4 Months of Marriage!

I figure that it is about time that I actually post the officially wedding pictures! Paige Eden is outstanding! I will have an extremely hard time narrowing down which ones I want to hang on our wall. If you visit, feel free to leave a comment for us or her in the guestbook! Here is the link to her official photographer's site. Password is davis (not capitalized). Enjoy!

Paige Eden Photography- Kyle and Erica

And, just for an added bonus, here are ten of my favorites!

In front of the Gore Range at Vail Country Club

At Betty Ford Botanical Garden for our first look!

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One of the famous covered bridges of Vail. LOVE THIS SHOT!!!

A fun moment for the wedding party! It was just too tempting to throw the leaves.

Another waterfall!

This was actually a spontaneous moment.

We LOVE this bench!

My favorite shot of the boys

My DG girls!!! Jill, Jody, Megan, Lauri, Kaycee, Lenny, Nadja, Sarah, Melissa, Cassie, me and Jenna

Laughing at our love story during the reception

Practice Makes Perfect?

Ah, the joys of the wedding week chaos and last minute issues. I would have taken the entire week off, given the opportunity! It was so hard to close up a quarter, pack for 3 weeks and a 50 degree difference in temperature, remember all the wedding requirements (forgot some), and get my butt to Colorado. I get the "local" wedding benefits now, but in the end I wouldn't have changed my location or plan for the world!

This post is primarily discussing the day of the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Let me tell my story!

The day of our rehearsal, my planner and various other brides gave me the advice to "escape" the family for some alone time with Kyle to de-stress. Being that Kyle makes me really happy, I figured this was a great plan. Being that he can also drive me crazy because he is so laid back, this could have also backfired. Luckily, I was proven to be calm in the face of adversity when, after the massage and little fall hike, and a light lunch downtown Vail, I got a phone call.

My officiant was terribly ill, his car had broken down (transmission), and he wasn't going to make it up to Vail for our rehearsal.

Ok, this we can work with. I begged him to rest up so that he could make it up to our actual wedding, which he promised he would! Then I calmly called my planner, and told her it was all her for the actual rehearsal. We were just meeting up in a park, and the real "practice" was the walking order and standing formation. It would have been nice to run through the ceremony and the music, and our vows, but we had a copy of the complete ceremony so we knew what we needed to do. We should have taken the time to practice the first dance flash mob (more on this later) and the toast we planned for the end of the ceremony (which got left out in the actual wedding anyway.) In the end, it all worked out although I was pretty overwhelmed and a bit stressed out with so many people paying attention to me at the park.

Kyle would explain this afternoon a bit differently:

Phone rings.
Erica: "What! Oh! Ok, well, will you make it to the wedding itself?! I guess that is the best we can hope for..."
to Kyle: "Um, omg, we totally don't have an officiant and we have to run the rehearsal ourselves!"
Kyle: "Call Johnna."
Erica: calling her mom "Ok, so we just got news that our officiant is not coming. Hopefully he'll make the wedding tomorrow. If not, at least Brett is ordained."
Kyle: "Call Johnna."

Later that afternoon, arriving at the rehearsal at the park.
Erica: "Why is everyone asking me questions and wanting to talk to me!?"
Kyle: "You're the bride. Where's Johnna?"
Erica: "Can you just make everyone give me some space and leave me alone?"
Kyle: "Johnna, can you get everyone away from Erica so she can stop freaking out?"
Erica: "Kyle, why aren't you taking charge and telling people what to do?!"
Kyle: "Erica, you are the only one who knows anything right now, besides Johnna. Ask the right person!"
Erica: "Let's just get this over with. I can't handle all the attention."
Kyle: "That's a first..."

Lesson in this: Get a planner.

Anyway, in the end our rehearsal dinner at Montauk was a lot of fun! Lots of friends, wine, and gifts for the wedding party. Kyle got his groomsmen cooler bags, grilling spice, koozies, and a meat brand that said "Bite me".

