Healthy Liv

Easy, Nutritious Recipes to Fuel an Active Lifestyle

  • About
  • Recipes
  • Contact
  • Health & Fitness
  • College
  • Links

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

You are here: Home / Life / Wedding Weekend!!

June 2, 2017 32 Comments

Wedding Weekend!!

It’s hard to believe that my big sister is married! Her wedding was on Sunday and after sharing her engagement story, bridal shower, and bridesmaid dress shopping, here’s the last post in the sister wedding series πŸ™‚ This past weekend was a whirlwind and there was a lot going on but I couldn’t stop smiling because I was so excited for Marissa.

I apologize in advance for the quality of some of the photos. I took some with my real camera over the weekend, but a bunch are photos that I took or friends took with iPhones since I didn’t get close to capturing everything with my camera (and I was trying to focus on being present rather than taking a ton of photos!). 

I’ll back up and start with last week. My sister and her fiancΓ© got in town on Wednesday night and we made dinner at my house– these awesome Greek salads with Greek yogurt dressing topped with lemon grilled chicken and roasted sweet potato wedges on the side. Pretty much my perfect dinner!

dinner

Snapchat screenshots

I ran with Marissa at 6:30 on Thursday morning and then headed to my internship like I typically do on Thursdays.

When I got home from work that night, my grandparents had arrived in Raleigh. They took us to this great restaurant, Fresh Levant Bistro, that uses all local and organic ingredients with tons of gluten-free vegetarian and vegan options, so it’s great for a group with different dietary preferences. I got the special of the day, which was quinoa-stuffed roasted eggplant.

On Friday, I had time to write a blog post, go to the gym, and make some peanut butter energy bites before my cousins arrived. We spent the day finishing wedding DIY projects, playing corn hole, eating dinner at Chipotle, and just hanging out. It was a fun and relaxing day before the wedding craziness really started.

Bridesmaid Luncheon

On Saturday, my grandma hosted a bridesmaids’ luncheon in Chapel Hill. In addition to all of the bridesmaids, she invited all of the women involved with the wedding. I really enjoyed getting to meet the groom’s mom, plus Marissa’s new sister-in-law, for the first time. They’re both so sweet!

Marissa's Wedding Weekend (7 of 76)

Marissa’s new MIL & SIL

Marissa's Wedding Weekend (3 of 83)

My mom & her best friend since middle school, Susan, who helped a ton with the wedding planning process

Marissa's Wedding Weekend (8 of 76)

Marissa & our grandma

marissa's bridesmaid lunch (1 of 1)

The whole crew

Marissa's Wedding Weekend (2 of 76)

Marissa gave each person a gift, including matching monogrammed white shirts for the bridesmaids to wear while getting ready for the wedding together the next morning. She also spoke about her relationship with each woman there, one-by-one, which was so special.Marissa's Wedding Weekend (6 of 76)

Marissa's Wedding Weekend (10 of 76)

marissa's wed weekend (1 of 2)

From the left: Marissa’s best friend from high school, cousin, Marissa, me, another cousin, and Marissa’s freshman roommate from college

Rehearsal

After the luncheon, we drove straight to the wedding rehearsal and then had just a short break at home before the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal was outside in the heat of the 90-degree day, so the first thing we did when we arrived home was take cold showers!

Then, I headed downstairs to cut about 25 pineapples for the reception the next day. I wish I’d taken a picture of our kitchen and living room that day. It was like a DIY wedding production factory, with friends and family members running around washing strawberries, cutting pineapples, making signs, writing on chalkboards, etc. It was so cool how many people were willing to help out and be involved with the wedding!

Rehearsal Dinner

After about an hour of helping with wedding stuff, it was time for round 2 of getting ready for the day for the rehearsal dinner. I threw on a different dress, swiped on some mascara, and headed out the door with my sister and cousins.Marissa's Wedding Weekend (36 of 76)The groom’s family hosted the dinner at Second Empire in downtown Raleigh, which ended up being an amazing place for it. The food was awesome and although the restaurant itself was darkly lit, the event space had great natural light.

marissa's wed weekend (2 of 2)

My sister, the soon-to-be bride, & groom!

