Well, here's a post about said pictures with a little background!
On April 12, I got to marry my best friend. Getting married in a barn was a dream of mine, and with the help of a few family connections, that dream came true. It wasn't an actual venue, so we had done everything for the wedding ourselves (and with the help of amazing friends and family).
Since we did it all, the day itself was hectic up to the moment we walked down that aisle. Things went wrong, and some details were left out, but none of that could bring me down when I was walking down the aisle to the amazing man I was about to marry.
{Barn Transformation post to come!}
Even with all the little mishaps, it was a perfect day!
Attire Details
My dress and my veil. I wish I could wear that beautiful dress all the time!
Not many people knew this, but I wore the boots down the aisle, and then switched to the flats for the reception. The boots are my mom's from when she was a teenager. I snatched them a while ago. I love them and just had to have them on during my barn wedding!
Gorgeous bridesmaid dresses!
My garter set and jewelry.
You may have noticed I enter a lot of giveaways. That garter set was purchased with a gift card I won to a bridal accessory store!
The pearls were a gift from Clay over three years ago. They are my fave.
My little cousin, Addison, was our adorable little flower girl.
This is her headband and bracelet I got for her!
The top is the groomsmen's bow tie, while the bottom is Clay's bow tie. Our little nephew and ring bearer, Tiny Steve, had a bow tie matching Clay's.
In love with this picture of my bridesmaids' bouquets!
We handmade every bouquet the morning of the wedding while getting hair and make-up done.
Our rings :)
Getting Ready
Our hair and make-up was done by Gina and Stephanie, the two awesome sisters behind Two Sisters Hair and Makeup of New Orleans.
I would seriously recommend them to anyone and everyone! I hate getting my makeup done because I always look like a clown, but their airbrush is a dream.
Bouquet making!
My lovely bridesmaids all made up!
From left to right: Hannah - BFF and MOH, Janie - an awesome friend from LSU, me!, Chelsey - another awesome friend from LSU and fellow elem ed major; Jessica - beautiful cousin, Niki - brand new sister! (in-law)
The best man - Chad!
My handsome husband getting ready.
First Look
Why did we see each other before the wedding? I mean, isn't that bad luck?
Whatever.
We opted for a first look and I wouldn't change that for the world - I would actually recommend it to all newlyweds-to-be! In case you don't know what it is, it's when you see your bride or groom a little bit before the ceremony for a private session with only you and the photographer.
We were able to have a private moment with each other upon seeing each other for the first time. We also exchanged a letter and our vows privately, which was very special for both of us.
Another awesome thing about this is that we got to take all of our bridal party and family pictures together BEFORE the ceremony, so that NONE of our reception time was wasted with time for those pictures. And my hair was still curly and bouncy. LOVED IT.
We exchanged our letters and vows, and it was so sweet I couldn't help but cry.
Clay's mom painted this for us! It fit in perfectly with the rustic setting, and I also had monograms everywhere :)
Bridal Party - The Girls
I LOVED all the girls in my bridal party! We had so much fun :) And we had the most adorable little flower girl!
Hannah and Janie!
Cousin Jessica
Chelsey!
Niki and sweet Addison
Niki made me a sandwich because I was STARVING and had to steal bites between poses!
I feel like this picture could go in a bridal magazine! It looks like a David's Bridal ad or something.
Bridal Party - The Guys
The cutest little ring bearer you ever did see!
Groomsmen from left to right: Josh, Stephen M, Chad, [Clay], Stephen T, and Paul
My favorite of the guys
The guys took normal portraits together, but they also took these silly ones. I had no idea, and it was such a funny surprise to come across these when I went through all the photos!
Chad - Best Man
Stephen T
Stephen M
Paul
Josh
Look how handsome my husband is!
The Bridal Party - All of Us!
The faces are golden
A family friend owns this trolley - it was PERFECT for shuttling guests to and from parking, and the bridal party to and from the barn.
This gorgeous car belongs to Uncle Dudley. He was so kind to drive it down and let us use it for pictures and for my dad and I to ride up in.
Randoms of Clay and I!
