I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but after Melissa (Travis’s youngest sister) and Alex got engaged, they originally planned their wedding for May 2020. Like many other things last year, their plans got derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. There were limits put in place by the state on the number of people that could attend public gatherings, and they weren’t sure if they would even be able to have the wedding in May. Not wanting to wait any later than that to get married, Melissa and Alex ended up going to the courthouse and getting married on March 17th. However, they still wanted to have the ceremony and reception at some point for friends and family to attend. (Melissa had already bought her dress and booked all the vendors by that point). So, they set the new date for August 11th and hoped that things would be more normal by then. Life obviously wasn’t back to normal by August, but they made the best of it and had really great attitudes about everything. Here’s my recap of all the wedding-related festivities from early August:
Cheryl hosted the bridesmaids luncheon at her house on Monday, August 10th (the day before the wedding). She outdid herself with the table centerpiece. I thought it turned out so cute!!
And the food was so yummy too! We had several salads, a veggie tray, coffee punch, and chocolate fondue for dessert. Everything was delicious!
We took a few pictures after we all finished eating. I didn’t get a picture with all of the bridesmaids, but we did take this one with Melissa, Alisha, Bekah, and me.
We really enjoyed the morning!
It was a bit of a hectic day overall. I got home from the luncheon and literally had about 30 minutes before we needed to head to Burritt on the Mountain for the rehearsal. That afternoon, we also got emails letting us know who the girls’ teachers would be for the upcoming school year. (The first day of school was the day after the wedding.) So I was reading the emails on the way to the rehearsal and trying to process everything. It was information overload with the virtual start to the school year and things being so different than normal.
The rehearsal went well! We all tried to stay in the shade until it was time to walk down the aisle…
We’d never been to Burritt on the Mountain before, but it sure is a pretty place for a wedding!
The kids all followed directions pretty well, and I think Brooklyn felt better after practicing coming down the aisle. She had been acting pretty nervous for the last day or two because she didn’t know what to do.
Abigail and Barrett walked faster than Savannah and Luke and caught up to them on the way down all those steps…haha!
Melissa asked Travis to walk her down the aisle, which was so sweet…and good practice for the future since he’s a girl dad ;)
We took a minute to check out the gorgeous views once we were done rehearsing…
Couldn’t believe I got a picture with all 6 of them looking in the right general direction!!
The rehearsal dinner was at Alex’s grandparents house. We had Taco Mama, and it was delicious. The kids enjoyed running around in the backyard and playing…and eating ice cream and cupcakes for dessert ;) That night, after we got home, Travis and I stayed up late packaging popcorn for the reception and finishing up the signs for the drive-by teacher parade for school the next day. It was a very busy day!!
I had to be back at Burritt at 10 AM the next morning to start getting ready. The Mill Creek teacher parade was from 11 AM-12 PM that same morning, so Travis had to take the girls without me. I knew he could handle it (and I recruited Michael to go with them to take some pictures for me), but I really wished I could have been in two places at once that morning.
Melissa looked so beautiful!! I loved her hair and makeup that day…
Travis and the girls had to rush as fast as they could to get through the teacher parade, go home and eat lunch, and get to Burritt ASAP so the girls could get ready.
Mikayla Hester was originally going to do the girls’ hair for the wedding, but they ended up sick with COVID (presumably) the week before the wedding and had to quarantine…so we had the same hair stylists that did the bridesmaids’ hair do Brooklyn and Savannah’s hair too.
Bev did all the flowers for the wedding, and she made these adorable flower crowns for the girls to wear. I thought they added the perfect touch!
I’ll go ahead and apologize in advance for the picture overload. The photographers did an amazing job, and I can’t help sharing the ones of my girls :)
We didn’t pay to get Abigail’s hair done since she doesn’t have much hair anyway…haha. So, she got ready a little later than the other girls. We brought some books and activities to keep the girls entertained while they were waiting for the ceremony to begin….
The boys arrived a little while later, so that made things even more fun! ;)
So pretty!!
