The Wedding: It's... wow.... time!!

<<<Friends, I thought it would be nice to do some wedding recap blog entries. Enjoy!>>>

On Friday morning I woke up and it kinda hit me... I'm getting married and the party is beginning NOW! I got an early morning text from Stacey telling me that her, Cameron and Alison (3 of my bridesmaids) were on the ferry and running on schedule. It was GAME TIME.... so exciting! I met my ladies at the local nail salon for a few hours of foot and hand pampering which was just what my mom and I needed after a week of weed pulling and cleaning.

(Insert picture later... can't seem to find one right now!)

After mom treated all of us to lunch I started getting a little nervous and knew that I needed to spend some time with my peeps, so we headed down to Langley to walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather. It was just what I needed.


After some girl time I headed back to my parents house to pretty up for the rehearsal and dinner. It was REALLY go time now!

Bride and Wedding Planner

Wow! It's happening!

Yeay! We're ready for this journey!

After the rehearsal (which I MAY have become a little bridezilla-ish at, but I'm proud to say it was the one and only moment during this whole process that I did so!) we headed over to Fireseed Catering for our dinner. The weather was great, the tables were gorgeous (thanks Barbara!), the dinner was delicious and the toasts were heartwarming. Geoff's dad, step-mom, mom and step-dad were very kind to also host all of our friends and family for post-dinner drinks. It was such a treat to be able to celebrate with our people Friday AND Saturday night!

Dinner with our wedding party. Beautiful people and place!

Stacey's toast was perfect.

.....And JJ's. Of course, he had to mention my ex boyfriends!

We LOVE our friends!

Good food, awesome company and fine wine made for a great evening and it was time to say goodnight to my fiance for the last time!

After a family toast, a few sleep aid pills and butterflies in my stomach, I was headed to bed to wake up a bride on my wedding day!

Up next: Make me pretty... I have to go see my GROOM!

(Thanks to Monica and Stacey for the pictures.)

My girl

Kaira came over to play today!

Disclaimer: Close family will be the only one's interested in this video!

It's official!

I'm now Mrs. Beckstrom!

The Social Security office was not nearly as much of a nightmare as I thought it would be, so that was a pleasant surprise. We celebrated our Mr. & Mrs. by popping a bottle of champagne with Nate, Amy and Amelia.

Now, do I change my blog to deedeebeckstrom.blogspot.com?!?!

Naked Lady Party

When I sent out the invite some of my friends thought it was spam....! Ever heard of a Naked Lady Party? It's pretty much the greatest thing ever... it's a clothing swap party! Everyone brings their old clothes.... whether that's your skinny pair of jeans, the old dumpy sweater, or that pair of shorts from high school that you think ONE day you'll get into again. Put everything into like piles on the floor and swap away! It's just like shopping, but at home with good friends, wine and snacks! It's really amazing to see your old stuff become someone's brand new outfit! I had about 10 girls over last night and everyone left with something.... it was great!

What's a party without snacks and wine!?

This was the "after" pic. My apartment was stuffed with clothes and accessories and then once everyone got what they wanted we had 6 garbage bags full to donate!

Best ever

I am absolutely in love with being an Aunt.... I'm not sure if it can get any better!! I love these two little ones so much - I'd give the world to them if I could. They are amazing little souls, so pure and precious.

My first Auntie mistake!

I spelled her name wrong! Let's try this again....

Welcome baby KAIRA!

Sorry sweet Kaira.... I'll make up for it by being the best Auntie in the world!

Baby Kiara!

Welcome baby Kiara Moon Smolinski!

7lbs 5oz
August 29, 2009 at 1:30am

At home birth was a success and the whole family is doing GREAT. Kiara is absolutely perfect.... eating and sleeping like a champ! I am SO IN LOVE with her and in awe of my sister. What an amazing family!

I'm a very proud Auntie!

wow!

Please don't worry my dear faithful readers... everything is okay... he said yes! :-)

It's so hard to put into words how amazing those few weeks were between my Seattle bachelorette party, the rehearsal, the WEDDING, the brunch and the honeymoon! In summary, I have the most amazing family, friends and HUSBAND and I am so grateful for all the million blessings in my life.

Most importantly, the wedding was the most amazing day of my life - surrounded by the loves of our lives, Geoff and I vowed to be each others "True North" (the theme of our wedding). It was sincere, emotional and intense. It was magical, spiritual and uplifting. It was perfect.



Dad walking me down the aisle. At the end mom joined us and they both "presented" me to marry Geoff!

