Wedding Day Pictures

Our Wedding Day
July 27, 2013

Here's the traditional "slideshow of the couple growing up" - first of just us, and then of how our relationship began and progressed over the years. We showed this after the ceremony. I used the songs "Waited for You" by Matthew West and "Foreverandever Etc." by David Crowder Band. No copyright infringement intended.

Photography Credit: Garrett Hufford Photography

July 27, 2013 - the best day of my life! Almost exactly 200 days after Curtis proposed, we were finally getting married. The day went by so smoothly, and everything was perfect, including the weather! We loved spending the day together and surrounded by our family & friends who have been impacting us and our relationship for so many years. A huge thank you to everyone who helped and supported in any way, this day couldn't have been so great without you!

 Getting ready - Gabby did my makeup. She & Mitch won furthest traveled to be there on our wedding day! I was so thankful to have her there to help out. 

I was giddy and shaking with excitement and nervousness all day - and I wasn't even caffeinated. After playing the day out in my mind for years, it was all so surreal and I tried my best to just take every moment in. My only fear was having to stand on stage in front of everyone. 

My sweet sister, Sarah, getting her hair curled.

The hair curling party with the bridesmaids. 

My handsome husband getting ready with his guys.

The tie-tying party with the groomsmen.

The bag my mom had grabbed that morning had a message for her - and this was before "Frozen"! Her sunglasses were necessary because of the "bright florescent lighting". At least that's what she told me. ;)

My flowers and our rings. After I told him I didn't care what my rings looked like, I just wanted something unique, my husband picked out my rings on his own from Gemvara. I absolutely LOVE them! The engagement ring is a garnet with sailor's knots surrounding it, and the wedding band fits underneath with tiny garnets & diamonds alternating in the band. 

I just love this picture of my baby sister, Gina, getting her nails done. Her face is too precious!

Me: "Is it time? Can I go see him yet?" :)

My dress! It's true what they say, you just know when you find it. I knew the second I had it on, and I hadn't even looked in the mirror yet. 

Finally putting on the dress...

A sweet moment between my mother and I. She's reminding me to breath!

I love her so much. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for her. My mom is the most beautiful woman in the whole world!

Finally - mom walks me to the door so I can go meet my groom!

70 degrees and beautiful on our wedding day. Couldn't ask for anything better for a July day in Iowa!

Curtis waits patiently as I speed-walk to get to him!

This picture is one of my favorites. I think it reflects exactly how excited I was to see him, and have him see me!

First look!

Now this is exactly what I was going for!

"Hey, we're getting married today!!"

The alter in the church sanctuary, before the candles were lit & about to set fire to the entire church. ;)

My handsome groom!

I just love his smile so much.

Me!

I felt kind of pretty that day. :)

Our lovely bridal party! Left to right: Joel S, my brother; David, Curtis' friend since childhood; Joel J, Curtis' brother; Grant, my brother; Mitchell, Curtis' best man, mentor, and friend from college; US!; Joanna, my maid of honor & sister; Kari, my friend from massage school & work; Lydia, Curtis' sister; Lizzy, my friend since 2nd grade; Sarah, my sister; Claire, Curtis' sister; Gina, my sister! 

As you can tell, we were surrounded with the people closest to us, and we are so thankful to have each one in our lives!

This picture represents 280 combined years of marriage! I know it is very rare to have all sets of grandparents and parents, still married to their one & only spouse, at a wedding. We feel so blessed to have their wonderful, godly examples of marital faithfulness, and are excited to keep that going!



Another highlight of the day - being reunited with my best friend since before I was born! I'm so happy Caroline & her family came to celebrate with us. Little known fact is that Caroline was the very first person I told about liking Curtis, way back in 2003. It was just right to have her there so she could finally meet him for the first time. ;)

A sweet moment between us, taking a break from all the family photos. "I'll see you again during the ceremony! I'll be the one in white."

Mitch led the groomsmen in praying before the ceremony. While this was happening, I was starting to get REALLY nervous about the ceremony. I always get bad stage fright before being in front of people! I'll never forget lining up with the bridal party, and praying with my dad like 3 times before it was our time to enter...

But then, all my nerves went away when I saw Curtis!

This photo was taken by Curtis' mom, and it is so precious to me. He had told me months in advance that he just wasn't "that guy who would get emotional on his wedding day". I always told him that was fine, I never expected him to cry. He was fine all day up till this point, and then totally lost it! It made me so much less nervous (who's looking at me when there's this sweet moment going on?!) and it made everything so real. We're really getting married, and he's really realizing it too! I'm so blessed to be have such a sweet, loving, tender-hearted husband.

I walked down the aisle to "Dawn" from the movie "Pride and Prejudice". It's my dad's & my favorite movie. The family walked down to "If I Had Words" from the movie "Babe", and the bridal party came in to "Married Life" from the movie "Up". I liked having music that meant a lot to us and the child within us!

My dad made the sweetest "giving away the bride" video that he surprised me with. It really captured what this was all about, and how much he & mom support us and love us. I'm keeping that video to myself though. :)

Our youth pastor, Mark, gave a great message that really fit us and our relationship. Of course we knew he could do that though, since he's seen us and our relationship grow throughout high school and beyond.

Saying our vows - Curtis broke down again, and that only made me more happy - in the best way possible! I guess it's just a good thing he was able to get through them!

Exchanging rings, then the congregation sang "The Solid Rock" as we did the Unity Hourglass and signed the marriage license.

Our song is "Time in a Bottle" - and it has been since Curtis first sang it to me in 2009. Little did we know back then how much this song would apply to us. Between being in a long distance relationship and Curtis being in the Navy, the one thing we always want more of is time to spend together. We filled this hourglass with sand, and now have it as decoration in our home to remind us of how precious our time together is.

Signing our marriage license - Mitchell came prepared with a better pen!

"You may now kiss the bride!"

…

"You may now stop kissing the bride!"

We're married!! We exited to a medley of songs from the movie "Enchanted". Yes, this is my happily ever after, let me have this moment! ;)

My bouquet on the bride & groom table. We had a dessert reception in the main foyer of the church immediately after the wedding.

Cutting the cake! The yellow cake was made my sister-in-law, Lydia.

A dessert reception…with sushi! The best of both worlds!

Snuck away from the reception for a few more pictures with my new husband.

He makes me smile like this all the time!

Mr. and Mrs. Jorgensen. Finally. :)

Ready & excited to walk alongside you for the rest of my life.

Being serenaded by my new husband - since the church didn't allow dancing, he sang what would have been our first dance song - Time in a Bottle, of course!

Yeah, pretty sure I just got the greatest husband EVER. :)

And then there were speeches. We started off with the best man's speech, with Mitch sharing stories, memories, and advice. 

Next up, maid of honor speech from the sister I've known the longest!

Then the rest of my siblings surprised me by getting up and speaking as well. It meant so much to me to know that they were excited for me, excited to have a new brother, and that they weren't afraid to stand up and say these things in front of everyone. I love them all so much and couldn't ask for a better family!

Gina gave such a sweet speech, and then she came over and whispered to me while we were hugging, "I want to be an aunt!" That seemed to be a recurring theme throughout my sibling's speeches, actually...



My dad wrapped it all up with a wonderful father of the bride speech, including fun facts about us, embarrassing stories, and a letterboxing analogy to marriage!

The day went by way too fast, as one's wedding day always does. Somehow, the bridal party still found time in the day to decorate Curtis' truck!

And that was our wedding day! We took off the next day for a honeymoon adventure around Michigan's Great Lakes. 

July 27, 2013