Valentine's Week Linky Party Day 2 - Our Big Day

I'm back for day two of my Valentine's Week Linky Party! Today I'm talking about the day little girls dream of their entire lives... their wedding day! I decided to do a question and answer format for today's post, including lots of pictures!

Q: When did you choose to have your wedding?
Our wedding was December 19, 2009. We got engaged in December of 2007, so by the time the wedding rolled around, it felt like we had been engaged forever! We chose that date for two main reasons. First of all, J graduated from Auburn in August of 2009, and we were waiting for him to finish school. Plus, because I'm a teacher, that date allowed us to go on our honeymoon during my winter break!

Q: Did you have a big wedding or a small wedding?
We chose to have a pretty small wedding. I think there were maybe 50 or so people there. Ultimately, we really wanted our wedding to have an intimate feel, so we only invited our closest friends and family.

Q: What was the location of your wedding like?
I loved our location! Because we were having a small wedding, we needed a smaller place. We chose the Townhouse at Mt. Laurel. It's in the cutest little community that has its own corner grocery store, old-fashioned pharmacy, a couple restaurants, etc. It also worked out really well for us because it was two stories. We had the ceremony downstairs, and then everyone went upstairs for a cocktail hour while the downstairs was being rearranged for the reception. Since the wedding, it has actually been turned into a tea room, so I've been able to go back a couple of times for lunch!

Q: How many people were in your wedding party? 
I had 4 bridesmaids, and J had 4 groomsmen. My maid of honor was J's sister, and my other bridesmaids were my best friends, including Jessica (yes, the same one I mentioned yesterday in the story of how we met!). J's best man was his best fried, Nathan (again, the one that was involved in us meeting each other for the first time!). His other groomsmen were my brother, his brother, and his sister's now husband.

Q: What did your wedding dress look like?
I was one of those girls that had a very specific dress in mind... but then ended up getting something completely different! My dress was ivory with a sweetheart neckline, had a lot of gorgeous lace and beading, and was scalloped at the bottom.

Q: Did you choose to do a "first look" or did you wait to see each other for the first time during the ceremony?
J and I knew we were both going to be emotional when we first saw each other, so we decided to see each other privately before the wedding. I am so glad we did this because we were both crying and it was just a really sweet moment that I will remember forever!

Q: What were some of your most memorable moments from the ceremony?
I remember trying to hold myself together as I walked down the aisle with my dad while Pachelbel's Canon was being played by the string trio. I remember being super nervous throughout the entire ceremony, as well as still trying not to cry. The man who married us was the pastor from our church we attended in Auburn and he did a fantastic job! I also loved lighting the unity candles - so special - and of course I remember our first kiss as man and wife!

Q: Were there any funny moments during the ceremony?
Oh, gosh. Yes! Remember how I mentioned I was trying not to cry throughout the ceremony? Well, so was J. We were both quite sniffly! At one point right before he went to put the ring on my finger, he rubbed his nose, and a string of snot literally followed his hand down to my hand. Let's just say I went from trying not to cry to trying not to bust out laughing. Luckily no one else noticed!

Q: Did you have a buffet, sit-down dinner, or something entirely different?
We decided to do a sit-down dinner because the venue was pretty small. I think we had salad, cornish hens or steak (guests chose what they wanted on their response cards), haricot verts, and garlic mashed potatoes.

Q: What flavor of cake did you have?
Our cake was pretty simple! It was almond cake with buttercream frosting, and it was delicious! Seriously, we still have people telling us it was the best wedding cake they've ever had!

Q: What song did you dance to for your first dance? 
We danced to "Some Kind of Love" by Sister Hazel. I love that song, and the lyrics were so perfect for us.

Q: How did you make your grand exit?
Everyone got sparklers and waved them in the air as we made our escape to the car!

Q: What were some of your favorite little details?
The details were really important to me because I made and designed just about everything myself (except for the flowers of course!). So, I specifically asked the photographer to get pictures of all the details!

Q: What are your five favorite wedding pictures?
Okay, I realize there are technically seven pictures below, but three of them go together as part of a series of events! The first one is when my dad saw me for the first time, the second is of him hugging me, and the third is of me drying my tears after seeing him.

Q: Is there anything you wish you would have done differently for your wedding? 
The only unfortunate thing I can think of was that it was extremely cold on the day of our wedding, so we weren't able to get as many pictures outside as I would have liked because we were all freezing to death! Otherwise, it was a perfect day!

I'd love for you to link up below to share the details from your wedding day. I always enjoy looking at wedding photos! If you do link up, please share the link to my blog (http://unicornandme.blogspot.com) so others can make their way back over here to link up, too! Also, stay tuned for two more fun posts this week, and two more chances to link up! Tomorrow I will be blogging about the reasons why I love my husband, and Friday I will share some of our favorite memories together!