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 :-)
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