Our Wedding Day!!!

Oh the memories of our wedding day! Leading up to our big day I had always heard that every wedding ends up having some kind of outrageous story behind it. Subconsciously I probably wondered what on earth our story would end up being but honestly, I went into our big day thinking 'how on earth could something go wrong?!' I mean I spent months devoting my life to this one day. Really, my wedding monopolized my free time for the 6 months I spent planning! But of course we did have stories and who would have guessed I was the leading lady of it all - lol!

Our day ended up being perfect in it's own way. Would I change some things if I could...it would be tempting...but would I really change it? Never! All of the imperfections made it OUR day. We look back on things now and laugh. My MOH-tastic sister told me several times throughout the planning process, "If you don't laugh, you'll cry!" So we choose to laugh! And I choose to share all the laughs and imperfections with you :-)

I'd like to preface with something I found quite funny. Do I have any "Sex In The City" fans out there?! If so, then you may have seen the episode "The Catch" It's the episode where Charlotte and Harry tie the knot in a traditional Jewish wedding and everything goes terribly wrong! First, Harry sees Charlotte in her dress a few days prior to their wedding, then in their newspaper announcement, Charlotte has an ink moustache! At the actual wedding, Harry spills wine down the front of Charlotte's dress, Samantha breaks her bracelet on the altar (there is a big scene with everyone trying to clean up all the pearls!) Harry can't break the glass and Charlotte ultimately slips and almost falls on one of the forgotten pearls! After, the main character, Carrie, finds a crying Charlotte in the bathroom who says "I just wanted everything to be perfect" and Carrie comforts her by saying "The worse the wedding the better the marriage!" I had to laugh because I so related to Charlotte!!! I just wanted everything to be perfect too! I'm hoping Carrie's words ring true, because if that's the case, Patrick and I will have one heck of a happy marriage ;-) BTW - Charlotte and Harry's wedding ended with the Best Man giving an inappropriate speech and the Maid of Honor's speech catching fire from a close by candlestick! ***Note***Our wedding was not this drastically bad! But it was by no means perfect!!

So, last entry I told you about my attempts to get to bed with Baby Teddy and Katie at the Inn On Negley. By the way, the Inn is a little bed and breakfast in Shadyside, and it's AMAZING! I highly suggest it for a little vacation! It is absolutely beautiful, the beds are a dream and the service was superb! Not the mention, the breakfast was to die for!

At 3:30 am Baby Teddy lost his pacifier and this Bride-To-Be was up for the rest of the day! Katie retrieved the pacifier off the hardwood floor and Baby Teddy was down for the count. Aunt Maggie on the other hand, not so much! Butterflies had already taken over my tummy and I couldn't stop thinking about my wedding day! I tried to fall back asleep but it was hopeless. So after an hour of battling the butterflies to go back to sleep, I was up and at it. I decided to enjoy a nice bath. We stayed the the Courtland Suite at the Inn which has a whirl-pool tub so I decided to have at it. The Inn provides L'Occitane toiletries, which was marvelous...I love L'Occitane! So I took a relaxing bath at 4:30 am - lol! After my bath I finally got to read the card that Patrick gave me the night before with my pearl ring...he made it himself...look how cute!!

My hairdresser, Val, arrived at the Inn around 5:30 am to start her work for the day - so it was bound to be an early morning from the start. She did both my mother and mother-in-laws hair, 5 of my bridesmaids hair and my hair. Future brides-to-be...I don't suggest this! When it came down to it, we were kinda rushing to get my hair finished, and I'm sure Val was tired from doing hair for 8 hours! It was fun to have my loved ones there though. All morning long we watched "Father of the Bride" which was really, really fun! I've always loved that movie!

I spent most of the day as a huge bum though! I was showered but for hours I sat there in PJ's waiting for it to finally be my turn to get ready! At noon my makeup artist, Loretta, got there and my day finally began :-) Loretta did a great job! So did Val! I was very happy with how my look panned out  :-)

All of my bridesmaids and flower girls were there as I finished up getting ready and they all turned around as I put on my dress to assure it was a surprise. Only 3 of the 8 had seen it prior to the big day!

We took some group pictures then it was on to the trolley for the ceremony...but not before our photographer, Milla, could snap this picture (one of my faves!)

The butterflies got rowdier on the trolly! I was so excited! The girls pulled a quick on on me and had me "ring the bell" but in reality it made a terrible farting noise...we all got a good laugh. THEN I got to really ring the bell...yay!

