Our Wedding: The Ceremony

This post is going to have LOTS of photos because I had the hardest time narrowing down all the awesome pictures our photographers took during our ceremony! This is going to be a lengthy post!

I am a practicing Catholic so the ceremony part of the wedding day was very important to me. I currently split my time between 2 different churches (one that was walking distance from where I used to live and one that is walking distance from our current home in south Minneapolis). We decided to get married at Our Lady of Lourdes, the church close to downtown Minneapolis, as it's a gorgeous, historic church in a beautiful area of the city. Oh and it's a French-themed church with lots of fleur de lis so it was the perfect church for a Francophile like me to get married in! Plus since we had a lot of out-of-town guests, we wanted to pick a location that was easy to get to and didn't require renting a car. The church and ceremony were about 3 blocks apart and about a mile from our hotel blocks.

The ceremony gave us a chance to incorporate more family into the wedding. 2 of my nephews handed out the programs.

Kolin (10) and Matthew (9)

My friend that designed our invitations also designed our programs. I love the scripted font that we used on all of our paper-products for the wedding. It's swoon-worthy!

Our photographers did a good job of getting pictures of some of our guests - especially my nieces and nephews!

Evie waiting for the wedding to start!

Evie (3), Charlie (almost 6), and Anna (5)

Andrew (11) and James (12)

 My oldest brother Chad seated my mom.

We didn't have any songs during our wedding as the church is particular about wedding music, so instead my good friend Heather sang "How Beautiful" after the seating of the mothers. I hid in the entryway at the back of the church so I could listen to this beautiful song. Besides having my good friend sing, my 2 aunts played piano (one played the processional/recessional, the other accompanied my friend during How Beautiful and the psalm that was sung between readings). I'm lucky to have so many musical family members and friends.

After "How Beautiful," it was time for the bridal party procession!

My handsome groom

My older sister Emily and Phil's college friend Luke

My younger sister Abby and Phil's high school friend Dave

Waiting for his bride!

Then it was my turn to walk down the aisle. Surprisingly, I was dry-eyed.  I just remember grinning from ear to ear and feeling so much excitement that we were about to be married in front of our closest family and friends!

I love the look on my mom's face in this photo! My parents were VERY excited that I was marrying Phil, and my mom especially knows how long I've waited to find my life partner. So there were lots of happy tears on her part during the wedding weekend.

The one time I came *close* to crying was when I hugged my dad at the end of the aisle. I am so surprised that I didn't cry on my wedding day as I have certainly cried at others - but I felt such joy and excitement that day!

You can see the fleur de lis on the altar and carpet in this picture!

My God-son/nephew James did the first and second readings and he did such an amazing job!!

Then it was time for the sermon, which I really liked (well, maybe except the part where he mentioned that we were an older couple but that he hoped we'd still be able to have a family - LOL! My east coast friends were confused as to why he considered us old - but we really are OLD for a first marriage by Midwest standards (most of my friends my ages are done having kids!) so I don't hold it against the priest for making that comment!)

Then it was time for the vows! We had 2 priests at our wedding (long story) but they split the duties nicely. The priest for this parish preached and did the nuptial blessing at the end and the other priest (from the parish by our house) did the vows.

I loved my long train!

You may now kiss the bride!!!

The ceremony went by so quickly (for me at least). It was about 40 minutes, which is about average for a church wedding (we did not have communion/full mass - it would have been closer to 90 minutes had we had mass).

After the wedding ceremony we headed back to sign the marriage license and make it official for the state of Minnesota! I had never signed my name with my new last name!  My younger sister said she couldn't believe I hadn't practiced!  It's going to take awhile to get used to signing with my new last name!

I'd been wearing a ring for 5 months at this point, but it's a new experience for Phil, hence the goofy expression in this photo! I'll share photos of the rings in my details post. Phil chose to have his dad's wedding ring re-sized. I love that there is meaning and significance behind his ring.

The newly married couple with our 2 priests! Phil joked during his speech that if we had a 3rd priest, maybe the weather would have been nicer that day.  LOL.

After that we headed down to the basement so my sister and good friend Courtney (wife of Luke, one of best men) got to work on the bustle. From the look on Phil's face below, you get a sense for how long it took/how complicated it was!

Courtney came with me to my last dress fitting appointment to learn how to do the bustle. She took pictures and a video to make sure she would figure it out! It was not an easy task!!

Success!!

After that we were ready to walk to our reception, but took some time to take pictures on the way, which are some of my favorite from the day - I'll share them in the next post!

Wedding Wednesday: My Family Wedding Shower

I'm back with another wedding post!  This past weekend my mom, sisters, and sisters-in-law hosted a shower for me at the lake. They have been planning this for many months so I was so excited to see what all they had up their sleeve!

First things first, here was the invitation!  As you all know, I love all things French so the Paris theme was perfect for me!  They also incorporated our wedding colors (navy, gold and light pink).

The shower was held at the church in the town by my parents lake home where my parents are members. It was nice to have it off-site as we had enough craziness at the lake home with all my siblings/nieces/nephews.  A lot of my aunts and cousins weren't able to attend since Easter weekend is a busy weekend for many, but I had my mom, my mother-in-law-to-be and all of my sisters and sisters-in-law there, plus an aunt and several cousins from my dad's side of the family.  So we still had a nice 20+ sized group of people!

My Chicago SIL handled all of the decor.  Party planning and decorating is totally her thing (this is the SIL that flew in to help me make our centerpieces). Each of the tables had an Eiffel Tower centerpiece plus paper flowers that she made herself using her cricut!  I gathered all of the paper flowers to use at our reception. 

Similar to my Minneapolis shower, I was greeted with mimosas!

Then it was time to take some pictures!

