The World of the Walsers: Wedding

Jordan and I were married in the Meza, AZ Temple on May 3, 2013 (just one day shy of Star Wars Day "/ ) at 9:30 a.m.

Exiting the Temple

Don't we look fancy? Jordan's cousin did my make-up. I was super dolled up!

Cacti! We were a *long* way from Oregon!

I think what I will always remember the most about our wedding was that (at least from my perspective), everything thing went perfectly. I've decided that the secret to a perfect wedding is to have reasonable expectations, expect a few things to go wrong, and have a short list of the the "must-haves". Here's my short list:

1) An Eternal Sealing in the House of the Lord

Far above any other item on the wish list is the opportunity to be Holy Temple. The opportunity that we all have to partake in the sacred ordinances of this peaceful, holy temple goes beyond anything I can imagine. I am so grateful that I was taught from such a young age that being able to go through one of these beautiful buildings was the ultimate goal.

I'm also grateful for the opportunity that Jordan and I have to re-visit the temple and to renew our commitment and covenant to each other. It is so cool to know that our bond goes beyond this world, beyond death and separation, and that we will be married forever and ever and ever and.....

2) The Perfect Groom

The reason why the whole "stuck together forever" thing is such a blessing is that I happened to find the coolest guy on the planet. I feel like it took me forever, but he reminds me that he had to wait even longer. Especially in this first month of marriage, I've learned that he is so much more patient, kind, funny, helpful... (the list goes on forever) ... than I ever knew. Turns out he only gets better. (/gushing)

3) My Whole Family Present

I am big on family. Crazy big. Probably because my immediate family is also....crazy big (note: 3 new grandchildren [and Jordan] are missing from this picture). I grew up with 6 other siblings, and we're exceptionally close. I can't imagine life without them all surrounding me all the time (maybe because I'm a middle child?). I am also a huge family history buff. I love my extended family, even/especially those I haven't met. Family is such a huge thing to me. And now that I'm married, I have TWICE AS MUCH!

My one unreasonable request for my wedding was to have my whole family there. Both my parents, my grandparents, and all of my siblings had to be there or else I wouldn't feel like it was a real wedding, or at least not a real celebration. Turning this dream into a reality was a bit frustrating, and also the main reason for the date we picked. Jordan was pushing for the middle of February, but I'm lucky he's so understanding and willing to give up his dreams for mine.

My dream was fulfilled beyond what I could have ever imagined. Both of my parents made it, as well as all of my siblings, and their wives and children (a large chunk of which drove all the way from Iowa!). But that's not all! Grandma and Grandpa Walser (who struggles with his health a bit) made it all the way from Manti! Beyond that, not only did Grandma Despain (my only living grandparent) make it to the whole party, but Kay Blaney, my step-grandmother (who I haven't seen for years!) made the trip - in spite of heading out to Italy a couple of days later.

Sorry it's so zoomed out - Here's us with all the grandparents! (Except for Grandma Carver, who couldn't make it). From left to right, Kay, Grandma Despain, Me, Jordan, Grandma Walser, Grandpa Walser

Having my family there meant a lot of things that I couldn't have had otherwise.

My Whole Bryan Despain Family!

Our Now-Famous Wedding Glomp

I. Love. These. People.

ALL SEVEN SIBLINGS!!!!!

The most hardcore bachelorette party I've ever been to.

Personal hairdressers and makeup artists
(Chrysta gave me exactly what I wanted, in spite of me not knowing what I wanted beforehand)

My brother J.J. was put in charge of decorating the car, so that I could have one of his famous pieces. It was so much fun to drive around in this car (once we got rid of the saran wrap and streamers and were able to make it highway-worthy). We got a lot of congratulations everywhere we went on the honeymoon! It wouldn't have happened without my family there, and I'm so glad they were all able to give us this amazing gift.

4) Pictures of the Day

It was very important to me that the day be documented. See, the trick to this demand was that I didn't care about having a fancy photographer, or glamour shots. I just cared that my memories of the day could be pulled up again in picture format. I was all for just demanding that everyone share their personal digital photos with me, but luckily my moms convinced me to go all out and hire the real deal.

Taylor Southworth was right out of a dream. She made us look good on camera, but beyond that she was so laid back and understanding and easy to work with. I had heard a few horror stories of control freak photographers who step in the way of everything during the reception, but Taylor was super unobtrusive and managed to get some amazing pictures, both for our bridal session, post-temple family pictures, and reception, and all for a *crazy* good price! Whenever I presented her with a challenge ("So, we actually need a bunch of the bridal session pictures the next day, can you do that? Maybe like 12 of them?"), she gave me what I wanted and more ("Sure thing! How about like 30, and the night before?). We're probably going to name our firstborn after her.