When we pulled up to Saint Paul's Cathedral, I was kinda freaking out, not because of nerves but because of my under-garments! I had on this fabulous corset which had garter straps that connected to my thigh-highs...very classic and sexy! Well, we never moved the straps to fit me so they kept snapping off and hitting me in the rear!! I just wanted everything to be perfect during the ceremony so it kinda set me off that it wasn't. Then my shoes set in and I realized my beautiful Bagley Mischka's were doing me so wrong! I remember standing in the line-up ready to walk down the aisle and I wanted to take my shoes off - even just for a minute!! LOL! My MOH told me she didn't think it was a good idea, which was probably right - lol!! Brides-to-be...buy comfy shoes!!! I was so focused on what they looked like and the designer label on the inside. Oh if I could do it again! But, in my (and my shoes) defense, they were beautiful and matched perfectly...at least they had that going for them!

It was surreal walking down the aisle on my dad's arm and seeing Patrick there beaming at the other side! I remember just focusing on him. My eyes never left his! He looked so handsome...what a dream come true!

When we got to the altar, Father commented on how cold both mine and Patrick's hands were. I blamed mine on holding my flowers. Patrick responded "at least it isn't my feet!" - we both laughed so hard...that was pretty clever!!!

Patrick and I did a great job with our vows and the exchanging of rings. No stumbled words...yay!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150112975835942&oid=423212440356&comments

But things got interesting when it was time to give a sign of peace to our parents and we realized that the roses we ordered for each of them were nowhere in sight!!! We instead met them with hugs...

We played it off smoothly but this brought up the question as to where our bouquet for the Blessed Mother was. In the Catholic church there is a tradition for the Bride to present, the Blessed Mother with a small bouquet of flowers if she has a close relationship with her. I pray to Mary daily and always knew I wanted to honor her on our special day. So I whispered to my sister and she also saw no flowers in sight. During Communion my sly MOH went up to our floral arrangement and plucked out a single pink rose...problem solved!

It ended up that our peace roses and the bouquet for Mary were in the church, but were left in the last row of pews. Then Patrick and I made a little mistake when lighting out unity candle. We lit them perfectly but forgot to blow out the ones our parents had lit!

Patrick's Aunt Karen said it best when admitting our blunder, "All in God's plan - that's because their "lights" will always shine bright in you both!" Well said Aunt Karen!! BTW - We've been to two ceremonies since and they both forgot to blow theirs out as well - it's now Patrick and I's little inside joke :-) 

Our priest went a half-hour over and we were almost unable to get pictures on the gorgeous altar of Saint Paul's Cathedral. Fortunately we had an on-the-ball bridal party who came right up after so we were able to get a few shots...this bridal party brought their A-Game!

Literally 5 minutes later we were in the trolley and on our way to our bridal photoshoot. My feet hurt so bad! Fortunately, the pictures turned out GREAT! Here are a few of our favorites!! Thanks Milla C. Photography!

Somewhere in the mix of the photo shoot, a shoe went through the bottom of my dress. It may have been my shoe? I just remember hearing a rip and seeing the hole. Lovely, right?! Nobody noticed, nope, not with what was to come...! Trust me, it gets even better then this! Stay tuned for the next blog capturing our oh-so-interesting wedding reception :-)

Rolled Ankle & Rehearsal Dinner Go Hand-In-Hand?

Before I go on about our Rehearsal Dinner I will share that I managed to twist my ankle pretty good the week before the wedding...only me! My alter-ego Maggie "Klutzbach" had to make one last appearance before the wedding and my name change I guess - lol! Believe it or not, this little accident didn't even happen at boot camp! It happened right before as I was leaving the house one morning. Man, did it hurt! I somehow missed a step, jumped and landed all of my weight on my left ankle. I remember falling to the ground and just grabbing my foot in pain. I contemplated not going to boot-camp (I always thought of excuses to not go that early in the morning, this was my most legitimate yet!) but I mustered up all of my strength and went. I really shouldn't have because I think it got even more messed up. I just couldn't imagine not going to boot camp the week of my wedding. Well, I didn't go from then on.

A few weeks prior my boss, Tony, had given Patrick a device called "Game Ready". Tony used to sell them and had a few extras. He had been trying to give Patrick one since I got hired, and Patrick always declined, even though he would borrow them from the Steelers when he was with them. The last game of last season Patrick had landed funny on his hip and finally took Tony up on the offer. Thank goodness he did, because I've used the dang device more then he has!! I first had to use it for a pulled muscle in my arm and then of course all of wedding week on my bum ankle. Check me out...

