The Sweetest Day: Bridal Party

Our bridal party was so fun and made our weekend so much more memorable.

I always knew I wanted a larger bridal party and to be honest it was really hard to choose who we wanted to stand beside us. We are so lucky!

We ended up deciding on 6 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen, 2 junior bridesmaids, 2 flower girls and 2 ring bearers.

We loved having a big wedding party! If we had it to do over we would have added more friends to stand beside us.

My two youngest sisters were our junior bridesmaids. One of our flower girls was my little cousin and the other flower girl was a little girl I had in my classroom at the daycare I worked at a long time ago (my first job!)

Our two ring bearers were our campus minister's twin sons!

And now for our bridesmaids!

My sister was my maid of honor and I could not think of anyone else I would have wanted standing right next to me than her.

Kathleen and I met in the third grade and have been best friends through thick and thin. She just got married this past weekend and is on her honeymoon! I was matron of honor and Matthew was the best man in her wedding!

Sarah and I met in the fourth grade and have been best friends through thick and thin. She really is the sweetest person!

Jenny and I met when she and my brother-in-law started dating a few years ago, and they are getting married in 9 DAYS!!!! I am so excited and happy to have another sister.

Carleigh and I met a few years ago on an SOC retreat. She was one of the first SOC girls to talk to me and we quickly became really good friends.

Miranda and I met a few years ago through the SOC as well. She is also a really sweet person and will do anything to help anyone out. She's getting married this December!!

And our groomsmen!

Matthew's best man was his dad. His dad, Thom, had his dad as his best man and Matthew wanted to carry on the tradition. Matthew really looks up to his dad and could not have imagined anyone else standing beside him on one of the most important days of our lives.

Andrew, Matthew's older brother, was one our our groomsmen. Our bridal party included a lot of family and we LOVED that!

Matthew's twin brother, Nathan, was also a groomsman. A lot of people don't believe they are actually twins until they show them their license to prove it lol.

Ethan, is one of our best friend's that we met through the SOC. He is basically the fourth brother in the Coats family!

Corbin was Matthew's college roommate. We actually go to church now with his older brother who just got married back in June!

We met Joey through the SOC as well. He was Matthew's older brother's roommate during college, and we've all been really good friends!

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Matthew.

WE LOVE OUR BRIDAL PARTY!

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The Sweetest Day: Bridal Party

The Marriage Diaries Vol. 2

Two months. Two months we have been married. It's funny because I remember just a little bit ago when we were two months away from our sweet day and time literally seemed to be dragging by, and now these past two months have flown by. I'm usually really excited and ready for fall. Ready for the cooler days and fun activities fall brings, but this year I'm just not ready to see summer go.

If I had to describe our second month it would be: Adjustment and compromise.
Month one was really busy with all the moving and we hadn't really fallen into a routine but this month we've been able to settle in and get a routine going. And that's where the adjusting comes in. Matthew and I both lived alone in our own places before we got married. We had our own way of doing things and our own habits. I lived in my apartment by myself for over a year. I never once questioned anything about throwing up a new piece of decor if I liked it. It was my place so if I liked it I used it. He was the same way, not really on decor, but if he wanted something in a certain place he left it there and that was the objects place. You combine two different people with two different opinions on some things and then you have COMPROMISES!

I talked briefly about this in a post I wrote a little bit ago, What I love about marriage, and how it's all just a learning process. I'm not in anyway complaining about these topics, because I really do see how lucky I am to have someone like Matthew to learn all this with AND together, and what a blessing that is! I remember hearing people say how marriage is hard and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what they meant, but now I can see how it's not always easy. And if this is the "hard" part in our marriage then I am one grateful wife.
Is our marriage perfect? Absolutely not. Arguments still happen and sometimes we still annoy each other. Our marriage will never be perfect and we will always be learning, and I am so thankful for that. Lord willing, we will have a life full of compromises and adjustments. I know there will be new seasons of life to adjust to, but I wouldn't want to adjust to them with anyone else other than my Matthew.

Two months ago we made vows to one another in front of God, our family and friends. We promised to follow each other through all of life's experiences with each other all while following God. I pray that this is always our hearts desire, even when we've been married for 60 years.

There are many choices to make in life, but choosing to marry and love Matthew is the easiest choice I've ever made.

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The Marriage Diaries Vol. 2

The Sweetest Day: First Looks

Matthew and I decided not to do a first look and I am so glad. I was on the fence about it most of our engagement but we both decided that we wanted to see each other for the first time when those beautiful double doors opened up and walked down the aisle to him. We both love our decision and are so thankful for it.

