Pre-Honeymoon Disney Trip

Things were crazy right after our wedding, so Taylor and I opted to postpone our honeymoon until later in the summer. Instead we went to Disney with Taylor's family--- KJ, Joy, Grammy, Kara, Debbie, and Jack. We had a wonderful time visiting The Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and our personal favorite, Epcot. We somehow timed things to visit during the Flower & Garden Festival, so we enjoyed seeing topiaries shaped like Disney characters.

Taylor and I have always been big Epcot fans, and every time we visit we ride Test Track over and over. We decided to get a memorable souvenir photo and hopped on to ride in our wedding getup. One of my favorite photos ever!

Our Wedding

On March 24, 2012, Taylor and I finally tied the knot. We had a garden wedding courtesy of Susan and Peyton Lea, close friends of the McCormick family. They spent hours upon hours preparing for the main event. Decorating, yardwork, coordinating with caterers--- this whole wedding was pretty DIY, down to the flower arrangements and wedding favors. 

I am an absolute sucker for sunflowers, which fit very will with our rustic garden wedding. We used yard upon yard of burlap, hundreds of mason jars, and just as many candles. 

The weather forecast was not looking good. At our wedding rehearsal, my mom and Susan kept calling me to encourage me to change the time from 5:30 pm to the early afternoon. After realizing how many people would have to be notified, and some family wouldn't be able to make it for the earlier time, we kept the original plans in place. Good thing too---- the weather was absolutely beautiful, except for a small rain shower about an hour before everything was supposed to start. 

My wedding dress was another fiasco. I ordered a custom dress from a company in China. For some reason, it didn't fit well and looked nothing like the original picture. I found a new dress at David's Bridal a week before the event, and Stephanie hemmed it a couple nights before (she stayed up till 1:30 in the morning sewing it, after having spent all day running errands with me---- what an awesome friend!)

Taylor's cousin Jack, and family-friend Emma served as our ring-bearer and flower girl. They did such a good job, I couldn't believe how patiently they waited through the ceremony. 

Mrs. Lea's brother in law, Joe Boatwright, officiated our wedding, with Mr. Lea's help. 

The McCormick-Gast family.

The Jamrok-Keyes family.

We ordered hand-made rings from ZoeandDoyle on Etsy.com. They are made from bronze and carbon fiber (what can I say? Taylor is a big car fan, and it matches his carbon fiber watch).

I absolutely loved my dress. I made my veil myself, and added pearl accents to my yellow shoes.

Mom made my cake (like she didn't have enough on her plate getting ready for the wedding). It was a delicious combination of lemon and raspberry with cream cheese frosting. There wasn't a single slice left over.

The younger crowd had a good time decorating our car with paint pens and shaving cream. One of my uncles actually had the car up on jacks, but thankfully someone took it back down before it was time to leave.

Everybody came outside around 11:00 to wish us goodbye. We stayed for two nights at a resort near Downtown Disney before heading to the Wilderness Lodge where we spent time with the Jamrok family.