Chraela,  In My Life,  Wedding

Our Wedding Day – Part 2

Welcome back to the second post of everything that happened on our wedding day!! I decided to split it into two to keep the posts a decent length. If you haven’t already read part 1, make sure to do that first. It includes all the details from the beginning of the day and getting ready. And again – this post is going to be a long one, so settle in!

Friday, February 2, 2018 – Part 2

When we left off, it was just about time to start lining up for the ceremony. I was told that all the guests were here and I was so surprised – it seemed like everything was happening so fast and I didn’t even realize how close we were. I’m really grateful to everyone for distracting me though because if I had known what time it was or how close it was all getting, I would have been panicking.

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So we lined up, I was nervous-excited but mostly excited at this point! We walked down the aisle to Rey’s Theme from Star Wars. My mom walked with Teddy!!!!!!

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He was a complete star!

Next was Lukas and Lauren, Danny and Katie, Alec and Sarah, and then Ana by herself.

I watched as everyone turned the corner and I felt like I was about to go on stage or something! Finally I turned and walked with my dad down the aisle. As soon as I saw Chris I started tearing up.

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Okay, seriously – get ready for the ugly crying photos. I cried LITERALLY the entire way down the aisle!!

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When I first saw the photos of us walking, I wished that I hadn’t been crying in all of them – but I also think it’s kind of beautiful. I was SO HAPPY in those moments that I couldn’t focus on anything else except for Chris. I didn’t even realize I was crying. I’m crying writing about it again now lol

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So anyway. My dad hugged me, Chris shook his hand, and then I was standing there!!! With Chris!!! In front of everyone and about to get married!!!! How was this real!!!

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Check out those Chris tears in that one!!!!

I literally could not focus on anything our officiant was saying because I was so happy. All I could think was how is this real how is this happening I’m about to marry Chris HOW IS THIS REAL!!!!!

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It was like the most surreal moment of my life. I WAS however paying enough attention to remember not to lock my knees – again, didn’t wanna do that whole passing out thing.

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Our officiant said a few nice words (I couldn’t tell you what he said honestly – I was so in our own little world!) and before long it was time to say our vows.

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Chris was holding our vows in his tux pocket and I wrote mine on a glittery note card…hehe. Chris went first.

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Something I don’t think anybody knew except for us at that time is that we actually wrote our vows together. We wanted to make sure they went together well and flowed nicely, and that neither of us wrote too much or too little. So we wrote them together. I’m SO glad we did this in hindsight because I think if I heard Chris saying anything half as nice as he wrote in the cards to me for my gifts, I would have been even more of a sobbing mess in front of everyone.

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So Chris went first, and he got a bit choked up at the start. He later told me that this happened because of the first word on the card – my name. But he got started and made it through with no tears. It was very sweet and I could tell the audience was getting teary.

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Then it was my turn.

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I got choked up about halfway through mine but I recovered! Chris claims that he didn’t cry during mine but I think the pictures say otherwise…

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I honestly loved our vows so much that I decided to share them here. They’re personal, yes, but we said them in front of everyone at our wedding so I wanted to share them with anyone reading this as well.

Chris’s vows:

“Kaela,
You have amazed me with every challenge we’ve faced, whether it’s putting up with my obsession with work, or staying with me even when I started drawing out my family tree after a week of dating. Even though you may not always need it, I promise that you will always have my support, through the good and the bad. I vow to love you wholeheartedly and give you everything I can; to learn from you what you need and fulfill it; to teach you what I need and hold you to it. You are the most important person in my life, and I will never let you forget it.”

My vows:

“Chris,
At the beginning of this I always told you I was afraid. I was worried you were going to change your mind. I was scared that you would get bored of me. You always promised me you wouldn’t. Today and every day, I am so grateful that you kept that promise.
You have been my most loyal supporter, my guide on difficult paths, and my best friend. You know me better than anyone else in this world, and even after that, you still manage to love me. I vow to encourage & stand by you, in the dark times and in the light; to grow and adapt with you and face each challenge together; to keep no secrets from you and be your partner in any adventure that lies ahead; and to be your best friend, as you are to me, for the rest of our lives.”

Are you crying? Because I am. And so was everyone in the audience, I’m told. I even noticed my dad cried – listen, I have seen my dad cry ONE TIME IN MY WHOLE LIFE so this was crazy!!

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After we said our vows we exchanged our rings. We were both really shaky but we got them on there eventually!

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Then the officiant said a few more words – and we were done!

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Before I knew it he was saying Chris could kiss me and pronouncing us husband and wife!!!!

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We walked back up the aisle holding hands and it was just so perfect in every way.

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And the cutest detail – Teddy had walked down the aisle with my mom and was sitting on her lap peacefully the whole time, but when we walked by him he recognized his humans and came running after us! What an angel <3

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Oh, also – we walked back up the aisle to Concerning Hobbits from Lord of the Rings. In case you wondered how nerdy we are.

