Look Lively

I was not invited to Kate and William's wedding.

I know, I know. I was as shocked as you are. It was probably an oversight, but regardless, I was not in attendance. However, this last weekend, I went to a wedding that was just as spectacular as that one. The bride was blonde, and the groom wore gray, and the Queen of England didn't come, but I still felt like I was there at that Royal Wedding. This one was just a little less Brit and a lot more Lively.

It all started in November, when Craig and Stephanie got engaged.

And then December, January, February, March, and April were all filled with wedding prep. And by "wedding prep" I mean tons of boxen filled with wedding stuff showing up on my porch, endless phone calls, the cutest bridal shower I have ever attended, and like 3 dress catastrophes.

Mama Shimp came to town at the beginning of Wedding Week. It was lovely having her, as usual. Throughout Wedding Week, different family members arrived almost every day, and eventually, we had a living room full of Shimps.

Stephanie went through the temple on Thursday. It was so cool going through with her!

I love the Timpanogos temple.

We didn't even match our bags on purpose! Well okay, maybe a little bit.

On Friday, all the girls stayed at the Hotel Monaco in Salt Lake City. We went out on the town for dinner and a little....ehm....fitness class, and had a great time getting to know each other.

Sorry about the quality of these picture. Pole-dancers have a specific set of skills, and it would seem that photography is not one of them. (Neither is public speaking, but apparently no one told our teacher that...)

Then it was Saturday morning....Wedding Day! Stephanie had to get up butt-early to get ready, but the rest of us just had to be at the temple by 11. Luckily, everyone made it there on time, and the sealing was beautiful.

I would compare the SLC temple on a Saturday in spring / summer to....Disney World on a Saturday in spring / summer. I counted 6 other brides from the time we spent in the temple, and outside was absolutely crazy. There were tons of people waiting for their couple to exit, and tons more people waiting for a prime spot for pictures.

Stephanie was the most beautiful bride of ever.

I love how beautiful the temple grounds always look! And I guess this is our go-to pose.

After a few pictures, we headed over to the luncheon in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Every detail about this part of the wedding was just perfect.

There was a menu and a program.

These were the favors - jars of honey that said "Meant to Bee." 

Besides being delicious and pretty, the luncheon was fun! There were a few toasts and a video of Craig and Stephanie's love story.

After the luncheon, we headed to Lehi for the reception. The reception center was great because there was a room for the bridesmaids to hang out and plan our surprise dance nap on the table.

Okay, look behind me. Mama Shimp & co. decorated everything for the reception. It turned out amazing! I helped with some little candle votives, but that's all I can take credit for. It took all day Friday to put it all together. I'm sure Stephanie will put up more pictures of the decorations, but there's a little sneak peek.

I didn't get too many pictures of the wedding festivities. partly because there was already a videographer and a photographer taking care of that, and partly because, well. This is what my pictures looked like. (Actually that's a pretty good one....but the rest were not.)

It was just a really lovely and fun reception, filled with more toasts, sugar cookies, bunny ears, the Cupid Shuffle, and only one minor injury at the grande sparkler exit. Congratulations, Stephanie and Craig! Thanks for a beautiful day!