Wedding Week 2011 [Friday]

After a great night with our families on Thursday, our wedding party started to arrive on Friday! We live in a community of about sixteen houses, and we borrowed a few of those houses for the weekend for our families and the wedding party to stay in.  It worked out great and was so nice to have them so close all weekend.  So, after a fun day of hanging out and finalizing some last minute details, it was finally time to get the official festivities started!  We all walked over to our neighbor's house, where the ceremony was actually taking place and rehearsed the order of events.  Talk about having everything feel real at that point!  We felt so honored to have our family members and best friends stand by us and to have them all in the same place at the same time was just incredible.  Our family friend Weezy Blanchard was our officiant, Gaines' second cousin Baker was our ring bearer, and my babysitter's daughters Anna Hensley and Kate were our flower girls.  

[Gaines, Sam, Jason, Sam, Stuart, Trace, Bo]

[Elisabeth, Stephanie, Lindsay, Demetria, Amy, Dailey]

[Dad, Me]

[Kate, Baker, Anna Hensley]

[Demetria, Elisabeth, Dailey, Me, Amy, Lindsay, Stephanie]

[The soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Story]

Once we were finished with the rehearsal, we hopped in the "party bus" and headed about twenty minutes over a huge bridge to our family friend's the Ludeman's rivah house, where the rehearsal dinner was held.  It was a beautiful view and Gaines' family did the best job setting up and covering every detail.  The BBQ was awesome, the drinks were delicious, and the company of our family and closest friends was amazing.

[Aunt Sue Sue and Uncle Danny's house]

[the setup]

[Papa, Great Uncle John, Uncle David, Great Aunt Alice, Sam, Lisa, Ben, Bethany, Christopher, Adam, Elyssa, Dailey]

[Me, Aunt Kay]

[Grammy, Annie]

[Julie, Mom]

[Jason, Jeanie, Jan]

[Christopher, Elyssa, Adam]

[Christopher, Lisa, Ben, Elyssa]

[Dad, Papa, Christopher, Sam, Ben, Adam]

[Caroline, Jason, Jan]

[Mom, Susan, Alexia]

[Elyssa, Bethany, Dailey, Lisa, Me]

[Lindsay, Me, Demetria]

[Father of the groom speech]

[Prayer before dinner]

[Gaines, me]

[Aunt Kay, Me, Annie, Uncle Mike, Dailey, Amy, Gaines]

[Me, Allie]

[Dailey, Me]

[Papa, Grammy, Mom, Dad, Grandmama]

[Sam, Aunt Shannon, Dailey]

[Jan, Rickie, Bert]

[Christopher, Bethany, Lisa, Elyssa]

[Pete, Sam]

[Aunt Alice, Aunt Jane, Uncle John, Mom]

[Trace, Kate, Caroline, Jason, Bo, Stuart, Rachel]

[Danny, Stephanie, Lindsay, Travis, Elisabeth, Mike]

[Tom, Julie, Aunt Becky, Renee, Sydney, Sam]

[Jessica, Jean]

[Anna Hensley, Stacy, Matthew, Matt, Kate]

[Baker, Sydney]

[Paul, Sawyer, Ben, Baker, Melissa]

[Papa, Grammy]

[Liam, Amy]

[Us with Baker and Sawyer]

[Opening our champagne flutes from the Blackburns]

[Jeanie, Gaines]

[Demetria, Elisabeth, Me]

[Dailey, Me, Mom, Aunt Sue Sue, Allie, Kelley, Aunt Alexia]

Then, it was time to watch our amazing slideshow made by Gaines' mom and hear a few speeches, like a hilarious one from my dad.  What an unforgettable night! 

[Gaines, Me]

[Watching the slideshow]

[Father of the bride speech]

And one of my favorite parts from the entire weekend happened once my immediate family got home.  We popped a bottle of champagne and sat on my bed talking for a while.  It was such a special "last night of being a Turner."   

I divided tomorrow's posts into two sections (getting ready and then the actual wedding), so be sure to check back twice!