I got my bridesmaids custom necklaces and earrings to match the colors of their dresses, monogrammed tote bags, pashmina shawls to keep warm, and nail polish (which I had sent earlier).

We also presented our parents with gifts of thanks. We got Rob an authentic Buddhist prayer bowl (that rings, hard to explain but it is freaking cool) from India and Peg a strand of Tahitian pearls. We got my dad guitar pick shaped cufflinks that said "Dad, you rock!" and my mom a necklace engraved with my parents' anniversary date and then our anniversary date, adorned with the the stones for each month of the weddings, a pearl and a sapphire.

Enjoy some of my favorite pictures.

With my gift bow bouquet in front of our venue.

Kyle and Jared practicing the first dance.

With the savior Johnna, our planner

Handing me off!

Practicing in the park- with the most beautiful of backdrops!

Speech!

The Davis Kids and spouses! Nick, Shannon, Karen, Casey, Kyle, me, Brett, Anji.

My favorite picture- our Vail Gondola, which we have 3 pictures in now!

With aunt Pat and uncle Jim

Groomsman gift

Parents gifts

Happy flower girl Lotus!

Happy flower girl Rory.

My family- Bryce, Amanda, Cassie, Mom, Dad, Brian, Irina

Kyle's boys all matched for the occasion! Dave, Brian, Nick, Pat

I just love this face!!!

Gifts for my maids of honor

The necklaces were all personalized with their initials and colors.

Happy Birthday to my Husband!!

That's right... husband...

Waiting for me to come down the aisle!

Cheers! Photo courtesy of Devon Adams.

Here's to many, many more birthdays together!

The last time I was this cold...

I grew up in Minnesota. I spent 4 years in Colorado. I went trick-or-treating in a blizzard once. But I am DARN cold here in Arizona because it has been below freezing the past couple of nights. The last time I was this cold was 2 days before our wedding when we rented a pontoon boat on Lake Dillon with the family for a little R & R before the big day.

I would highly suggest, given time and budget, that when planning a wedding, you should plan a family day the same week. Family is important, and the wedding itself gives you very little time to talk to everyone who comes, so you have to pick your battles. By having a family afternoon, we got to celebrate my mom's and Kyle's brother Casey's birthdays, and we got some stress out all while catching up with out-of-state relatives in a beautiful location.

Too bad our outing involved boating in the rain and cold wind on the lake (40 degrees plus some serious wind chill). Then we got a catered barbecue dinner at Kyle's dad's place. It was really fun overall, and helped bridge the transition from "normal" and "stressful" life to "wedding" and "stressful" weekend!

Here are some pictures!

Lake Dillon Marina- while we still had sun!

Too much fun! Teaching the nephews to drive the boat, sort of.

It was SOOOO cold!!!

When we were not frozen yet at the beginning of the ride!

That white spot is a bald eagle's head!

The Davis kids!

Sunset over the lake, because the sun came out again, but too late!

Spider pig- or Kyle- but whatever it was this was how the night ended...

Starting off right!

Well, people say that romance is dead. Perhaps it is, although I refuse to believe it, but our Christmas gift does not really help the argument.

We got each other kitchen cabinets.

Wow!

So romantic.

But, in a pinch, we came through for each other and got special gifts after we had decided on not spending more money on each other. I got Kyle the newest O.A.R. Live at Redrocks CD (a romantic vacation I took him on in 2007), and he got me an authentic Indian wedding sari.

Romance is ALIVE!

To add to the romance, I wanted to share what Kyle and I did for each other before the wedding to make sure we wouldn't be distracted from the real reason we wanted to get married.

Here are some pictures of the days before our wedding when Kyle and I snuck out for some alone time.

Signing the official Summit County wedding register at the court house!

Courthouse visit! Breckenridge, CO

We got massages, then went to Beaver Creek for a short fall color hike

It is so important, brides out there, to find time to be with the one you love and to not get too caught up in the wedding itself. I remember these moments even more than the wedding itself.