Wedding Party...

WE HAD THE BEST WEDDING PARTY!!!

It's true! Not only have my bridesmaids lavished me with amazing bridal showers and a bachelorette party and words of encouragement, support, laughter, wisdom, distractions, and excitement throughout this wedding process, but they also made my wedding day so much fun! The groomsmen too loved my husband so well through this wedding planning process. They too offered Aaron wisdom, support, distractions, encouragement, and laughter and memories - if I could post pictures of the bachelor party at a cabin up north complete with guns and boys being boys, I would and you would have a picture of how close these boys are.

The pictures of our wedding party give but a glimpse of how much fun this group was!

This picture is awesome - Elsie is starting to fall apart, Shawn's face, Jack's face... excellent

If you'll notice, my brother and sister-in-law took the opportunity to make-out

From left to right: Nicole, Ashley, Kendra, me, Jeannette & Elisabeth

From left to right: Tyler, Shawn, Jeremy, Aaron, Andy & Bruce

Andy: Aaron and I have known Andy for YEARS! Over a decade! I have known him my entire life as our families have been at the same church our entire lives. He is an amazing servant! So willing to help, to listen, to relate to wedding stress and offer to do anything to help us. He and his wife are so fun and we love them so much! So thankful for Andy!

Shawn: I'm going to write a TON of stuff about Shawn in my post about our families part in this wedding, but I'll say it here too, my big brother is amazing! I think he was as excited about Aaron and I dating as we were. He was talking about our wedding before Aaron and I had actually gone out on an official first date! I think the fact that I made his best friend is ACTUAL brother gave him more joy than anything.

Jeremy:He has been in my life from the time I was born. He and his sister Kendra (also a bridesmaid) were Shawn and my closest friends from the time we could speak. Aaron and Jeremy share a relationship that involves the deep things on their hearts and minds. He and his wife are such a sweet couple and we are so excited to meet their little Leah here shortly!

Bruce: When Aaron talks about Bruce, there is a deep respect and so much appreciation in his voice for this man. Bruce is an amazing man... once of those men who does and knows and remembers everything. He is a man of great influence and I am incredibly grateful for his influence on our marriage. Bruce and his wife Janet did our premarital counseling. They are wise, patient, understanding, fun to laugh with, refreshingly candid and open about their marriage the things God has taught them through their man years. We love and appreciate them beyond words!

Tyler: Again, I will gush and gush about Tyler in the family post tomorrow, but I will say here that I saw something stir in Tyler throughout this wedding planning and celebrating that makes my heart so happy! It was so incredibly awesome to see him be apart of this group of groomsmen and no longer be mine or Shawn's little brother, but to be one of the men. He was so sweet to listen to my yammering on about Wedding planning when I would visit him where he works at Target. He was so excited for all the guy events! I love that Aaron and Tyler have developed a real friendship and brotherhood.

 Kendra: Kendra and I have known each other our entire lives. Most of the major events in my life, Kendra was there. It is such a blessing that we ended up getting married in the same year and being each other's maid/matron of honor. Kendra is solely responsible for the flowers being so beautiful! She did all the bouquets, boutonnieres, and did the mock up for the centerpieces that our helpers executed beautifully! I loved that she was standing next to me, with me all day, and that our friendship will continue!

Nicole: My sister in law as always is one of the wisest people I know. She is so incredibly confident and gives awesome advice. I will talk about her too on my family post, but I just can't say enough how much I love and respect her. I love that she was excited all day! Every time I had a thought, she was always 2 steps ahead of me. She continually was watching me an anticipating my needs and moods and was the constant servant. Since I have been married, she is the person I sit and talk with. She listens to my thoughts and funny stories about learning to be a wife and loves me and protects me and challenges me with such wisdom.

Elisabeth: Elisabeth is one of the most fun people I know. We were in Kendra's wedding together earlier in the year and while as one of my very best friends, I already knew she was a blast, but at a wedding she is awesome! She kept everyone laughing and that was exactly what I needed! I love having her friendship! I love that she was apart of my day. I am so thankful with her being so present with me on this journey and welcoming Aaron into some of our hang out times. She is amazing!

Jeannette: Jeannette knows about weddings! She took a lot of questions from me about anything and everything for planning this wedding and when it came to the big day she was the one reminding me what the most important thing of the day was - becoming Aaron's wife. She was level headed and focused and she even helped me in the bathroom with my dress. She is a good friend. She also was the person keeping us on point during the reception. Her and Dave, our MC, were an amazing team! They created an amazing flow to the reception, allowing flexibility for making sure it wasn't too rushed or drag too much. She also was always a few steps ahead of me checking whether we were ready to cut the cake or to leave the reception. I would not have made it through my reception without her!

