Team McLeod : Glam Squad

There was much debate on where we were going to get ready for the wedding. We could rent a cement hole at the Thomas Center, we could travel to the hotel or B&B to get ready somewhere "pretty" or we could just get ready at home.
Home won for three reasons. 1) It's the closest possible location to the Thomas Center without actually being the Thomas Center. 2) It's clean and we know just where everything is. No schlepping things back and forth creating more opportunities to forget them somewhere. 3) We wanted some photos of us at our home. This is the first place we've lived together and it will always hold a dear place in our hearts. I'm not exaggerating when I say that on our moving in this place was a shithole. Since then it's become the envy of all our friends.
It made no sense to add to our stresses but we had to come up with a way to allow us to keep our planned "first look". We never planned on waiting until the ceremony to see each other but Collin wanted to wait to see my dress and I love the romantic sentiment of the first look. We decided it would be easiest to split the house in half. Boys get Gabe's room (the best man) as well as the living room and porch. Ladies get the rest of the house, including the bathroom! We hung a sheet and this worked better than I'd thought it would. Here's Collin making it known that he doesn't want to sneak a peek, he just wants to go to the kitchen!

Ashley started on my makeup right away. She worked the clinique counter back in Alabama for quite some time and has even started aesthetician classes since the wedding. That makeup didn't go anywhere all night. I was worried my blush was too much at first but it was washed out in most of the photos to the perfect shade of peachy pink.



This is me forgetting to put on any of the bridal jewelry I'd picked out. I didn't even remember until well after the ceremony but looking back I wish I rememberd the earrings at least.

Work it! That bathroom is pretty small for so many ladies. We don't have any pictures of it but I set out quite a spread of snacks to keep us full until the reception. Things like mini croissants with sliced turkey, guacamole, tortilla chips and cheeses, fruit, crackers and tomatoes. At one point I was sitting in the bathroom trying to eat while getting my makeup done and not look like I was stuffing my face in front of the camera. I still wish I'd had more.

It was finally time for everyone to start putting on their dresses. All I asked of them was that their dress be black and not floor length. I avoided giving specifics but remember at some point saying "no sequence, no slutty". All of them were beautiful and unique and matched their personalities just perfectly.

See that Gator game on the TV? Just because it's my wedding day, you didn't think I would miss watching our team play. It really relaxed me to have something that offered a little distraction. When my mom and dad were running late and I was ready to get into that wedding dress, watching football helped.
So did the beer.