The Big Fake Wedding Virginia Beach

Above image by Melody Gillikin Photography

A couple of months ago I was able to participate in and attend The Big Fake Wedding in Virginia Beach! If you aren't familiar with The Big Fake Wedding, it is a really fun alternative to a bridal show. There's a vow renewal ceremony and reception, so brides- and grooms-to-be can experience wedding vendors--from the florists to the caterers to the bands--in action! My sister Lauren and her husband were the bride and groom for the The Big Fake Wedding Virginia Beach, and my other sister and I got to be the bridesmaids! Two of my sister's daughters were her flower girls, my mom was the mother-of-the-bride, my dad was the officiant: we made it a bit of a family affair, and it was SO much fun. 

We had an absolute blast interacting with all of the vendors that day. We spent several hours with the makeup and hair vendors getting ready before the dress and jewelry vendors got us dressed and bejeweled. We had several photo sessions with the photographers before the ceremony and reception started. Each vendor was wonderful to be with, and they made the entire event so perfect! The ceremony was sweet, my brother-in-law's vows made me cry (they've been married for 10 years and hearing their vows to each other after all that the Lord has brought them through was pretty moving), and there was a surprise proposal at the end of the ceremony! The reception was beautifully decorated, all of the food was delicious, the photo booth was a blast, and the band and DJ did a great job getting everyone onto the dance floor. All in all it was a great event, and if you're engaged or planning on getting engaged soon, you must attend The Big Fake Wedding in your city! Check here to find the list of cities The Big Fake Wedding will be coming to next.

And, I've included some of my favorite photos from the event after the jump, if you'd like to see!

Wedding Pics!

My sister-in-law's wedding pictures are up on the photographer's blog, and they are so good!  You can see part one here and part two here!  Here is a sneak peek, but go check them out for yourself and leave them some love :)

(images by colling photography)

Emily & Dave's Wedding Weekend

Last weekend Caleb's sister Emily got married!  We went up to Virginia on Thursday and had a wonderful weekend getting ready for the wedding and then celebrating with Dave and Emily.  I didn't take many pictures on the actual wedding day but here are a few from the days leading up.  It was such a fun weekend, and we are so happy for all of the time we got to spend with Caleb's family!

A Wedding Moment

Yesterday I was thinking about Father's Day and then I was remembering my favorite moment with my dad on my wedding day. After I was in my dress and before we took pictures, I met up with my dad so he could see me for the first time in my wedding dress.  It was such a special moment:  his seeing his littlest girl in her wedding dress about to get married, and my suddenly feeling like a little girl hoping my daddy would like my new dress.  It was wonderful to have a few moments with my parents before the wedding, especially before my dad walked me down the aisle to give me away.  I love having these pictures of that special moment!

Feels Like Home

You know that thing when you hear a song and you're immediately taken back to a certain point in time when you were listening to that song?  

When we were driving to my parents' house last weekend, I was flipping through songs on my iPod and hit "Feels Like Home" by Chantal Kreviazuk (you can listen to it here).  That was the song we danced to for our last dance at our wedding, and as soon as it started playing in the car I felt like I was back to our wedding day. Our last dance was probably one of my favorite parts of our entire day.  I was so relaxed, I was so indescribably happy to be married to Caleb, and I felt like there was no one else in the room but Caleb and me.  The words of the song say "if you knew how happy you are making me, I never thought that I'd love anyone so much", and I really thought I would never feel happier than I did at that moment.  The crazy thing is that I do; I am so much happier and so much more in love with Caleb now than the day we got married.  It's one of my favorite things about marriage; it keeps getting better and our love keeps growing stronger.  I love that listening to that song reminded me of all of this, because I don't ever want to forget the way I felt on our wedding day.  These are some of my favorite pictures from our wedding day - they were taken during our last dance. 

(all photos by our wedding photographer Colling Photography)