Our Barn Wedding

Six weeks ago we tied the knot and we are slowly getting back to normal life now. After all the months of preparation seeing everything on our wedding day come together so beautifully was awesome. I had worked hard on little details with the help of my sweet bridesmaids, then fiancé and family but it was hard to visualize the entire set-up with so many projects going on. The wedding was an absolutely amazing event and I’m hoping to always remember how happy we were that day. It was the perfect day filled with lots of love, smiles, dancing and fun. Read on for the detailed recap that might bore you but that will help us remember the day. 🙂

The weather really cooperated and we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day AND temperatures that were comfortable and nothing like a regular southern summer day. Not going to lie, I did have nightmares about my make-up running off my face and deodorant failing. No such things; all went well! 😀

Both of us not being from North Carolina we were also really blessed with how many of our friends and family spent money, took time off and dealt with the hassle of traveling to witness us tying the knot. Friends from Wisconsin, Illinois, Boston, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Switzerland, and of course Germany. I did have a heavy heart thinking of my grandparents and aunts, uncles, and cousins not being able to be there. The high price of living abroad… But, no sad thoughts on such a happy day!

Since we had been warned that time at your wedding goes by way too quickly to get to talk to everyone we had invited all out of towners to a BBQ in our home the night before. So thankful we did that and it was great fun!

The morning started with a quick breakfast, packing for our wedding night and putting on our make-up. Lots of primer! Then my sisters and I were off for our hair appointments. Funnily enough, one of the hairdressers was German so that made things really easy for my mini-sister. What are the odds!? Since our venue was limited in terms of getting ready we then all put our dresses on at home. Trying on your dress for fittings does not compare to sliding into it on your special day! The fabric felt so magical on my body and next thing you know you feel like Cinderella. Careful with those glass slippers.

My supercalifragilistic bridesmaids met us at the barn and they took over decorating and made everything look so purdy. Meanwhile our photographers captured our first look and we took our couple photos before the guests arrived. The look on Michael’s face when he saw me was priceless – so much love in his eyes. I also remember thinking that my flower bouquet was quite heavy (and sooo sooo sooo beautiful) but how that would be a good thing because my arms would look nice and strong in the photos (who thinks that?! Weird Sandra. Weird.).

In the meantime our guests were supposed to arrive in a big red double-decker bus. Welllll, that bus broke down earlier in the day and the bus charter had sent a different bus. Hey who doesn’t want a party bus with stripper poles instead of a classy London-style bus?! Hehehe. Once they were on the way with that bus Michael received a text saying that bus had broken down, too. WHAAAAT?! Apparently the thing had caught on fire!! Oh geebus! Thankfully after 10 minutes(!!!) the pranksters came clean. That second bus was just fine – however someone thought it’d be funny to scare us. Hrrr hrrr. It’s funny NOW of course.

Next thing you knew our bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle with the cutest flower girl and “Here Comes The Bride” sign-bearing boy in tow. My dad and step-dad both walked me down the aisle. I had imagined I’d be super nervous but instead all I could feel was an immense feeling of happiness. Marrying the love of my life truly filled my entire system with giddy joy! The moment was a tad bit comical, too, and probably helped everyone relax – I kept stepping on the front of my dress because we were walking in a meadow. Lots of giggling and that set the tone for the rest of the evening. Loads of fun and happiness in a very relaxed setting.

One of our friends is ordained so we were so blessed to have him marry us. Neither one of us is affiliated with a church here (and that in the bible belt! Ha!) and so we had struggled to include and pay a person with no personal ties to us as our officiant. Having Rev-Kev (Reverend Kevin) marry us meant so much to us. He really went all out when he wrote our ceremony. So special! My middle sister translated and read it in German so everyone could follow along. Awww.

Oh did I mention that I made that wedding garland that you see above our heads with lots of ribbons and HGTV on? Going to use it as decoration in our house now.

We then followed up with a German tradition in which the bride and groom cut out a heart out of a bed sheet. Doesn’t sound all that hard but usually you get either kids scissors or nail scissors. We persevered and did our first married quest of working together and stepped through the cut-off. Go us!

The guests then enjoyed champagne, fruit and cheese and a variety of German-style finger foods while our photographers took the family and bridal party photos. We were able to grab a bite of brat on a stick and chat with a few guests and then it was time for our first dance. After a lot of indecisiveness (yup, not one of those girls that has their wedding planned out to the t at age 12) we chose Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” because let’s be honest, the world becomes more beautiful when you’re in love. My mini sister’s boyfriend operated the iPod for the evening and that worked out really well. Ok except for that moment when someone plugged in “Talk Dirty to Me” :D.

After I danced with my dad and step-dad and Michael with his Mom we all sat down for dinner: A buffet of German-ish specialties including pork roast, red cabbage and spaetzle.

My mom gave a very moving speech and then Michael’s brother shared his wisdom on marriage: Every day choose to grow together! We’ll definitely try to work hard to do that. What great advice! Two of my bridesmaids got up with cute gifts of champagne and a skillet and said the sweetest words about our friendship and love. Awww! Loved it!

Later we enjoyed ourselves dancing, making s’mores over the bonfire, playing cornhole and catching up with friends and family. For the cutting of the cake our waitress surprised us by singing for us. We wouldn’t have even noticed had someone not pointed it out as she sang perfectly. We later found out she was a professionally trained singer. That explained that!! During the evening she sang two more songs. So special!!

And you would see a cute photo of us cutting the cake here but we’re still waiting for the photos from our photographers or even just a reply to my two emails to them. Ah yes. Patience Sandra, patience! It’s only been six weeks….

So then I tossed one of the beautiful bridal bouquets and my friend Caroline rushed forward to catch it. Well done girl! 😀 Michael fished for my garter and threw that at his friend Pat, who apparently is overdue on proposing to his girlfriend. It’s only been a decade…

Before we knew it last call was announced, we had our last dance on the lawn to “Time of My Life” and we got on the bus to take us to our hotel. I was so sad! It had been the perfect day marrying Remember how I wrote about poles in the bus? Well there was quite a lot of dancing by our guests and when N’Sync’s Bye Bye Bye came on Michael delighted us with a special performance. Hill-A-Rious!

And that was our wedding. We were so blessed. Such a love-filled, perfect day!

May we live happily ever after! Zee end.