Marissa's Wedding Weekend (38 of 76)

My mom and dad

IMG_0106

iPhone photo, courtesy of my grandma

This is one of the first rehearsal dinners I’ve been to and it was so fun to hear people from different parts of Alex and Marissa’s lives stand up and give toasts about them, from good memories and funny stories to general things about their character and their love for each other.

I gave a impromptu short toast and included a few short funny stories, but I wanted to save most of what I was going to say for the next night and my maid of honor speech!

Getting Ready

On Sunday morning, the girls headed to the venue pretty early in the morning, so we ended up needing to skip church, which felt so off. Before I left my house, I dropped my dog, Gracie, off at a friend’s house for the day since we’d be gone for so long.IMG_1514 I rode with one of my sister’s best friends to the venue, the Barn of Chapel Hill, which was about 50 minutes from my house. There, we spent a relaxing few hours while Marissa, her bridesmaids, and my mom got their hair and makeup done. Some bridesmaids got just one of the two done professionally done, and a few people got both.Marissa's Wedding Weekend (60 of 76)Marissa's Wedding Weekend (59 of 76)

I tend to be really low maintenance when it comes to both hair and makeup. On a normal day, I spend about 90 seconds putting on makeup, and I have the same few hairstyles I rotate through: braided, completely down, down and pulled back partially in a clip, or in a ponytail when I run. And maybe a messy bun at night sometimes. 

I decided not to get my makeup done because I was terrified of having “clown face” for the wedding. And since my hair has a mind of its own, I decided to also do my own hair (i.e. just wear it down like normal), which I regretted a little bit later when everyone else had beautiful loose curls, but at least I got to feel like myself! It was super hot and humid outside, so I’m not sure how well my hair would’ve held its style, anyway.Marissa's Wedding Weekend (48 of 76)

There was a beautiful bridal suite for getting ready with these gorgeous white walls that I just loved. We spent the morning blasting music, dancing, getting our hair and makeup done/doing it ourselves, and hanging out.Marissa's Wedding Weekend (47 of 83)Marissa's Wedding Weekend (42 of 76)Knowing it’d be a long day, we packed lunch and snacks for everyone. I had a turkey sandwich, fruit, and a couple of peanut butter energy bites.

Marissa's Wedding Weekend (63 of 76)The photographers arrived around 1:30 and started taking pictures as we put the final touches on our hair and makeup. My mom and I helped my sister into her dress and then we headed outside for bridal party pictures.IMG_1624Marissa's Wedding Weekend (66 of 76)The ceremony was outside, and then the reception afterward was in the barn. The barn itself was gorgeous with white wood and exposed beams, and then my mom took it over the top with all of her decorations and attention to detail.IMG_1638

I was so focused on being present that I actually left my phone and camera in my purse in the bridal suite all day, so my one regret is that I didn’t actually take a single photo of the gorgeous decor! Fortunately, I was able to get pictures from a few of my mom’s friends who snapped some, so all of the following pictures are borrowed, and hopefully, the professional photographers took some that we’ll receive in a few weeks.IMG_0133 My cousin made this incredible sign for the wedding’s theme, which was “We love because He first loved us,” based on 1 John 4:19.510A6363-9759-4BAC-9967-6537B2CD0CA0

Marisa and Alex decided not to do a first look before the ceremony, but they stood back-to-back and exchanged letters. Marissa started a journal full of letters to Alex months before, as soon as she knew she wanted to marry him, so he has a whole book full of letters to read from her! Absolutely love that idea.

Alex wrote his letter to Marissa on the back of a church bulletin, but what he lacked in presentation, he made up for in content. Marissa read it to her bridesmaids later and it was the sweetest.

iPhone photo courtesy of Alex’s dad

IMG_0141

Hiding Marissa in the kitchen when the groomsmen & Alex were walking by. Photo courtesy of my grandma 

I thought that the day would go by slowly since we were at the barn for a long time, but it seriously flew by and before I knew it, it was time for us to line up to walk down the aisle for the 5:00 pm ceremony.wedding program

My dad is actually an ordained minister, so he officiated the wedding ceremony! I thought he did a fabulous job and the ceremony was so personal and representative of Marisa and Alex as a couple.IMG_1640

We were all sweating and I can’t imagine how the guys in their suits were coping with the heat. We were so thankful that it wasn’t raining, though, because there had been a strong chance of showers all weekend and we escaped with absolutely zero rain on Saturday or Sunday.

