Phew. And now, by the fourth recap, we are finally at the morning of :).
But before I get to business, I want to share my new favorite picture from the day of:
If you need to catch up, here are the previous recaps:
I stayed by myself in the bridal suite Friday night before the wedding. I was a little anxious that I wouldn’t be able to sleep well or would want someone there with me, but by the time I got in Friday night, I was pooped and had NO problem falling asleep.
With that said, I did wake up at the crack of dawn ready to go though :). Call it wedding nerves, or excitement :).
Morning Kiss
Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one awake. My groom came and snook a good morning kiss around 630 AM. I knew by that point on I was in for the best day of my life :).
This actually really put me at ease. I totally understand the tradition of bride and groom staying separate, but seeing Zach, even just for a second, made my anxiety turn into excitement.
Morning Run
I also have an amazing maid of honor, who may not have enjoyed getting up by 7 AM, but was totally willing to get up and squeeze in a wedding day run with the bride.
We had no real distance set in mind, but knew we just wanted to take a quick run around Golden and maybe try and check out the Coor’s Brewery somewhere along the trail.
We started along Washington, which is the main street in downtown Golden.
Let me tell you, there is no way NOT to hit a hill in Golden. We went downhill a bit to start, but had a SERIOUS climb before we hit mile one. We had a goal of hitting the top of the major hill, and made it, but were sucking some serious wind. At that point, I would have stopped and walked it in, but thankfully I had my trusty maid of honor there to push me along.
The rest of the run was MUCH easier. By the time we finished the downhill, we hit Clear Creek trail and were in for a much flatter course for the next couple of miles.
Right around mile two we hit Coor’s Brewery.
Unfortunately we couldn’t get much closer, but it was still pretty cool to run by!
Our next exciting find on the run was actually an AWESOME find:
A farmer’s market! We walked around for a second and made a mental note to swing back here for a breakfast post run.
We stayed along the creek for the rest of our run and ended up completing a little over 4 miles by the time we made it back to the hotel.
I am so thankful that Zoe was willing to go running with me the morning of the wedding. It was the perfect way to distract me for a few minutes, and also get out any built up anxiety and energy that was hanging around :). I felt like a million bucks after the run and was ready to tackle the best day of my life :).
Breakfast and the Farmer’s Market
I knew I would have a crazy schedule once things got started, so a solid breakfast way on the very top of my to-do list after my run.
Zoe and I picked up her boyfriend and walked back to the market to check out the goods. We were all surprised by how large the market was! There were a ton of fresh food vendors, food trucks, and vendors preparing fresh food. Amazing.
After a lap, I decided to go with a savory crepe.
The crepes were made to order. You could choose between a few menu items, or build your own, which is what I did. I choose egg, chicken (weird I know, but I wanted it haha), red pepper, onion and pesto.
It was AMAZING. Seriously amazing. I ate the entire thing and it got me through until dinner with the exception of some trail mix and chips (oh, and wine).
Zoe, her boyfriend and I sat and enjoyed breakfast and coffee at the market. I honestly really enjoyed the quiet of it all. It was nice for it just to be us, especially knowing that it was the last bit of quiet I was going to have for a long time!
After breakfast, it was time to head back to the hotel and shower up for the big day, which didn’t take long at all considering that I was getting hair and make up done for me. I literally just blow dried my hair and straightened it a bit after my shower, put on my bride shirt and lululemon legging, and was off.
Once I was ready, I met up with my family in the lobby while they all ate breakfast. At this point, the food and lack of sleep started to hit me…which was too be expected. I also knew adrenaline was going to knock me off my socks, so I wasn’t worried.
We all hung out until about 1130, when my Mom and I met up with the bridal party and headed up to Boettcher to start getting ready.
Wedding Day Prep
All the girls had from 12 until ceremony time to prep in the Carriage House of Boettcher. The Carriage House is exactly what it sounds like, an old carriage home from when the mansion was actually used as a hunting spot.
The space has been made into quite a useable and pretty space. Cocktail hours are often held there when weather doesn’t hold up, but thankfully the weather was BEYOND perfect for our big day.
Hair and make up started at 12 PM, and us girls just hung out the entire afternoon. Listening to music and patiently waiting for the big event to begin.
To be honest, I was really anxious about my hair and make up every since my trial run last month. I am not someone who usually wears a lot of make up, and my trial was just the opposite of “light make up.”
BUT — I just made it clear day of that I wanted my make up to be as natural as possible, and the hair and make up woman did just that. I know I don’t have any professional pictures yet, but honestly it was EXACTLY what I wanted. Romantic and natural, but something that should show up well in pictures. I can’t wait to see the professional shots!
Highlights from Prep Time:
- Teaching the mother’s and make up artist about “twerking”…and my mother eventually “twerking”
- Getting a little big of individual time with some of the girls who I hadn’t gotten to yet
- Watching everyone get gussied up. I felt so special all day knowing everyone was doing this for me
- Hearing the boys come in and getting snuck around everywhere after that. I LOVED that part :).
- The photos with my girls. I have some amazing ladies in my life, and they were such troopers ALL day for me!
The caterers and vendors all started getting there between 3 and 4, but thankfully I have amazing ladies who were doing everything for me.
Zach and I had bought each other gifts, so Zoe came and brought me my gift from him around 4, which was such a nice touch. Unfortunately, in al the craziness, I didn’t get to open it until about 430 so that the photographer would get a picture of it, so I didn’t get any pictures…but the professional ones will have to do :).
About 430 we were off to take bridal party photos all around the grounds. Everyone was starting to show up and at this point I started getting REALLY excited and anxious. I didn’t even mind that people were seeing me, because it was just so amazing to see everyone I love and care about slowly coming in.
By the time we got back to the bridal suite, it was almost 515. We had 15 minutes to show time and I was starting to feel the pressure!
My bridesmaids were kind enough to slam a glass of champaign down my little throat, and my tension was eased a bit.
Everyone except my parents and I left to line up, and for about 10 minutes I got to just sit there and soak in the moment with my parents.
That, honestly, was an amazing moment. I can’t wait to see the professional pictures from that because it was a moment I’ll never forget. My parents and I have always been really close, and so it was a once in a lifetime moment for the three of us. It was the last time that we would be a family of three, because the greatest part of this whole thing was we are expanding our family. In a few minutes, they were gaining a son, and that was pretty exciting.
And then, just like that. . . the coordinator came and it was time to
Walk Down the Isle 🙂
Chocolate Covered Race Medals 