My mom is on the left and my mother-in-law-to-be is on the right

Surrounded by my sisters and sisters-in-law. My sisters are standing next to me (many people have mistaken Abby, the sister on my left, as my twin!), and my sisters-in-law are on the ends.  I really think of my sisters-in-law as sisters, though, and am very close to them. My brothers couldn't have picked more amazing women to marry! My sisters will be matrons of honor.  I'm so excited to have them stand up there with me as we say our vows!

Emily, Abby, me, Emily (yes I have a sister and SIL with the same name!) and Julie

My sister-in-law Emily made me this sash, which was begging for a pose like this!

The food at the shower so so good! My mom and SIL Julie made 6 different quiches. They also had croissants for the gluten eaters, cheese & crackers, and a veggie tray.

Here's a close-up of the quiches. One was crustless and the other 5 had homemade gluten free crusts.  My mom is the best pie maker and has found a great recipe for GF pie crust (GF pie people - check out the America's Test Kitchen GF cookbook - the pie crust recipe is wonderful, as are all the recipes we've tried).

For dessert, we had fresh fruit with a dipping sauce, Eiffel Tower chocolate treats, peanut butter truffles, and macarons!!

After stuffing my face with all of that delicious food (I did not hold back, I've been eating healthy lately but have given myself permission to enjoy the heck out of these special events!), it was time to open gifts!

I didn't share any photos of my gifts from my last shower but here are a couple of photos of gifts. We registered at Crate & Barrel and Amazon.  For our plates, we went with a basic white style.  I had so many bright-colored platters so decided to go with white as it will go with anything!

Our chip & dip platter - this will get put to use at my Mexican-themed Bach Party that my sister and friend are hosting at our house.

 

 

My aunt had a cutting board made for us with my new last name!

There was one mystery gift at the end...

I'm hoping and praying that we'll need the other one within the next year or so!!

Our family was so generous so we came home with quite the haul.  This is just some of the boxes.  It's making my minimalist fiance feel a little panicky but I have gotten rid of quite a bit of stuff over the last 2 weeks as we've unpacked our gifts.

We get a couple of weeks off from wedding-festivities and then during the first week of May, my colleague/mentor and his wife are hosting a pre-wedding Cinco de Mayo party at his house for work friends and then the following day I have my "Girls Gone Mild" bachelorette party which will also be Mexican-themed.  What can I say?  This girl loooooves tacos! 

It's hard to believe that I will say "I do" one month from today!!!  Life sure is good!

It's Julia Time!!

Happy Friday, everyone!  This is an exciting weekend as it's Julia Child Night tomorrow!  It's our 8th year of hosting this event, which kind of blows my mind.  It all started with me asking my aunt to help me get a little bit more savvy in the kitchen back in 2009.  The event has changed and grown over the years, and it seems to get better and better each year.

This year we are taking another break from French cuisine. The theme is "U.S. Road Trip" and we will be making small plates with foods from different regions of the U.S. It's going to be so much fun!  I think we'll have close to 30 people in attendance so it will be quite the group. This event has kind of become an early "Thanksgiving" for my mom's side of the family. As everyone's families have grown, we have stopped getting together for major holidays, so I am glad this event gives us an excuse to gather the extended family together!

I thought it would be fun to look back through the ages.

Year 1 - Paella at Aunt Barb's and Uncle Paul's house

It's fun to see how the kids have grown and changed over the years! This is Matthew in year 1.

My aunt, the mastermind behind this event, and me, stirring the paella 

Year 2 - Beef Bourguignon at Aunt Barb's and Uncle Paul's house

The main entree - yum!

My mom, aunt Barb, and me

 Year 3 - Cassoulet at Aunt Barb's and Uncle Paul's house

The main entree with a side of yummy cabbage!

The annual apron photo!

Year 4 -  Coq au Vin at Aunt Barb's and Uncle Paul's house

This little guy, Matthew, has grown so much since the first picture! He's enjoying his ratatouille in this photo!

This potato soup is one of my favorite dishes we've made - love the JC garnish, too!

Year 5 - Pot au Feu at Aunt Barb's and Uncle Paul's house. I was living in Charlotte this year so was VERY happy to be able to come home for the event. I sobbed when my aunt and uncle dropped me off at the airport that year and cried for the entire flight back to Charlotte.  :(

The guys get in on the fun, too!

The salad this year was a Nicoise Salad, which is one of my favorite French dishes!

Year 6 - Chicken Provencal at Aunt Barb's and Uncle Paul's house

The main dish!

The apron photo has REALLY grown over the years!

Year 7 - Julia traveled to the New Orleans region, and the event moved to my brother Kevin's house.

Phil and I at the event last year. He's been to 2 events so is still learning how to pace himself when eating. Last year he had seconds during the amuse bouche course and cleaned his plate - and felt awful afterwards!  It's soooo much food so you really have to pace yourself.

My mom, aunt Barb and me

It's always fun to look back at these photos.  There are so many good memories.  Life has changed so much over those 8 years.  Different jobs, different relationships, I've lived in different cities and homes, different states of contentment with life. But these photos remind me that family will always be my "one true thing." And for that, I'll be forever grateful.  I'm happy to say that today I am probably the  happiest that I've ever been over the course of these last 7 years - which feels good to say.

Tomorrow night we will gather together as a family at my cousin Suzanne's house (Barb and Paul's daughter) and joyfully celebrate our love for fine food and family. But there will be a tinge of sadness as this year's event falls on what should have been my uncle Keith's 61st birthday. We planned this event before his sudden passing in August. His birthday will be a sad and heavy day for our family, so it seems only right that we'll all be gathered together. Our signature drink this year is a simple gin and tonic, which we chose in honor of Keith since it's his favorite cocktail. So tomorrow night, we'll raise our glasses and lift our hearts to him, and take comfort in the company of family.