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Jake had us pose at the end of the aisle for another kiss and then everyone else followed us!

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After everything was done we retreated into the bridal suite where we all literally just cried and hugged each other. I couldn’t stop thinking about how perfectly everything went, how happy I was, and how much I love Chris!!!!!!! I just couldn’t believe WE ARE MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone came in soon after us and we were ALL just crying and hugging for ages. I cried so much!! I was so happy!!

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Teddy had no idea what was going on but he was happy to get in on the puppy hugs!!

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Everyone was just hugging and crying, it was so amazing. I’m obsessed with these photos of Ana wiping my tears – they’re so beautiful. I love my Maid of Honor <3

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We couldn’t cry and hug for too long though because soon it was time for some more photos! We cleaned ourselves up and headed out for formal photos. Brandon and Ana signed our marriage license too – the most important part!!

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Jake did his thing and we took family photos first, which actually went by much quicker than I expected! We took a lot with Teddy too of course.

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I’m not going to post all of them here to respect the privacy of those family members that may not know I have a blog/be okay with me posting tons of photos of them all over it haha but rest assured we got a ton of great family photos! For now – here’s us with our officiant, and then my parents and my siblings 🙂

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Then some formal bridal party shots – I love how these turned out!

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After that we went outside to do some bridal party shots. The lighting outside was SO BEAUTIFUL and we had to work quickly to get a lot of shots but it was worth it! One of my only regrets is that I didn’t get photos with the girls in front of this because it was so stunning!

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These solo shots of me with the groomsmen are some of my absolute favorites!!

Then Chris’s turn with the girls:

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Jake got some amazing cute pics of him with each of the girls too – I’m obsessed.

Love the sibling rivalry in that last one.

And one last one with our Maid of Honor and Best Man:

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After we were done with the bridal party we sent them inside to eat and we started our couple photos. These are some more of my favorite shots of the day – we’ve already put up some canvas prints of a few of these because we love them so much!

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This shot is probably my favorite from the day. I just love it so much!! Here’s the behind the scenes involving my sister holding my skirt up in the back there haha

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We moved around to the front of the building to take some more. We were just so happy, we kept saying to each other “hey…we’re married now”!

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Next we headed inside to take some in the ceremony space! This was around the time when we realized how hungry we were so my sister brought us some snacks.

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They had these great plants inside that we asked if we could take some Survivor-esque photos hiding behind haha! This is what you get when two weird Survivor fans get married.

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We also did a few solo shots before finishing up.

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Chris absolutely loves this photo of me <3

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Once photos were done it was time for our entrance! Our bridal party walked in first:

And then cheered for us as we made our entrance!

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So we went in and did our first dance. I was so distracted that I completely forgot to change my shoes or have anyone bustle my dress! Get ready to roll your eyes at us haha because our first dance song was Happily Ever After – yes, like the MK fireworks!

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Halfway through we pulled our bridal party in to dance with us and it was so silly and fun.

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Afterwards my mom and sister took me out into the hall to bustle my dress so I wasn’t tripping all over everyone! Then it was time for dinner which was SO amazing. I’m mad I didn’t take a photo of it hahah but we had chicken marsala and London broil, both of which were so good! I’m glad we both actually got to eat because I’ve read so many brides say they didn’t even get to eat the food at their wedding…and I love food so that was not about to be me!!!! But the food was delicious, and we were both actually hungry for the first time all day so we were able to really enjoy it.

During dinner, Jake also grabbed our rings and my bouquet to take some detail shots!

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We ate our food quickly and then started making the rounds to everyone’s tables, to say hi and thank them for coming. Everyone was so gracious and kind to us and it was so great to see all these people here to celebrate us! Judging from our guests’ comments, it seemed like the highlights of the ceremony were our vows and Teddy!

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After dinner it was time for the toasts which were completely amazing!

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Ana and Brandon’s speeches were so beautiful, and they meshed well but were different in their own special ways. Ana talked about how much she cherished our friendship, and gave us three life lessons to keep in mind for our marriage: take risks, have fun together, and be grateful even during the hard times. Look how much I cried haha:

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Brandon talked about how special we are as a couple and individuals, and the impact that Chris and I have on people around us.

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Both of them were SO beautiful and I cried during both!

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After toasts we pretty much just mingled, had fun in the photobooth (which was such a hit!) talked with everyone and danced! One of the best parts of the photobooth was that each guest got a copy of their photos and we got both digital and physical copies as well. They also made us a cute video of all the pictures! We also got a scrapbook-type album where our guests could glue their photos in and leave us a message, like a second guest book! We made sure to get one of our own too before the night was over!

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Before long it was time for cake cutting and the bouquet toss.

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Cake cutting was fun because I told Chris we were absolutely not going to put cake on each others’ faces and we did not 😎

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We kinda didn’t know what to do…but you literally just cut the cake and then eat it. It was silly and fun!

