W.P.O.T.D. - Family Pics - My favorite candid

This is one of my favorite candid pictures taken by my cousin Melinda White, a.k.a. Doodah. We are the seven grandchildren of Harold and Mary Ruth Corbett. (From L to R: Cady Ruth, Carrie, Ben, me, Casey, Amy, and Christie). We had lots of fun growing up together -- despite living in Michigan and Florida!

W.P.O.T.D. - Family Pics - Jeff's whole family

W.P.O.T.D. - Family Pics - My whole family

W.P.O.T.D. - Family Pics - Jeff and me with our siblings

W.P.O.T.D. - Family Pics - Jeff and Jacqui

One of the greatest blessings of our wedding day was having our family surrounding us. They have supported us all of our lives, and we would not be where we are today without them.

Jacqui is Jeff's older sister who lives in Texas, and we were thrilled to have her share our day with us. She surprised us with her attendance... We did not know that she would be joining us until a few days before the wedding. We love you, Jacqui!

W.P.O.T.D. - After the ceremony

Jeff teases me because I turned to walk down the aisle before Larry declared "You may kiss the bride". I was ready to get on with the show and start the party!

W.P.O.T.D. - The ceremony

Most of the ceremony music was recorded by The ZOE Group -- a praise team from Nashville, TN. Their music has meant so much to me in my life. I intended for the music to tell a story. The guests were seated to a selection of music sung by Zoe, the grandmothers walked down the aisle to Zoe's "Find Us Faithful", the mothers walked down the aisle to "Nocturne" (written and recorded by Billy Joel), the bridesmaids walked down the aisle to "Magnificat" by Zoe, I walked down to the aisle to "The Greatest Commands" (sung by three members of the Livonia church), Jeff and I lit the unity candle to Zoe's "He's always Been Faithful", and the recessional music was Zoe's "Shout Hallelujah".

W.P.O.T.D. - Walking down the aisle

I wasn't nervous until the few moments before I walked down the aisle with my dad. The bridesmaids had lined up and were walking down the aisle, and I was alone with my dad. We shared a special moment and then we were off!

W.P.O.T.D. - Pre Ceremony

One of my favorite moments was being surrounded by my bridesmaids as they helped me with my wedding gown. I don't have a picture with all the bridesmaids, but in this picture my mom and sister Amy are discussing the bustle.



And as an added bonus, here is a second picture. Of all the pictures that I wanted of our wedding day, I knew that I wanted a picture of my beloved grandmother Nano and me. This picture captures the love between grandmother and granddaughter.

Wedding Picture of the Day

To my blog readers who have been patiently waiting for more wedding photos:

We received all of the wedding photos from our photographer. He did a wonderful job, and I am very happy with the pictures. I am still sorting through the pictures, and as I am organizing them, I thought that it would be fun to release a "Wedding Picture of the Day". Here's the first one. Thanks to my brother for doing some editing on this particular photo... Can you guess what he changed?

Jeff and I are doing well. His house is on the market now, and hopefully mine will be on the market in January. All of the wedding thank you notes have been sent, and if you gave a gift and didn't receive a thank you note, please let me know! We don't want to miss anyone!

Mary

Dolphins and Sea Lions

Playa del Carmen

We are back from our honeymoon. We had a wonderful time! We spent the week at an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (south of Cancun). We visited Chichen Itza (one of the new Seven Wonders of the World), snorkeled, and swam with dolphins. The rest of our time was filled with plenty of beach lounging! We stayed at the Riu Palace Mexico (which I highly recommend!). Here are some pictures from the trip. And I haven't forgotten about those wedding pictures... I will add more wedding pics soon!

More to come soon...

Engagement Pictures

Top 5

My family and I like to play a game where we come up with a category, and then think of our top 5 favorites in that category. Here is my top 5 favorite moments of my engagement to Jeff:

5. Jeff and I practicing our first dance.
4. Wedding gown shopping with my sister-in-law. Every time the saleslady put the veil on my head, I would get teary.
3. Announcing our engagement to our church family. They were so happy for us, and cheered when the announcement was made at the end of the worship service. Our elder Hayward told me that it did his heart good to see me so happy. I was giddy with laughter.
2. Calling my sister to tell her that we were engaged. She answered the phone and I didn't say a single word. I just started laughing. She started laughing too. Only a sister would know. God bless her.

And my most favorite moment:

1. Jeff asking me to be his wife.

Wedding Update

In the past week and a half, I have:

• Designed, printed, and mailed the rehearsal dinner invitations.
• Made hotel reservations for Honeymoon #1 immediately following the wedding.
• Finalized the flower order with the florist.
• Sampled wedding cake... Yum!
• Had the second fitting for my wedding gown.
• Bought reception centerpiece and guest favors supplies.
• Nagged a few people about getting their RSVP cards to me... he-he
• Cleaned one of my spare bedrooms in preparation for selling my condo. boohoo... I will miss the first home that was my very own.
• Written up a super, psycho-anal detailed schedule of events for the wedding day.
• Written drafts one and two of wedding ceremony program.
• Sent the reception dinner menu to the woman who will be printing something pretty for the reception... Thanks, Mary B.!
• Asked my sister endless questions about bubbles, guest books, and cute little cake napkins. Bubbles - yes, guestbook - yes, cute little cake napkins - uh, NO!

A sampling of the To-Do list:

• Assemble the bridesmaids' gift bags.
• Order the wedding cake. I am thinking Chocolate Cake with chocolate fudge filling and another layer of White Cake with raspberry filling.
• Finalize the wedding program. Purchase the pretty paper for the programs. Print the programs.
• Purchase the last few items for the centerpieces.
• Assemble the guest favors and tie pretty ribbons on the bubbles. Volunteers to help?
• Make a CD of the ceremony music.
• Nag more people about the RSVPs. ha-ha
• Buy the guestbook, place cards, and candles for the unity candle.
• Order the hors d'oeuvres for the small reception at the church building. Come up with decorations for the small reception at the church building.
• Buy a swimsuit for Honeymoon #2 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico!
• Check on the status of the pew bows.
• Have the third fitting for my wedding gown.
• Determine if we will provide child care during the ceremony.
• Scramble to find someone to videotape the ceremony.
• Meet with the DJ to finalize the music selections.
• Give a huge amount of money to the reception hall along with the final guest count.
• Clean my second spare bedroom in preparation for selling my condo.... sniff...
• Write a million Thank You notes for gifts received.
• Work on the seating chart for the reception.

I am tired...

Engagement pictures... check!

Last night Jeff and I had our engagement pictures taken by our photographer. I should have those pics to share with everyone in about two weeks. We went to downtown Royal Oak for our photo shoot. I am definitely a math brain when it comes to artsy things like this... Where I would have headed straight to the flower garden as a picture backdrop, our photographer made use of a metal garage door at the Farmer's Market as one of the backdrops. He has a good eye for things like this, so I am very curious to see how the pictures turn out.

Now I am on to choosing the wedding cake... Only four weeks to go!

Per SuperFlashGo's request

Testing... 1, 2, 3

This is a test. My first posting....