A Wedding, A Honeymoon with Vegas Oh My!! (Part 1)

Yup, it's been almost two weeks (tomorrow) since Justin and I tied the knot! I'm so excited to now officially Mrs. Keller! I signed my name for a courier yesterday morning. I started writing "Julie Riley" then realized that wasn't my name any more, so it came out "Julie Rellery" - yeah, this is going to take some getting used to!

What an amazing day; in the morning it was sprinkling a bit, just enough to feel a mist on your skin, then it cleared right up and was about 25 degrees at the hottest part of the day. The couple days before were really smoky. There was a fire about eight hours away, but that also wasn't an issue for us the day of.

We got to the ranch at about noon on Friday, and started the set up. When we pulled into the yard, off the highway, the "Welcome to Sierra West" sign greeted us. I was SO excited to see this, and was secretly hoping they were going to do this; it got my adrenaline going, "oh yeah, this is why we're here."

This is looking at the outside of the saloon, where the reception was held (and where we would have had the ceremony if the weather turned on us), before everything was set up in it.

And this is the inside of the saloon before all the wood moving, table arranging, and general pretty-making that happened.

We rented two 20x20 canvas tents, and Justin framed up a dancefloor at home (to be set up under one of the tents), that had to be assembled and sheeted. So, we (and by we - I mean the guys, Heather, Amanda, Brittany, Kas and Nicole) started setting everything up.

Randy and Ginny both said they provide the pets, so there was no need for anyone to bring theirs. Crockett was a big help, and super cute with his two different coloured eyes!

People, other than our helpers began arriving, and setting up their trailers and tents. Having a venue like this for our wedding was SO perfect for us. Mostly everyone could be there the whole weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Not having to worry about coming and going constantly.

And our bridal parties, Justin and I, Justin's parents, siblings and my Grandpa all had cabins or bunkhouses to stay in. It's times like this that I'm happy that two of my bridesmaids, and two of Justin's groomsmen are married to each other: they had to share a two story cabin, and it wouldn't have worked so well if it was a bunch of strangers!

During the rehersal, when my dad and I were practicing walking down the ailse, when he passed me over to Justin, I started crying. I just got so overwhelmed by all the emotion - such a perfect commitment, such a beautiful place, and I missed my Grandma. It all came out in tears for a few minutes.

All day, I was going crazy, not thinking everything was going to get done. Our photographers showed up just before the rehersal and were reasuring me that it would all come together. After the rehersal, I felt a lot calmer, and everyone could tell. This is the outside of the saloon after the tents and dance floor were set up; it looked so amazing!

At that point, I just decided to roll with it. I grabbed myself a drink, we had supper, and then got into a fun game that I made up for the bridal party. It was a bunch of questions about either Justin or myself. The guys had to answer questions about me, and the girls had to answer questions about Justin. So, we named it "Team ABC vs. The Lefties" (my bridesmaids names worked into A-Amanda, B-Brittany, and C-Chelsey; and all Justin's groomsmen are left handed). I think it was a really great way for everyone to relax, get to know us a bit more, and to act as an ice breaker.

This lead perfectly into giving our bridal party their thank-you gifts for all their hard work. We got the girls "Team ABC" hoodies with their names embroidered on the left sleeves. And of course I got one too.

For the guys, we got my uncle to build some hunting knives but they didn't get done in time, so because we wanted them to have something on the day, we bought them each a bottle of spiced rum and a cigar.

Then it was time to head off to bed, and sleep if at all possible. To be continued...