I told Tony I was renaming the device "Wedding Ready" - lol! With many prayers and the "Wedding Ready" I was able to wear heels to the Rehearsal Dinner. It was seriously questionable days prior!

It's funny because my mother-in-law twisted her ankle the week before her wedding! Linda was a gymnast and landed funny while doing a flip. She said her ankle was the size of a soft-ball! I believe it was same foot too! I guess that's what happens when you marry one of those Bailey boys! LOL!

Our Rehearsal Dinner day was beautiful! The sun was shining and it was about 70 degrees! Unquestionably warm weather for a Pittsburgh March! I'm so happy the weather was nice, because a lot of our out-of-town guests came in on Friday, so they at least got to enjoy the beautiful weather we all know Pittsburgh has in it when it wants to!

It was so nice to see so many friends that we hadn't seen in so long. It was also so nice to meet a lot of Patrick's friends that I had only heard about!! I had never met his two groomsmen, Steve and Michael. Both were just as nice as I had expected them to be! Patrick was spot on when describing both of them!

It was kind of surreal at church, I had envisioned the wedding taking place there so many times - it finally was here! I think I pinched myself at least once!

It was nice to see all of my family and friends meshing so well with Patricks. If we were worried about anyone it was the little ones - lol! Weeks before the wedding I asked my youngest niece, Addie, if she would walk down the aisle. Every time I would ask she would say "yes". So as you can imagine I was very anxious to see if she would hold true to her word....

Patrick's cousin, Codey, was so sweet! He totally carried her down the aisle! Addie laughed and laughed! It was quite adorable! (This isn't how she actually walked down the aisle for the real deal lol!)

There is a tradition that the bride has to carry all the bows from her bridal shower when she walks down the aisle at the rehearsal...I must say, I had quite the "bow-quet" :-)

Below are some pictures from our time at church...

After church we traveled to Wexford, PA for the dinner. As I mentioned before we had it at Patron's, which is Mexican cuisine. Everything turned out really well! The food was great and the margaritas were flowing...I think everyone enjoyed themselves! Especially little miss Adelaide who housed three pieces of cake!!! No joke! Look for yourself, she can barely walk from the sugar-high! LOL!

It was fun to say thank you to those who helped make our wedding such a success...

 Each Bridesmaid got a set of these Swarovski earrings. Guess what?! I liked them so much I bought myself a set and wear them all the time - lol!

Each groomsman got a globe that Patrick found and loved! It opens and holds bar ware. The bottom of the stand holds favorite liqueurs. I'm not going to lie...we need to get one of these!

Patrick's parents have collected Lladro pretty much their entire relationship so it was a no brainer to get them a piece to help along their collection! We also got them an etched frame with our wedding invitation on one side and our photo on the other :-)

My mom fell in love with the Wilton Armetale pieces I registered for so it seemed only natural she get her very first piece from us!

My dad has always wanted a pair of cowboy boots and said he was going to buy himself a pair while in Texas for our reception there. We surprise him by letting him know we would be buying them for him!

Each flowergirl got a pearl bracelet that we got them from Etsy.com. We also got them their glitterie

Our ring bears each got their very own Bailey jersey...both boys were pretty stoked to get them!

Patrick and I decided to share our gifts to each other with everyone instead of doing them on the wedding day. I wanted to publicly thank my man for making all my dreams come true! I told him "We've been waiting for these days for a long time, and this is the time of our lives, and I promise to love you until the end of time." You better believe my Dukie knew he was getting a watch - lol!

Patrick also made a little riddle but I wasn't as smart about his though. Patrick explained to everyone that he's not too proud to say it, but we met at a bar - as that wasn't his ideal place to meet his wife. He went on to say that he met a gem there and this gift signified that. Dumbfounded and giddy I opened the bag...

To find this...!

I was shocked! I had ALWAYS wanted a pearl, as the name Maggie means pearl. I had always hinted at how fitting it would be for me to have one - lol! Patrick is pretty deep about things at times and explained that the bar equaled the ugly clam shell and I equaled the pearl inside...insert "aww" right there! :-)

The Sweeney's capped off our night with some shots of tequila with a side of marriage advice...I think they really just wanted to see if we knew how to take a shot of tequila...I know I surprised my brother-in-law when I said "lick it, slam it, suck it" - lol! Please notice the look of my face...priceless!

