Indianapolis, Ind.

hair •  myself
florist •  Kroger
videographer •  our friend Justin
ceremony & reception venue •  Winchester Place
dj •  mp3 player
cake •  Jonathan Byrd
dress •  eBay?

……………………………

our songs

processional • “Wedding Song” –Bob Dylan
recessional • “All You Need is Love” –The Beatles
first dance  • “Joy of My Life” –John Fogerty
father/daughter  • “In My Life” –The Beatles
mother/son  • “You Are My Sunshine” –sung by Norman Blake

bobbi+mike

What was the most memorable moment of your day?

bobbi: Walking down the aisle… No question! I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life. From Tacoma, Washington to New York City, and everywhere in between… my family and friends were there from all over the country, most of which I very rarely see. As I was oh-so-emotionally walking down the aisle, I was incredibly overwhelmed with seeing all of the people that I love, all in one place, all looking at me that I genuinely forgot that my husband-to-be was at the end of my path. True story! About halfway down the aisle, as I’m literally saying hi to an old friend (I would…), my dad says, “Bob… check him out…” referring to Mike. I look up, and there he was, my very favorite person in the whole wide world, in a pile of tears. I let out the loudest cry/laugh ever! Mike says I sounded like a dying wildebeest (how does he even know what that sounds like?!). I would say it sounded like a very loud honk. By the time I made it to Mike, all I wanted to do was hug him. I was squeezing onto his jacket so tight that I think I may have ripped a seam in his suit.

mike: It was hands down when Bobbi came down the aisle.  To borrow a line from our recent groom Anthony, let’s just say “it turns out…I wasn’t the emotional rock I thought I was.”  There wasn’t just a tear or two or a sniffle, but a blubbering mess of a guy waiting for Bobbi at the of the aisle  🙂

Any advice for future bride/grooms? (these answers are solely based on experiences from our wedding day, otherwise… this blog post will be entirely too long!)

bobbi: 1. Make it yours. Just because it’s tradition doesn’t mean that you have to comply. Our ceremony was entirely written by us, our families each wrote something and read it aloud, and we wrote our own vows… Mike even wrote me a poem! 2. Our wedding was on a MAJORLY tight budget, as we were just 4 months out of college. We took the three things that mattered to us most, splurged on those and let everything else be just good enough. Our three things were: photography, personalization of the ceremony and to have a laid back/comfortable reception. 3. There is no better way of describing a wedding… It really is a whirlwind! Take moments, throughout the day, to stop and take in everything. It’s easy to pass over this tidbit but don’t… It’s important! Just talking about this today, Mike and I had to remind each other of many of the moments of that day.

mike: If you’re doing things yourself and intending on relying on family and friends for a hand – organize that ahead of time in a meaningful way. Everyone was wonderful and willing to help with whatever we needed, but we didn’t delegate well!  I was in a tux with a drill still assembling what we called an “arch” an hour before the ceremony.

Funniest memory from your wedding day?

mike: So…I behaved myself almost the entire reception.  Half an hour before things were to wind down, suddenly everyone needed to have a shot with the groom.  “Belschner’s” as they were affectionately called 🙂  (2 parts absolut citron,  1 part sprite/7-up, lemon and lime juice to taste).  Half an hour and about ten of those later, I was in no shape whatsoever to drive.  A very dismayed Bobbi, crinoline and dress bunched up and practically blocking the windshield, had to drive back to our apartment.  Upon arriving at the questionable apartment complex we were calling home, Bobbi announces to a very inebriated Mike, “YOU’RE unloading the gifts while I wait inside.”  Bobbi falls asleep in the mean time.  Twenty minutes later, I fall asleep sitting upright on the sofa with a large gift on on my lap, head resting upon the gift…in my full tux.  A few hours later, Bobbi wakes up, still in dress saying “we are NOT sleeping apart the night of our wedding.  Help me GET OUT of this dress!”  And then, a few hours later – the phone rang.  It was Bobbi’s mom Kim, “Hey you two, I just wanted to be the first to say good morning to Mr. and Mrs….”   “OH SH*T!” we cut her off with, “we need to get our things packed and our plane leaves in an hour!”  We made the flight, just barely, and with about half the stuff we needed for a trip to Florida.

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?

bobbi: Our wedding was one of the first real weddings I’d ever been to (most of my family has gotten married by a judge). When it came to planning our wedding, we truly had NO idea what we were doing! So to answer that question… Lots of things! So, for times sake, I’ll just name one. – I would have splurged a little more when it came to my look. For example, I found my dress on eBay for $75… “Hey Mike, come here and look at this… Do you think I’ll look pretty in that?” …and then I bought it! Also, I wish I had gotten my hair done… As I fixed it myself.  My hair looked the same as it always did, just this time, with a veil!

mike: We were married before we’d even thought about working in the wedding industry.  We’d both been to only a few weddings, mostly when we were kids.  Having a few hundred weddings under our belts now, there are a lot of specifics we’d change…creative items as well things we’d do in consideration of our guests.  However, the personalized ceremony, the low-key feel, and the people involved we wouldn’t trade for the world.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Four days in The Florida Keys. 🙂

🙂

~Mike & Bobbi.