Wedding Details...

As promised... Wedding details. I have officially been a MRS for thirteen days now and it's the best! To tell you the truth, not much has changed. Life has pretty much gone back to normal after the big day. I'm surfing, training, cleaning the house again and Luke is back on the Banan grind. I'm just extremely happy everyday and wake up every morning with an inner shine I can't explain. I know it sounds cheesy but it's real! I am super excited about the future and all the fun that's in store for us. I will now always have a partner in crime to tackle life's greatest adventures, fight the hard battles and enjoy the sweet simplicities with. It's the best feeling to know that I will never have to do anything alone. Our wedding was a dream come true. It was everything I could have wanted and more. It was 100% us. Luke and I decided to stray from a lot of tradition and instead focused on a few things that were most important to us. Good food, good people, sharing stories, and dancing. The speeches were the highlight of the night! All our friends are incredibly well spoken and did a great job of making us laugh and touching a few soft spots.

I was encouraged more than a few times in the lead up to the wedding to slow down the day of and really soak it all in because it goes by in a blink of an eye. They were so right. It did. Time always flies by when you are having fun. There was so much love in the air and good vibes. I wish it didn't have to end. The good thing is that there are a few moments so vividly etched in my memory that I can keep replaying them over and over in my head and the very talented Peter King made an awesome video to remember the rest. Two highlight moments were... One... Our first look. We chose to do it before the ceremony so that it could just the two of us. Luke was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with his back turned to the porch so I could sneak out the front door unseen. He looked so handsome. His hair gelled back, his cute bow tie and white shirt tucked in. I walked up behind, wrapped my arms around him, felt him breathe for a moment and let the anticipation build. When he turned around, we were both overwhelmed with emotion. I couldn't control my tears. I was laughing, smiling and crying all at the same time. This was the moment we had been waiting and planning for for a year and a half and a culmination of all we have been through the past seven. I felt so blessed. There he was. The man of my dreams. Everything I could ever want in a life partner, lover and best friend. We have come so far, experienced and learned so much, shared many laughs, tears, frustrations, challenges and have had so much fun through it all. We make the most incredible team and our bond was stronger than ever. Second moment was walking down the aisle with my dad. My dad has played such a huge role in my life and our relationship is one that I deeply cherish. We have been through a lot together but it is very rare that we get very sentimental and vulnerable with each other. Whenever those rare moments do occur it can be rather uncomfortable for us both, so we awkwardly laugh it off and get it over with as soon as possible. For the wedding and the days leading up to it, Dad was totally into all of it. He fully embraced all the romantic love and gushiness and was 100% present and supportive of Luke and I. It meant the world to me. Our walk down the aisle was ridiculously long. It probably took us about a whole minute to get to the end which seemed like eternity with all the eyes on us. I made Dad keep talking to me to distract me from crying. It was so special to stand at the alter with the two most important men in my life and know that both genuinely love, respect and trust each other.

I loved all the attention to detail. Since I was busy traveling and training most of the year, I put all my trust in our talented wedding planner, Mimi, and let her work her magic. It was such an incredible surprise to see her create a night that so well represented Luke and I. We wanted a very chill, backyard style vibe and she nailed it with the beautiful driftwood displays, gorgeous floral chandelier over the dance floor, colorful ceramic plates, healthy menu, my favorite Lemon Crunch Cake, and passion fruit Mojitos. We even had a lounge tent with carpets, blankets, and pretty pillows. It felt like you were in someone's living room. The flowers were gorgeous bright yellows, oranges, and pinks! The ceremony and reception took place on our friends beautiful east side estate with three hundred and fifty of our closest friends and family. It was a big wedding but somehow it felt so intimate and sweet.

There were a lot of signature touches that Luke, my Dad and the Untermann's contributed to the night but my favorite was our wedding arch. Luke found the three weathered beams in the valley behind our house and dragged them out himself. They must weigh over a hundred pounds each easily. The handy man that he is, he drilled it together, drove it out to the site and put it up for the ceremony. Then to top it off, Mimi designed and draped a stunning array of flowers and greenery. It was absolutely stunning! Words cannot express how grateful I am to everyone who made the effort, spent money and flew so many miles to be with us on our special day. It was absolutely perfect. Special thanks to Peter King for capturing it all and putting together this sweet video for us. Enjoy! Xx, Carissa