Friday, August 22, 2014

Pre-wedding festivities.

GUESS WHAT!!! 

I am officially a married woman.  

That's right, folks. I am off the market. I am no longer one of those fishies in the lonely dating sea. Sorry, fellas. Actually, I think I may have heard some men crying while their hearts were breaking and their dreams were shattering on my wedding day.  Alas...until polygamy is widely recognized as normal, healthy, and legal, I had to narrow my choice of husband down to just one lucky man.

This lucky, handsome, hunk of a man:

This handsome man and I drove up to Idaho on Thursday, July 17 (with my mom and Kennedy) to go get our marriage license. Thank you for finding us worthy to get married, city of Pocatello!

My amazing, wonderful, crazy brother and his darling family (as well as my mom) were up there with us that night. It was beyond wonderful to have them spend the entire weekend with us. (I love this dude.)

I also love this crazy lady who I call "mother."


Thursday evening, we all hung out at my soon-to-be mother in-law's house, where we had dinner and finalized some wedding plans.

Friday morning, the ladies in the family went out to breakfast and had a little "bridal brunch." It was nice for us to spend some time with just the ladies.

After breakfast, we went up to Lava Hot Springs! A few of our friends met up with us and floated the river. 

We had SO much fun.

My new father in-law joined us and BBQ'd for everyone!

And ohmygosh this picture is so adorable I just might cry. It's my darling niece, Aysia, and my psuedo twin nieces. I'm surprised this picture didn't break the internet, because it's so cute.

Tubes are for more than just floating in rivers, apparently. They're for playing games in.

And for sunbathing.

Also, have I mentioned that Casey is one lucky man?  Well he is. Obviously.

Our friend (who was also our Officiant) took the big little girls down the river. They loved it!

The soon-to-be newlyweds had to go together, of course.

That night, Casey's amazing mom (Julie) and his sweet step-dad (Dean) hosted a rehearsal-type dinner, where all of our family and wedding party could eat and mingle. It was great to have everyone there!!

Me, Mom, brother

My beautiful grandma

My sweet new mother in-law, Julie

My daddy and my step-mom

My step-daddy

Also- I'd like to take a moment and bring some attention to my dress - my "Pocahontas" dress, as my mom calls it. Gorgeous, right? I basically had 3 wedding dresses. Long story. But my mom said she wanted to buy me a wedding dress (because she's amazing). So we went shopping and found 2 we LOVED. We couldn't decide between the two of them, so she bought both (again, because she's amazing). This is dress number one. We embellished it with beautiful beads to make it more blingy and wedding-y. :)

The kids having fun, as always!

Love.

My new ADORABLE niece, Julietta.

Hot babes.

This picture says so much.

So does this one.  ... Ten years ago, or even 5 years ago, I had never imagined that my brother and I would ever be this happy to be standing next to each other.  Over the passed few years, we have had many heart-to-heart conversations and I love that I have been able to develop such a great relationship with him. I love this bother of mine more than I ever thought would be possible. (Love you, bro!!)

My glam squad (a/k/a hair and make-up team)

Glam squad selfie.

Brotherly love.

Speaking of brothers. And sisters. Can you believe how many new siblings I just inherited?!? This is my new family, guys. (And there are actually still 7 who aren't in the picture. Haha!)

This girl. THIS girl. She has become one of my closest and dearest friends. And I just love her. We decided that when we die, we will become ghost friends and haunt everyone.

And this one needs no explanation. She's my Ashley. My lifer. My "person." And I love her.


Casey and I were so happy to have this evening to spend with our closest friends and family. I don't know how we got so lucky- but we sure do have a lot of great friends and family.

Next up- the weddddding!

8 comments:

Sarah said...

Congrats on so many things! I'm so incredibly happy for you. You married a great guy and I'm so happy for you and your new family!

Also, being a ghost friend sounds really fun. Can I help haunt people with you? Just small stuff, like making the lights blink or something fun. We'll talk about it when we're dead. :)

xoxo!!

the mom said...

I too, want to join in the ghost friend fun. I imagine Sandy will spend a lot of time haunting grandpas....

Your post made me laugh - love your writing style. The pre-wedding festivities were truly a blast. So grateful to your wonderful new family for allowing us the opportunity to spend that time together in our own wing of the house.

You guys are both very lucky - and both know how to host and enjoy a party...


the mom said...

And I loved all three of your dresses, but bet you wear the Pocahontas gown the most! You rocked it...

Brandon said...

I’m so glad to see you and Casey so in love and having so much fun together. You made your wedding celebration a fun and memorable event -- it was awesome! It was also great to meet so many of Casey’s family and get time to connect with them. And of course I’m also very happy that we’ve been able to become so much closer the last few years. I love you Ashley! And I'm so happy for you.

Desiree said...

Ashley! First of all I LOVE your Pocahontas dress. Very lovely. But mostly I love this whole post full of love! You and Casey look very happy. What a fun way to do a wedding! I am excited to see the actual wedding day post...

Aunt Kathy said...

I love these photo's Ms. Ashley and I'm so sorry that I was unable to attend the wedding and enjoy the festivities. You have an amazing family, and I'm so happy that you and Casey found each other. Love you.
Aunt Kathy

paul said...

Looks like a great time. I hope that someday we will have a wedding celebration. I've always wanted one. We just need to put it on the priority list. I'm so happy you're happy.

Jennifer said...

Again! Another very fun time re-lived. :) So, enjoyed this entire weekend, Ashley. You, Casey, all the family and friends were amazing hosts and amazing company. You sure attract some mighty amazing people into your life!!