Love Under the Moon: Final Moments

As Mr. Coyote and I wrapped up our portraits, our officiant, Robyn popped in. This was it. I knew that we were only moments away from our ceremony. She asked me how I was feeling and I immediately blurted out, "I can't stop crying!" (And promptly started crying again.) She assured me that everything was going to be okay and that she carried a handkerchief with her at all times in case the bride (or the groom!) needed one during the ceremony. Meanwhile I had found a box of tissues and grabbed a few to stuff down my dress in case of emergency.

Fortunately, Robyn has a very soothing personality and immediately put me at ease. Unfortunately, she soon stole my groom from me so he could line up downstairs with the other groomsmen. She did however, replace him with my mom and maids of honor so I guess I can't complain.

I know some brides enjoy a quiet moment to themselves before the ceremony, but I knew I would have a similar reaction as Mrs. Bunting so the absolute last thing I wanted at that moment was to be left alone. My girls asked me if there was anything I needed and I looked at them with wide eyes and said...

"I HAVE TO PEE."

This, of course, put us into a fit of giggles as we figured exactly how we would do that in a teeny tiny bathroom with a dress the size of a small car. Thankfully Mrs. Cola already showed me how it could be accomplished so off we went. (Uhh yea, I didn't want to be alone even to pee so I totally took my maids along for moral support. These girls have seen me at my worst so I had no qualms about peeing in front of them.) I have to say it was kind of awkward sitting backwards on a toilet, but it totally worked!

While I was busy trying to pee in a wedding dress, the room downstairs was ready:

Some adorable Coyote cousins were helping pass out our programs:

The guests had started to arrive:

And the men were ready to roll:

It was time for our ceremony to begin.

*All photos are by the fabulous Upstate Photographers unless otherwise noted.*

 Miss a recap?

• I babble about being married and share our wedding video.
• We finish up some last-minute wedding tasks and pre-wedding jitters set in the day before the wedding.
• We practice getting married and then head to our rehearsal dinner where I shed my first tears of the weekend. We later wind down with our families back at the hotel.
• My bridesmaids get pretty and I get a special message from Mr. Coyote.
• I try to cope when things don’t go quite as planned, but thankfully I quickly bounce back and then it was time to become a bride. Meanwhile, Mr. Coyote was calm as a cucumber as he got ready with the dads and groomsmen.
• I finish getting ready and see an unexpected guest on my way to our first look.
• It was finally time to cross the street and meet my groom!
• We spend some time with our wedding party and then some time alone.

Love Under the Moon: Solo Photos

By the time it was time for our portraits I was beat. I had been crying all morning, I was tired of smiling and I was super nervous about our ceremony. It bothers me that you can see the tension in my face in some of these photos, but overall they came out alright. There isn't much to say about this part of the day. It was a lot of stand here, look out the window, look at Mr. Coyote, smile, don't smile... You get the point!  So I'm just going to stop here and let the photos do the talkin':

 

This is my what-the-hell-am-I-getting-myself-into face. Just kidding Mr. Coyote! ;)

We moved into the bridal suite for some more photos and I think the bright yellow walls instantly cheered me up (or just made me look better). Honestly, some of my favorite photos from the day took place here.

 

Mr. Coyote got to take a load off while the photographers took some bridal portraits.

It was right about here that I started feeling like a rock star, but it was almost time for our ceremony to begin so I took one last look in the mirror:

And it was time to get the show on the road!

*All photos are by the fabulous Upstate Photographers unless otherwise noted.*

Miss a recap?

• I babble about being married and share our wedding video.
• We finish up some last-minute wedding tasks and pre-wedding jitters set in the day before the wedding.
• We practice getting married and then head to our rehearsal dinner where I shed my first tears of the weekend. We later wind down with our families back at the hotel.
• My bridesmaids get pretty and I get a special message from Mr. Coyote.
• I try to cope when things don’t go quite as planned, but thankfully I quickly bounce back and then it was time to become a bride. Meanwhile, Mr. Coyote was calm as a cucumber as he got ready with the dads and groomsmen.
• I finish getting ready and see an unexpected guest on my way to our first look.
• It was finally time to cross the street and meet my groom!
• We spend some time with our wedding party.

