Courthouse Wedding

We got married legally at the courthouse on June 9th, 2014..... our real wedding is still August 16th. ☺

Check out why we did it this way {here} on our wedding blog.

This is how the day went.

I woke up feeling normal....but pretty excited. I woke up pretty early....maybe because many were already busy doing some more packing for the move, my body is used to getting up early, I just was excited....or maybe all mixed together.

In the morning Patrick and I went with my dad and step-mom shopping..... You see, I had ordered a tungsten ring online & had it engrave....bad idea. Anyway, it looked aweful on Patrick's finger....it's a long story but we knew...I knew this would not work for the "rest of our lives". 

Also, I had ordered a nice white dress for this special day and it did not come in time....another story. Let's just say I learned some things. Don't buy tungsten...and paypal waits 3-5 days before they send the people the money.

So off we went into the first pond shop. Patrick tried a few on and we both fell in love with the same one....off we went to get it resized.

While that is being done we head to the nearby mall and go right into dress barn. Ladies, I wish I had lots of money....there were SOOO many modest dresses and skirts in there!! I wanted them all! Anyway, everyone grabbed a white dress where they found one and I headed right into the dressing room. #1 Ok.....not bad. #2 (Patrick picked it)....wow, nice....looks really good! #3.....nope. So as I chaged back into my clothes my dad & step-mom go to pay the dress.

Now it's time to go home and get ready.

Change, slip into dress, do my make-up, curl my hair....while I curled my hair I asked God to let it be a good hair day....this was a special day. Ladies, it worked! I have not been able to make my hair look like that since.

We got the papers we needed....everyone got into the car and off we went to the Country Clerk.

There we waited for everyone to get there. Soon we were called into the office to get out marriage license....paper work, paper work, paper work. But finally it was time to sign. Whoohoo! Last time I signed "Williams" as my last name! ☺

During this time my mom & grandma "joined" us on skype....which was super special.

Now to get this marriage legal we have to do a ceremony. I had a few choices....and when the lady mentioned the tree outside it didn't take a second to make the decision. So outside we all went.

Patrick's brother was there and was our legal wittness. Patrick's sister Hannah was the "maid of honor" for this wedding ceremony. The rest was family and soon to be family watching this special moment.

We said our vows & exchanged our rings.....me accidentally repeating Patrick's vows too....yes I was just a bit nervous.

"Now you may kiss the bride"....Patrick gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. It was special. I am so glad my dad caught it on camera!

After the ceremony we headed to the Parthenon in Nashville and took a few pictures.

Soon it was time to head to the melting pot...many were already crossing their legs by that time and were happy to get going.

Once we were all back together they brought us to our table.....Patrick had them do something special and the table had red rose peddles everywhere....I got a beautiful red rose...a melting pot teddy bear & chocolate covered strawberries!

It took us probably around 15-20 minutes just to decide what we exactly wanted for each of the 4 courses....but then our 3 hour eating started.

There was lots of talking, laughing and eating and we ALL had a wonderful time together.

Once we got home we were all extremely tired....our rings were put back into the box waiting for August 16th to come around.

June 9th will always have a special day in my heart because that day is when I legally stole his last name. ☺