WEDDING DAY - Part 3 - Pre-ceremony photo shoot!

Rick and I at the entrance to the park

It was a perfectly gorgeous day!

by Mill Creek

On the bridge over Mill Creek
I LOVE this picture!
We look like we're waiting for the train :)

My dress was perfect for twirling!

Our Bagpiper, Derek Grant, was AMAZING!
He kept us in Irish tunes all the way through the ceremony! 

Sand bottles for our Sand Ceremony
We opted for a colorful Sand Jar instead of a unity candle

Rick and I with Reverend James Condit - who was also AMAZING and kept everything very fun and lighthearted

This is another one of my favorite pictures!
I love it when Rick smiles with his teeth!

WEDDING DAY! -Part 2 - First Looks

Because we had our ceremony outdoors in a park and were riding over together, Rick and I opted for a "First Look" instead of waiting till the ceremony to show off my dress.

Dad and Rick waiting for our First Looks 

Daddy-daughter first look

For our first look together I ordered the yellow umbrella from How I Met Your Mother because it's one of Ricky's favorite TV shows

First Look!

WEDDING DAY Part 1 - Prep!

After a whole 2 months of official planning, Ricky and I got married!
The day was PERFECT!
We couldn't have asked for better!

my veil with hairspray at our appointment at Rick's cousin's salon

Mom test fits my veil

Mom, me, Sarah, Janice and Renee

Our approach to Rick's families Century Farm where we grabbed a quick bite of party sub and finished getting ready

Our rings with our wedding invitation

our rings and wedding invitation with our parents' wedding pictures

our rings on our date

My maid of honor zips me in!

Mom and Sarah help me get dressed

Mom, Sarah and I

Mom and Sarah tying my bow

Mom adds some finishing touches

and puts me into her pearls

A wedding shoot wouldn't be complete with our Rollo!

Another shot of the farm!

Building our Bags Set!

Rick and I wanted a bags set for our wedding reception.  

Dad built me regulation frames and I've been working on painting them. We don't really have "colors" for our wedding, but Rick's shirt and Sarah and Mom's dresses are sort of teal-ish, so I went with that, and I thought yellow would be a nice contrasting color. Amazon didn't have regulation teal beanbags, or yellow that didn't look like yellow mustard, but Renee and Janice have more royal blue dresses and the gray was a close match so I went with those.  

I also painted hedgehogs on the beanbags - they needed some jazzing up. I also put T's on the back and am considering putting 5-15-15 on them too, but haven't made up my mind about that yet.

Birdwatching!

Ricky and I spent an entire day birdwatching! It's been forever since we've been able to do that!

Turtles are back!
This log was apparently the place to be 

Osprey!

I was really excited to see wood flowers blooming. They make everything more cheery.

We sent our flowers field guide home, so I don't have names for most of the flowers. I'll update next time I'm home to look them up.

Black-capped Chickadee

This is probably the prettiest bluebird picture I've ever taken. It was SO EXCITING to get both the male and female in the same shot!

The rare and elusive White-tailed Deer.

This cardinal was SO BRIGHT!

We heard his tell-tale "who-cooks-for-you" long before we flushed him from his hollow tree. But then we HAD to find him!

He watched us Very Carefully!

We never get tired of seeing these Barred Owls!

Pink Dutchman's Britches!

A whole line of Tree Swallows - and a Barn Swallow on the far right

Ring-billed Ducks!

Ring-billed Ducks - we saw a LOT of these today!

I thought I was taking a picture of Ring-billed Ducks,
but then I spotted the raccoon behind them!

The Raccoon swims to shore

A whole tree full of blackbirds