And they lived happily ever after...

Where oh where to begin? Wow, it has been so long since I've updated my blog... and of course so much has happened over the past couple of weeks. I'll first backtrack to my Bachelorette party.

On Friday, June 19th - Saturday, June 20th I had an amazing Bachelorette party, hosted by my sister - and Maid of Honor - Kathleen. Most of us met up at my house and then we all drove over to Hog Wild, a local BBQ restaurant. After dinner we all went to a hotel in Tinley Park and stayed the night. There we relaxed in the hot tub, I opened some fabulous gifts, and we ate junk food and such into the wee hours of the night. I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to spend the night with! We had a blast!

The next morning my folks slipped in and out to drop off coffee and donuts from Dunkin' Donuts. Once all the girls were up, we met up in one room and had breakfast. All together it was an awesome party.

The week before the wedding was pretty crazy-busy - as expected. However, everything got done and we were all very efficient with our use of time.

Wednesday, June 24th my family and I started to decorate the church and get things organized. It was nice to finally see all of my plans fall in to place. Plus, doing most of the decorating before the rehearsal gave us a chance to see if anything appeared to be missing or needed to be adjusted.

Thursday, June 25th was the day of the wedding rehearsal and dinner. That morning I went and got my nails done with Kathleen and Carrie. Finally, a chance to relax! After lunch people started to gather at the church. Dan and him mom started working on flowers that morning. That evening the flowers were pretty much all ready to go for the wedding.

At the rehearsal we did some filming for our wedding DVD and practiced the wedding ceremony. It was nice to see our entire wedding party together at last! Everyone was super helpful and supportive. They helped the whole evening go very smoothly.

After the rehearsal we went to P.F. Chang's for dinner. Of course it was delicious! We were all very well taken care of that evening... and again, it was nice to relax and just enjoy the company of loved ones.

That night, Dan and I parted ways. The next time I would see him would be in my beautiful, white wedding dress! It was a wonderful thought.

The next morning things got busy in a nice, steady pace. I got my hair done with most of my girls at 10:00 a.m. and after that we were off to the church to get dressed and dolled up. During lunch our Photographers and Videographer showed up. Dan and I took pictures together before the wedding... so the Photographers and Videographer were there to set up a lovely meeting spot and captured the whole thing. It was such a beautiful moment seeing him for the first time! We both got tears in our eyes and just held each other.

It got pretty toasty in my dress, but it was worth it! I was so grateful for the sunshine and the cool breeze that day. The weather was great... I'd rather have hot sunshine than cloudy rain any day!

The ceremony was a hit! Again, everything went according to plan and we got a lot of compliments on our originality and creative ideas. The whole experience was like a fairytale come true! I was very proud of my dad that day. The only time he really cried was when he walked me down the aisle. Even then, we laughed and goofed around before we made our grand entrance. It was a magical experience!

The reception was a blast! The food was delicious, the music was fun, and the company was exquisite! Our first dance was to Michael Buble's "Everything," the Father/Daughter dance was to Rascal Flatt's "My Wish," the Mother/Son dance was to The Backstreet Boys' "Perfect Fan," and the Wedding Party dance was to Dionne Warwick's "That's What Friends Are For."

Dan and I had no set plans as to when we would leave, we just figured whenever the evening started to turn "slow" we would change clothes and depart. Honestly, there was never a dull moment and people were dancing and having fun up until the final moments... and since these were all people who came to spend time celebrating with us we defiantly stayed to party with them!

No professional photos back yet, but we've been enjoying the photos that our family and friends have been posting on Facebook and e-mailing us. The photo of Dan and I was taken by my Uncle Ed - while we were posing for photos.

Well, that's quite a bit to read for now. I shall update everyone about our Honeymoon in my next entry.