 

Love Under the Moon: Portrait Party

The hour or two leading up to our ceremony are very fuzzy to me. I don't remember much except going where the photographers told us to go, sometimes smiling, sometimes exchanging kisses with Mr. Coyote, sometimes posing with family and friends. It was an absolute blur.

I know portraits can be boring if you don't know the people in the photos so I'm going to try and breeze through these as quickly as possible. We started by taking some photos just outside our venue.

I super love this photo and the way the guys are posed in the background, but you can tell it happened just after the first look because my eyes are still watery!

Eventually we moved to the side of the building for a few more shots. Mr. Coyote helped by carrying some of the bouquets and acting goofy. He kept me laughing (instead of crying!) and I was finally starting to relax. 

The posse:

The next two photos are some of my faves. I was so worried about having an uneven bridal party, but I think it worked out well! Our photographers really knew how to line everyone up so it didn't look weird.

After a while the heat started to get to us (it was a super hot day) so we moved inside the venue. The main room where the ceremony and reception took place were on the first floor, but the second floor consisted of a few smaller rooms, one of which was perfect for a few more portraits.

After the wedding party portraits were out of the way it was time for some solo shots with me and my soon-to-be husband!

*All photos are by the fabulous Upstate Photographers unless otherwise noted.*

Miss a recap?

• I babble about being married and share our wedding video.
• We finish up some last-minute wedding tasks and pre-wedding jitters set in the day before the wedding.
• We practice getting married and then head to our rehearsal dinner where I shed my first tears of the weekend. We later wind down with our families back at the hotel.
• My bridesmaids get pretty and I get a special message from Mr. Coyote.
• I try to cope when things don’t go quite as planned, but thankfully I quickly bounce back and then it was time to become a bride. Meanwhile, Mr. Coyote was calm as a cucumber as he got ready with the dads and groomsmen.
• I finish getting ready and see an unexpected guest on my way to our first look.
• It was finally time to cross the street and meet my groom!

Love Under the Moon: First Look

As I left the hotel to go meet my groom I felt like a bundle of nerves. I was so excited to see him, but was still having trouble believing that we were actually getting married! In order to meet Mr. Coyote I had to cross the street to the venue.

I love this photo because if you look *really* closely you can see Mr. Coyote waiting for me under the Franklin Plaza awning. Can you spot him??

Brenda quickly ran into the road and acted not only as photographer, but also crossing guard. (Have I mentioned she is fantastic?) Even though my thoughts were drowning out the noises around me, as I crossed the street I vaguely heard horns honking. As a true and die hard New Yorker, I remember thinking, "Seriously?! Can't you see that I am in heels and a WEDDING DRESS? Calm yo'self!" I almost felt compelled to yell at the culprits until MOH D (who was carrying my train) mentioned how cute it was that people were honking for me (not at me). Whoops.

Slow. Bride Crossing. 

Once I made it safely across the street, MOH D dropped my train and I started tiptoeing to my groom. 

Meanwhile, our other photographer Paul (who had been busy snapping photos of the guys getting ready) was capturing Mr. Coyote as he awaited my arrival. Mr. Coyote later confessed that he felt like he had been standing there foreverrrrr waiting for me. I told him that I was worth the wait. ;)

As I crept closer my brain started to scream with excitement. ThisIsIt. ThisIsIt. ThisIsIt!!! I took a deep breath, tapped him on the shoulder and...

Started to cry.

I warned you that there were a lot of tears this weekend! I couldn't help it. I was so overwhelmed and so gosh darn happy that our time had finally arrived. I remember Mr. Coyote laughing and saying, "Look at you!"

I barely even let him take a glimpse of me before I pulled him for a hug. 

He whispered in my ear and asked me if I was okay (he had heard through the grapevine about my hair and makeup debacle). I choked out a "no", but the truth is, I felt a million times better once I was in his arms.

