Our Wedding: Getting Ready!

Wedding morning arrived and I was oh so happy to see no rain in the forecast! Since I had a small wedding party and first look photos started at 2 pm, hair and make-up didn't start until 10:30 which resulted in a very leisurely wedding day morning. Hair and make-up for nearly every wedding I've been in (and I've been in 10, well 11 if you include my own - ha!) has started early in the day, but I loved the fact that we didn't have to get together super early that morning.

That said, I was up bright and early with excitement so my sister Abby and I went for a run! We did a 4 mile loop and ran mostly along the Mississippi.  Abby had never ran in this area so it was fun to show her around.  We stopped for a selfie in front of the church where I'd be getting married later that day!!

And we stopped for a photo on the Stone Arch Bridge which overlooks the St. Anthony Main falls.I used to live in a condo with a view of this area.

It was a COLD morning so I was a little chilly in my t-shirt but I warmed up pretty quickly. It was so wonderful to spend time with my sister that morning, doing something we both love! After our run, we grabbed breakfast at Starbucks and then I headed back to my room to lay down for a bit before showering. I did not fall back asleep but it was still nice to 'rest my eyes'.

The hair and make-up girls came to my suite to do hair and make-up and I ordered salads for everyone from my favorite local salad place. Our order was under the minimum for delivery but they made an exception since it was my wedding day!  The salads were delivered to my room by the owner of the restaurant and they included a card with signatures from all the employees! I was blown away by their service and will continue to spend money at their restaurant!

Taryn, the girl who did my hair, has been doing my hair for 10 years so she is like a good friend. She brought a friend along to do our make-up and they did such an amazing job. Taryn and her friend nicknamed me "Bridechilla" since I was so relaxed that morning!

I love the robe I wore when getting ready. I gave robes to my sisters, too, as part of their bridesmaid gift but we forgot to take a picture in them!

In the background, you can see the flowers that Amber and Kyria picked up from my friend who did our flowers for the wedding!

The suite I stayed in was so perfect for getting ready as it was a bi-level suite. The make-up artist loved doing our make-up in front of that huge window as she said working in natural light is ideal!

Before I knew it, the photographer, Jamie, arrived. By this time, my sisters had left to get their dresses and other things together. So it was just me, my mom, and the photographers (my main photographer brought a second shooter - they were both awesome to work with!). Jamie took some detail photos before I got dressed.

My mom holding my maternal grandmother's wedding ring, which was my "something borrowed"

Then it was time to slip into my beautiful wedding gown. I absolutely loved my dress so much. I didn't talk much about dress shopping, but I went to 2 different places and ended up loving a lot of the dresses at the 2nd place but this one stood out among the others, especially because of its train, which you'll see in my ceremony photos!

Jamie snapped some photos of my mom and me...

And then it was time to go meet my groom for our first look photos!!!