2011: Austin, TX, January

Another year, another wedding! I can tell you, this is a good idea! For our second wedding, the thing that sparked this twelve wedding idea, we wanted a small spiritual wedding in the church. Having grown up in the Catholic church, I have always wanted to get married in God's house! James is not Catholic, so we prepared for our wedding by going to a retreat and learning about ourselves and each other. We did great on our tests!! We are a perfect match!! Our wedding last year was dramatic and big and perfect! We planned every detail down to the reading (written by my sorority big sister). Our church wedding was just as perfect, in a different kind of way. The best thing about a wedding every year is that we can try it all! So far, so good!

My fabulous big sister, Jolyn, decided that she could not miss a wedding!! She hopped in the car and drove on over, she even brought her bridesmaid dress and stood by my side as my Maid of Honor! She is the best. My mom couldn't resist making these most beautiful bouquets of flowers! Here they came just out of the hotel room! I can't believe that my mom could make these arrangements out of grocery store flowers!! AMAZING!

I broke out my wedding dress and got my hair done! Somehow, the one and only day that it rained in 2011 (probably), was the wedding day! It didn't stop me! I pulled my socks up for extra warmth and got myself ready to head down the aisle with my best friend once again :-) Rain or not, it was our wedding day. I hear rain is good luck!

The ceremony was so special! A part of me was more nervous and anxious waiting to walk down the aisle this time. Deacon Jesse was with us from start to finish. He met with us for our first interview and enjoyed my anticipation and church every week! He performed the ceremony and made it work so well for James and I! The theme of his sermon was the importance of love across all people. I loved every moment! Mom and Aunt Christa did readings and other friends and clients showed their love and support!! It makes me happy just thinking about it!

Ashley had to put dibs in at the toy store! Someone had to stay and work, so not everyone could make it. She jumped as soon as I sent her the invitation and said she got to come!! We were blessed enough to have Maya and her family there as well!!

Aunt Christa came all the way down from Syracuse to be there! She is my birthday mate, and I am so blessed to have been so close to her since I was a kid! Thanks for making the journey out Aunt Christa (retirement is Sweet!).

James' good friend Jared was super sad when he didn't get to be at our wedding in Myrtle Beach. As soon as he heard about Texas, he knew that he couldn't miss it. He booked his flight and stood up with James. We are both lucky and blessed to have so many great friends!

It doesn't get any better than this! Well... at least for this years wedding!

After another successful wedding, we needed a reception to match. The best thing about a reception in Austin... Bar-B-Que, of course! I broke out my rain boots and we got ourselves on the road to The Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX and if you head to Austin, I suggest you do the same!!

Family style is the only way! You would not believe the delight!! My mouth is watering right now just thinking about that brisket!!

I don't think you have to ask why we took our wedding picture in this spot? Obviously, it was the delicious smell :-) This bbq pit is the place to be in Austin. It was difficult to get James away from the table to take this picture. I can't begin to tell you how much food disappeared off that table!!

After all was said and done, a night on the town was an order. James, Jolyn, Jared and I took to sixth street and rocked all night long!! My came along as our official photographer! We had a blast. We started out in Coyote Ugly and, as you can see, the wedding dress was a great attention getter and it didn't take long before we got on the bar! We had so much fun! Hopping from one bar to the next, you get a lot of free stuff if you are wearing a wedding dress. Once again, we had another great wedding weekend. It was a little different, but just as good. Each celebration is another way to say we are going to be together forever and love every minute!! From what I have been hearing, Vegas 2012 has a really nice ring to it. I guess we will have to see in 2012...

2010: Myrtle Beach, SC, October

James and I started planning our first wedding shortly after we gor engaged on December 23, 2008. And, by shortly, I mean the moment we got in the car to leave Norfolk CT and I started calling all my friends and family to tell them the news. By about 30 calls in, we had a date! I have always wanted to big fantastical wedding! I wasn't always sold on having a husband (always around, quirks and all), but when I met James, I was converted! I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him and three years later, he proposed! So, a big wedding it is.

My mom is the most fabulous florist around and has been for many years, so I knew that she would be my go to person! I had a vision of a circular shaped wedding. With the military and all that we had been through pryor to the wedding, James and I both agreed that it would be best to have the people that have always supported and loved us around us on our big day! We couldn't have made it through the deployments and changes and everything else without those people. With the shape of the plan decided, we needed a location which came quickly when my mom met a great planner selling corsages at the high school. We visited, ate the food, and pitched the price to my dad. And... there it was, Embassy Suites at Kingston Plantation.

