Here Comes the Bride

**For more wedding pics than you would ever want to see, click here**

And now, without further adieu ... the wedding recap.

Don't think this will be an interesting episode of Bridezillas or My Big Fat Redneck Wedding, just a simple, sweet little wedding without drama, the need for Xanax or even an embarrassingly drunk loudmouthed guest!

Wedding week started with my having a slight cold (aaargh!) and doing a three night stretch in a row which always wears me out. On the last night, some kind co-workers were sweet enough to plan a surprise shower complete with purple napkins, punch, and a white sheet cake decorated with purple icing. Being a mere traveler in their midst, I was very touched by the gesture and the $250 they managed to collect for a Lowe's gift certificate (hello new carpet in the master bedroom!).

Thursday was very stressful because despite needing to sleep after work, I had tons of errands to run given that we were leaving early on Friday. In typical Jenn fashion I left things to the last minute like picking up my wedding dress, getting mascara, underwear (seriously - even left this to the day before and for you men out there women do NOT go "commando"), a pedicure and of course packing. It turned out that the winter storm of the century was preparing to hit Central Arkansas (an area where a dusting of snow causes complete and utter panic) so we were wondering what the drive would be like the next day.

Friday we got up relatively early to some serious snow fall the likes that I have never seen in Little Rock. It wasn't really cold and the roads didn't seem too bad yet so we decided to just take it slow and head out. The road to Eureka was a major highway (though not interstate) and we figured we'd be OK. Before heading out of town we stopped at Kroger (supermarket) for flowers. I refused to blow tons of money on some silly florist bouquet when I could tie up some flowers myself. I found some purple mums and white roses that I thought would do the trick and off we went.

The first 45 minutes or so was snowy and then we hit roads that had been snowed on previously but were clear. By the time we made it to the North park of Arkansas it was bone dry- they hadn't got a lick of snow or rain. Kindof sad because winter photos would have been cute. We checked in to the Bavarian Inn, an adorable little hotel with a fabulous room! A king bed, fireplace, couch, two chairs, balcony and massive two person jacuzzi for $99 - just $10 more than the Best Western and definitely a good choice. For those who have never had the privilege of going to Eureka Springs, it's an adorable little mountain town that was formerly an artist colony and place where people came in the late 1800s to "take the healing waters." Now it's populated by hippy sorts, bikers, a large gay community and full of antique shops, interesting stores, spas and massage therapists and has more bed and breakfasts and hotels than a little town of 2400 would EVER need. There are several wedding chapels and most of the B&Bs do weddings as well so it was the perfect place for a hitching. Friday night we had some excellent BBQ at Bubba's and went to bed early.

Saturday we went a great breakfast place - The Mud Street Cafe recommended by the hotel staff and ended up eating there every day. We walked around town a little bit, enjoyed the sunny but frigid day and hoped to take a nap but alas! I had a hair appointment at 2.

Though I'm a pretty low maintenance girl, I figured my wedding was one occasion for nicer hair. I decided to just go with a "please curl my hair" approach. I'm not one for big updos since I never wear my hair like that normally. I'm a big believer in the fact that a bride should still look like herself - just maybe a bit fancier. After about 50 minutes of curling iron work ... curly hair had arrived!! I then drove my car through an automatic car wash because it was filthy from the road and I just didn't think that was appropriate for such an occasion. I made it back to the hotel around 3p.m. and the wedding was for 4 - so luckily I just had to put my makeup on and throw on my clothes. In the end, I don't think I looked too shabby. My only problem was that the spaghetti straps on my dress were just a wee bit long and kept wanting to fall down - guess I should have gotten those sewn shorter ... oh well.

I arrived at the chapel first, met the photographer we had hired (she was very sweet) and went over final ceremony details with the JP. The chapel had a stock ceremony that was a wee bit too hippy-dippy for us so I basically rewrote the whole thing with lots of help from the internet and some great forums like IndieBride. The photographer snapped some shots before BJs arrival, and I hid in another room when he showed up.

The song we had chosen, Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole was played as the intro and my sauntering into the room music. You've probably heard it before, it's a gorgeous interpretation that I think is full of hope. This video shows the artist who died at a young age and is highly revered in Hawa'ii, it doesn't have the part where he transitions into "What a Wonderful World" which was on the track we used.

The ceremony went off without a hitch. I had a pretty big cheesy grin on my face, giggled a bit (as I do when I'm nervous), and BJ blatantly stared at my cleavage which was apparently just in his line of sight.I won't bore you with lots of details but we had one reading from Madeline L'Engle (children's author of A Wrinkle In Time) a funny poem by Ogden Nash, and the vows I found online and thought they were awesome ...

"you are my companion in life and my one true love. I will treasure our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust and honor you, I will laugh and cry with you. With unfailing love I will stand by you through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. As I have given you my hand to hold so I give you my life to keep."

and we finished the ceremony with the Blessing of the Apaches
"Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness for you,
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth."

It was beautiful and everything truly reflected us and we had our song on again as we finished up and took our pictures.

We did most of the pics outside and it was COLD!!

One shot shows my AWESOME purple Guess heels but there is absolutely zero blood in my goosebumpy legs so I look albino!! I also should mention my purple pedicured toenails!! I think it confused the Korean woman at the nail shop, "you sure you want purple?"

And for the record, my $15 of flowers from Kroger turned out just fine. It turns out that my Hobby Lobby ribbon looked good on the spool but was a completely different shade of purple once I used it, but since I don't worry too much about such things it didn't bother me at all.

Afterwards we ate at The Bavarian Inn (where we were staying) they have a Czech-German restuarant that is considered one of the best ethnic places in the state. The Inn and restaurant had just opened for the season the week prior and since BJ is a lover of all things German - it was a nice place to eat. The food was delicious (I had a green peppercorn steak, BJ with the goulash) but we were sure to leave room for the cake!

Umm, it was good, good cake!! It was orange sponge cake with "hummingbird" filling which is a raspberry lemon concoction. Many thanks to Sarah V. at work for turning me on to this cake shop in Springdale, AR. It was gorgeous and purple and I can't wait to eat the top tier in a year!!! We did do the traditional, let's feed each other cake thing, and we both played nicely with no cake smashage or smearing.













Though BJ does have a habit of licking my nose sometimes just because he knows it irritates me!!

After being completely stuffed with excellent food and cake, we called it an evening. A fabulous wedding, just the way I wanted it!!

(edited to add: I cannot get the pictures and text to wrap like I want. Stupid blogger!!)