Wedding Day: The Bridal Party

As explained previously, Ethan and I got married in a temple. You can read all about my temple marriage here. Because we got married in the temple, there wasn't an aisle for either of us to walk down. 


Ethan and I still wanted our families to be included in our wedding party, so we had our brothers and sisters be our bridesmaids and groomsmen. There were so many of my good friends that I wanted standing beside me on my wedding day, but since there was no place for them to stand during the actual ceremony, the bridal party served a very different purpose. 

I am so grateful for my close friends who understood, loved and supported me despite this decision. Sometimes, people can get touchy about who is/isn't in the wedding party. Planning a wedding is stressful, so it was nice not to have to worry about my best friends being mad at me. 

The bridesmaids were my sisters: Katie and Shelby, 

and Ethan's sisters: Crystal and Veronica. 

The groomsmen were my brother: Alec, and Ethan's brother: Ian.

The junior bridesmaid was Ethan's youngest sister: Emma.

And the flower girl and ring bearer were Brooke and Preston.

Wedding Day: Temple Guests & Family

Here is almost everyone who attended our temple sealing. About ten people who were there didn't make it into the picture, but boy are Ethan and I lucky that so many people love and support us. Most of these people had to wake up early in the morning and drive anywhere from 2-15 hours to come support us that day. I know that many other people would have been there if distance and the ability to go inside the temple weren't a factor. Thank you to all of you as well. If you look closely, you can see Ethan and I somewhere in the middle :)

Wedding Day: Temple Exit

As explained previously, Ethan and I got married in the temple which you can read about here.  Exiting the temple shares the same excitement as the newly married bride and groom kissing at the alter. Mostly for record sake, here are some pictures of us exiting the temple hugging our family. 

Our First Married Christmas!

Since this is the last Christmas before Alec goes on a mission next summer, Ethan and I headed to California to celebrate with my family. I can't help but be extremely grateful to be in the warm sun again for a few weeks before we have to go back up to the snow. We drove down to California about a week before Christmas because part of our family Christmas present was a surprise trip to Los Angeles to compete in The Amazing Race!! None of the kids knew what we would be doing until the morning that we left and it was such a fun surprise. We decided to split up into girls vs. boys and boy was that fun.

Katie's Wedding

While we surprised our family for the wedding, I made sure to let Katie know we were coming before anyone else so she would have seats for us at the reception. Since Katie is not LDS, and did not get married in the temple, it was king of fun and interesting to attend a wedding that was totally different than Ethan and I's. 

The day of the wedding was so much more relaxing than my own wedding day. My mom and I went to get our nails and hair done, then went home to get ready. We got to the venue about an hour before the ceremony started to help with any last minute things. Katie got married at the same place that Ethan and I had our reception, so there was a bit of deja vu going on, but it was fun to see how we did things differently. 

California Surprise!

My sister, Katie, got married October 3rd and my parents were trying really hard to get me from Idaho to California for her wedding. Unfortunately, with school, work, and plane tickets being close to $500 for a weekend trip, it seemed like getting there wouldn't be possible. So we concluded that we just wouldn't be able to make it home this trip.