Day of the wedding. Church Ceremony

After falling asleep, rather early. Probably like at 1:30 a.m. I finally went to sleep. My Sister and I (along with her 3 girls) stayed in a hotel the night before the wedding so Edgar could have our room at my Mom's house. We woke up at 7 and got (semi-dressed) to go over to the reception hall and begin decorating by 8. It went smoothly. I'm so glad I thought about who was going to do what. I thought I was short one vase, but it was really hiding out in the kitchen area and we found out just in time for me not to panic! lol I was seriously considering running to wal-mart to get another vase at about 9 that morning. Luckily, it didn't have to happen. Then, I also wish I would have taken a picture of everything that happened that morning. My camera is REALLY picky about what batteries I put inside(totally gonna put a new camera on my Christmas list) and Edgar was supposed to bring some by and give them to my sister, so they never made it and I never got any pictures. But, my cousin did and when I finally get them from her-hopefully soon-I will post a picture. The hall looked AMAZING! I was soo excited it turned out so nice, and it was great to see my visions come to life. After over a year of planning, I was afraid all of the pieces weren't going to match. When they did, it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I got soo many compliments on everything, I wanted to give myself a pat on the back all night long. :)

Anyway, finished decorating and hanging out at the hall around 10:30 and had to rush back to the hotel because I was supposed to start on my hair at 10:30. When my hair took longer than expected, and I didn't get fully ready until around 1:30 or so...I was beginning to get nervous. I had told mysef I would be at the Church by 1:10 and that's when anxiety began to set in. I was afraid I was going to be late, people weren't going to show up, people would see me walk in through the side door...etc. But, when we got there everything was okay. The Priest came up to me and said "It's 2:03 on my watch, time to get the show on the road". I began to feel like a weight was on my chest. My knees felt like they were going to buckle beneath me and I began to breath very heavily. I even had to go PEE!!! :) It wasn't until they tried to start the music, after the bridal party began to line up, Edgar sends someone to tell me the CD wasn't working. This was the same problem we had at the rehearsal the night before. I made that CD 2 times!!! It worked in the car, how come it wouldn't work in the Church!?!??!! I was just about to say, sorry, no music just walk in-when one of my Bridesmaids said "Chad (her fiance) will play a song on his guitar. ::Cue angels at the pearly gate:: AHHHH!!! Those words were magic to my ears, and they literally saved the day. I don't know how we could ever seriously repay her. So, the bridal party was able to walk in and everything was great.

I was still feeling like OMG I'm about to seriously pass out and my nephew looks at me and he's like "okay, come on Laura-it's our turn!" The minute I walked in front of those doors and felt the wave of everyone looking at me, I began to feel a huge splash of emotion hit me. I stared at Edgar the whole way down, because I LOVE to look at the Groom when he sees the bride for the first time, it's soo emotional, and yea it was! I had to actually look away because I began to tear up and I didn't want to cry walking down the aisle! By the time I got down and Edgar held my hand, every kind of crazy emotion left me and I knew this is what I had been waiting for.....

Me, while getting ready with my Laura & Edgar 7.11.09 zip-up hoody on.

Me with my handsome nephew aka the other love of my life. I chose him to walk me down the aisle since my Dad passed away in '03 and since my Mom was no longer here either.

Michael, handing me off to Edgar.

I, Edgar, take you, Laura....

I, Laura take you, Edgar......

I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss your bride!

I proudly introduce-Mr. & Mrs. Edgar Perez!

Time to play catch up.

I'll be posting updates on what's been happening pre/post wedding and other occurences in my life. I've been busy, but I haven't been TOO BUSY to blog...I just don't know what happened. Oh yeah, that damn FarmTown on facebook. I should probably cancel it so I can get back to reality for more than 2 hours in the day. I thought insomnia would leave me for good...well until Christmas Eve...but nope-it's been hanging high above my head all week long!

Let's see. We had a FANTASTIC rehearsal dinner. I was really skeptical about having it in my back yard. But, the California family didn't complain TOO much about the heat, and everything turned out great. We had TONS of space so that worked, noone was crammed into one area. We were outside, so we could be as loud as we wanted. My uncles got a kick, and felt really special, because they got to cook the food. It was our every weekend meal-BBQ. But for some reason, everyone LOVED it! lol I actually got to sit down for about 15 minutes and eat. I lost Edgar pretty much most of the night, but he was visiting with family so it was okay. They loved our gifts, and wish I would have handed my camera to someone to take pics. Saying goodbye to Edgar that night was probably the hardest thing I had to do all weekend long. I don't know why it was just so hard, but it was. I got teary eyed when he walked out the door. Not even telling myself that we would be committing our lives to one another in just a matter of hours changed how I felt at that moment....

Here are some pics of the festivities.

Edgar's middle brother, Erick. This was taken the Thursday before the wedding.


A very crooked picture of probably about 1/5 of the people at our rehearsal dinner. By the looks of it, this is a pic of nothing but DH's family members from Cali. I wish I would have thought to take a picture of all the cars in our backyard. WHEW! lol
Our last picture as a single couple! Before we said our goodbyes.