This post is all about our wedding day and I have literally tried writing a post about it at least 5 times. I am stripping it down and getting down to business. Just kidding, I only do that with my husband. Anywhooo, I figure pictures are worth a thousand words, so for the most part I will let them do the talking, but i'll give captions to some and let you know how I or Zac felt.
We got married on January 4th, 2014. I had prayed for good weather...well, as good as weather as you can get in January. It snowed all throughout the night before, which created a beautiful blanket of snow but made for freezing temperatures. I actually caught the flu the day before our wedding, and it didn't lighten up just because it was my special day. I woke up feeling like a truck ran me over, and I even slept in late because I had taken Nyquil. Not the best start to the most important day of my life, however I popped a ton of pills and hoped for the best. Kali came over and did my hair, she is wonderful, and even helped with my make up. We probably did my make up in 5 minutes flat-kid you not, we were in a time crunch. Zac and his dad came over to pick me up to head to the temple, and before we left they gave me a priesthood blessing. I couldn't have been more grateful. I think with the combination of the blessing (faith), modern medicine that everyone seemed to be passing my way, and all your prayers, I somehow survived. Anyways, we got married in the Salt Lake City temple. I have no personal ties to this temple, I had actually never been inside which I liked, I liked the idea that it was a completely new experience. We met up at the temple with my best friend Nellie who was my escort, and Kamalei; the missionary/friend who baptized me a little over three years ago who I asked to be one of our two witnesses, the other being my father in law. As Zac and I waited in the celestial room, I was able to sit and talk with Zac and enjoy the beauty of what was about to happen and to enjoy the beautiful room we were in, it was breathtaking and all my fear and doubts leading up to the moment went away. . It was so quiet and peaceful, besides my occasional extremely loud sneezing. My bad if you were that day…sorry Wes&Kristal. But in all seriousness, I think it was the only time that day I was able to process everything, to enjoy the time I had with Zac, just the two of us.
Zac: I've been fortunate enough to attend more than one sealing for friends and family and it was overwhelming to actually be that guy, the groom, half (actually a third) of the reason why everyone was there. A lot of the experience was pretty standard and nothing unexpected really happened. Even so, it was thrilling to see so many relatives and friends who were able to attend this once-in-an-existence event where I was being sealed to my eternal companion. I remember being there in front of my bride and trying to process all of the emotions and thoughts that were racing through my mind, I tried to listen to the sealer but I was very much lost in my own thoughts for a lot of the experience (which I am very prone to do, you can ask anyone, especially Karlie). I remember looking at Karlie though and she smiled at me and mouthed 'I love you.' I remember feeling so comforted and happy because of that. The main thing I remember from what the sealer said was that this woman was my 'everything', despite my busy thoughts I was struck by that thought and I remember fighting back some tears as I turned from him to her after he used that word. I would say one of the greatest blessings of having Karlie in my life is her ability to help me feel life more. This might sound a little odd but I would say that Karlie makes me more 'emotional', and I love it. I have been craving that kind of influence my whole life. Even though it can be hard for me to turn off my thoughts, I find that I am more in tune with the present and more in tune with myself when I am around her and I think that moment reflected that aspect of our relationship for me quite well. I am very lucky to have someone that has that kind of influence on me and I can honestly say that I have never met anyone so capable of plugging me in to life as Karlie. I feel alive because of her, I feel passion and emotion and to someone like me, that is a valuable gift. Odd as it is, the fact that we are as opposite as a man and a woman can be, our differences are probably one of the most important reasons why I love Karlie.
We exited the temple as the new Mr&Mrs. Baxter to our friends and family cheering and it felt so surreal, we were overwhelmed by the love we felt that day. Thanks to everyone who braced the cold with us (:
- I almost passed out while getting ready in the morning from being so sick, but it was right when Zac walked in the room so he caught me before I fell. Trust fall anyone?
- I tripped and almost fell on my own wedding dress while in the temple, and then proceeded to giggle like a little girl while my best friend laughed at me.
- Before going into the sealing room both Zac and I had to use the restroom and apparently the restrooms were right across from our sealing room, a good amount of friends and family got a peek of us attempting to be stealth bathroom users. awkward?
- As we were waiting to meet with our sealer, Elder Quentin L Cook introduced himself to the couple before us. As great as our sealer was, lets be honest and agree it sure would've been neat to be sealed by an apostle.
The ring ceremony and our luncheon was held at a church in Alpine. We really wanted to have a ring ceremony because we wanted to involve my family as much as we could. The most important elements to me were that my dad was able to escort me and my best friend (twin sister) was by my side. The groomsmen walked in first and then my bridesmaids to the song marry me by jason derulo. My dad then escorted me in while everyone stood up, which was really touching to me. I always dreamt and imagined of walking down an aisle and having my dad by my side and everyone standing. But after I knew that we are able to have eternal families by being sealed in the temple and not just "till death do we part", the normal wedding just didn't hold the same significance. However its how I grew up, its what I pictured since I was a little girl and it was still a part of me. But most of all, my family is the most important thing to me and I wanted them to be a part of it. After the ring ceremony we ate some delicious food and Zac's brother and sister sang a song called "oh darling"which was a lot of fun. Then Kaylyn got up and congratulated us and said some sweet words towards Zac and how much she enjoys him and is grateful for the type of person that he is. That means a lot coming from her because we are obviously very protective of each other, and she generally doesn't like the guys I date, but she's excited and happy to have welcomed Zac in the family and she did a great job expressing that.