Ashley: I LOVED having Ashley in my wedding party. She fit so well with the rest of the girls and I am so glad that the friendships have continued passed my wedding. She was on the dance floor laughing with my bridesmaids. Some of the most fun pictures of my wedding were of all of them having a blast together. She is funny and sarcastic and makes me laugh so much with her refreshing straight forward humor. I just think she is incredible and strong and so much fun!

Then there were our Flower Girls and our Ring Bearer! I have come to LOVE the unpredictability of kids in a wedding party... and my Flower Girls and Ring Bearer did not disappoint.

Me, Emolyn & Elsie - my beautiful nieces

Aaron & Jack - a family friend

This picture is hilarious!

Let's start with Emolyn... she was BORN FOR THIS! The consummate professional, it was as if her whole life had led to this day and being a flower girl. I loved the way she stayed close to my side and wanted to look at my dress and my wedding rings. I love that she got manicures and pedicured with us the Thursday before the wedding and came to the family bridal shower like a real lady. She is the sweetest, funniest, smartest, and diarmingly wise little girl I know!

Next is Elsie - She is the wildcard! I was not sure if at 2 years old she was going to be able to focus long enough to get down the aisle, but I so much wanted her to be apart of my day. Other people warned me the unpredictability of a 2 year old flower girl, but I figured that other than tears and a tantrum, I didn't care how she got down the aisle. If she wanted to yell and laugh and run the whole way down it would make a good story and a cute photo op! She was amazing though! Aside from the melt downs during some of the group photos (the girl doesn't like to stay still too long), she was the joyful, funny Elsie I know! She was such a ham most of the time too. She walked down the aisle perfectly (mainly because she just follows whatever Emolyn does) and during the ceremony she stuck to the corner of the yard with her other Aunt Michelle and played with toys and ate goldfish crackers.

Lastly is Jack - who made for one of the best moments of our wedding! Such a shy boy, I was so thankful that he even made it down the aisle at all with all those people! What a handsome little boy huh?! Those shoes! The look on his face! The fact that he held the Bible in front of his face whenever he could... it was priceless. Also if you scroll up to the funny group shot at the top, his face is my favorite part! Such a little boy who doesn't know what to do with kissing. He was AWESOME!


I should also take this time to point out the Bible that Jack held down the aisle. Aaron and I weren't wild about a ring (with no rings on it) or a sign... so we were undecided about what Jack would carry until my mom suggested my Aunt Patty's childhood Bible that she has had. My Aunt Patty was my dad's only sister and she was killed in a car accident when she was 18 years old. I have had her Bible since I was little and it is the sweetest white Bible!

The sweeter part of the story is when my mom found it and opened it up, we discovered it was a gift to Patty from her older brother, my Uncle Barry who passed away several years ago from cancer. It was like they were both represented at the wedding in that little Bible.

First Glance...

This was the moment... the moment I had waited and dreamed of! For a long time I wanted to hold off on seeing my husband until I officially walked down the aisle next to my dad and surrounded by our family and friends... I liked the tradition of it. But then I started thinking... this entire day was about Aaron and I! It was all for him... I had picked my dress, done my hair and make up, planned this entire day for him! So why would I wait most of the day to see him?? I wanted to just be with my best friend as much as I could, so it was an easy decision to make. I had seen brides who waited to see their husbands until they walked down the aisle and they were the more stressed and worried brides... there is just something about seeing your love that gives you a calm, a relaxation. Having your best friend with you make everything better... so the sooner I saw Aaron the better!

I still liked the thoughts of walking down the aisle to him, so Sandy had all the decorators and set up people move away from the backyard so it was just Aaron and I (and Kelsie and Sarah our photographers).

Before I show you Aaron and mine's first look - here is what the boys had been up to - As I said in the previous post, the boys were getting ready in the basement. This was a dream come true for Aaron and his guys - a fully finished basement with a big screen TV (to watch a bit of the Georgia football game), comfy couches... and a pool table!

Andy, Aaron and Jeremy

Look at that hansom man!

So after the last hair pin was placed, my shoes were laced up, my dress was zipped up and buttoned, I was ready to see him...

