Wedding Day Reflections

Well today was the day I married the man of my dreams. Lucas Bodine! The whole week leading up to it was very emotional and I found myself crying pretty often as I was sad Bromley wasn't here to celebrate with us and the responsibilities of being a wife and someday mother felt overwhelming. But with much prayer and a fathers blessing I was promised with the strength to overcome my fears and be comforted knowing Bromley was where he needed to be. We took our bridals out at the river and it was great to be all dressed up and to have Lucas see me in my wedding dress. I had my bacherlotte party with all my girlfriends and we went to dinner at TQLA followed by games, gifts and, advice. It was so fun to be with them all and I'm glad a those who live out of state came down for the big day. We did a lot of setup for the reception that day & that night was the grooms dinner. Delynn did an amazing job at putting on the party. We had a toast form Caleb and McKayli, and they both said very sweet words about us. Then we ate food and did the shoe game but with a twist. The bridesmaids and groomsmen gave us the questions to answer and they were all worth money so if Lucas and I answered the same we got to keep the money, and if we answered wrong they got to keep it. So fortunately we only missed 3 questions and got most of the money! Then we watched our love story video, heard from our dads which they have really nice tributes that made me cry. We finished the night with us both thanking our parents and family for everything and expressing our love for each other. Super emotional but a really special night. When I got home my dad gave me a fathers blessing which was very much needed and it definitely helped me get through our wedding day with less tears. I am so grateful for my dad & glad I could get a fathers blessing from him all the time while growing up and that last one was pretty special. Didn't get to bed until 1:00am that night but it was good cause I passed out fast and slept great until 8:00pm. Then I took my time getting ready and writing thank you cards to my dad and mom and brought stuff over to the reception. It was super windy so it kind of put a hold on decorating things and everything had to be done last minute. I then got my hair and makeup done by Hillary and she made me look so beautiful! It was then time to go to the temple with Lucas. As we were walking in I had my temple dress bag by my side close to the ground and the sleeve was hanging out and Lucas stepped on it and I looked at it and it had a huge black scuff mark on it. I showed the lady helping me and luckily they were able to take it down to laundry and get it out for me. Phew! Then we got into our temple clothes and did what we needed to do before the ceremony and we got to spend a few minutes in the celestial room talking and enjoying these last few minutes before we were married. It was a really special moment. Then we met with the sealer and he gave us a run down of how it will happen. We then got to walk into the room that was packed with our family and friends! It was such a beautiful site to see so many of my favorite people and loved ones! 

 
The sealer then gave us great advice and counsel about coming back to the temple often and explained that we can now receive exaltation because of this ordinance and it was really powerful. Then he did the actual sealing ordinance and I kept it together well until after I said "yes" then my eyes began to water and lips quivered as it then hit me that I was sealed to Lucas and it was a done deal and it just made me so happy to finally receive the blessing of being sealed. We then hugged all those who came and it was so nice to have so many of my favorite people there. After they all left Lucas and I got to stay in there and just look in the mirrors and hug and then I started bawling because I was so happy to be there by his side  in the house of the Lord. Mom then helped me change and we were ready to walk outside and see those who couldn't be there and greet them! 

The weather was perfect for pictures, overcast and cool, and some wind. After pictures at the temple we headed to the reception as it was all being finalized and the slideshows I worked on weren't on a flash drive that worked with PC so I got pretty bummed about that because I worked for so many hours on the slideshows to be played during the first dance, father/daughter & mother/son but other than that everything turned out great!We did the line for an hour and ended it by walking down the line and saying hi to people before it built up again. We then stuffed our face with a taco and got into the festivities. First did the cake cutting and we smashed it in each other's faces and it got up my nose. Pretty gross. Then I did the daddy/daughter dance and it was super special being the only girl and knowing this was his only time he got to do this dance. Then Lucas and his mom danced, and the Lucas and I started our first dance to "I was made for loving you" by Tori Kelly & Ed Sheeran and it was amazing to be sharing that with him. Then we busted out into our surprise choreographed routine to "best of my love" and "hit the Quan" it shocked everyone and we got a lot of hoots and hollers and it really brought the energy for everyone to come join us on the dance floor. It seriously got so packed so fast as everyone was excited to dance! We got down to a variety of songs for about 20 minutes & had a "love train" going on that the Bodine's loved doing! It was so fun to see everyone in the spotlight as they went down the aisle. Next was the marriage dance, and then I told my dad to keep my mom close by cause we were going to sing happy birthday to her and Tyler right afterwards and he let her get away. So we had an awkward pause of Tyler just waiting on the dance floor while we were trying to find my mom. So we then did the garter toss, & bouquet toss and by then my mom was found. So we had a big circle around them and all sang happy birthday and gave them a cupcake! Definitely made their day. We then had about 15 more minutes of dancing and ended it with a sparkler exit and confetti! It was seriously the most amazing night! I couldn't believe how packed the dance floor was, that was all I wanted was people to dance and have a good time and I am so happy that it happened! 

I couldn't be more grateful for everything my mom and dad and Cheyenne did to pull it all together as well as all the friends and family that helped with setting up. Seriously so so so blessed. Lucas and I then left for our hotel. It was fun to walk in and see people's reaction to me being in my wedding dress. We got to the room and you all know how the story ends. ;)  Anyways such an amazing day and I love him more now then I ever thought I could. I am the luckiest!