After the ceremony, there was a social hour with appetizers while the bridal party first took pictures with Marissa & Alex, and then they had photos with just each other.18893074_10203157460174832_322552285036003932_n18882240_10203157460134831_351801987861058225_nDinner was inside the barn and a local farm-to-table place catered BBQ chicken, pulled pork, green beans, mac & cheese, and mashed potatoes. The food was amazing!18881759_10203157459494815_2384876146850033204_n
IMG_1633

I didn’t get a chance to try the cake during the reception but I tried it afterwards (perks of being the bride’s sister, I guess!) and it was so good. IMG_1631There was a great band with lots of fun music. Three of my best friends came to the wedding and kept me company on the dance floor all night. Marissa's Wedding Weekend (71 of 76)Just before 10 pm, we did a sparkler sendoff (again, I wish I had photos!) and Marissa & Alex headed off for their honeymoon. They’ll spend two weeks in Canada doing lots of outdoors adventures!

Most guests left a few minutes after Alex and Marissa, and then my extended family and I stayed for a while to clean up and tear down everything. We left a little after midnight and were in bed by 2 am.

Phew, congratulations if you made it through the whole recap! I don’t blog quite as much about daily life things as I used to, but I still love blogging about big life events because I think they’re so fun to look back on and personally, I love hearing about other people’s lives/weddings/other exciting things. Hope you enjoyed all of that!

So tell me…
Have you ever been in a wedding?
Where did your wedding take place (if you’re married) or where would your ideal wedding be?

Sharing is easy!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
Sprouted Spelt Blueberry Banana Nut Muffins
A Day in the Life: LSAT Prep

Comments

  1. Maureen says

    June 2, 2017 at 8:03 am

    First of all your sister looks so happy in all of the pictures and secondly I love the bridesmaid dresses! That is seriously one of my favorite colors and I’m glad to see it didn’t look ridiculous as a bridesmaid dress. I might just pick that color dress for my wedding in a few years.

    https://maureengetsreal.wordpress.com/

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 2, 2017 at 1:24 pm

      Thanks, Maureen! We knew that lighter colors are in right now for bridesmaid dresses, so we were looking at faded purples, light greens, etc. and ended up going with mint green from David’s Bridal!

      Reply
  2. Emily says

    June 2, 2017 at 9:39 am

    I love reading about weddings. It looks like it was such a fun, full, joyful weekend. I love how Alex wrote his letter on a church bulletin. It sounds like it was really precious. And all of it just looks so beautiful; outdoor weddings are always wonderful. It’s neat that the weather was really good for it.

    And that sign that says, ‘We love because He first loved us.’ is gorgeous. You could use that in someone’s house or in other weddings!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 2, 2017 at 1:27 pm

      Yes! Someone who was at the wedding actually already asked if they could purchase that sign haha. We keep telling my cousin she could start her own business making signs!

      Reply
      • Emily says

        June 2, 2017 at 3:07 pm

        She should! My sister is starting a sign business here in Colorado!

        Reply
  3. Carol Eiseman says

    June 2, 2017 at 11:10 am

    Olivia, this is such a good recap of the wedding. I do have the sparkler picture at the end of the wedding.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 2, 2017 at 1:26 pm

      I’m glad you enjoyed the recap! I had one sparkler picture that I got from someone, but you couldn’t see Marissa & Alex in it! Hopefully the professional photographers got some great shots of that πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Sue Winter says

      July 10, 2017 at 8:47 pm

      Carol and Byron, this so wonderful and you both are so blessed by the Lord to have this beautiful family and wonderful wedding of your granddaughter. Congratulations Sue B Winter

      Reply
  4. Brie @ Lean, Clean, & Brie says

    June 2, 2017 at 1:24 pm

    Loved reading this recap! What a beautiful recap of what looked to be an incredible day. Congratulations to your sister and her husband!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 2, 2017 at 1:28 pm

      Thanks, Brie! It was such a fun day and an amazing weekend!

      Reply
  5. Priya says

    June 2, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    the wedding looks beautiful! congrats to marissa & alex πŸ™‚
    also, i think your hair and make up look wonderful. good choice πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 4, 2017 at 9:54 am

      Haha thank you, Priya!!

