8.8.14 {part 1}

When I look back on our wedding day, I can't help but think how lucky we are it was everything we wanted. We wanted to be surrounded by the people we love, with the focus on the temple, everyone dressed up and amazing food.

That sentence seems to be a lot less detailed than the amount of work and effort that went into our big day. It is so humbling to me to have been on the receiving end of so many selfless acts of kindness and hard work. I was so worried that I lived this insanely busy lifestyle I wouldn't get to do all the traditional wedding things. Like a bridal shower in my hometown, or have my all my sisters and mother zip me into my wedding dress. Or tell my Dad thank you and I love him before we ran out of the reception. I got all of these things and so much more. My entire family was up working around the clock to make it the most gorgeous party I've ever seen. My bridesmaids were amazing, my in-laws were amazing. I really couldn't have asked for anything more. 

The night before we got married we took our bridal/groomal pictures so we wouldn't be rushed. Scott flew in that morning at 10am. There was significant drama regarding his custom suit between the hours of 10am and 5:02pm, but I promised myself I wouldn't write about it. Big thanks to my dear friends at Nordy's for tailoring Scott's insanely attractive Hugo Boss suit in 5hours.

Scott carried on everything he needed to get married just in case the airline lost his luggage. It worked out that he was flying in 5mins before Cam & Kristin and their kids. So even though my parents and I drove up separate we were all standing in the waiting area together. My parents very kindly hid in baggage claim so I could properly greet Scott. It was so fun to have him come and then have Kristin and Cam come it made it feel like it was DEFINITELY TIME TO START THE PARTY! Which thank goodness because I really couldn't wait any longer. 

 Lisa came over to do my hair and in the midst of the crazy. My sisters zipped me into my dress, touched up my makeup and wrapped me in a bedsheet to put me in the car so nothing would get messed up. There was this quiet moment of sisterhood that I will cherish forever.

Mom drove me and Alyssa to the Temple and I held her hand the entire way. A tradition of ours we've had since I was a little girl. Alyssa coordinated Scott, the videographer, and photographer to stage the first look. Scott had moved to Texas the month before and I had barely had an hour with him. It took a lot to take real pictures and not just kiss a lot (sorry mom).

Bridals/Groomals were absolutely incredible. I was partially worried we were going to look silly because we were completely giddy to be together again. All of our pictures we were laughing or grinning ear to ear. It was such a dream to get to spend that time together.

 I gave Scott a little present at the airport to wear for pictures and the wedding. I got him a Fossil watch from Nordy's. I thought with all the treats I was getting being the bride he needed something a little fancy. He wears it everyday now, it makes me so happy. I bet this is one of those things we'll keep in the family forever. It always puts a smile on my face when I see him wearing it.

First Look

Some more favorites

 I mean. YUM. Oh I'm so glad he's mine forever.

This was another one of those moments that you dream about and are so grateful for. I'm sure my Mom was exhausted from sewing around the clock, and she made time to be there when we took our bridal pictures. I hope that one day I'm as incredible as she is. 

I had 100+ lace covered buttons hand sewn onto my gown so that the buttons would go all the way to the end of the train. It was everything I've ever wanted. 

The pearls I wore were my late Grandma McGuire's. Almost every McGuire bride has worn these. Including my mother and two married sisters. It meant so much to me to be able to have a piece of her with me that day.

Mhmm. Yeah I'll marry you. 

After pictures we went through the Kneaders drive-thru for treats. Which was kinda hilarious, because even in my wedding dress I wanted to check on work. oops. 

but really we needed some serious sugar for the next 24hrs. 

Note the bed sheet on the seat.


More coming in part two. 

Bridesmaid dresses

Hey Mom,

Just wanted to give you a heads up that I met a really cute boy and we're getting married, and I want to throw the event of the year.

ps. Do you mind sewing bridesmaid dresses out of silk chiffon for my closest friends?

pps. There's only nine.

love, Jess



I mean, the conversation didn't quite go like that, but it definitely escalated into that.  We pinky promised when I was 13 we wouldn't make my wedding dress, I don't think making all the bridesmaid dresses were any easier, but OH they were stunning.

I had a color palette in mind, and we looked everywhere for the dresses I was dreaming of. It turned into sending pictures back and forth with my Mom and then we decided it would be best to make them. We realized quickly finding the silk chiffon fabric in the colors we wanted was no easy task.