I cannot tell you the emotions I felt in seeing him at the end of the aisle

Love this picture of Aaron just moments before he saw me

 As I walked across the backyard and down the aisle to him, his back was turned until I got half way down the aisle and Kelsie told him he could turn around

All is right with the world

Kelsie had told us we could take as much time as we needed to talk and just look at each other... I think we took about 20 minutes... 20 of the sweetest minutes of my like...

Showing him my dress.

For months I had been dropping hints of what it looked like - things like "picture a sunset - like orange and pink" or "think puffy sleeves". When Aaron finally saw my dress he said that it was pretty much exactly how he pictured me all along :)

We sat in the front row laughing and talking and catching each other up on the day and just reveling in the moment and what this day was. Finally we turned to Kelsie and Sarah as if we had forgotten they were even there and were ready to start taking the real pictures.

The shoes - recognize the Sseko shoes?

the rings

And now is when I gush about my photographer!!! Most of you reading this probably know Kelsie (I do not have a wide following - ha!) but if you don't know Kelsie, she is beyond phenomenal!!! So talented! So sweet! She makes you feel so comfortable and effortless! She has great photo ideas and catches the most amazing moments! I could not be happier with my photos and get emotional every time I look at them! They are priceless and perfect!

Getting Ready

How do I even begin to retell my wedding day? Does anyone have any ideas?

I will start my saying that I woke up the morning of my wedding, not as a blissful, peaceful, worry free bride... because I didn't. Instead I woke up to a panic attack. I literally laid in my bed nearly hyperventilating over all the thoughts running through my head -
Do we have enough linens?
What if the music and sound doesn't work?
What if people are late?
What if something unforeseen goes wrong?

After allow each thought to come into focus in my head and quickly be replaced by the next crazy thought, I started to pray... really really hard. I tried to trust God that everything would be wonderful! I did this for probably 20 minutes until I was ready to sit up. I then grabbed my bible and started reading through it. I don't even remember what I read, but with each word, the stress melted away. This is how my mom found me, sitting on the guest bed, reading my bible. I guess I could boast that I started my morning as a Godly woman reading God's word, but since I just admitted I allowed myself an hour of a panic attack before the thought of prayer even entered my mind, I don't have a ton to boast about. ha!

I had stayed at my parents house for the night and it was nice having it just be me and my parents and younger brother. My parents left early to take a load of decorations over to the venue and start helping people set up. My younger brother Tyler left soon after them for the groomsmen breakfast at The Windsor. So I had the house to myself to sit and collect myself and then drive out to my friend Tara's house where we were all getting ready. I continued my quest for peace with listening to worship music on the way there and it hit me along the freeway that THIS WAS MY WEDDING DAY!!! I just kept saying to God How did I get here? How did I get so lucky to be marrying a man like Aaron? Why do You love me that much? It was pretty overwhelming. From that moment on, I stopped being worried and just kept reminding myself that this day was not about Aaron and I, it was about Something and Someone way bigger!

I got to Tara's house and was met with all of my friends already settling into getting their hair and make up done. Jessica and Meredith made awesome food and breakfast treats for us to snack on, and although I wasn't the least bit hungry, I was a diligent bride and ate all the same... no one wants to watch a bride faint at the end of the aisle.

My hairstylist was the impeccable Bethany Sitton! I starting going to her for my hair a year ago and she has consistently given me the best hair cuts ever! She is also one of  the sweetest and most upbeat people I have ever known! I was so excited to have her there to start my wedding day just to be excited with me! She also did my mom's hair... so the two most important ladies of the day were looking super gorgeous!

Note: this was my mom and mines first time wearing fake eyelashes, and I think I'm addicted!

Isn't Bethany the cutest! My hair and make up were PERFECT!

My mom getting her eyelashes on! She was so beautiful

My little nieces were there too with all the big girls being girly and getting their hair done. I love having Emolyn and Elsie to do girly things with. Elsie was fascinated by Ashley's make up kit and Emolyn loved getting her hair done too! Katie Hook was the other hair stylist with us that morning. She is also the sweetest thing ever. I know her from church and she offered to help with hair for no cost just because she loves doing wedding hair that much! All my bridesmaids looked INCREDIBLE!

Emolyn getting her hair done like a big girl!

My sis Nicole and Katie

Carla and Jeannette hanging out in the bathroom... this is the moment they met and became best friends!

Ashley showing Elsie the magic of make up

My mom putting on my veil

After hair and make up were complete, it was over to the venue to settle in and get my dress on!!

