Carrie and Justin's Fairytale Wedding

 I was so honored to spend an entire weekend celebrating and being a part of the festivities surrounding my cousin Carrie's January 12th wedding day!  As you may know, Carrie was chosen for TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress" and earlier this year she traveled to Atlanta for her taping of the show.  She ended up saying YES to her dream dress!  Following the taping, TLC contacted her and said that they wanted to hold her episode in order to film some footage of the actual wedding, before compiling it all and airing it on the show.  How exciting!

The weekend kicked off with a Bridesmaids' Luncheon in Marianna at an adorable little place called Delight.  The food and atmosphere were exactly what you would picture a Bridesmaids' luncheon to be!  So girly and just fun!

Grandma opening her gift............

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these earrings!!!

My Mom, Sister and I gave Carrie a little gift to take on her honeymoon...........

Make-Up bag with her NEW monogram on it!!

Carrie with all 5 of her BLUE eyed bridesmaids!

Aunt Beth, Carrie and Katie (Mother and Sister of the bride)

My gorgeous cousins!

 

After lunch all the girls enjoyed manis and pedis together

 

That night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner

The church was SO pretty!

Practicing the hand off

Carrie with Murphy and Bryce, flower girl and ring bearer

I loved the decorations at the rehearsal dinner as well!  Burlap tablecloths with hunting and fishing themed centerpieces.  So creative, and so very Carrie and Justin!

My cousin Jeffrey (brother of the bride) and his sweet girlfriend Sydney

 

Granddaddy said the blessing and also said a prayer over Carrie and Justin and their marriage.  It was so sweet.

The next morning the bridesmaids had to be at the salon at 7:30 a.m. to start the hair and make up process.  Needless to say, we were all dragging a bit!

Grape juice toast to kick off Carrie's big day!

I am only including this "before" picture because it's a true testament of what a fabulous job Donna and Kimmy did on me!  They definitely had their work cut out for them!

The bride getting pampered

Katie??? =)

 Beautiful bride!!!

 What a difference hair and make-up makes!

When bridesmaids get hungry......

Me and my little sister, who is NEXT in line to be married!

Such a an honor to stand next to these gorgeous ladies on Carrie's big day!

THE DRESS!!!

 

The TLC camera crew!  I asked if I could take their picture and they said "sure"! =)

First glimpse of Carrie in her dress!  SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

Doing her "thing" for the camera!

Talking to Murphy while the camera man listened in.........

 

My favorite part---the veil!

 

That's my beautiful baby cousin right there!

 

My good lookin' Aunt and Uncle!

 

Officially the LAST picture I have of Carrie Jayne Basford!  

 

The wedding was gorgeous and sweet and everything went smoothly, with the exception of a few hiccups which only a few of us will ever know about!  =)  But what wedding is complete without SOME kind of funny story to tell in years to come?!  

The guests and wedding party arrived at the reception ready to eat, dance and celebrate the new Mr. and Mrs. Justin Davis!

Hmmm....anyone see the crazy toddler trying to escape onto the dance floor and the bridesmaid crawling around trying to catch her??  Yep, that'd be me and MY child.  As I was announced and came in the door, she spotted me from across the room and was yelling "Mommy!"  "Mommy!" throughout the bride and groom's first dance.  Between dances, I quickly motioned for my Mother-in-Law to send her across the dance floor to me.  BIG mistake!  My duty as a bridesmaid to stand around teary eyed and looking pretty during the dances was OVER.  I was officially on Mommy duty now, which included crawling around on the floor like a complete fool.  With my luck, THAT will be my television debut.  Wonderful.

 

I loved Carrie's whimsical cake choice!

Since Justin is an officer of the law, it was only fitting that his cake would reflect that!  Too cute!

As I mentioned earlier, Kyndall wasn't exactly on her best behavior that night.  Because of the timing of the wedding, she had completely missed her nap that day and nothing we could do would make her happy........Except going outside and playing in/on the antique car that Carrie and Justin arrived in!  Oh, and the ever handy "pop" which you see in her mouth.

 

As much as I try to make her a girly girl, antique cars won by a long shot over wedding festivities on this night!

These pictures pretty much sum up what the rest of my night was like, until Matthew's parents eventually offered to leave early with her so I could enjoy the rest of my evening and fulfill my bridesmaids' duties.  Nonie and Poppie to the rescue!!

Garrison found his way straight to the head table and plopped himself right on the groom's lap.  Adorable!

 

 

Maybe my favorite picture from the entire day!

 

 

Next, it was time to DANCE!  And dance we did!  (Actually, I didn't dance as much as I would've liked since my dancing partner wasn't there with me)

 

It's rare to see my Dad or Michael this dressed up.  Had to get a picture!

 

I'm not sure who this guy was, but he was FUNNY!!  He kept the crowd going all night with his dance moves!

Even Grandma shook a leg!!!!!

 

I adore these pictures of Grandma and Uncle Scott dancing together.  They were having a blast!

And just as much, I adore this picture of Granddaddy who thought the whole thing was hysterical!

Unlike us girls who will take a sister down and throw elbows over a simple bouquet toss, I actually think these guys were trying to AVOID catching the garter!

Little Garrison stuck it out the whole night!  Unlike his counterpart Kyndall, who apparently needed her beauty sleep.

 

.......................Still dancing.................

Further proof that alcohol is NOT necessary to have fun at a wedding!  It looks to me like everyone is having a GREAT time!

Ever wonder what a tired bridesmaid looks like??

Me and my Mama

Cousins, friends and proud RDH's!!  =) 

 

Justin and Carrie ended the night with a dance to "I've had the time of my life" (from the best movie ever, Dirty Dancing)  It was sooooo sweeeeeet!

 

 

And they're off!  Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Davis!!!!!!

What a fun day!  I'm so thankful to have cousins who are really more like sisters that I can share special days like this with!  Carrie and Justin, I wish you every happiness as you begin your new journey together!  God has a wonderful plan for your lives!  Now give us some beautiful babies, why dontcha??  =)

Just for memory's sake, here some pictures from when Carrie was a bridesmaid in my wedding.  Who knew that just 5 years later, I would be standing next to her as she lived out her own fairytale wedding??

Love my cousins! (Side note---In this picture, Katie was pregnant with Bryce, who was Carrie's ring bearer!)

These next few shots are absolutely some of my FAVORITE images from my wedding!  Look at the determination on Carrie's face to catch that bouquet!!!

This is her GAME face!

Guess what----That determination paid off!

She caught it!  Hey look, there's Justin in the blue shirt!  For some reason he doesn't look as excited about the bouquet being caught by his girlfriend!

We've made so many great memories together over the years.  I'm looking forward to many, many more!  Love you, Carrie Jayne Davis!!  Welcome to the family Justin!  Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!