being a ricks: day one

getting married

getting married that morning at the clinton library in downtown little rock was a dream come true. a morning wedding was always something that i wanted to do (even before pinterest, for those who are curious). i spent my last night as a single gal at my mom's house with my best friend hannah who had flown in from iowa. the slays (han and seth, her husband) spent a majority of the evening putting together our homemade cotton boutonnieres for the boys to wear the next day. after all that, when i couldn't sleep, han and i went to shipley's do-nuts (our favorite) and bought dozens of glazed and chocolate glazed do-nuts for the wedding party. we gathered our necessities and jumped in my jeep to head to the library.

we arrived at the back door of the library, and security was unusually tight because president clinton had decided to visit the library on our fateful day. we met mom and sweet, nauseated, pregnant megan outside and shortly after, we got in, got upstairs, and got to our "bridal suite" for the day. we met laura (she did my hair) and my sweet sister-in-law arden (she did my make-up) in the room and got right to work on making me pretty for the big day.

it takes a team

as i was getting ready, my very best friends arrived. chelsea and hannah showed up in their dresses as mrs. kathryn brought me my favorite fuel, a quad venti skinny hazelnut latte. avery and harper showed up and my bridal party was perfectly on top of it. talk about your best friends. these girls did whatever they could to help me and looked absolutely stunning whilst doing so.

my dress came on with the help of my mom, megan, my "other mom" debbie, and hannah. such a precious moment (when the zipper zipped without an army, that is). we invited all of the family into the room for a sweet (and slightly awkward mixed family) moment of prayer before i got to sneak to a spot to "meet" jett before the wedding. we didn't want to see each other before the wedding, so we cheated the system so we could have a little contact before the big moment.

after about one thousand hours of sitting around in my dress while waiting for the wedding to start, everyone finally scurried off to their designated places. i will never forget standing behind a curtain outside of the room with my dad. i was crying like few have cried before (dad kept verifying that this was a happy cry while continuously reminding me that we could totally bail at any point if i felt the desire) and he kept telling me jokes and trying to cheer me up. i also remember being slightly upset that i wasn't witnessing the family and bridal party walking to their music that i had so tediously chosen, but that's not as sweet so we will breeze past it. and then, my moment arrived.

as soon as the doors opened and i heard my processional music (samskeyti by sigur ros), i felt the most overwhelming sense of peace. i gripped onto my daddy's arm as he led me toward my man. i remember catching eyes with some of my dearest family and friends and just feeling so joyful that they got to share this moment with me. i probably looked like a damn fool with that cheese on my face. then i finally locked eyes with jett and BOY was he hawt that day...

the ceremony was short and sweet. it was performed by jett's great uncle sid and he did a wonderful job incorporating both of our personalities into the ceremony. we squeezed hands, exchanged rings, stumbled through our vows (i'm yours and that's it, forever), and tied the knot right then and there.

no literally, we tied a knot

the rest of the morning was practically a blur. we went outside in the freezing cold for quite a few wedding photos. we came inside for our first dances. we cut the cake. we toasted champagne. we shared brunch (not really because no one eats at their wedding). we laughed with friends. we lost each other. we continued to drink champagne. we talked. we stalled. we had the time of our lives. and then it was time to say farewell and journey into our new lives together.