They were amazing, not only did they have the perfect site for the ceremony, the perfect site for the reception, but they also made the food organized and moved the tables and chairs, set up a coctail hour around their puzzle-piece shaped swimming pool. Attention Myrtle Beach brides... this is the perfect wedding location!

Picking our wedding party was another important job! I had a tough time! There are way too many people that I wanted to be a part of my big day! I ended up choosing one person from each part of my life to "represent" that part. Jolyn represented my childhood, of course! Heather represented My high school days in Myrtle Beach, Melissa, college in Charlotte, and Kasey, my graduate school days in Syracuse. James' two sister were there to support as well!! Once I had my six, James picked dear friends and family to stand by him!

*Heather, Nikki, Kasey, Jolyn, Me, Melissa, Emily

*John Paul, PJ, Justin, James, Kris, Brad, Stan

After those steps, things seemed to just start falling into place. I had no question about flowers, considering that my mom is a florist. I had the perfect dress picked out and I had a plan for the best wedding cake... a surprise for James!

*Stunning!

*Dress from New York Bride

*My design come to life!! Longhorn cooler cake!! All edible and delicious! Hook 'em!!

We were ready to get married by early October! The rsvp cards were in and our vows were written. James and I designed the entire wedding. We prepared the readings and the vows along with many other things. I loved the sand ceremony. James, Justin, Jolyn and I each poured different color sands into a jar representing the mixing of our lives and the mixing of our families. It was awesome! The ceremony was perfect right down to my walking down the aisle with my dad to "Eye of the Tiger" and the groomsmen walking in to "Sharp Dressed Man"! We never stopped smiling... not for one minute!

*Our relationship was long distance for a long time, so our vows were letters written to each other

*I do!!

By the time the reception came along, we were walking on air! James and I decided for a themed entrance in the reception, so we all walked in to "Party Like a Rockstar". Each member of the wedding party was to dress up according to their own interpretation of a rockstar! It was great! It went from country rock star all the way to glamour girl! As far as our friends and family go, it was us!

*James and me, do we look like rockstars?!

The reception was made for us, too. Instead of getting wedding favors, we decided to donate money to charities that mean something to us. So, we donated money to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as well as Autism Awareness Foundation of Texas in the names of the guests of the "Litcher/Pennington Wedding". Aunt Christa made the most beautiful foundation themed cookies! Ribbons for CF and puzzle pieces for Autism. They looked great. The best thing about our cookies, they are both delicious and they spread information about areas that mean something to us!

*Cystic Fibrosis came into our lives with my cousin's sweet little boy, Peyton

and has come around again in 2011 with the birth of our nephew, John.

*I have had a passion for Autism Awareness and worked with children with special needs for over ten years now.

*The flowers were done by my mom, but the art was done by some of the kids I was teaching in Syracuse.

We partied the night away. We had more fun than I have ever had in my entire life and that was just the beginning. There was dancing, delicious food, open bar, and lots of laughter. There were so many people I don't even know if I got to talk with everyone! I can tell you what, I hugged a lot of people!! When we got done with that, we were really not done, so, it was over to the hotel bar for some karaoke... of course! It doesn't get any better than James' friends with microphones in hand! They are the best! Love it :-)

*The BEST wedding band!!

*Who is for a round of "Friends in Low Places"???

James and I woke up married... and tired, on the morning of October 24th. We had the time of our lives and we were super bummed that the party was over. One thing we knew... We had eleven more weddings to go! You can't frown on that!!

*Morning reflection... It was perfect!

The last hoo-rah for the perfect weekend was one more party. James and I share a love of football that he inherited from his mom. She hosted a most fabulous football party on Sunday and it was the perfect way to end the best wedding ever!! ... well, until our next wedding!

*Show 'em that burnt orange :-)

12 months, 12 weddings, 12 locations, 12 years!

James and I met in 2005 through our dear friend and my roommate, Melissa. We dated for three years and got engaged. James asked me to marry him in a sweet little bed and breakfast in Norfolk, CT. It was perfect and I said yes! Because the military was a big part of our life, we knew that we would be waiting to get married for close to two years. That meant two years of planning for the perfect day! In the beginning of the planning process, I realized that in order to have the perfect day that I truly desired, we would have to have two ceremonies. I felt that a church ceremony should be small and intimate, but with all of James and my family and friends coming, there would be nothing small or intimate about our day! Thus started the idea for this blog, a wedding a year, every year, until we have an anniversary in every month. Why not? We have two to start us off. A wedding is a reason to get together with loved ones, a celebration, an adventure, a BLAST! Why just one? What a silly tradition! It started out a bit of a joke, but as we prepare for wedding number three, it's only right to get this all down on paper (so to speak). A blog that is updated once a year, that doesn't seem like a task too daunting!

We hope that many will follow the fun!!