All photos in this post by Rochelle Mort: www.rochellemortphotography.com
So as you’ve probably realized by now, Tory and I are the opposite of traditional and not at all superstitious, and our wedding was no exception. We spent the night before our wedding together (gasp!) at the Larkspur Landing in Roseville. It was fun. We watched Rudy on television. Random, I know. I thought that I would have a hard time sleeping that night, like a kid on Christmas Eve, but I slept surprisingly well.
The next morning, Tory went over to his parents’ house to get ready with the boys and I stayed at the hotel. I actually had some alone time which was kind of cool. I was half watching football (yes, we were married on a Sunday during football season, much to Tory’s chagrin), and half freaking out. Slowly, the girls started to trickle in.
First to arrive was my hairstylist, Elli, who I love (Elli, I love you!). She worked her magic on my hair (which I also LOVED). Here she is helping me put on eyeliner. I don’t typically wear eyeliner, so this was a big help.
Applying a 2nd (or maybe 3rd) coat of mascara. I had originally wanted false eyelashes but was too scared to do it on my own. I looked into hiring a pro makeup artist, but decided against it. That was surprisingly one of the hardest decisions I had to make during the planning process – do I hire a makeup artist, or do I do it myself? Who woulda thought?
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As I’ve mentioned before, I am a HUGE fan of Style Me Pretty. It is the wedding blog of all wedding blogs. So when Martha told me she was going to submit our wedding to the site, I couldn’t have been more excited. When I learned that Abby was actually going to post it – well, oh, my goodness!!! I’m completely thrilled. Go on over and check it out! Here is Part I, Part II, and Part III.
I apologize for the lack of recent posting, but I just got married! =D
It was a spectacular day and I’ll share more of it here soon, but for now, I thought I’d start with my mom’s toast. A little background info – my dad is not really a part of my life, so my mom took over those traditional ‘father’ roles at our wedding.
She walked me down the aisle, gave me away, and toasted us first. My mother is a spectacular woman, and to be honest, I never felt too much of a void in the father department when I was growing up. She was all I needed. She is strong, independent, honest, intelligent, creative and beautiful…all the things I’ve ever wanted to be. Having her walk me down the aisle was simply wonderful, and I will treasure that moment for the rest of my life.
Here’s what mom had to say to Tory and me:
Good evening and welcome! Thank you all for being here today. My name is Kathleen Smith and I am the very proud mother-of-the-bride. Also here today is my daughter Elizabeth, a member of the bridal party and a second lieutenant in the US Army and, my son Isadore, also a member of the bridal party, whose performance you just heard accompanied by Erica’s step father, Dale. As you know, the Paoli’s are a BIG family and chances are you will hear our names mentioned from time to time as a result of today’s union.
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