where do I even begin?

I've been sort of dreading this post because I don't know how to put into words how fantastic last weekend was! Jackie gave a really nice summary on her blog, so let me see what I can add. In true preferred list fashion, here are some of my favorite moments of the weekend:

• Spending time with the early birds on Thursday! The turnout at Kung Fu was way bigger than we thought it'd be, and it was so exciting to have Memphis/Colorado/Chicago/Austin/etc. all convene together in one place. And, let's be honest, I got to get drunk and get it out of my system for the weekend :)
• Friday's luncheon on the lake - Megan's mom, Amanda, and her mom did an amazing job with the food and setup, and I couldn't have chosen a more perfect way to bring all my girls together! The weather was perfect (eh, okay, maybe a hair warm but dry!), and this was the last quiet moment of the day, so definitely something to be grateful for.
• Rehearsal dinner toasts - it seemed like every single person in our wedding party spoke (+ a few others), which was so wonderful to hear! I had been a crying machine earlier that day and was glad I could keep it together during this part of the night :) Also, the slideshow that Amy made was just amazing - so well put together, great music, a lot of surprise shots (and some great photo exclusions as well). Thank you so much, A!!! I'll be sure to contact you the next time I need another thousand-hour favor.
• Hanging out at Side Bar afterwards - it was nice to narrow the crowd a little and get some better one-on-one time with people. Oh, and to ride home with Team U was pretty much the best way to end my singledom!!
• My view in the morning - Looking out the window at Town Lake, seeing partly cloudy skies, and having some time to myself was a perfect start to the day. Getting out of the house and into the hotel was an awesome idea in general, because I was able to have some peace and quiet Friday night post-bar, as well as in the morning (minus one knock from my then-fiance who crashed on the other side of the suite at the last minute to escape sharing a room with dirty drunk rowdy all-of-the-above three boys).
• The Blackhorn bus - I know it's probably a tiny bit tacky to cart your wedding party around in a blacked out bus with longhorn steers on the front and a stripper pole inside but hey, I do what I want! This was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the day, because everyone was super relaxed, it was fun to take some really creative pictures around town, and it's just amazing to look around and see your combined best friends all in one place.Totally breathtaking.
• On that note, having so many meaningful moments with friends in one weekend was incredible. I can think of every single person that I talked to and remember something sweet, funny, or just downright dumb that we talked about. I loved them all.
• Walking into the venue - after 11 months of trying to define my vision for the wedding, coordinating vendors, stretching and contracting the budget, and giving everyone countless directions, that moment could've been pretty horrific. If the details hadn't come together, or someone hadn't shown, or my ideas hadn't been executed as envisioned...ugh, I just can't even imagine. But instead, it was perfect. Insert tears here!!!!
• The ceremony - I was shocked at how "present" I felt during our ceremony. I really listened to the pastor, really listened to the reading (great job Amy!), reaaaaaaally held back tears, and even laughed. I wasn't nervous in the slightest bit, which I was pretty shocked about and still don't really understand, but I guess when you know it's right, there's nothing to be nervous about :)
• The pastor - We both really loved having "Pastor Rick" back in our lives after he led my dad's service 2 years ago. It's great when you can reunite with someone for a positive reason! We enjoyed our premarital counseling period with him, and he said some very encouraging things to us that made our ceremony feel even more special (even though just the two of us knew).
• Our ride home - We had this cool little hybrid golf-cart-on-steroids pick us up and take us to the hotel, but our driver looped in-and-around downtown before dropping us off. So we sat on the back of the cart facing traffic, beer cans hanging off the back (thanks, driver), riding past all the drunkies downtown...it was definitely...something.

I didn't leave out the reception because it wasn't a blast, it was just all sort of a consistent blast, rather than having little snippets that stood out. I also focused pretty intently on soaking in the ceremony, and after that, I just let loose and kind of bopped along for the rest of the night. After all, the most important part was over. It also felt like it was about 30 minutes long too, due to the overwhelming factor and my overexpenditure on the dance floor :)

There are so many other details I could comment on, like how much we loved our photographers and Beth, Wedding Coordinator Extraordinaire, but you probably don't want to read all that. To see more instead, check out our photographer's blog with photos from the wedding!

Some of Brian's friends stayed in town for a few days, so we got to continue socializing through about Tuesday, at which point I basically died and then was revived to watch TV (see unemployment post). All in all, I don't even know how to summarize the wedding weekend except to say that it was an incredible experience. I mean, it's SO WEIRD to have all the important people in your (and your spouse's) life in one place, intermingling with each other. There was so much laughter, beauty, happy tears, hugs, excitement, and a very rewarding fullfilment of a year's worth of work. And the best part is that we're now MARRIED!!!!!!!