We took a few more photos and exchanged a few smooches...

But I was starting to feel all eyes on me. Our wedding party and parents were hovering near by and I was feeling very self-conscious. Our photographers sensed my awkwardness and quickly moved us into our bridal portraits.

*All photos are by the fabulous Upstate Photographers, unless otherwise noted.*

Miss a recap?

• I babble about being married and share our wedding video.
• We finish up some last-minute wedding tasks and pre-wedding jitters set in the day before the wedding.
• We practice getting married and then head to our rehearsal dinner where I shed my first tears of the weekend. We later wind down with our families back at the hotel.
• My bridesmaids get pretty and I get a special message from Mr. Coyote.
• I try to cope when things don’t go quite as planned, but thankfully I quickly bounce back and then it was time to become a bride. Meanwhile, Mr. Coyote was calm as a cucumber as he got ready with the dads and groomsmen.
• I finish getting ready and see an unexpected guest on my way to meet Mr. Coyote.

Love Under the Moon: Final Touches

While Mr. Coyote and the dudes headed over to Franklin Plaza, I remained in our hotel suite, adding a few final touches to my ensemble.

Momma Coyote helped with me my bracelet:

I popped in my earrings:

And my two maids of honor helped me with my shoes, which led to some very goofy photos!

As soon as I was all accessorized up Brenda (our photographer) sent the bridesmaids over to Franklin Plaza to meet up with the guys. The mommas stayed behind as well as MOH D who assisted me with my dress. We had a few minutes to relax before it was time to head over for the first look, but after all of the nerves from earlier in the day I really just wanted to see Mr. Coyote. I was pumped and ready to go! Thankfully we didn't have to wait too much longer and soon enough it was time to head out. I was giddy with excitement and could not wait to see my groom.

We opened the door, started to head down the hallway and what I saw made my heart melt. No, no it wasn't Mr. Coyote... It was my grandfather.

Hive, my grandfather -- my wonderful, fun, happy grandfather -- is currently fighting a difficult battle against dementia. If you have never had a loved one suffer from this disease, I can only hope you never will. It is true when they say that it is hardest on those surrounding the person who is suffering from it. My grandfather no longer recognizes any of his grandchildren and he often does not know where he is or who he is with. His moods change with the wind and in the weeks leading up to our wedding we were unsure if my grandparents would be able to make it. My grandfather's health was deteriorating and my grandmother, in a true testament of love and sacrifice (or just plain ol' stubbornness, I'm really not sure), refuses to leave his side.

And so, I feel incredibly blessed to be able to tell you that my grandfather improved enough to make the journey to our wedding. Seeing him standing there at the end of the hallway immediately stopped me in my tracks.

Rationally I know that he did not recognize me, but ladies, I swear to you his eyes lit up when he saw me. I hugged him as tightly as I could and once again, the tears began to flow. I never told my photographer about my grandfather or about his dementia, but when she noticed how I reacted she realized something big was happening and snapped the most poignant wedding photo we have. Many of our photos bring out a variety of emotions, but I am flooded with memories when I see this particular shot. It is the only one that still brings tears to my eyes every time I look at it. It is a true testament to her skill and ability as a photographer to be able to capture a candid moment like this:

Unfortunately my time with my grandfather ended too soon and it was time to head outside to meet my groom. I dried my tears (again) and headed for the door.

*All photos are by the fabulous Upstate Photographers, unless otherwise noted.*

Miss a recap?

• I babble about being married and share our wedding video.
• We finish up some last-minute wedding tasks and pre-wedding jitters set in the day before the wedding.
• We practice getting married and then head to our rehearsal dinner where I shed my first tears of the weekend. We later wind down with our families back at the hotel.
• My bridesmaids get pretty and I get a special message from Mr. Coyote.
• I try to cope when things don’t go quite as planned, but thankfully I quickly bounce back and then it was time to become a bride. Meanwhile, Mr. Coyote was calm as a cucumber as he got ready with the dads and groomsmen.