Getting Hitched, Part II: Operation "Pretty"

I'm a girl. A girl who plays like a boy, doesn't wear makeup and only brushes her hair every other day. Yes, this is who I am and I doubt I'll ever change. However, for one day, our wedding day, I did change. Hair-do's, mascara, lip gloss, the works! And guess what?!? I LIKED it! Not enough to have the patience to do it every day (or even more than a few times a year, haha) but I really did enjoy being "pretty" for the day, especially since I didn't have to be the one doing my hair and makeup and I had a gang full of females to tell me what worked and what didn't, haha. Pretty tends to turn out better when I have others in my corner to see me through it.

Sunday, the day of the wedding, James and I woke up in separate houses. I stayed at my parents house and he stayed at our apartment. As nontraditional as I am when it comes to most things, this was one wedding tradition we were sticking to - no seeing each other before the big moment! My bridesmaids - Caitlin, Suzanne, Kelly and Kendall - came over around 9 for breakfast and ready-fest. Our "pretty" team, hair and makeup artist Dana Bartone and her associate Lee, were there and ready to get to work. I had my hair done first. I had a "practice" with Dana a few months before and was pretty sure I knew what I wanted her to do. Dana worked her magic and in no time she transformed my rats nest (the term my dad gave my hair when I was 8) into a head of loose, pretty curls that were twisted into a side bun at the nape of my neck. The hair flower I wore was custom made for me by an artist I found through Etsy, made to match my dress. She secured it in place and I was ready to go.

I know I look at little cranky in the second picture - I totally wasn't though, I was SO HAPPY!!

Meanwhile, Lee was working her own magic on my lovely ladies.

Next, it was time for makeup. Now, makeup is not my thing. It's not to say I don't notice a nice makeup job, but honestly, it's more trouble than it's worth if you ask me. There's nothing worse to me than waking up with raccoon eyes - it takes me DAYS to get eyeliner off, I swear! Okay, complaining aside, Dana really did do a magical job making my face look good. I almost didn't even recognize myself! She was patient and listened to all my "I don't really wear makeup" and "I don't want to look like I'm wearing makeup" comments. Anyway, she rocked it. I don't know what she did, but the makeup didn't budge all night and it was the lightest, softest stuff ever - she even used a airbrush gun to do some of it! Brilliant!

While Dana was finishing up her masterpiece, the girls worked their own kind of magic with the steamer on my dress. Curt and Andrew even helped out.

Meanwhile Dad took Summit for a six mile run to "tire her out" or so he says. Maybe he was shaking out nerves of his own because we all know it take at least 12 miles to tire Summit out even a little bit. After the run he gave her a bath and a hairdo of her own to get her ready for her walk down the aisle. Somewhere around noon Uncle Loron woke up to a house full of women preparing for a wedding. I'm sure he was thrilled.

Dana and Lee finished hair and make up for the girls and my mom. The final touch was putting on my veil. In addition to not being a hair and makeup kind of girl, I'm also not much of a veil girl, but for this veil, I could make an exception. You see, this veil is special because it's the same veil my mom wore for her wedding and it was made for her by my grandmother, Grandma Beth. We shortened it a little to go with my dress, but it was really special having part of my mom and my grandmother with me while I walked down the aisle, especially since my grandma was too ill to travel from Utah to be at the wedding. I wore the veil for the ceremony and pictures, then took it off for the reception.

We were ready to go! We packed up the cars with all the dresses and goodies (and Summit!) and headed off for Tyrone Farm.

When we arrived at the farm we went straight to the guest cottage. The boys were already there, getting ready in the farm house. They had met up earlier in the day to do whatever boys do together. I'm sure it didn't involve hairdos and makeup and probably only took a fraction of the time it took us to get ready! When we were safely in the cottage, we dressed, got our first ooohhh and ahhhhs out of the way and toasted all the fun that was ahead of us. Our photographer, Olivia Gird, met us at the cottage to take a few "before" pictures and then hurried over to the farmhouse to catch the boys being...well boys.

dress, purple shoes and the hankie mom made me (there's a polar bear on the other side)

Olivia and the kiddos

One final toast with the girls before....

What's next? Getting Hitched, Part III: Da, Dum Da, Daaaa... stay tuned!

How did we get here? Getting Hitched Part I: Practice Makes Perfect