Wedding - 5-7-2011

So I am new to this blog thing.  I wanted to start off by writing and documenting the memories of our wedding, as we don't have that anywhere. Warning-- LONG POST! o_0


We got married at Paiute Golf Course, here in Las Vegas.

 Kris and I were both born & raised here, so we were lucky most of our families lived in town. Unfortunately, his brother could not make it, but they live in Las Vegas now, and we get to see them often.

We both have large families, so we didn't want a formal sit down dinner.  We knew with our group it would be a stuffy environment, so we enjoyed a small appetizer buffet, open dance floor (even though our nieces & nephews were the majority of the dancers), and an open house come and go as you please reception.

Decisions are something I usually hate to make, but for our wedding we found it easy.  We got engaged on New Year's Eve and married less than 5 months later.  We had lots of referrals and suggestions, so planning was easy peasy.  Plus, it helps when a girl secretly plans her wedding in her head for years. :)

 I did have a slight worry about who to choose for what, and who to include where.  The easy solution was to include everybody!  We had 10 nieces attending, so my mom held one as she walked out (1), which was nice, so she wouldn't have to walk out alone.  An older niece pulled two toddlers in a wagon (2,3,4). One little one holding a sign saying "please turn off cell phones) (5), and one holding a sign saying "she means it" (6). There were two official flower throwers (7,8).  Finally, two teenagers were greeting guests as they came in, welcoming them, telling them where to sit and what not (9, 10).   We had to get creative, and luckily my sister is a creative genius.

 We both chose close friends (and my 2 sisters) as bridesmaids and groomsmen.  I didn't have a "maid or matron of honor".  I loved them all the same, and just said they were all my lovely bridesmaids.  I wish I knew about Pinterest BEFORE my wedding.. I would've done 100 things different.  I never knew it was common  to do a cute "Will you be my bridesmaid?" gift.  I assumed they all would be, and luckily none of them threw a fit.  Both the bridesmaids and groomsmen were very helpful and supportive on our big day.

The day was windy and Paiute had technical difficulties with the microphone, but Bishop Coon was loud enough.  We had money stolen (we have theories), but we made most of what we lost during the "money dance".  We  (not me, but now we are "we") forgot our wedding favor chocolates that said "Kris and Kari, thanks for sharing our special day".... but I mean, who wanted those anyway?  We had cupcakes that tasted better.  There was a wonderful video our friend Emilio made that we wanted to show in the lobby where the guest book was, but again, Paiute had technical difficulties.  Luckily there is Facebook so we were able to show friends & family.  We paid for a soda bar, but we realized after, there was no one there to serve our guests - but there are worse things that could have gone wrong.

 Overall, we were happy with Paiute. There are things that go wrong at every wedding, luckily ours weren't critical, but we still held a little grudge toward Paiute.   The sparkler thing was funny.  We were supposed to walk out and take a beautiful picture in the light of the sparklers.  The Paiute worker decided to tell all my family to light the sparklers, but NOT tell the bride or groom.  We were getting our stuff,  and before we knew the sparklers were out. 

At least we have a picture of the sparklers anyway. :)

We had a wonderful videographer and an amazing photographer.. 

Tyree's blog of our wedding: http://tyreephotography.blogspot.com/2011/05/karikris-married.html

Emilio's pre-shoot of our wedding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yxkQVzUpTA

And most of all, our parents were absolutely the most loving, patient, helpful parents.  Kris' mother & Stepdad hosted a beautiful grooms dinner the night before with catered Italian food.  They were always asking how they could help, and wanting to do all they could.  My mom helped support the actual wedding, and was ever so patient with me and my planning.  Giving advice when asked, being honest, and very loving every step of the way. 

The actual day seemed like a zoo.  It went by so fast, we were often worrying about what will happen next, wanting to make sure we said "hello" and "thank you" to everyone, and before we knew it the day was gone.  We were a little sad about the mishaps, and the craziness of it all, but after we took a breath and relaxed we realized it was a beautiful wedding, and most of all, we were together.  Every wedding has flukes, and ours weren't bad!  We are happily married, and love looking at our pictures of the wedding day.