The Family
My loving parents (Cheryl & Ken) and myself
My parents and grandparents!
Left to right - PaPa Eddie and Pat (mom's side), Papa Bob and Nan (mom's side), myself, my parents, Grandpa Ollie (dad's side)
Us with both of our parents!
Clay's parents and Clay
Mrs. Peggy & Mr. Greg
The Cromer Clan! Parents, Us, Sister Niki & Brother-in-Law Steve
Cromer grandparents - MiMi and Pap!
My dad's brother, Steve, and my Grandpa Ollie came up from South Florida. I hadn't seen them in far too long!
The Ceremony Details
The ceremony was held right out in front of an old red barn.
Signs that I made to sit where people entered the ceremony. Of course, several people ignored my unplugged request...
My dad built the door frame and found old doors to use for everyone to walk through. I loved being able to hide behind the door when the ceremony was in such an open space!
Aisle decor
Our plant (we did a tree planting ceremony rather than a unity candle), the ring bearer's flag, and my bouquet.
My dad built this pretty arbor for us! I get to keep it for our future back yard :)
The Ceremony
Making it official!
The Reception Details
For the reception, we all moved inside the barn. It opened up on the right into a little cafe-lit field.
This was our bar area! I loved the display of alcohol and jars. We borrowed the chalkboard, and I wrote up the menu.
Beautiful chandeliers from Mrs. Peggy - can't wait to put one in my future house!
The centerpiece I put together
My dad custom-built a dance floor. My parents and I stained it, and I monogramed it!
Mrs. Peggy painted the adorable window frame on the right.
She also did the monogrammed burlap runners in the background with the help of some of my friends and family.
I really wanted yard games at our wedding! We had huge Jenga...
...and custom corn hole boards.
My dad made both games, my mom and I stained them, and I decorated them.
The wedding cake
Clay's surprise Star Wars groom cake
{Yoda, R2D2, Chewbacca, & Darth Vader}
Little fans I made to keep guests cool. The were set outside of the doors of the ceremony.
On the right is our guestbook. In case you couldn't tell, it's the house from the movie Up! Clay and I LOVE Disney and Pixar, especially that movie. I had to incorporate Disney somehow, so I drew and painted this. We had guests sign the little balloons!
The Reception
Our first dance was to Melissa Polinar's "Meant to Be"
& this is me singing it to him
Father-Daughter dance with my dad!
That tattoo on my right shoulder says "I Love You" in his handwriting
Mother-Son dance
I got to eat thanks to the Gary's! They started feeding me off their plates, and then Kristen went and made me a plate. So sweet!
Dancing during the money dance with my amazing Papa Eddie.
Money dance with Holly
I absolutely love this photo of my Papa Bob and I
Dad couldn't afford to money-dance with me after paying for the wedding haha
Long-time Cromer family friend, the beautiful Mrs. Tanya
My Grandpa Ollie reading us a toast that he also had framed
Cake cutting!
And cake eating.
It was red velvet with cream cheese icing. YUM!
Clay cutting his fantastic cake.
PB&J flavored!
And feeding it to his best man...
Stephen and Luisa! Good friends who got married about a month after us!
Trying to toss the bouquet without hitting the top of the barn
Holly, groomsen Paul's girlfriend, caught it!
Clay was reenacting a scene from Wayne's World while coming to take off my garter to the song "Foxy"
All the guys - Paul (Holly's boyfriend) who was clearly ecstatic that Holly just caught the bouquet
Long-time Geeting family friend, "Uncle" Ted, caught the garter
Clay with his cousin Jenny, cousin Michelle, Aunt Cindy, and Mom
All great friends of the Geeting family for a very long time
Mom's friends and coworkers who helped out with bartending at the wedding
Sparkler exit!
A beautiful end to a beautiful day.
I am so happy with the way it all turned out, and most importantly, that I am now the Mrs. Cromer to my amazing husband.
Thank you so much to all who were a part of our big, special day!
I have a handful of thank-you notes that still need to go out, but I can't get my hands on the addresses. Everyone else should have received one by now!
xoxo,
E