(note: We haven't gotten all of the wedding pictures back from her yet, but here's a sneak preview)

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When you keep in mind that these are the important things, a ripped dress, broken mirror, and no A/C in the car are just little blips, rather than earth shattering catastrophes.

On top of all of the things that made my day perfect, I was blessed with a few extra bonuses

* My dream cake

Mom Walser is a cake decorator, which means she provided an amazing wedding present! In spite of my overly demanding requirements (not a huge fan of floral, and unappetizing wedding colors) and inability to verbalize what I wanted ("y'know, do like, a swoopy thingy there maybe?) she was able to whip out the cake in my head and add so much more to it than I imagined. On top is a cake topper that Jordan and I picked out, that we now have on the bookshelf of our home. We get to keep it forever! To top it all off, it was super delicious. Thanks, Mom!

* A beautiful reception - and food!

I might have to wait for the official pictures to come in to get a good picture of the reception, but maybe you can get an idea from the other pictures. Everything was lit with sparkle lights, and we had beautiful lit trees/branches on every table. We had enough green that the navy didn't turn the gym into a funeral home, and we had beautiful blue water beads lit up in bowls. While there weren't any betta fish (eh, I'm over it), there were two separate slideshows playing (one in a fancy makeshift lounge), delicious catered food, and a video booth for recording marriage advice (can't wait to watch it!).

* Gorgeous matching bridal party

We decided our whole color scheme based on this tie - Jordan found it, and we ran with it! All of the groomsmen and dads wore it, and throughout the wedding planning all of the moms had a copy to match other fabrics to.

All of my neices and nephew! Erin did an amazing job of helping me get them all to match. Patrick's bowtie even matched his dad's! (Maggie's a little unhappy, but they still all look so cute!)

This picture did a good job of showing off what each outfit looked like (J.J. and Erin's Family). Once I have the official wedding pictures, I'll replace it with one of the whole gang.

* A fancy-fance luncheon

Mom and Dad Walser took the whole family and extended family and honored guest temple bunch out to the Landmark Restaurant for some delicious fine dining. It was far above the standard I gave them of the Golden Corral! We all ate like kings. It was a wonderful opportunity to sit down and visit with all of our guests and family, and it didn't hurt that the food was *delicious*!

* Perfect weather - low heat!
I'm not exactly sure what picture I could put for this, but we were *so blessed* to beat the heat in Mesa! Jordan and I took our bridal pictures a couple of days before around sunset. When we got out of the temple around 10:30, the marvelous Taylor (mentioned above) took us to a nice shady spot for our pictures (which I know was especially appreciated by the grandparents and babies!). We rode out the noon-two hours at the luncheon, and then didn't regroup again until sunset for the reception! I was hesitant about Mesa in May for a wedding, but we successfully stayed cool!

* My dream dress
Dress shopping is a headache, but with the help of my mom and sisters, we whipped it out quick and early! I found my dress at Allyse's after a bit of hunting and fell in love with it. Chrysta liked it too - maybe we'll get to share!

Chrysta tried on dresses with me. Don't we look smashing?)

* A Beautiful Bouquet

I'm so blessed to have a mother who can help me arrange flowers! What's really amazing is the ribbon work she did on the stems - I'll have to find a picture of that. Plus, I followed the old addage: Something Old (my Grandma Till's necklace and flowers on the veil [there's another picture I have to find....]), Something New (the dress, the shoes, the earrings...a lot actually, that was easy), Something Borrowed (Nadia's veil) and Something Blue (my bouquet, and shoes)!

* Daddy-Daughter-Brother Dance

My Daddy danced with me to "Hero". This man is my hero. He's put up with so much nonsense from me growing up and has never stopped loving me. He's a rock that I build on, and I'm so glad he could see me in victorious white. Later on I snagged him to dance to *Our* actual song - "Fishin' in the Dark" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

J.J. surprised me by cutting in! It was neat to have my big brother be part of the dance - on top of everything else he did! This inspired Jordan to go out and find his sisters to dance with.

Trent came in last, abandoning his DJ duties. This dance had lots of spins! Evan was the only brother not to dance with me on this song (the punk!) but I snatched him up later.
Note: There's Taylor, over in the background, being out of the way and *awesome*. Man, she's great.

* Time to make Memories
We had enough downtime during the reception that we could have a few side-trips

My neice Allisyn really wanted to catch the bouquet, but someone else snatched it. Here I am tossing her a bridesmaid bouquet - she loved it!

Another fun story about Alli: She was semi-terrorizing our friends' little boy Oliver, chasing him around and giving him hugs/tackles and kisses. When I scooped her up to ask why she was doing it, she said "I just wanna dance with somebody!!!". So we started dancing.

* A new, improved, bigger family!