It was a fabulous night, filled with fabulous family, friends and memories. Enjoy a few more snapshots from our special day :-)

After dinner Patrick and some of his groomsmen retreated to our place for a make-shift Bachelor party. They kept it PG (no literally, Patrick's parents were upstairs the whole time - lol!) and flew some mini-helicopters in the basement. While one flew, the others fired mini-nurf-guns at the chopper. From what I heard, they all had a blast and Patrick's idea was a big hit!

Meanwhile, my mom, sister, Baby Teddy and I headed to the Inn On Negley for what should have been a relaxing nights sleep - haha! My mom ended up having to leave because she had my dads set of keys with her. Katie didn't sleep at all because she took a sleeping pill that back-fired on her - lol! And if you asked me Baby Teddy didn't sleep too well either...but Katie insists that was a good nights sleep for him...hmm! I take that as a sign that I am in no hurry for a little one quite yet - lol!

Next blog find out what time I woke up and all about our wedding day :-) Trust me, it was filled with all kinds of twists, turns and surprises...I don't think you'll want to miss it! Stay tuned!

FLASHBACK: Bachelorette Party!!!

I obviously have A LOT of catching up to do in my blogging! As you can imagine, things were crazy before the wedding and haven't changed since the wedding!! It's been a whirlwind! This is the time of our lives though and I don't want to forget it. Each day that passes by I chance forgetting more precious memories so I'm going to get a snap at starting. Over the next few weeks you will find Flashback posts, the first is my bachelorette party!

The bachelorette party was fun times! We kicked off the night with the "DD Limo" driving us to the Southside. This is a great company! For $5 per person a limo will pick you up and drop you off at your destination. Then for another $5 per person it will pick you up again at whatever time you want. It gets to the point, which I really like. Why pay all that extra money for a limo that just sits there while you are eating or off having a good time?! Now, these limos aren't the flashiest ones but they get the job done - lol! If you ever want to use this service the phone number is (412) 563-2559. I highly suggest it...it ends up being cheaper then a cab! And it's always best to be safe then sorry!!!

Our limo dropped us off at my all-time favorite restaurant, Nakama! I LOVE Nakama! It's a Japanese Hibachi-style restaurant. We had a blast! Our chef was really good and really funny. He definitely catered to the fact that there was a Bachelorette in the house and we all had some laughs!

After dinner we walked down the street to Charlie Murdoch's, a dueling piano bar. It was a rainy night so it wasn't the most pleasant walk but we had a good time none the less. There are two dueling piano bars in Pittsburgh, the other is "Sing Sing" and is located at the Waterfront. I had been to Sing Sing and really enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy Charlie Murdoch's as much. It was a lot smaller and crowded and the pianists were a lot more crude. They were also a lot more money-hungry. I get it, they work for tips! But every other sentence was about money - just over the top. Our entire party pitched in to embarrass me and get me pulled on stage lol...I don't think they gave enough because they never asked me to come up, instead they just asked to wear my veil.

So they sang the requested song of "Like A Virgin" - lol - sans me on stage...that is until my MOH-tastic sister Katie pulled my feather boa off of me and pulled me on stage - lol!

My mom said you could tell which sister was the virgin and which on has 4 kids at home - haha!

After enjoying a few more songs we got a call from the limo driver that he was there for us and we left. I was most looking forward to girl-talk time at my mom's house! That is really all I wanted from my bachelorette party! Some of my favorite high school memories are just having sleepovers with my girlfriends and talking and dancing all night long, so I wanted to channel that time in our lives :-)

When we got back to the house some of my aunts and cousins were there - which was a fun surprise from my mom! There was also a whole room full of comfort foods! A nacho bar, wings, buffalo chicken dip, cake and of course some more drinks. After housing some snacks my friends showered me with suggesting gifts - lol!

Katie gave me a wrapped gift and as I opened it I found a blue silk bodysuit nightie. Once in my hands she told me it was the nightie my mom was wearing when I was conceived!!! We all got a huge laugh! Naturally, my mom has no idea what she was wearing when I was conceived but had found this little number when cleaning out her cedar chest. Katie thought it would be a hilarious prank to give it to me - and it was! We all laughed so hard at that one!

After a night of girl-talk each of us drifted off one-by-one. And in the morning we were awoken to a delicious breakfast made by my mom! Patrick came down for it along with my friend Colleen's husband Scott. Both agreed their women don't make them breakfasts of that fashion...I guess we have some learning to do right Coll?!

Overall the night was a success! We all had a bunch of laughs and made great memories. Thanks to all my awesome friends and family who were a part of it...you're the best!