They're Official - Introducing Mr. and Mrs. LaPrade

Now for this blog post you're gonna want to sit back, relax, and get comfortable. My little brother only gets married once, and I was instructed by my mother to take as many pictures as humanly possible - and I did.

The day before the wedding a bridal luncheon was held for Jessica. The weather didn't quite cooperate - it was stormy all day, but the luncheon was still a lot of fun, with a lot of fantastic food!

Right after the luncheon, my mom, cousin Kay and I went to El Chico to start getting the party room set up for the rehearsal dinner later that night. After almost four hours of lots of blood, sweat and tears (okay, maybe no blood) we'd completely transformed the room. I'll admit, I was a little skeptical at first about how a rehearsal dinner at El Chico would turn out, but in the end I think everything looked really good. The food was amazing, too. Mr. Collins, the owner and good family friend, really went above and beyond to make sure everyting was perfect.
Here's a close up of the super cute napkins we made. I love them!

Here's what the tables looked like when everything was all said and done. Kay made cute bows for all the vases, and my mom put together the hot pink gerbera daisy boquets while I wrapped the silverware. My mom and me after we were finally finished!After El Chico was all set up we ran home to change clothes and hurry up to the church for the rehearsal. Ross is obviously excited to get the show on the road! Everybody got all lined up and ready to practice walking the aisle. KC, the maid of honor, tried to entertain her kiddos Kinley and Chance who are the flower girl and ring bearer. It wasn't easy containing all of the twins' energy! Jessica is all ready to go! Now that rehearsal is all done, its time to eat!The bride and groom-to-be. (Plus my mother about to enjoy a bite of food! Sorry mom.)Logan and me during dinner. I had a fantastic time getting to visit with Dr. Jeff and his wonderful wife, Stacy. Now on to the big day! Jessica got all of the bridesmaids a cute (and very comfy) wrap for us to get ready in, and they're each monogrammed with our names. For those of you who've ever seen me getting ready in the past, you'll be glad to know my old, ragged, faded purple "kimono", as it is lovingly called, will finally get to retire. :) Miss Kinley did NOT want to put on her flower girl's dress... ...but she was easily distracted by getting to eat raisins, and decided to let it go... mostly. :) My job was to dress Mr. Chance. That was easier said than done since every time I'd finally get his pants up they'd fall right back down as soon as I turned around! After pinning his pants to his diaper, we finally got him completely dressed. So handsome! The boquets were so bright and beautiful! While Jessica was getting everything ready to get dressed, the rest of us headed to the sanctuary to take pictures. Here's my sweet family. My hot mamma!!My dad and Mamaw. Isn't she so sweet??And my big hunk of a man! SO handsome! And now its time to dress the bride! Her cute hot pink shoes and her Mrs. LaPrade robe.Getting all laced up.And of course, what super-hero, comic book loving groom would think his wedding was complete without a Batman Garter?? Now, Jessica might kill me for putting this up here, but I just thought it was so cute! Jessica was making one last trip to the potty before the ceremony, and I caught her flashing her "something blue". :) I obviously don't have any pictures from during the ceremony since I was standing up there with them, but I'll be sure to post the link to their photographer's website for the professional pictures when it's available.

So on to the reception! Here's a sweet picture of Ross and me when we first arrived at the reception.

Ross and Jessica cutting the bride's cake. The top part of the cake slid off right before the reception started, and as you can see in the picture, Jessica was nervous about keeping the rest of the cake intact!Awww

And of course, there HAD to be a Batman cake for Ross! (The black icing turned everyone's mouths black!)

In addition to the yummy cake there was also a candy bar.Jessica's dad, Shelby, made a funny toast about Ross and Jessica. I love their faces in this one.

Sweet father-daughter dance.

Mother-son dance.

My mom's side of the family all got to come too, and it was so great getting to see them all! And I HAVE to post this one as proof that Ross actually DID dance at his wedding. :)

My brother and me with the newest member of the LaPrade family!And a great picture of my mom and me.And now for the boquet toss! (Yep, that's me on the right.) Even with my complete lack of atheletic ability, I still caught that boquet! You can wipe that smug look off your face, Lowry! ;) (He knows he's in trouble - I've caught the boquet at the last two weddings we've been to.)Ross sees the Batman garter for the first time!Three of the most important men in my life. Now this is quite possibly my favorite picture of the day. I just LOVE my sweet Mamaw and Papaw. And they're off! Ross and Jessica went on a Caribbean cruise for their honeymoon. They don't get home until this Saturday, and I can't wait to see all their gorgeous honeymoon pictures! Welcome to the family, Jess!