Wedding Blog

[All photos in this post are credited to Shawna Noel Photography unless otherwise noted. I’ll take credit for randomly cropping some of ’em. Hehe.]

When I left off, Mr. Mary Jane and I had finished dressing and primping at home and were ready to head out the door.

The wedding was at 4:30, and we were going to meet our photographer at 3:30 to take some photos before the ceremony. We drove down to the courthouse in our own car, with our good mutual friend Bob*, in tow. I originally figured that he’d be bored watching us get our picture taken (and he probably was), but he was also extremely helpful in holding things we needed held during this time (like our marriage license, rings, and even my bouquet occasionally).

Little did I know, Bob also had something *else* in his possession.

Now, Mr. MJ had made a couple of comments earlier in the day that left me a little suspicious. For example, when I put on my bracelet and other wedding jewelry, he was persistent about what I might wear on my right hand (my answer was: nothing). So I was half-expecting some sort of shiny gift (and may have hinted once or five times throughout the summer that such a gift would be welcomed!).

But when we met up with Bob and hit the Interstate, I figured that I wasn’t going to be getting anything. (And I was 100% fine with that; we are, after all, watching our budget like crazy right now.)

We made the 45 minute drive down to Hillsboro and arrived at the courthouse at about 3:30. Our photographers, Shawna and Kory, were waiting on the front steps. We had all of our greetings and we started to snap a few shots. All of us, Shawna and Kory included, struggled with trying to get Mr. Mary Jane’s bout pinned on properly.

“Where’s a mom when you need her?”

Finally, Mr. MJ did it himself!

And then he turned to Bob and he said something like, “it’s about time for that item you’re holding.”

Me: “Whaa?”

Bob pulled a little box out of his pocket, all wrapped up in shiny black and gold paper that I recognized immediately as the roll of wrapping paper that our jeweler, River City, has on their front counter. Something SHINY was in this box, I just knew it!

(Hmm, Mr. Mary Jane looks pretty nice with those flowers. Why didn’t groom-bouquets ever become a trend?)

My gift was… A beautiful diamond and peridot ring!

I showed it off to everybody (Bob, here).

Peridot is Mr. Mary Jane’s birthstone, and diamond is mine. I had hinted/prodded/gently-suggested that this would be a welcome ’wedding gift’ if he really insisted on getting me something, and well, I guess he did! It went perfectly with my wedding day jewelry, especially the peridot necklace I’d bought just days prior to the wedding!

Here are a few close ups of the ring (taken by me, in a hurry, with my cheapest, oldest camera, so I apologize for the bad focus of the first image, and uh, the hairy knuckles in the second one).

Up next, portraits before the parents arrive!

Previously…
1. Leading up to the Big Day
2. Cake, and DIYing the Bouquet
3. Getting Bridal

*Name changed to protect the “innocent”.