My WHOLE family (:
Zac and I built these s'more bars and we were so happy with how they turned out, I kept getting compliments on it, and probably the most common was how "Bad-A" they looked. Thanks guys.
I love these photos of our decorations and our venue. I drew inspiration from Pinterest and even a dream I had. I had always pictured that I would have a summer wedding, my least favorite season is winter so I never imagined I would get married smack dab in the middle of it. However, i absolutely LOVE how everything turned out. Our venue was so off the grid and I really loved that, at first I wanted Wadley Farms because it had that barn look and i loved the balcony but with the ridiculous price and how small it was, it just didn't seem worth it. I started to get flustered because I was having a hard time finding a venue that fit my theme, everything was too modern, too expensive, or so not me. Zac and I literally picked a day to find a venue and we started the day off in prayer, praying to hope to find a venue that day. We had driven past this barn multiple times and had mentioned it would be the cutest venue, but from what we knew it was being used as a shop. We drove past it and I told Zac to pull in, I was about to be bold and tell this shop owner that I was willing to move everything out of their shop and back so I could have this venue for one night…ambitious right? So we pull up and we peek in the window and it is completely bare. I was so excited! We talk to the owner and for the best price ever, we booked the venue and from what we knew, it had only been used once as a wedding reception venue and it was for the owners daughter. It was perfect, it was a barn on the outside but a perfect venue on the inside, it even had a balcony. I was in love with the place. It had windows all around it so it felt open and it was covered in wood which made it felt comforting and close. The light fixtures were so neat already that we didn't have to spend time trying to find lighting for the place and there were even old unhinged doors that were there that we ended up using for the reception to string pictures across. Honestly I can't say enough good things about this place. As for our colors and decorations…our colors were plum purple, gold, and a burlap brown. Not your typical combination of wedding colors, but I liked that too. All I knew I wanted was a barn feel with a vintage look, I was adamant about having baby breath balls hanging from the ceiling and twinkling lights and old books and burlap. Almost all of our decorations we borrowed or made and adorned with beautiful flower masterpieces created by Danielle aka "deeds", one of emily's good friends whose a bundle of fun and energy. I loved her enthusiasm. Honestly, I couldn't have been happier with how everything turned out and looked. To me, it was absolutely beautiful and perfect. Thank you to all the ladies who put the time to make it look amazing or let us borrow some of your decor, I really appreciate it. Most of all, the biggest thanks ever goes to Emily, we really couldn't have done this without you. You were and are, magic. 
Zac opened the wedding festivities by playing the guitar and singing our song "wanted" by Hunter Hayes. On our first date he sang to me and at first I was honestly a little creeped out by it because in my head I was thinking that he probably does this to impress every girl he likes. BUT now I love when he picks up the guitar and sings to me. I remember before going to Salt Lake one day he came over with his guitar, pushed past me, told me to sit on my bed all while he played his guitar and sang this song to me. It was really sweet, and I was grinning from ear to ear, his Sid the Sloth voice also helped with that (:
My roommate actually thought it was my radio playing when he sang, just goes to show how talented he is. Ive been trying to get him to audition for The Voice (:
Two things I love so much was my wedding dress and his wedding suit. His suit is from Joseph A Bank for half off the original price and after getting it fitted, it looked sooo good! We got his shoes online and I bought his tie from J. Crew. I loved that it was tweed and totally fit the theme. However everyone was giving me a hard time saying that a brown tie doesn't go with a gray suit…well I think the above picture proves that wrong, so take note male fashionistos! My dress was originally strapless and made for someone much taller than I. My seamstress Nancy was amazing and added sleeves, customized the bodice and everything. I loved how my dress turned out and wish the day wouldn't have been so cold so I wouldn't have had to cover it up with the cloak. My dress still remains as one of my favorite parts of our wedding day.
My dad means the world to me and I wanted to pick a song that let him know how much I love him and how ill always be his little girl
My husband and I had our first dance to "Never Stop" by Safetysuit. At first we had a list of about 5 songs we thought of picking but ending up choosing "I won't give up" by Jason Mraz. Then when we were painting our condo and listening to my pandora station, the song "never stop" came on. We both looked at each other and decided that was our song. It was beautiful and perfect, and most of all it was unique.
We exited our reception to about an hour and a half of crazy dancing and rows of family and friends holding sparklers above our heads. There was no cherubs or violins but tt was the perfect ending to a beautiful day. I love knowing that I am his forever and he's forever mine, I am so lucky to have found him.
If you would like to contact any of the people that helped with our special day heres how! Let them know I sent you (:
Kali (hair and makeup)- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kali-Chris-Hair-Makeup/178691215562093
Ashley (Photography)-http://www.ashleymorganphotography.com
Melina(Cake)-http://mymixingmemories.blogspot.com
