we got to return a little happier couple than we may have left. That's the thing about seeing those you love declare their love for each other on such special occasions...it sparks something in you that may have sort of flickered in the crazy business of life. It makes you realize that the love a couple shares with each other is something to be treasured....something to be polished up and set out there for the world to see....a wonderful example that in a harsh reality...true love wins and real couples who are in it for better or for worse....really do get their happily ever after.

A heart full of joy when I say congrats to the Cash's and the Domis'....two very deserving couples....may their marriages be blessed with a lifetime of happiness....and may they have many years of marriage advice to offer David and I when we cash in our Kim and Eric plan.