#MarriedMaitlands: Getting Ready

It's only taken me nearly seven months, but we've finally arrived at October 18, 2014 - our wedding day! Chris and I stayed in separate suites at the hotel the night before the wedding.  Neither of us slept much.  He visited with out of town friends for a bit.  I put the finishing touches on some letters to my family and reworked my vows.  Even though it was a somewhat restless night, I popped right out of bed as soon as my alarm rang.  I'm a snooze gal...so you know I was excited to get the day started!

 

I wasn't up long before my mom and some of the bridesmaids began to arrive.  The hair stylist and make-up artist (Angie Maxwell - highly recommend!!) were set to arrive around 10ish so we had a little bit of down time before they showed up.  Once they arrived, everyone began to get ready.

 
Jordan came over with his two little ones - a fun surprise for me!  And Michelle stocked us up with an awesome supply of snacks for the day!!

 

We had a brief break for lunch around noon, but before we knew it the photographers were there and things were rolling.

 
The photographers arrived around 1pm.  It was officially go time.  Everyone else was ready for the most part at this point so they were all able to help me get into my dress.  My Aunt Mildred let me borrow some of her jewelry for the big day so she came over to help me put it on when the photographers arrived.  It was so nice to finally be ready to go!

 

While I was getting into my dress, our flowers arrived to the suite.  I thought they turned out even more beautiful that I could have imagined.  My bouquet was full of red roses while the bridesmaids carried a mix of fall colored flowers.

Last, but not least were my shoes.  I was determined to wear flats so I found some really cute navy blue ones with a beautiful white lace design on the side.  I carried a six pence from London in one shoe with a penny in the other.  I brought the six pence back from my graduate adventures in London in the summer of 2006.  And the penny was from the year that my grandmother was born.  It was my way of having her there with me on my special day.  I also pinned her wedding rings to my bouquet.

Meanwhile, Chris and the groomsmen were just relaxing and taking it easy.  I know Chris managed to run a few errands that morning...one being a quick trip to a nearby barber shop.  Huge thanks to one of the Best Men, Justin, for taking photos during this time!

 

In just a few short moments, we would be seeing one another all dressed up at our first look...

Andrea :)