Can you tell I'm excited?

Kendra did all the flower ordering and arranging herself! They were beautiful!

a bite to eat before getting dressed

Aaron and I decided to write each other love letter for the morning of our wedding day. If I had to wait to see him for half the day, I at least wanted to read his words. The boys were just one floor below us getting ready, and yet he felt miles away and the anticipation of seeing him was killing me... but then I got his letter and my heart was overjoyed.

I asked my girls group to be there with me along with my bridesmaids and the moms. I had this deep desire to have all my best girls surrounding me in my last moments before seeing Aaron for the first time.

My dad also got to take a peek at me before I went to see Aaron. The look on his face when he saw me is printed in my brain. I love my dad :)

I was now ready to go see my man!

... wait... one last thing needed...

This picture is a sort of tradition with my friends... its not all glamour on your wedding day... sometimes a girl needs deodorant.

Rehearsal Dinner...

I remember a picture in the bathroom of the summer camp I went to every year up near Payson, Arizona. It was one of my favorite pictures. It was actually a two picture series and the first picture was a wedding party in their casual everyday wear, standing distracted in the church at the rehearsal. The second picture is of the actual ceremony, everyone standing to attention and dressed to the nines and the seats of the church filled with wedding guests. I loved the idea of the difference between rehearsal dinner and the actual day of - the chaos of the planning and making sure everyone knows their place and where to walk and where to stand.

Every step along this journey made the wedding more and more real, but then when everyone is together and finally in the same place, it is a little overwhelming that it is actually happening!!
The night before the BIG DAY our wedding party, our family, and some friends all gathered to plan and rehearse and celebrate.

The day actually began earlier in the afternoon when everyone showed up to start setting up. We were like a well oiled machine with everyone pitching in to set up chairs, hang lights, arrange tables and get everything ready for all the detailed decorating the next day. Everyone was so beyond helpful and I probably seemed a little frazzled running around the yard answering a million questions and trying to make sure things were going where they needed to go, but honestly it was just nervous energy and everyone was doing a superb job!! It was flawless!

Aaron and I had the wonderful privilege of entrusting the coordinating of our wedding day to the amazing Sandy Mowen. She was spectacular! She has been friend of my parents for over 30 years and has planned countless weddings over the decades. She was just amazing! Everything went so smoothly with her at the helm!

It was so fun to have everyone together in the same place finally meeting each other!

Introducing our wedding party

Waiting to walk down the aisle with my bridesmaids and dad

My beautiful girls - (from left to right) Ashley, Jeannette, Elisabeth, Nicole, and Kendra

The fellas - (From left to right) - John (pastor), Aaron, Andy, Shawn, Jeremy, Bruce, and Tyler

My dad and I

I love this picture of Elisabeth, Aaron and I - pretty much sums us up

Elsie & Emolyn - pretty much sums them up 

Sister love :)

Aaron's parents hosted the rehearsal dinner - Mac n' Cheese bar. A very clever meal idea if you ask me! You put some Mac n' Cheese in a martini glass and then load up with all sorts of toppings - from chicken to mushrooms and onions. We ate and laughed and the anticipation for the next day was hanging in the air. We honored our wedding party with gifts and words of love and thanks.
At the end of the night Aaron walked me to my car and we said goodnight for the last night next to my car. It was the last night I would have to drive home to a different home than him. It was so hard saying goodbye to Aaron that night, but so wonderful to know that the next time I saw him would be as I walked toward him down the aisle...

Prayer Shower...

The Sunday before my wedding was the last of my bridal showers before the big day. My mom had asked right after I got engaged if she could throw me a prayer shower. It would be entirely focused on encouragement and prayer for me and my marriage and Aaron and the wedding prep. When we started throwing around dates, we were planning on having it much earlier, but then we got the dates for when my friend Carla was getting into town for the wedding and decided to plan it so she could come. It ended up coming at a PERFECT time. I was so excited to start the week of my wedding covered in prayer by women who have known me and loved me for most of my life.
What a sweet time! I can't remember all the words that each woman shared about me and for me, so I am thankful they wrote it down. A lot of the women were older and had known me since I was very small. My mom created the most wonderful environment for me to be affirmed and loved so beautifully!