I decided to do a first look with my girls and my dad. My sister and best friend, Sarah, are the only bridesmaids that saw me in my dress before our wedding day, but my hair wasn't fixed or anything. After my girls got their dresses on we sent them all out in the hallway while I slipped into mine and my mom started the long process of buttoning up my dress. There were so many buttons, but I loved them.

And then we told the girls to come in, and that's when it hit me. I was in MY wedding dress on OUR wedding day with all my favorite girls. And all the tears started rolling, and rolling, and rolling....

And then we all started laughing because we were crying and touched up our makeup, ha!

and then it came time to do the first look with my dad. I didn't let him see my dress or any pictures of it the whole time we were engaged and that was almost as hard as keeping it from Matthew!! Daddy had no idea what it even looked like. It was so, so sweet.

 and cue the tears, again!

Daddy loved my dress and said he couldn't imagine me in any other dress. BLESS HIS HEART. I can't even look at these pictures without crying. I am a daddy's girl through and through, so this was such a special moment and I will forever be thankful we had a first look. 

Bride's, even if you are doing a first look with your soon-to-be husband, do one with your dad. You will NOT regret it! 

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The Sweetest Day: First Looks

The Sweetest Day: Getting Ready

Happy Monday! I am so excited to share our wedding day with you all, now that we have our wedding pictures back. Whenever I think of our wedding day I just think of how sweet it was. How sweet all my girls were. How sweet all of our guys were. How sweet all our family and friends were. How sweet my handsome groom was (and still is!).

And now I can finally give you a peek into our sweet day. 

 I could not have imagined spending the night with anyone else on my last "single girl" night than with my two best friends and sister. They have been there since the third grade. I still tear up thinking about how sweet it was. We talked, laughed, cried, danced and had the best last "sleepover"

Surprisingly I slept so well the night before our big day. I was so happy, excited, exhausted, and anxious I think it just all caught up with me. I'm not complaining though, I woke up refreshed and ready to get our day started! I also woke up to my best friend jumping on me singing "IT'S YOUR WEDDING DAY, WAKE UP, YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!" My other best friend joined in and we all started laughing and dancing around like we were in high school again. 

My sister and I headed off to the church to meet with my other bridesmaids and to start getting ready. My two best friends headed to sonic to get everyone drinks! I don't remember our conversation on the way to the church, I remember my sister just talking away, but I got really nervous/anxious for the day so I just started praying. Praying for our day, praying that my nerves would calm down, praying for all of our family and friends that were traveling to share our day with us, praying that we would put God first the whole day and that he would be glorified in everything we did that day and every day after that. By the time we pulled into the church parking lot and I saw a few of my other bridesmaids I was at ease and ready to get our day started! Other than that short 10 min car ride my nerves were calm the rest of the day. I truly felt at ease and enjoyed every second of our sweet day, and I will forever be SO thankful for that!

My hair dresser was right on time and we got started on my hair. She went above and beyond with what I was wanting and was such a joy to be around. I got so many compliments on my hair and honestly didn't want to take it down at the end of our day. If you are in the Cookeville area and you are needing someone to do your hair, email me! Seriously, she is the sweetest lady and is so talented.

She watched me the whole time I did my makeup, and of course needed her's done too!

I had someone booked to do my makeup but cancelled a few weeks before the wedding. I'm extremely picky when it comes to my makeup and want it a certain way so I decided I would just do it myself. I didn't want a ton on but enough to notice in pictures. Really the only thing different from my normal everyday makeup was that I wore fake eyelashes and lipstick!

I was on the fence about the monogrammed button downs or the floral robes for me and my girls. The prices on those things are OUTRAGEOUS and I have yet to see a girl walking around town in a monogrammed button down. I checked tons and tons of different places/websites to get prices but could never justify paying those amounts. I knew I wanted us to all match in some way and finally thought of these V-necks from Old Navy. I probably have one in every color and it's my go to comfy shirt. I knew the necks were deep enough so we could take them off without messing our hair up and would still look cute for pictures. So I gave all my girls one in their bags I got them. I LOVE how the pictures turned out with them and know they will wear them again. And these were around $4 a piece ;)

 This picture cracks me up every time I look at it! I loved getting to see these pictures and listening to Matthew tell me all the funny things that happened in their dressing room.

And then it was time for my girls to get their dresses on!

I did a first look with my girls and with my dad, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for those pictures. It was a HUGE ball of emotions mixed with love and laughter. One of the many sweet moments from our day. Also, I still can't believe I just blogged about OUR wedding :)

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The Sweetest Day: Getting Ready