      Reply
  6. Cathy Harris says

    June 2, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    I have enjoyed your blog so much. I have felt like I can stay in touch with your family even if I have not been with you very often. Your posts on healthy living capture what I did with health promotion for over 20 years, so a girl after my own heart. Keep up the good work!
    The engagement and wedding posts were such a blessing. Your Uncle Jason told me he and Ben were going when I talked to him on the phone this week–end and I was hoping I would get to see pics. You did more than that. I felt like I got to attend.
    Looking forward to your next post. Sorry I usually don’t comment. I am more of a “lurker” than anything,
    Sarah’s NK

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 4, 2017 at 9:56 am

      Wow, thank you so much for your kind words!! I’m so happy to hear you’ve reading enjoyed my blog and glad that you enjoyed the wedding recap πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves says

    June 2, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    Ahh!! Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs.! It looks like it was a beautiful wedding filled with so much joy. I LOVE WEDDINGS and cannot wait to see my friends get married in these next few years. Thank you for sharing all this, Liv!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 4, 2017 at 9:57 am

      Of course! I loved sharing all of it. Yep, I think that wedding season of seeing lots of friends get married in the next few years will be starting soon for us- so exciting!

      Reply
  8. Jennifer says

    June 2, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    I love your description of what sounds like a beautiful and special weekend! I am also more comfortable with my own natural hair and makeup routine in general and think yours looks great!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 4, 2017 at 10:00 am

      Thanks so much, Jennifer! I agree and even though, at times, I think it’d be fun to learn how to do more involved hair and makeup styles, I really value being able to get ready in 10 minutes haha!

      Reply
  9. Alyssa says

    June 4, 2017 at 9:23 am

    Your sister looks gorgeous!! I have never been in a wedding, but I have been to them and I think they are so much fun. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 4, 2017 at 10:01 am

      Thanks, Alyssa! She looked (and always looks) so beautiful and was practically glowing all day!

      Reply
  10. Rachael Turns Pages says

    June 4, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    Beautiful wedding! Congrats to your sister!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 5, 2017 at 10:17 pm

      Thanks, Rachael! I’ll pass along your congratulations!

      Reply
  11. Kristy from Southern In Law says

    June 7, 2017 at 7:25 pm

    What an absolutely gorgeous wedding – and what a fun week/weekend! You looked gorgeous – and so did your sister!

    Reply
  12. Claire B. says

    June 19, 2017 at 7:56 pm

    So many congrats to your sister! And I love the barn setting and decorations. They’re just beautiful! And I agree–I love reading about weddings so much, especially now that I’m planning my own. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 19, 2017 at 9:32 pm

      Ahhh yes!!! SO exciting that you’re planning your own wedding now. Maybe a barn wedding? πŸ™‚

      Reply
  13. hairs says

    November 5, 2017 at 6:29 am

    HI,awesome wedding! Congrats to your sister!I wish you all the best for you and your family

    Reply
  14. Decanter says

    November 30, 2017 at 2:55 am

    Hello,What a beautiful recap of what looked to be an incredible day. Congratulations to your sister and her husband πŸ™‚

    Reply
  15. Jakub says

    December 7, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    Lovely wedding and beautiful decoration. Love that!

    Reply
  16. jessica morgan says

    March 16, 2018 at 6:01 am

    I am so happy for you and those pictures were really beautiful. May god bless you always (:

    Reply
  17. Prim & Per'fect says

    April 3, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    Oh my goodness i am reading this post! thanks for this great recap of the sister wedding…..
    Your sister looking gorgeous and by the way all pictures and clicks are good πŸ™‚

    Congratulations!

    and thanks to remembering me my sister’s wedding moments.

    Reply
  18. Prim n Perfect says

    July 4, 2018 at 7:33 pm

    Your sister’s wedding post just reminds me of good memories again. What all i feel is love from every picture of the wedding and smiles on every face makes me smile too.

    God bless you.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rating




Hi, I’m Liv! I originally started blogging to share easy meals I made in my college dorm kitchen. Years later, as an attorney now, my goal is still to share delicious, approachable recipes with simple ingredients. You can most often find me running, eating ice cream, and making a mess in my kitchen. More...

Want new posts in your inbox?

Copyright Healthy Liv © 2023 · Fun WordPress Theme On Genesis Framework · privacy policy