The table set up

This picture is a little blury, but it is a sweet picture of my mom and I

Aaron's mom Laurie gave me a "prayer request box"

My mom wanted the party to focus more on the affirmation and prayer time than any gift opening, so while some people gave me some awesome gifts here and there, most people put in money to get me a Kitchen Aid!! I registered for the pistachio color and it is so pretty sitting in my kitchen now!

Opening my KitchenAid

The rest of the evening was spent praying! I was so honored and touched by each of these women's influence in my life and to have them surrounding me with prayer and encouragement was so priceless! I loved that I started my wedding week this way.

Bachelorette Party!!!

SOOO sorry for the lack of blog posting... I am going to try to catch up here in the next couple of weeks and then hopefully I'll continue posting.

My sister-in-law after a long hiatus has starting blogging again and she has lit a fire under me to get my blog up to speed. The next several posts will be wedding catch up. If you are adequately sick on my wedding, then I apologize... who am I kidding, I don't apologize, my wedding was awesome and I can't wait to share with you the behind the scenes details and stories that magical day.


This post is going ALL THE WAY BACK before the wedding to my bachelorette party! I admitted in a previous post for my bridal showers that I didn't give much thought to the parties leading up to the wedding, but I will tell you, I had dreams about my bachelorette party. However, my bridesmaid Jeannette put it out there right from the beginning that she didn't want me to be in on any of the planning and that it would be a complete surprise!! I actually LOVED the idea, because I trusted my girls COMPLETELY to give me the party of my dreams... and it was!!!!

My roommate and bridesmaid, Elisabeth, packed my bag for me so as to give nothing away. We then hopped in the car and began a long drive to the other side of the city. I had no idea where we were headed and after ruling out Disneyland and a trip to Cardinals stadium, I gave up guessing and enjoyed the ride. We eventually pulled into a parking lot and walked into an establishment called PINK... turns out my bridesmaids had scheduled a dance class for us!!! We learned to pole dance!!! This was actually something I had mentioned to Jeannette probably a year before that I would love to do for my bachelorette party and she remembered!!! We had the most amazing time laughing, being silly, and trying our darndest to be at least a little bit sexy. haha! I am not at liberty to share a good portion of the pictures, but here is the group shot from after the class!



Note: You can see I have my hair done in the shot. I had my bridal hair trial that afternoon and this was the ultimate test as to whether the style would hold up for the wedding day - little did I know it would hold up through a pole dance routine!

After the class, we headed to a hotel at the Biltmore Fashion Park and changed to go to dinner at Zin burger. The rest of the party joined us for dinner! I cannot tell you the joy in my heart to have a loud, fun, laughter filled table of my best friends all together!



After dinner it was back to the hotel for gifts and girl talk. Most of the girls at my party are apart of my "girl group." We started getting together 9 years ago at first as a bible study, then as a book club, and then as a close knit group of friends. In the last 9 years we have celebrated each others college graduations, engagements, danced at each others wedding, sat in the waiting room for the births of babies, both rejoiced and grieved over life, and grown up together month after month sitting on each others' couches. But one of my favorite things that we do is love and lead each other in new exciting life seasons. At bachelorette parties especially we make a point to sit and talk and pray for whoever it is getting married and answer question about wedding days, marriage, love, sex and anything else you can think of. I think this time at my bachelorette party was my most favorite! My friends made me feel safe and supported and laughed with me and encouraged me! I don't mind saying that I have something pretty rare and precious with this group of women :)

It was such an awesome time! We stayed up way past midnight and just had a blast!

5 Days...

In 5 days (from this very second) I will be walking down the aisle to the man of my dreams and my best friend in the whole world - Aaron Kiva Mertz.

In 5 days I will be promising to love him for the rest of my life and stand beside him forever.

In 5 days I will be his wife. I will be his partner. I will care more about someone else than I will myself.

In 5 days I will embark on the crazy adventure of marriage. I know it will be challenging, difficult, amazing, joyful, filled with excitement and hope and wonder. And I will be doing it all with the most amazing man I have ever met and will ever meet.

In 5 days I will dance with at our reception. The moment I have always dreamed about! We will be surrounded by family and friends and loved ones who will continue to support us throughout our entire marriage.

In 5 days I will leave my wedding, with my HUSBAND! We will run through a line of sparklers to our get away car. We will drive to one of the most beautiful resort hotels I have ever known and take a big sign of relief that the wedding planning is over and the rest of our lives have begun.

In 5 days I will move into Phoenix to live with the person I will always live with for forever!

In 5 days I will be Mrs. Mertz!

Can you tell I'm excited?