Done deal! The ceremony was perfect (even with a few audio flaws), my brother Paul was a great officiant and everyone commented on how special and meaningful our vows and ceremony were. (oh, and check out that awesome arbor!)

Walking down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Beckstrom!

Taking pictures (before the ceremony) in downtown Langley. It was SO fun, even though it was warm and took awhile... I loved every minute of it. I didn't even have to force smile! :-)

Cutting the delicious, beautiful cake!


Out of all the things I was told from fellow married friends there were two things that I did NOT find true.
1, the day did not go fast at all! I think it was because we took pictures and did our first look before the ceremony, so our wedding day started around 1pm. Also, we stayed and danced it up until the last song at midnight. Also, Geoff's parents invited everyone out after the rehearsal dinner for drinks, so we were able to connect with people Friday, which gave us more time to enjoy every minute of Saturday and party it up with them!
2, we ate dinner! Everyone told us that you don't get to eat at your own wedding... HA! We had 3 stations of food at our wedding and Geoff and I ate from each station - and it was gooooood!

More updates and pictures to follow.... but that'll hold you over for now!

(All of these pictures are from my friends but I'll make sure to post some prof pictures when we get them.)

Happy Hour Shower

Lacey and Jill put together a fun, informal shower to just get everyone together, have some drinks and wish me well before the big day. What a blessing to know such great people. Love you ladies! THANK YOU!


(We are super stoked about a new blender.... our old $12 piece sounds like it's about to explode every time we use it. I think the neighbors will be happy also as I'm sure they can hear it roar!)

To-do lists

Last Thursday was my last day teaching summer school (which was only 8 days - lovely!) and since then Geoff and I have been non stop with our wedding to-do list. We have our master to-do list, then our daily to-do list, then at the end of the day we make our next day t0-do list! ha! It's really quite comical.... I even dream in to-do lists :-)

4th of July

We had a relaxing 4th of July with our friend Nicole. We enjoyed a picnic and fireworks at Shoreline park. Good friends, good wine, good times!

Sister

I helped throw a baby shower for Michelle and Shawn last weekend - I could not be happier for the two of them as they prepare to be PARENTS! Wow, how amazing! She is lookin' super hot and is absolutely radiant with her big belly. She is due August 24 and everything is going great... hopefully things stay that way so we don't have any surprises (which would mean she couldn't travel for our wedding... I can't even imagine).
Love you sis!

Porter poo

I got to babysit Porter for a short time while Piper was working out. I was in Auntie heaven; we sang, read his book, stared at each other.... and then the little guy started to bawl.... at which point I handed him over to Sitti (grandma).

Wedding planner

A little shout out to my mom for ALL the work she has done and is currently doing for our wedding. Mom, thank you for everything, I love you! (She's available for hire after August 1.)

Arbor, completed!

Geoff worked hard last week and completed the arbor for our wedding. I took pictures, video and supervised.... my help was invaluable, obviously.

Cousins!

Porter met his cousin last weekend! Aren't I the luckiest Aunt!?

Beautiful Seattle

We went up to Seattle over Memorial Day Weekend to meet our nephew Porter, go to my friend Megan's wedding and, of course, wedding plan. It was a perfect weekend. I am completely in love with Porter and in awe of what naturals my brother and Piper are when it comes to being parents. Megan was a stunning bride and the whole evening was fabulous.... we danced our little hearts out and connected with old friends. Wedding planning was successful and the plans are moving along nicely, thanks to the VERY hard work of my mother. On Friday we took engagement pictures with our fabulous photographer and are looking forward to seeing how they turned out!

California Engagement Party

Geoff's parents hosted an awesome engagement BBQ for us last weekend! We are SO thankful for Barbara and Roger and all of the work they put into the day. The weather did NOT cooperate, although I guess it could have been worse. It definitely was not a beautiful California spring day, but the rain held off for the most part and regardless everyone had a great time. The BBQ was almost 4 hours long and Geoff and I could not believe how quickly the day went by. It made us realize how much we'll have to appreciate and take in every moment of our wedding reception in hopes that it doesn't fly by too quickly.Showin' some love to my future neice/nephew.

Geoff's sis, Mo with Amelia and her corn muffin!


Mom and dad Abo flew in for the weekend to celebrate with us! Here's dad hangin' with his son-in-laws!

We ate leftover Armadillo Willy's for DAYS. Even typing that makes me feel a little nauseous.

Lebanese Horseshoes in action.


The Bride and Groom!