Indiana trip: the bridal shower

Now that I'm feeling a bit more settled into reality again, I wanted to start sharing some of the photos I took from our trip to Indiana. We did a lot of super fun things in a short amount of time, so I did you a favor and separated them into chunks as to avoid those dreaded "image heavy" posts.

Below are some shots from the bridal shower that Ryan's mom and sisters worked so hard on. They really did an amazing job - they paid attention to details and everything was so beautiful!

Before we left for the shower. It was sooo humid!

More daisies :)

The food table!! All HANDMADE by Ryan's family - including the boys

Insert red velvet cupcake here --->

Photos and quotes about our relationship taken from my blog...PRECIOUS.

The gift table(s)...SO many beautifully wrapped gifts!!

Bride + Groom

The details were absolutely adorable :)

Our pic from my graduation day in 2009. It was such a magical day

The favors. Mama in law sewed each and every single one of these! There was a candle inside.

Lovebirds

Handmade red velvet cupcakes, choco dipped strawberries and daisy cookies

Who wants to guess what the most popular gift was? One of Ryan's aunts bought me the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, and when I shrieked upon opening it, she laughed and admitted she'd spent the entire night reading it in bed before she wrapped it for us. It got passed around the women like a sparkly piece of jewelry amongst raccoons. Hey, Ree, you got a few new readers!

Gifts; unwrapped. I was in awe of the generosity!

The bridal shower was truly a magical day full of really fun memories. It's a bit untraditional to have the groom present for a bridal shower but it was such a treat for Ryan to get to spend time with his neighbors, aunts and cousins he doesn't get to see very often. And I loved having him there to share it with me :)


I found myself a total hot mess of tears and weeping for pretty much the entire week. I'm a very atypical woman when it comes to crying - I maybe cry for real once a year - but I was all waterworks at the shower. At some point, when I shared this with Ryan, he told me, "It's understandable that you're emotional...you're becoming part of the family". SOB. I was very touched by the hard work and love that so obviously went into making the day special for us.


You know how a lot of folks getting married have issues with each others' parents? That's not the case for us. I couldn't be happier to become a member of this family. The hugs, kisses, laughter and joy were abundant at our bridal shower. Even with the women I hadn't met yet! AND HERE I GO WITH THE WATERWORKS AGAIN. JEEZ.

My 2nd bowquet ;)

Really though, I love my new family. I'm just a big squishy ol' mess of love. 

It's pretty great.





*please note, there were a lot of gorgeous photos taken of friends and family, but I didn't include them to respect everyone's privacy. I promise I'm not just being egotistic!*