Deerly Beloved: The Elks model at the beach

So whats a really great idea when its 90 degrees out and everyone around you is in formal wear? If you're answer was "take formal photos in an air conditioned room or the shade" you'd be 100% wrong. Where is the fun in that? Obviously the correct answer is to go to the beach and stand directly in the sun!

all photos by Ruby Star Photography

Sure we had a few fainters, but whats health when you have pretty pictures in front of adorable cabanas? (I am just kidding! Nobody fainted, but it was super hot and we were all sweaty and squinty and gross, so we tried to do this quickly!). Once our bridal party had been sufficiently tortured photographed, they stepped into some shade to cool down and it was my turn to do a little modeling.  I started off pretty serious, trying to actually look nice:
But years of watching America's Next Top Model resulted in some awesome Tyra Banks esque moves! For example, the "I am going to discombobulate my body so I am appealing to women in a non sexy way" pose:
And here's my version of this past season's newest addition to the strange Tyra Banks lingo- the booty tooch: Once I had sufficiently embarrassed myself in front of my photographers, Mr Elk joined me for a few shots, which were going great (besides the squinting):
until I decided this was a pretty face:
But I'm starting to think it should be my signature pose- I shall call her "Pink Zebra" and pull her out whenever I am being photographed in the future!  And since I just couldn't beat the awesomeness of my new signature pose, we decided to wrap things up and head back out of the sun for some family photos.

Miss a moment? Catch up here:

1. The Elks part ways with their pooch, and eat WAY too much rainbow cookie cake
2. Mrs Elk beautifies with her ladies after a less than stellar wake up call
3. Mrs Elk REALLY wants to put her dress on already!
4. The Elks- Reunited and it feel so good!

Deerly Beloved: The Elks Reunite

After an extended morning about 10 minutes of building anticipation, it was finally time for Mr Elk and I to see each other all gussied up!  I made sure he was all set up and ready before heading out to meet.  I guess I'll let the photos speak for themselves here:

all photos via Ruby Star Photography

Pretty much the only moment that our photographers did not capture that I wish they had was this point during our first look, because instead of tapping Mr Elk politely on the shoulder to let him know to turn around, I smacked him on his bootay, and I'm pretty sure that would be a hilarious photo! I guess it's my fault for not warning them that I was planning on doing this.... anyhoo, after I smacked that ass, Mr Elk knew he was allowed to turn.
Of course, I had to show off the back!
I have no idea what we are doing here, but you can see a sneak peak of our chuppah!

I purposely did our first look without my bouquet, as I didn't want to awkwardly half hug Mr Elk trying to hold onto my bouquet at the same time.  Yes, I really did think about this prior to the wedding!  I even told my photographers this was something important to me- I never realized how insane that sounded until just about now!

Anyhoo, because I wasn't holding it and was so enthralled in the moment, I actually almost completely forgot to grab my bouquet after our first look was complete!  Here is our florist rushing over to make sure I didn't forget:

And now that I was fully prepared, it was time to take some portraits!

Miss a moment? Catch up here:
1. The Elks part ways with their pooch, and eat WAY too much rainbow cookie cake
2. Mrs Elk beautifies with her ladies after a less than stellar wake up call
3. Mrs Elk REALLY wants to put her dress on already!

Deerly Beloved: "can I put my dress on yet?"

Pretty much the moment I arrived at the venue (over 3 hours before the ceremony and an hour before our photographers were set to arrive), I was begging to put my dress on.  Instead, I found myself running around like a chicken without a head.  And its not that I had anything to do- the Old Field Club's maitre'd Mary and my florist took care of just about everything!  But I WANTED something to do until I could put on my dress and get things started!  And so I kept walking around, looking at everything and making sure each detail was just so (yea, I realize I am crazy).

all photos via Ruby Star Photography

Once all the important players had arrived and I actually could put my dress on, there was something that I had to do first. You may remember that Mr Elk and I decided not to write our own vows, but instead wrote letters to one another that we would read the day of the wedding before we saw each other all dolled up.  I loved that I got to read his words before the actual event- it was so sweet and really got me even more excited to get married!  Here I am reading his letter to me, on the verge of tears:
But Mr Elk is a pretty funny dude, and just in the nick of time he had me giving quite the chuckle:
At this moment in time you may be asking yourself  "Mrs Elk, where are the photos of Mr Elk reading his letter?!" And the answer is they do not exist, because Mr Elk made sure that he was perfectly alone when he read my letter. Apparently capturing a few tears on camera was not something he was interested in.... his loss! He was, though, willing to show off his cool new cuff links!


