The Day of the Wedding & First Look

Buckle up, everyone. These next few posts are about to get real photo heavy. Hope you love it.

As mentioned, I woke up the day of our wedding and had never been so tired in my life. Everything on my body felt painfully heavy. The makeup artist was supposed to arrive around 8 a.m. and I wanted to text and say, “how about 11 instead?” But then Kate kindly reminded me, YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY! And a surge of adrenaline ran through me. I don’t know how it happened, but I wasn’t tired again for the rest of the day. I was amped.

When Brooke, the makeup artist arrived (who was incredible by the way,) she asked me what look I wanted for the wedding.

“Not hungover,” was my response.

And with that, my first BM to get her makeup done walked up to Brooke with a glass of champs in her hand, took a seat in her makeup chair, and said, “good luck.” I feel like you a need visual for the bridesmaid I’m talking about here, her name is Kammie. She is a good time.

And just like that around 8:30 a.m. in our suite at the Steamboat Grand, the wedding preparations began.

Coffee was made, Bloodys were mixed, and champagne was poured. I made a “bridesmaid getting ready” mix that I immediately started blasting. Everyone gathered in the kitchen and various friends and family continued to stop by the suite through out the morning.

As I recall the day now, it hardly seems real to me. It was too good to be true. In college I lived with each and every one of the girls staying in the suite at one time or another, and then after graduation we all spread out across the country. We don’t get to see each other but a few times a year, so to say I was looking forward to a full day of getting ready with them would be an understatement.

They all picked their own dresses and I’d seen photos, but it was different to actually see them in person. It was perfect.

Shortly after Brooke started makeup, our hairstylists arrived. We had Liana from Steamboat and my cousin Dedra, a stylist in Arizona. And I think it’s worth noting that not a single person wiped their makeup off, or took their hair out. Not. One.

I’ve realized it’s important to not only have talented makeup/hair stylists, but it also makes a huge difference if they’re people you can relate to and don’t mind being around for hours at a time. Luckily for us, Brooke, Liana and Dedra were all awesome. I would suggest them as wedding stylists to anyone.

Now for those dainty little getting-ready pajama sets. I learned during wedding planning that certain things will become priorities and others you don’t care about at all. For me, comfy yet cute getting ready pjs were a priority.

It’s also worth noting I’m pretty modest and don’t often prance around in pjs in front of people, so I knew the pj sets had to be good material that didn’t show too much. After some light Instagram searching, I found Love Ophelia‘s line (@loveophelia.) Their robes and shorty sets were absolutely perfect so I went with a combo of both for my girls.

Not only are they cute, they are heaven to wear. I have mine on now. Truly. I wear it almost every night because they’re the coziest pjs I’ve owned.

I took this pic to get an idea if I liked the “width” of my hair, but it also shows off the pj shorty set so I might as well post it. Why not!

We were calm, cool, collected and right on time with getting ready right until we weren’t. But I feel like this is how it always goes. It’s all good and relaxed until the photographer and videographer walk in from the guys room and remind you there’s a time line and a “first look” and specific photos to capture and suddenly there’s a sense of urgency. It goes from 0-10 in the blink of an eye.

Speaking of videographer, this is one of those things I’m going to tell every person about to get married not to skip (I almost did, but I am SO GLAD I didn’t.) I’ll talk more about it later, but after the wedding day and night sped by in the blink of an eye one of the things I took comfort in was knowing I’ll get to relive it all once we get our video back.

At the suggestion of my friend Ali, we hired Ross and his crew from Wooten Media out of Kansas City. And this was one of my best wedding decisions, if I do say so myself. They were super cool guys and I’m already dying to see their footage since they were all over our ceremony and reception. Again, more to come on this later. But if you’re getting married soon, check them out here.

Anyway, back to the part where I put on my dress.

In the movies this is the moment when I cry and take a breath and gasp and do all the girly things. But in reality I was more like, okay let’s get going. Also all of my bridesmaids were doing their own last minute stuff so if I recall correctly, I got dressed on my own and then shouted “HEY! Will someone button this thing up for me?”

And that was that.

Then it was time for my “first look.” I actually emailed Ross (the videographer) and told him I wasn’t sure if I wanted this recorded. My exact email was this in fact,

“Hey Ross, so I’m not sure if I want this recorded… the whole first look thing seems really odd and embarrassing to me. But talk to me on the day and maybe I’ll be less awkward about it!”

And he kindly responded that it was totally my choice, but he’d be super chill about it, use a wide lens, and would hate to have me regret not recording it.

So the day of I said yup, let’s do it.

And I am so happy we did. You guys! I never thought I’d say this, but the silly little “first look” turned out to be one of my favorite moments of the day. I GET IT! I totally get the first look hoopla now.

When it was time, I grabbed my two least emotional bridesmaids and had them walk with me to the lobby of the hotel, near the balcony where we were going to do it. As Tye, Kate and myself got closer to “the meet point,” I got weirdly nervous and overwhelmed. It’s all just SO MUCH.

I started to nervous cry and say “this is so weird, what’s wrong with me? It’s just Chris!”

But it is weird. I get butterflies just thinking about it.

So when I was finally told “he’s ready,” I walked out the double doors and saw Chris standing there, facing the mountains with his back to me, and it all came out. I couldn’t make a joke, or lighten the moment in any stupid way like I usually try to do. I just ran up to him and cried and mumbled things I don’t remember.

