wedding series #4 : brunch & salon

saturday, may 12

finally, the big day was here!  i woke up at about 8AM on saturday morning with my bridesmaids jumping on me and on my bed and singing "going to the chapel" and with a cup of coffee for me.  (if only i could wake up like that every morning...just sayin, it put me in a great mood!)  we all threw on our comfy robes and went downstairs for our three course breakfast.  part of the deal for the brenham house bed and breakfast was that we got this amazing, hot, served breakfast in the morning--and since we rented the entire house for the night instead of just a room or two, it was all ours! 

girls at breakfast--check out gloria's cheetah pjs!

the menu at cafe james. amazing food!

after we got done eating, we got our stuff together, took showers, and headed the .2 miles over to the thyme salon.  (seriously, we could have walked but we didn't want to get hot!)  we had a schedule of hair and makeup since there was only one makeup artist and two hair stylists, so there was a lot of time to lounge on the porch.  in attendance in the morning were all of the bridesmaids, including hope, the hostesses, and my moms.  both of my sisters got their hair and makeup done a little earlier and had already headed to the venue to start setting stuff up for me. while we each waited for our turns to go, we had mimosas, diet cokes, wine, and beer out on the porch, along with some music.  it was a gorgeous day and the porch was beautiful, so it was really nice to be sitting out there with all of my best friends. 

thyme day spa



hope relaxing



no pictures please!

bridal party out on our porch

after awhile, i went in to get my makeup and hair done.  my makeup was pretty quick--i told her exactly what i wanted, would look in the mirror, and then ask her to make a certain change or addition.  i love doing makeup so really i knew how i wanted it done and what i wanted done, just preferred a steady hand to apply it and my false eyelashes. 

once my makeup was done, i moved over to the hair chair to get that part worked on.  the hair girl was absolutely adorable, and it was also her birthday that day! she loved all of the girls and did an amazing job.  (she also did my hair for my bridal portraits).  she took her time with me, teasing and combing and teasing and combing so my curls would stay.  i had originally wanted to wear my hair up, but so many of my friends told me that they really loved my hair down, so i changed my mind and decided to do a half up, half down combo.  it turned out really well...i felt like a country rock star!

getting my hair done!

after my hair was done, the little flower girls showed up at the salon to get their hair done.  we didn't want them to have to get there too early because they would get bored at the salon all day.  once they arrived, they were SO CUTE with the big girls and loved getting pampered. i also put a little blush and lip gloss on them as well.

hope getting some eyeshadow

probably playing angry birds in their cute robes

later on in the afternoon, while the girls and i were wrapping up hair and makeup, gloria called me to come out to the porch to see a 'surprise'.  i think it was before i had my hair done, but my makeup was already applied.

 i need to give you some backstory to this so you'll understand why it was such a big deal.  so our friends natalie and justin were married on december 31, 2011, and immediately left for the middle east for his job. i'm talking like they left 4 or 5 days after their wedding.  natalie and i went to college together, and i had the honor of participating in her bachelorette and throwing a joint wedding shower for her and justin with gloria and their friend kelly. 

since they left in early january, and flights back are SUPER expensive, nat had to miss all of my wedding events.  she was super bummed, especially about my bachelorette party, and i missed her so much.  well, on my wedding day, in small town brenham, texas at a random salon, i got the surprise of my life!  gloria told me to come outside and lo and behold, there was natalie!!!!  i immediately started to tear up and the girls had to calm me down so i didn't ruin my makeup. i would say i am pretty hard person to surprise--i pick up on little things and i usually figure out stuff before it happens.  But i was SHOCKED, ya'll.  it was INSANE walking out there and seeing my friend from around the world standing there on my wedding day.  it is one of my favorite memories of that amazing day.

check out how shocked/excited i am:

WHAT!?!? NATALIE IS HERE!!!!!

ahhhhhhhh!!!

we are so excited!!!!

turns out, she and justin had planned a trip to come to the US for about a month, and they timed it so they would make it to the wedding. they had been in a plane and then in a car for something like 27 hours just to make it to our wedding. i was SO EXCITED they were there and had a great time with them that night. 

after that shock wore off, it was time to drive out to the venue!  we all piled back into the cars, and headed to the antique rose emporium.  i was calm and excited all day, but when we got in the car, i think it started to hit me.  I WAS GETTING MARRIED!!!

heading to the venue!

we are ready!

next up, the wedding ceremony! 

kristin