Blessed Beyond Measure: Moore-Klingenmaier Wedding (a.k.a. My Dress Saga)

On Saturday, October 1, 2016 my "little" cousin Brandon married Caroline Moore. It was a beautiful wedding at Notre Dame Parish in Clarendon Hills, IL with a equally wonderful reception at the Chicago Marriot Southwest at Burr Ridge, IL to follow. The entire event was heartfelt, family oriented, and full of good times, fun and delicious food. It was a wonderful day and I could not be happier for them both!

So, obviously the day was all about Caroline and Brandon but since this is my blog this post will focus a little on me as well. :P (Skip down a ways to get to the wedding stuff if you don't want to read about me!) Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I am a wife and working mother of two, and although that means that I have a very rich and full life, it also means that dates with my hubby are few and far between. Thus, I've been pretty much looking forward to this wedding for the last two years ever since I finally met Caroline for the very first time (it was obvious that it was going to happen eventually)!

As the wedding got closer I got more and more excited about it (especially when I realized that kids were not invited to the reception!). It was a whole day that I could get dressed up and enjoy some adult conversation, yummy food, maybe a little dancing and most importantly some kid-free time with Eric. I couldn't wait. By September I was trying to figure out what I should wear, knowing that the prep for Avery's birthday the week prior would take up much of my time. Going through my closet, I wasn't overly thrilled with my options so I began to think that I might actually purchase myself a new dress. Then, one day as I was about to head into the Dollar Store to look for birthday party supplies Brandon called me and asked if I would be a reader for the wedding! This sealed the deal. Now I definitely needed a new dress! :) Knowing that I didn't have time to shop, I ordered two black dresses online (same dress but both ended up being WAY TOO BIG) and did end up finding a little time to stop by JCPenny and pick up two more dresses and a pair of black shoes (when I returned the other two).

Dress Option 1 (first 2 returned)

Dress Option 2

Dress Option 3

I was pretty convinced that I would wear option 2 or 3, because I had gotten an amazing deal on each. They were both on sale for 50% off and then when I checked them out the cashier said they were having a deal that you could get $10 of any clothing purchase of $25 or more. Since both items and both of the dress pants I was purchasing for work were all over $25 he did 4 separate check-outs giving me an additional $10 off each item! I ended up getting each dress for only $26! So I needed to pick one to wear but there was still a dress I'd found at Target lingering in the back of my mind. My friend Jen was getting all of these texts and helping me decide what to wear and she pushed me to go for it. Then when I showed Eric the picture of the dress and saw his obvious interest in it, I knew I had to give it a try. It was unfortunately much more expensive than the others (that's always the way it works right), but on paper it was my favorite. I just needed to order and see if that held up in person.

Dress Option 4

So, I got the Target dress and then had 3 dresses left to pick from. Option 2 was a bit to informal, but was such a good deal I decided to keep it anyway. The other two options had good reviews from a variety of judges (my mom, dad, Eric, mother-in-law & Jen). It was a tough decision and I almost went with Option 3. I liked the dress a lot and knew I could save a significant amount of money by returning the other. Eric and Jen still liked option 4 the best while the others seemed to like option 3 better. I had option 3 on and was just about ready to go when my mom saw me and was surprised that I hadn't chosen the Target dress. I thought I'd made my (responsible) decision, but knew when I saw her that I was going to go change...and I did...and I didn't regret it. I loved the dress and I had a great time in it...the shoes were a different story!

I'd promised Jen a picture to show her my final decision.

At around noon, Eric and I said goodbye to the boys and Grammy and Gramps and headed down to the church for the wedding. Since I was reading in it and hadn't attended the rehearsal I wanted to make sure I got there early to figure out what I needed to do. I'm glad I did because it gave me a chance to say hi to the groom beforehand and it also let me catch the fact that they did not have the correct reading on the stand for me!

The groomsmen taking pictures outside before the wedding.

About an hour later, it was time for the wedding to begin. After growing up with my "little" cousin Brandon and baby-sitting (i.e. playing a LOT of Sega Genesis) him and his younger sister Rachel for 6 summers straight we have always been very close and I kind of felt like one of my own kids was getting married (even though we are only three years apart in age). It was truly a beautiful wedding full of love, a happy couple and some adorable children!

Brandon with the priest peeking in on the church before heading in himself.

My aunt Bonnie walking in with the brides Brother-in-Law (I think) and sleeping niece.

Mothers of the Bride & Groom lighting the candles.

The Bride (Caroline) walking down the aisle with her dad.

The reader. :)

Rachel, my other "kid", Brandon's sister.

When the wedding was over, Michigan was at halftime of their game against Wisconsin and since we had some time before the reception, we all headed over to Mom and Dad's room at the hotel to watch the game. Their room was a very nice little suite with a TV in a living area and a TV in the bedroom. Since there was no room left to sit in the living area when Eric and I arrived, we headed into the bedroom where Eric, Mom and I enjoyed the comfy bed and warm cover to watch the game. Not a bad way to watch. :)

At the fourth quarter my mom and dad headed downstairs to the reception while we stayed behind to see the end of the game. Minutes later, my dad came up to tell us that we were wanted downstairs for pictures (the game was tied at 7!). We reluctantly headed downstairs where we were happily able to get our pictures taken during a commercial and finish watching the game at the bar. :) Michigan won 14-7! Go Blue!

As soon as the game was over we joined everyone else for the cocktail hour of the reception where Eric kept my Kiddie Cocktail glass full!

The actual reception started at about 6:30, when we were able to enjoy a delicious dinner combined with welcoming the bridal party and toasts by the Best Man and Matron of Honor. It was a very entertaining night, largely due to the Matron of Honor (the brides older sister) who gave a speech that I doubt anyone there will ever forget! To paint a picture, it included a couple of cute stories, a straight-outta-the-80's My Big Fat Greek Wedding style bridesmaid dress, and a serenade of Sister Act songs to the bride and groom by the bride's sister and two brothers all in matching wigs and dresses. It was definitely a speech to remember!