As soon as we hugged we both felt like a load had been lifted. We were so caught up in the plans, and the people, and the details of every last little thing from the past week that this was finally our moment to remember why we were doing all of this in the first place. For each other.

Everything feels so much better now. I said that, or he did, or we both did. I don’t remember.

But we’ll find out because after crying and mumbling into his suit jacket for a few minutes I noticed he was mic’d.

“Oh shit, is that a microphone?” I asked. And then I saw the videographers and our photographer, Elias. I had totally forgotten they were all there.

MORE TO COME. Are we still on board with wedding talk? GOOD! I will never stop.

*Brooke Rock Makeup is located in Denver and you can find all of her services here. Tell her I sent you 🙂

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32 Comments

  1. August 16, 2016 / 12:25 am

    SO FUN! Loving your wedding recaps girl!

    Her Heartland Soul
    herheartlandsoul.com

  2. August 16, 2016 / 6:18 am

    Your wedding was absolutely beautiful and you look so so gorgeous! Love the pjs! Do you still have your bridesmaid getting ready playlist? I'm in charge of that as MOH and would love some ideas!

  3. August 16, 2016 / 6:23 am

    "Why we were doing all of this in the first place. For each other."

    This is the best line of all your wedding recaps. All the details, all the fun, all the crazy – you do it for each other.

    This warms my heart. So happy for you guys. Thanks for remembering what it's all about.

  4. August 16, 2016 / 6:54 am

    So sweet. I can't believe the mic'd him though haha. That should be interesting.

    I have a friend who is a videographer who sat at my wedding, unused, because it never occurred to me to hire him to video our big day. I wish I had video of that day!

  5. August 16, 2016 / 7:22 am

    Gorgeous photos!! I have always loved the idea of the first look. We didn't do it but it looks sooo special and intimate and emotional.

  6. August 16, 2016 / 9:10 am

    Oh my goodness keep the photos coming! You. Look(ed). STUNNING.

  7. August 16, 2016 / 9:12 am

    Good lord I was teary eyed for you! Jeesh! You looked gorgeous!!!

  8. August 16, 2016 / 9:39 am

    I agree 100% on the first look pictures! I got married in June and was very opposed to the idea of doing those pictures, I thought it sounded super lame and staged. I am so glad my photographer "highly recommended" we do them because they are my absolute favorite photos of the entire day! Looks like you got some great photos too 🙂 Congrats!

  9. August 16, 2016 / 11:39 am

    So beautiful! You were stunning, Taylor! And Chris looked very handsome as well! We got married a long while ago and videography wasn't a thing, but we have a pretty rough video and even though it's rough it's still something I will treasure forever! I agree it's one thing to not mark off the must list.

  10. August 16, 2016 / 1:23 pm

    All of your photos are so gorgeous! Good note about the videographer, I've never been sure if I would really need that sort of attention on my wedding day but it makes sense that you would want to relive the magic!

  11. August 16, 2016 / 2:03 pm

    Keep the posts coming! The first look sounds like such a special moment- so glad you'll have photos/videos to remember it.

  12. August 16, 2016 / 3:02 pm

    I love all the pictures. Keep 'em comin'! 🙂

  13. August 16, 2016 / 3:08 pm

    this is GORGEOUS. every photo is just so happy and filled with emotion. your makeup artist did a fantastic job. I love that y'all went for a first look!

  14. August 16, 2016 / 4:39 pm

    Ugh, you totally made me tear up. You looked stunninnnnnngggg girl!!

  15. August 16, 2016 / 5:56 pm

    Obsessed with your wedding posts!!

  16. August 17, 2016 / 9:43 am

    Please never stop the wedding posts…I loooove them! So gorgeous!

  17. August 17, 2016 / 3:12 pm

    Your wedding recaps have to be my favorite. Not drawn-out, just short bursts here and there of the cool parts. And you're such a sweet blogger, keeping us in the loop. We don't want to do a first look (we want ours to be at the Church as I walk toward him :)) but I almost teared up when I read your take on it because I got SO excited for you. And fortunately you looked way excited–otherwise this would have been awkward. All the best to you all always–especially Harlow <3.

  18. August 23, 2016 / 10:35 am

    I'm getting married in May and I am loving all of your wedding recap posts 🙂

    I love the dresses your bridesmaids picked out, and wanted to ask what your requirements to them were while choosing. I'm doing three different shades in six different dresses, but am having a bit of difficulty with actually selecting the dresses.

  19. August 27, 2016 / 3:37 pm

    Oh my goodness you have me tearing up about the first look. This is all too perfect, I love every bit of it.

    Lexi, Lex Be Livin’

  20. September 1, 2016 / 8:20 am

    We had an amazing event here this past weekend. We had a friend create some custom drink options that the bartenders served throughout the night and the designer easily collaborated with the space at Malibu wedding venues to address her needs.

  21. September 3, 2016 / 12:14 pm

    What a fun way to get ready with your girls. I think I'd be the same with the 8 a.m. wake up but I can imagine the wedding day would be the exception 🙂 The first look sounds like it was so great. I totally get why more people are doing them!

  22. September 5, 2016 / 6:04 am

    I love the advice on the first look! I am getting married in April and have been really hesitant with it, but a few people have told me it's their favorite part of the day, so I'm kind of reevaluating it now. I love your wedding posts, and all your posts! I'm even wearing your 96 Olympic Gymnast shirt right now! Basically #creeper.

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