That is until we found out Mood Fabrics ships! Project Runway fans will know what I'm talking about. Designer fabric in the most gorgeous colors you can dream of. My littlest sister was my maid of honor and started in her own shade of green, then my four girlfriends would be a lighter green, my two married sisters would be in Pesto, and Scott's two sisters would be in Eggplant to accent the greens.

Oh and did I mention my bridesmaids lived in four different states? She enlisted the help of her friend Mindy, a costume designer and seamstress wizard and skyped Mindy in to help with fittings. Mom made mock bodices and mailed them to the bridesmaids and did skype fittings while faithful husbands pinned and marked the dresses. I have never seen something so incredible. 

Oh and she made Lillie's dress too, and sewed lace from my Grandma McGuire onto my temple dress. 

She's incredible. 

There was a lot of twirling happening :)  

 The green we picked out for Alyssa was too granny smith apple, so we pulled a Kate Middleton and put her in ivory and made her sash out of a little fabric left over from Lillie's dress. She's a knockout.

Dream come true to be standing with all of these gorgeous ladies.

We made a victory tunnel for her to celebrate. Have you ever seen such gorgeous dresses?

 It couldn't have been more perfect. Thank you Momma, I love you!

Bachelorette Party

I have the best girlfriends, it's no surprise I ended up with 9 bridesmaids. My dear friends Hilary and Hannah threw the party. We had it at my little red-brick house and it was so perfect. Hilary and I met as babies while our parents were going to BYU and Hannah and I became instant best friends during my Denver/College days. She moved out to Utah just a few weeks after I met Scott and we got to live together while I was engaged. So basically it was a non-stop party living together. 

They planned wonderful games and made the cutest spread of desserts. My close girlfriends and cousins came. Obviously I can't write about the whole party because that breaks all sorts of girl code rules.  But a gorgeous party deserves to be remembered. 

Love you girls, thank you for making getting married such a blast! 

xoxo!

 Hilary moved in with me when Scott moved to Texas to help keep me sane while we were apart before the wedding. It was so good for my heart.

Uhm how cute are these? 

Tissue paper wedding dresses 

Miss Madi 

My dear Hannah and Hilary 

Seriously these two throw an amazing party! 

Madi watercolored this and it happily hangs in my kitchen. 

I don't know how we missed getting a picture of the whole group, it really was so much fun to get together with the girls! 

 

Engagements

So we've almost been married for six months. And a lot has happened in those six months, but a lot happened before that too. So for the sake of our family year books I'm going to back track a little. We truly had the wedding of the year and I intend to do it justice.

The morning of engagements I was trying to figure out what we should wear. Perusing Scott's closet I made the executive decision we both probably needed a few things for these pictures. Scott had class all day so I texted him asking for his sizes, and being sweet as he is. He put up with me and ran to the bathroom for sizes.

Mom and I (can we just talk about how fun it was to have my mom there? because really) ran over to the J.Crew, Banana Republic and Ann Taylor outlets. I bought Scott two pairs of pants, two button down shirts, and a navy blazer that I prayed would fit because I just couldn't live without.

He came over to the house about an hour before we were going to start taking pictures, and EVERYTHING fit him perfectly. and he LOVED all of the things that I picked, and he really loved how things fit, and he really loved me shopping/dressing for him. Which is pretty much the best green light ever. I'm glad he lets me dress him.

Lauren Noorda (my dear, dear friend) took our pictures. I love her because she gets excited, and she compliments easily. She is really good at making you feel comfortable in front of the camera, and capturing your relationship exactly how it is. We got gorgeous shots, and we got shots that you can look at, and know exactly who we are and how much love there is between us. More than I could ever ask for from a photographer.

We started at my house because I wanted to take some pictures of us dancing in the kitchen. On my online dating profile I had included that I wanted someone who would dance with me in the kitchen, and in Scott's first message to me he said that he would gladly dance with me in the kitchen. It set him apart and I knew there was something different about this incredibly attractive man.

I really really like kissing him. (am I allowed to say that?) 

Can you see why I needed that Blue Blazer? 

One of my all time favorites

and this was when I told Scott I saw this on Pinterest and it was super cute. It turned out to be completely silly, but it's one of my favorite pictures of us of all time. 

mhmm, man I love this man.