What a beautiful day with Todd and Megan getting
married! It was a perfect day! We got up around 7am and started the crazy
process of getting ready for a wedding!
Karla Rauch came to do Megan’s up-do and sweet Alison Rollins came to do
hair and make-up as well—make-up for everyone and hair for everybody but
Megan. Megan’s hair looked absolutely
gorgeous—Karla did such a great job! She
was a stunning bride and just beamed with happiness the WHOLE day! After we got ready Megan and I headed over to
the Gilbert Temple where we had the “First Look” session with Claire. It was so cute seeing Todd see Megan for the
first time! They got some beautiful
shots and Aly Scoffield captured everything on video for us. The grounds were so beautiful!
It was super warm at midday, so Claire had to get very creative to
find light and shade for these shots! It was hard to find space because there
were brides and grooms everywhere! Everywhere is beautiful though, on those
grounds! Then we went in so that Megan
and Todd could meet with the Temple President.
(Megan had to change out of her dress first in the bathroom in the foyer
of the temple.) That took surprisingly
quite a while with the President and the Matron! Then, Megan and I went in
to the Bride’s room to get her all ready.
She was saddened to realize that she’d left her temple dress at
home!!! She’d washed it and had forgotten to
get it out of the dryer. She really had
her heart set on getting married in that dress.
The temple loaned her one, but didn’t have much to choose from because
they don’t rent clothes. It all worked
out though and they got married regardless of the dress she had on! It was a beautiful ceremony and Elder Fowler
(who was the DC Temple Visitors’ Center director while Megan was on her
mission) really personalized it and made it special. He drove down from Sandy, Utah to perform the
ceremony with his wife. I really
appreciated that he took his time! Then
after, he did something quite different…he had us wait to congratulate the
bride and groom and let everyone else go to give them a hug. Then he took some time after to just talk to
Megan and Todd and us and the Polley’s and mom.
He talked about the significance of the temple mirrors and some more
about the importance of eternal families.
It was quite special. We got to
give Todd and Megan big hugs and take a moment to welcome Todd into our family
and enjoy that special time together.
I’d worried about the temple part of the day being so short and
anticlimactic afterward because that is truly the most important part of the
day, but it lasts for such a fleeting moment because the ordinance itself
really doesn’t take that long. But I’m
so glad that we got this “extra” time to just slow down and really enjoy that together
and share that just ourselves with Todd and Megan. That is what I really needed so it was a tender mercy! We really like Jim and Susan too! They are super neat people and we had fun
getting to know them a lot better this weekend and at the reception! After the ceremony, I helped Megan change
back into her wedding dress and then it was out for the pictures with everyone
waiting. There were 27 Sealings that day
so there were people everywhere. We got
some more great shots with everyone and took quite a few of the wedding party,
as well. I drove with McKenzie to the
reception where we relaxed for a bit and helped Melynda with a few things. I took my heels off and my contacts OUT! Claire got lots of pictures with the bridal
party and then again with Todd and Megan.
The reception was absolutely A PARTY!!!
The DJ was awesome and kept everything on schedule! He did introductions, which was really super
fun! Bill and I were the first ones out
and then Jim and Susan and then the bridesmaids and groomsmen paired up, with
Brooke and Tanner last-- as the Maid of Honor and Best Man, and then Todd and Megan were introduced. Everyone
really made it fun and we came out to “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars! So much fun!
(Luckily we got to eat a quick bite of the yummy food before the
reception started…Polley’s, us and Megan and Todd ate right before the
reception—we would NOT have eaten during the party!) After introductions we had Bill give a
welcome and a blessing on the food, and then we had the line, which was really
quite long for quite a while! So many
people came to celebrate with us!! I
can’t even list them all! It was so much
fun! Then we had the first dance where
Megan and Todd danced to “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds. Then the Father-Daughter dance to “Butterfly
Kisses” and then the Mother-Son dance to “First Lady in My Life” by Paul
Todd—such a sweet little song! (Both of those!)
Then we had DANCING!!! So
fun!! We did the Anniversary Dance too
where the last couple standing was the longest to be married—it ended up being
Lyle and Diane Goodsell—and they gave some wedding advice to the bride and
groom and got a picture. Then there was
the cake cutting—which turned BAD!! They
really went after each other with that cake!
Oh my! It was super funny and
entertaining though! J Then Todd and Megan played the shoe game and
answered the questions almost perfectly—that was fun! Then we had the garter and bouquet toss and
then an open dance floor again where we did the Congo line. Todd’s brother David has some dance moves man! I was watching him dance all night… he was
fun to watch and he and his wife are so much fun! Then, like a blink, the party came to an end
with the Sparkler Send off and there were TONS of people left to celebrate
that! It was a LONG line of people on
both sides going down almost the entire length of Melynda’s driveway! And they did such a great job decorating Todd
and Megan’s car! They used all the cute
pink balloons from the Bachelorette Party the night before and stuffed them all
in the car. They wrote some super cute
things on the windows and told everyone to honk for the bride and groom. They wrote Just Married on the back too! What a fun day! Everyone chipped in to help clean up and we
came home with all the leftover food, which wasn’t that much! I was pleasantly surprised how little was
left! We gave quite a bit to the
Polley’s. (They took all the apples and
cinimmon caramel which I didn’t get any of… I was sad about that, but I got to
at least taste all the other food. L) After we spent some time unloading gifts and
everything else, we finally hit the sack around 12:30am. Jenell and Owen are here overnight before
they go back to Utah today…it was so great to have them here! Also, Rebecca and Anna (Tanner’s old
girlfriends—but not at the same timeJ)
are staying with us as well—they stayed here last night, as well.) They helped bring in all the gifts and are
super cute. They both have mission calls
to Japan and Tahiti.) I am so grateful for Todd and Megan—that they found each other and
for who they are! Todd is a wonderful
man and I’m excited to have him be a part of our family! What a beautiful, spiritual, fun and amazing
day celebrating their marriage! I felt
ALL of the Mom emotions! (Including
laughter… we laughed a lot! J)
Here's a few sneak peaks that Claire Waite took at the temple... (the next 3)
These next two pictures are Claire's as well...
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