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Afterward we had everyone come over and get cake and cupcakes.

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I was able to try the top tier of our cake which was amaretto and I LOVED IT SO MUCH!! The cupcakes went over well too, we had marble and red velvet flavors. We also had some gluten free cupcakes and our friends with allergies were so grateful and excited 😊

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After that it was time for the bouquet toss! Everyone lined up and I threw it and it LITERALLY landed right in Lauren’s hands – it was like a homing signal that had locked onto her or something because I’m pretty sure she didn’t even try to catch it, it just went right to her haha

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Afterwards we were still mingling and we took a lot of fun photobooth pics! At some point I finally changed my shoes also. We were over by the photobooth and everyone was dancing when I heard Bad Romance come on and I LEGIT RAN to the dance floor to dance with my girls Sarah and Ana! Alec later told me that he saw me bolting to them and got scared something was wrong hahaha

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But no, nothing was wrong, in fact everything was perfect because I was now dancing to my favorite song with my best friends at my wedding on the happiest day of my life.

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It was legitimately the most fun I have ever had in my whole life. Next time I see a dementor I am going to think of this memory to make it go away.

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After that it was a lot more dancing and mingling and just a lot of fun!

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And a few more photobooth pics too!

Before long it was already time for the last song and our sparkler exit. I was having so much fun I didn’t want it to be over – it had felt like the whole day just flew by. Our last song was Owl City’s When Can I See You Again (aka the song from the Paint the Night parade at Disneyland…) and I danced with my friends some more. After it ended I stood there hugging Sarah and Ana, just happier than ever and all of us crying and smiling and just SO HAPPY. I was just so beyond happy that all of my friends and family were here celebrating us and it was just…the best day ever. I’m getting emotional again now writing about it!!!!!

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So everybody went outside and lined up, they got the sparklers lit and everyone in position and someone pulled our car around.

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We waited for the cue and then ran out as everyone cheered for us!

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We hopped into the car, Jake got one last shot of us as we headed out, and I was crying the entire time – and just like that, it was all over and we drove away a married couple!!!!!!!!

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Until we realized that we forgot to get a room key from someone LOL so Sarah and Ana came and brought us one so we could collect our things and leave. It was actually better that way because I got to see them again! They helped us pack up our things and take off my dress, and we were on our way.

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I was so sad to say goodbye to them and so grateful for everything they had done for us. Everyone in our bridal party was so fantastic and helpful to us, and to end the night with my two best friends in the whole world seeing me off with my new HUSBAND was just…the best end to a perfect day.

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We drove down to our hotel (Coronado Springs) where we met up with Brandon, Danny and Alec, who were taking our car back to our place. Seeing them again was great too – it wasn’t originally in the plans for us to see them again but I’m glad we did so we could thank them again for everything and say bye.

We went to check in to our room and the cast members there were SO kind and amazing, congratulating us a lot and even talking about Gaga with us because I was wearing my tour shirt haha! We headed to our room, said bye to the guys and then immediately fell asleep before our next adventure was to begin in just a few hours – our honeymoon 🙂


Welp! That was longer than I even expected it to be but I wanted to put in every single detail so I can remember it always. As you can probably tell – pretty much everything went perfectly. I even remember saying at one point that I was like, waiting for something to go wrong, but nothing ever did. I feel like I keep repeating myself but it really was the happiest day of my life. I just felt so loved and overwhelmed that everyone there had come from near and far to celebrate me and Chris and our love.

For a long time I didn’t think I would ever get married and I still can’t believe it happened this early in my life, or at all! It’s obviously been some time since the wedding now and I still kind of can’t believe it’s all over. We planned this day for over a year and a half and now it’s just – done. I’m kind of sad it’s over honestly! I can’t believe it happened, I can’t believe it’s over, I can’t believe I AM MARRIED AND CHRIS IS MY HUSBAND NOW!!!! There’s so many emotions I feel about the whole thing but the biggest one is overwhelmingly happy. I am so grateful to everyone who helped us and all our guests for coming, to our families for supporting us, our bridal party who did literally anything we asked them to, and everyone who sat and listened to me ramble or cry or rage about “wedding stuff” since we got engaged. Even now, just thinking about it again is filling me with so much happiness and love – I can’t overstate just how much this day meant to me.

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And most of all I am so happy that after all that planning I am finally married to Chris. He makes me feel so loved every single day and I cannot BELIEVE I am lucky enough to call him my husband 🙂

Whether you’ve been following along with my wedding stuff since the beginning or this post is the first time you’ve heard of us (you’ve got some catching up to do 😉) – thank you for reading. If you haven’t read any of my other wedding posts make sure to check those out too, as well as our fabulous photographer who took all the pics in this post, Jake at Courage & Co Photography. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope I’ll see you next time 🙂

xo from the Mrs.!!

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