So it was FINALLY time for me to put on my dress, but first we had to ogle it from every angle imaginable:

       I find this shot kind of funny, because you can totally see that my dress had a lot of support in the boobage region (I'm talking THREE sets of cups!)
and whats a pretty dress without some pretty shoes?
ok, NOW it was time for me to put it on! No, really, I swear I put it on now! Once I was dressed and satisfied with my look, I decided to help Mama Elk put on her shoes  (being the helpful daughter that I am).  I find this picture kind of hilarious in its absurdity- I am wearing a wedding dress and putting on someone else's shoes for them!:
And now that everyone was dressed and ready for the event, we gathered round for a quick toast,
and huddled up close for an adorable group shot:
and with that I was all ready to see my groom (for the first time in 5 minutes....since he saw me just moments before I put my dress on- whoops!).

Miss a moment? Catch up Here:
1. The Elks part ways with their pooch, and eat WAY too much rainbow cookie cake
2. Mrs Elk beautifies with her ladies after a less than stellar wake up call

Deerly Beloved: waking up to church bells

On the morning of our wedding, Mr Elk and I awoke to the glorious sounds of church bells at 9 AM- a beautiful start to our wedding day!  Only by church bells I really mean screaming children in the hotel room next door, and by 9 AM I mean the screaming started at 7 AM and didn't END until 9AM, and of course by a beautiful start I mean the most miserable start one could imagine. (Oh, and yes, that does mean that Mr Elk and I spent the night before our wedding in the same room- we are not particularly traditional or superstitious.  But maybe this was punishment for not abiding by tradition?)  And did I mention it was raining?

Anyhoo, after realizing that our original plan of sleeping in gloriously late and waking up to a beautiful sunny day was nay going to happen, Mr Elk and I got an early start on our big day! Despite the not so great beginning and my obvious contempt for screaming children (which is funny considering the fact that I am currently training to be a pediatrician...), we were both in great moods.  We kept looking at each other with gigantic smiles, saying things like "can you believe we are getting married today?" and "tomorrow I am going to have to call you my husband! That's super weird".

At about 10:45 Mama Elk arrived at the hotel with a spread for breakfast (including the left over rainbow cookie cake- which is obviously what I had for breakfast), and shortly after my bridesmaids started piling into my room followed by my hair stylist and makeup artist.  It was so much fun to get ready with everyone together! I was quickly whisked into a chair and makeup was applied  (all photos in this post are via guests)

Makeup was quickly followed by hair, which included my notorious fake piece which you can see me petting here.  (Please note that I am showing you this picture for the sole purpose of seeing my fake hair!  Obviously if I had a better one of my petting a hair piece I would have chosen it, but unfortunately this is the only one that exists...)

  Here you can see my ACTUAL hair being coiffed:
the final product (isn't the fake hair like the PERFECT shade?):   
once I was all done, I got to enjoy spending time with some of my favorite ladies MOH L (aka cousin L),Grandma Elk, Me, Mama Elk, Bridesmaid A (aka cousin A)

As the morning activities were winding down, I started to collect the things I needed to bring with me and placed them all in this adorable tote that bridesmaid K had given me;

And before I knew it, it was time to head over to the venue.  Oh, and during my fun filled morning the rain seemed to have stopped- woohooo!!!!!

Miss a moment? Catch up here:
1. The Elks part ways with their pooch, and eat WAY too much rainbow cookie cake