THE BIG DAY!!

The wedding was so beautiful and it went on without a hitch! While it was a bittersweet day, we're all so happy for Mark and Cass and wish them all the best. But now, it's time for pictures. ;)

                                                         
                                                                 My hair! :)

                                               Me and my third big brother. (We're not related at all, but hey. He's family.)

                                                         
                                                     Brandon helping Manny with his tie.

Mel, my absolutely stunning adopted sister and Brandon's wife. She's one of my favorites.

                                                   Lovely bridesmaids and one of our lovely hairdressers.

Miss Callie :)

The bride getting her hair did. 

                                                                   Cutie Courtney.

                                                                 Migin's gorgeous hair.

                                                   Three out of four parents and Cass's brother, John.

Sara getting her hair done by Sara. :)

Lunchtime.

                                                     The very beautiful and regal Miss Sara.

My gorgeous best friend.

My cousin Lydia refusing to smile.

                                                                  Cass's gorgeous dress.

Time for boutonnieres. We used steak knives to open the lapels in the suits.

Migin and me. :)

My big brother and me. Don't wanna let him gooo.

One of the bouquets.

                                                              About to go down the aisle.

                                                                Me going down the aisle.

Cass and her dad, Jack.

                                                                Handsome groomsmen.

                                                 My darling brother and his darling wife at the reception.

My cousin Asi (ess-ee) and my favorite little guy Julian.

Kim, me, and Migin. Kim would have fit in great with her pastel dress!

Brother sister dance, Lily and Tommy. <3 You can see me starting to cry in the background.

                                                         Olivia and Julian. Love these kids!

                            All of the decorations were made by hand. MANY hours of work were put into them, and while I am not nearly crafty enough to have been of much help, I thought they were very pretty. The puffy pink flowers were coffee filters dyed pink, glued together, and twisted to make flower shapes. I believe the idea was one my mom found at marthastewart.com.

Peeking through the handmade decorations.

Mark and Cass. :)

The wedding went on without a hitch. It was so, so gorgeous and so bittersweet, but very happy, too. Mark and Cass are a beautiful couple. While it will be odd to not have him here anymore, to not have him asleep in the room beneath mine, there's no doubt in my mind the two of them will be visiting often. It was an extremely fun and crazy day. I've not lost a brother, but rather gained a sister. Change is a difficult thing, and welcoming new people into your life can sometimes be a difficult thing, too. But this is a necessary change, and one for the better, I think. Cassandra is a wonderful girl who makes my brother so, so happy, and that's what's most important to me.

A lot of hard work went into the wedding to make it a special day, so thank you so much to everyone that helped out. Thank you, also, to all the guests who attended! It was a crazy night with all the loud music and dancing to match. I'm sore from head to toe but it was worth it. In the morning, seven girls needed to get their hair done by my cousin and her very sweet friend, Sarah. We probably used enough hairspray to destroy the Ozone, but hey, we looked good. I was thrilled with my hair, as well as the rest of the girls' hair. (Thank you Sarah!!)

Now, I don't know what's going to go on in the blog. I'll probably just start writing random posts. Check back in a couple of weeks to see if anything new is up. Thanks so much for following me on this wedding journey. :)

(Most of the pictures used are not mine, except for the ones where we're getting ready.)

The Music!

Sorry for the lack of posts last week! It got very hectic 'round these parts. There are just a couple of posts left until the big day, and maybe then I'll blog about something else. Any suggestions? :) Leave them in the comments, guys and dolls.


The music is a very key part to any wedding. Let's break it into five sections.

1. What are you going to be walking down to?

•    There's always the traditional wedding march. 
• Or maybe Pachelbel's Canon in D Major?
• Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring? 
• Ode to Joy?
• Rondeau?
• Or maybe something completely non-traditional but very meaningful to you and your fiancee. 
• I like Yiruma's River Flows in You but then Twilight ruined it even though it apparently wasn't in the movie.
• WHATEVER.

I know some couples have decided to not actually walk down the aisle, but to just be there when the guests arrive. There's also that one thing about people dancing down the aisle. Whatever you want to do, pick music that's fitting. A wedding is a very joyous occasion, and it should be fun, but please don't make it ridiculous. Take into account how serious a decision that you're making. The ceremony is not meant to be a dance party, in my opinion, as cute as I thought the idea was. (I'm very conflicted on this matter). 

2. What will you be playing during dinner?

• This might be the opportunity to play the older, jazzier songs on your playlist. While I love those types,  it's not very likely that they'll be good songs to really dance to, unless they're for slow dances or if your friends are big fans of that genre. Of course, there are older songs that can get people moving and that they're familiar with, but most people like to sing along to familiar songs that are popular and that they hear often.
• So if you have some a lot of softer songs that you'd like to play during the party at some point, play them during dinner and save some for slow dances. 

3. If you decide to, what are you and your father going to dance to?

• I'm going to get this out of the way right now. DON'T PLAY BUTTERFLY KISSES, I LOVED HER FIRST, ETC. You will have a room full of sobbing people, including you and your father. Save everyone some pain for the love of all that's holy. You can do something very sweet and meaningful without making everyone need to get another stiff drink at the bar to compose themselves. 
• A wedding is a very happy day, but it can be bittersweet for parents. Go easy on them, kids.

4. What are you going to dance to with your husband or wife?

• This, like the father-daughter dance (or mother-son, if you want!) should be meaningful. It doesn't necessarily have to be slow. It could be fun and fast-paced, but it should mean something to the two of you. Again, try to avoid tear-jerkers. People will most likely cry no matter what's played, so maybe that's kind of unavoidable, but try to not add to their suffering. 

5. Lastly, what are you going to play for dancing?

• As mentioned earlier, people like to dance to songs that they're familiar with. If you like older songs, there are definitely a lot of them that are familiar. Even if they're not, they're punchy and fun and fast and should be nice to dance to. Don't, however, fill your playlist with these. Most people listen to the radio, which is pretty much not-great-music-but-fun-to-dance-to-music central. 
• People like to sing along. If they don't know the words, they might feel kind of awkward on the dance floor.
• Pick a fantastic song to start the dancing out with, and bride and groom, maybe you should consider being the ones who start. Few people like to be the ones that start the dancing (I kind of love attention so I have no problem with this, and neither does my oldest brother - the one that's getting married). 
• Definitely have some slow songs lined up! If you have older people at the wedding, chances are they aren't going to be fist pumping to the Black Eyed Peas. Married couples might want to share a slow dance with their significant others, and your parents may not have had their fill of dancing with you. If you have siblings, this would be a good opportunity to get a dance with them in. 

I think that pretty much covers all the bases. Have a fantastic rest of your day, guys and dolls! :) I'll see you week.