Have you ever sat down to have a cup of coffee with a good friend and looked at the clock what seems like minutes later, only to find that it’s been three hours? That’s how the first year of marriage has felt. I really cannot believe that one year ago yesterday, I was standing at the altar, struggling to get through my vows without tearing up because of the way Matt was looking at me. Like I was some sort of incredible treasure, even though I was the one who felt like I’d just won the lottery.

Our wedding was a blast- easily the most exciting day of my life! I woke up at 7 am to find the ground covered in a light frosting of snow, just enough to cover the ground. So I did the natural thing and ran across the hotel suite and started jumping on the bed where Mallory and Alex were sleeping, exclaiming “It’s snowing!! It’s snowing!” Although the snow later melted, it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. But enough chatter- let’s get to the photos!

I was inCREDibly blessed to have Terra of Terra Dawn Photography and Mike of Mike Lesnick Photography shoot our wedding. Most of these images are Terra’s, but I’ve included a couple from Mike as well.

The day began with jumping on the bed and laughing 🙂

I’m still obsessed with my dress.

My brother was deployed in Afghanistan when we got married, so my Mimi (who did all of our flowers) made sure I had a way to keep him there with me during the day.

That image on the right makes me feel beautiful every time I look at it. Thanks, Terra 🙂

While Terra was with us girls, Mike headed over to capture the guys getting ready. He delivered my wedding gift to Matt- a list of 475 things I love about him. I started keeping the list when we were dating.

That’s my brother Ethan! Broadcasting via Skype from Marjeh, Afghanistan, he was able to see the entire ceremony!

I told my dad to recite Monty Python jokes as we made the walk down the aisle to keep me from losing it. He did.

He is SO HANDSOME!

I’m personally not a fan of traditional guestbooks- they feel impersonal and bland. We decided to do a wishing tree instead and asked guests to leave bits of advice and well wishes.

That photo on the left made me cry the first time I saw it!

Ok so this had everyone in tears. My aunt Terry Lynn is a tech wiz, so she managed to find a way to hook Ethan (still on Skype) up to the projector screen so that everyone at the reception could see, and he read an amazing poem he’d written for me on my wedding day.

And then the dancing commenced! That’s me doing the robot- I’m clearly VERY good at it.

My bestest friend, lovely cousin and gorgeous maid of honor, Megan. It was her birthday! And when I asked if she minded us getting married on her birthday, she told me she could think of a better gift to celebrate her 22nd year 🙂

hahaha

DIY hot chocolate bar!

Because we didn’t want to keep our guests waiting while we went out and took portraits, Matt, Terra, Mike and I all headed out to Georgetown after we left the reception for a hearty round of PORTRAITS!

This photo was taken in the window display of the Georgetown Paper Source.