I am so excited to start sharing the story of our wedding with y’all today! I’ll be including lots of little stories that color my memories of the day, the stories behind the details we chose, and of course, many of my favorite photos. I hope you enjoy the posts, starting with this one! :) All photos are by the wonderful Ryan Ray.

On the morning of the wedding, I woke up around 6 A.M. to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift–a song I decided on late the night before when I realized I’d rather wake up to something special than my alarm noise! After peering out the window and praising God for the sunshine outside, I jumped in the shower, then put on my pretty new robe, and sat on the window seat to write the last entry in the journal I’d been keeping for Dave throughout our engagement. Before I knew it, the sweet Sam of Lula Hair and Makeup and her team arrived to start setting up–the day was starting!! I woke up my sisters, gave them their gifts (Plum Pretty Sugar robes, Essie nail polishes, and handwritten notes), and welcomed my sweet bridesmaids, mom, and mother in law as they arrived to the suite. It was a little snug with 11 of us crammed inside, but it was so cozy and sweet and wonderful–the perfect way to start the day!

Our photographer, Ryan, and his assistant arrived around 9, with my dear friend Emily in tow (she had generously offered to help Ryan style some details that morning!). Funny story–the room we took the picture above and the ones below in is actually the room next door to our suite! Ryan caught the housekeeping service as they finished cleaning it up and asked if we could use it for a few minutes, since some of the girls were still having their hair and makeup done. It worked out perfectly! I asked just my mom to help me put my dress on, and I’m so glad I did–it was sweet to share a quiet, private moment with her that day.

I was giddy when Kelly of Philosophy Flowers arrived with the bouquets! Our reception venue required us to use their in-house florist for the reception flowers, but since the bouquets were one of the most important details to me, I knew I wanted to ask someone I completely trusted to create mine. Kelly ended up being one of my absolute favorite vendors, and she created the most incredible spring bouquets using flowers that are meaningful to me–blush peonies, dogwoods, lilac, and more. Having my bouquet in hand might have been my biggest “oh my gosh, I’m getting married today!!” moments, and it smelled just as amazing as it looked.

My dad and I are really close, so I wanted to have a special first look with him. He almost ruined it when he walked by the room where I was doing my portraits, but we shooed him away quickly–apparently, I had forgotten to tell him we were doing a first look! :) This was a really sweet moment of the day for me, and I love the pictures Ryan captured!

My something blue was one of my favorite details–on her way to the wedding from Texas, my sister sneakily picked a few blue bonnets and snuck them up to North Carolina in a water bottle! I was so glad they made it safely, and loved having a little piece of Texas with me all day.

I LOVE the picture above of me and my sisters–they were the best co-maids of honor I could’ve asked for! At the advice of my friend Callie, I decided to keep my dress a secret from everyone but my mom and my sisters, who had gone dress shopping with me. It was so worth it for this joyful moment of seeing the reactions all of my best friends (looking incredibly gorgeous in their BHLDN dresses, I might add!) when they saw it. So much happiness!! I love these girls so much!

Meanwhile, across town, Dave and his groomsmen gathered at our first look location (a park with a great view of the Raleigh skyline) to dig up the bottle of bourbon Dave had buried the month before to ensure sunny skies–a Southern tradition that apparently works pretty well ;) We were SO happy with how the gents’ attire worked out. Dave wore a J. Crew suit, while the groomsmen wore J. Crew pants in a slightly less expensive style, but the same color, and monogrammed Brooks Brothers shirts Dave gifted them. We love hearing to this day about how much the guys love wearing these shirts or pants on a regular basis!

While Ryan took their portraits, my mom and sisters and I loaded my big tulle skirt into the car and headed to the park so I could meet Dave for our first look. That story is coming on Tuesday…but if you want a sneak peek, check out our feature on the Southern Weddings blog this morning, as well as our amazing wedding video!