McGrady {wedding}

Christiana & James
June 23, 2012

Ceremony: Chapel by the Sea
Reception: Cornerstone Christian Center

In case you haven’t noticed, I attend a lot of weddings. But every now and then there is one that just stands out. Christiana and James’ wedding was definitely one of those. And it wasn’t because they hired expensive wedding planners to make all kinds of fancy decorations… Christiana and her family did pretty much everything.  I guess the thing that struck a chord was that all the people (guests, family, wedding party, etc) were funny, genuine and loving to each other. To put it simply, I felt at home with this crowd.

And to prove the point, check out this list of people that helped! It is full of people that are friends or related to this couple!

Hair: April Johnson (cousin) and Carrie Ann Toth
Makeup: April Johnson
Gown designer and retail: Oleg Cassini, David’s Bridal
Bridesmaids Gowns: David’s Bridal
Bridesmaids Accents: Bonnie Lenamond
Tux: Men’s Warehouse
Flowers: Adele George (Aunt) and Betty Dye arrange from Cedars Wholesale
Food: Lucy O’Hara (Aunt)
DJ: me via ipod, the guy running it was named Mike.
The MC was Dave Kohfield (adoptive uncle)
Live Music: Jan Davis (piano), Kara Bray (cello), and Inga Dye (flute)
Cake: Bonnie Lenamond (Mother of the Bride)
Cupcakes: My wonderful extended family.

It was super cute to see the sisters watch the hair beautifying process: 

Beautiful!

Christiana’s expression is adorable as she watches James from the distance as he is led, blind folded, to her for their first meeting of the day.

This photo was taken the exact spot they first met! How cool is that!

The personalities in this crew are really showing! I love it!

The families were so sweet. Hilarious… but sweet.

^Haha! I love it!

And I love this one!

The necklace on the flowers was Christiana’s Grandmother’s, I believe.

This way to the wedding!

I happened across a really detailed checklist! I just love organized people! 🙂 They did such a nice job and there was almost zero stress. (That I could see, anyway, haha)

The guest book area had some of their engagement photos with Jane Austin books, flowers and other beautiful memorabilia.

The hanging glass balls with floating fresh flowers were certainly a neat touch! I have never seen those before! So cool!

Time to begin. I love Christiana’s dad’s thumbs up as they enter the chapel.

The officiant had us rolling as he recounted the story of how these two met… including funny quotes from family members.  “It was even better than a moose in the yard”.

Married!

Christiana’s mom and sister get her bustled while James looks on!

We decided to stop at their favorite coffee shop before the reception.  I came along, of course!

To their delight, in walks in a entire group of firemen… complete with a truck! We asked if we could play for a few minutes and they were  most welcoming. Yay Anchorage Fire Department!

When we got to the reception… it was gorgeous! All those blues and greens were so vibrant!  The cousins and Aunts had made all the favorite treats! {(Including bacon wrapped water chestnuts. Which is a huge favorite of the family… I heard about them through out the day… several times!) My mom used to make those on Christmas! I always loved them!}

After the tears and laughter filled toasts, one of the bridesmaids played a special song on the violin… which brought on even more tears.

Christiana and James had their dance planned out to perfection. It was really beautiful!

Christiana teaches folk dancing, so as a gift to all her guests, she taught them several folk dances. It looked so fun I wanted to join in!

The cake and cupcake stand was beautiful and unique!

Christiana had set up a photo booth for her guests to enjoy! And enjoy it, they did! 🙂

I guess this is a bit of an inside joke I should explain: When James and Christiana first met, he mentioned that it would be super fun to give a nod to his Irish heritage by wearing a kilt for his wedding.  That was vetoed… so during the reception, we used the chalk board to make some so James could have is wish. Such a fun crew!
And the getaway car was decorated to perfection!