Melissa did a “first look” with Travis, and I hate that I missed it. I think I was getting my hair or makeup done at the time. I loved how the pictures turned out though…
This is one of my favorite pictures from the day!
It was hot outside, but not too unbearable. We tried to stay inside most of the day unless we were needed outside for pictures…however, I knew I wanted to get one GOOD picture of the girls in their dresses. So we snuck outside for a few minutes to take some pictures with our nice camera. I loved how this one turned out!! I wish I’d gotten an individual picture of each girl, but we were trying to hurry because I didn’t want everyone to get all hot and sweaty before the ceremony.
The boys looked so cute in their suspenders!!
This picture looks like it should be in a wedding magazine. SO pretty!!
I loved the colors Melissa chose and how the bouquets looked against the color of the bridesmaids’ dresses. It all looked so good!
Sisters! (We were missing Emily, as we always do–this is a bittersweet picture).
The whole bridal party
I thought this one turned out cute!! Abigail is in a phase where she smiles with squinty eyes. We were trying our best to get her to open her eyes for the pictures…haha
I am assuming this will be the only time that all 3 of my girls are flower girls in the same wedding, so I really appreciated Melissa asking them to all be in her wedding. I will cherish these sweet pictures forever!
Baugay was looking so pretty in her blue dress that day :)
The photographers were sweet to take a picture of our little family too. Loved how this one turned out!
We clean up nicely every once in a while ;)
Melissa and Alisha look so much alike in this picture! I think they definitely could pass for twins…
Love this girl SO much!!
When the kids weren’t needed for pictures, we tried to pass the time with snacks (popcorn, of course!)…
…and a movie! Tyler and Alisha saved the day by packing a laptop and movies to choose from. I was really proud of how patient the kids were in between taking pictures, especially Abigail who missed her nap completely and was so well behaved anyway.
Finally, it was time for the ceremony to begin! Travis walked his mom down the aisle first, so he had a lot of walking to do ;)
There were a lot of stairs coming down the aisle, and I was glad to make it without tripping over my dress…haha
Sam Bacon was in charge of telling us all when to walk, so she had all the kids after Alisha and I were already down at the gazebo waiting. I was hoping they would behave and follow directions, and they did!
The kids did great going down the aisle! Carter had his arm on Brooklyn’s back as they came down, and I totally teared up. I will never hold it together when my kids get married one day.
Next up were Savannah and Luke!
Brooklyn and Savannah both did great throwing their petals as they walked. Savannah was very meticulous and dropped one petal at a time and still had some leftover when she got to her seat. Brooklyn, of course, threw all of hers ;)
I think Savannah was worried about what to do with the remaining petals when she got to her seat, but I told her it was no big deal! :)
Abigail didn’t throw any petals because she was holding Barrett’s hand the whole time, so she didn’t have a free hand. It was ADORABLE.
Abigail was walking pretty fast, and Barrett was struggling to keep up and fell down on his bottom at one point. Thankfully he didn’t get hurt and no one fell on the way back up. She was definitely pulling him along ;) Little boss lady.
I think Alisha and I were both trying not to cry and laugh at the same time. It was so sweet and funny!
Abigail was on a mission to get to her seat!
Carter took it upon himself to show Abigail and Barrett where to sit…
…and to pass out their bags of animal crackers…to keep them occupied and quiet during the ceremony ;)
Here comes the bride!
The kids did great sitting still during the ceremony and eating their animal crackers :)
Brooklyn’s face cracks me up in this picture. It looks like she’s afraid she’s going to get in trouble for Carter hugging her…haha
So many cute pictures of the kids!
Mr and Mrs. Alex Harbaugh!
I don’t have any pictures of the kids going back up the aisle, but there was some confusion about who should go first, and Abigail started going ahead of Savannah…haha. So Abigail, Barrett, Luke, and Savannah all ended up walking back up together. It was cute!
The reception afterward was really nice! They had Piper and Leaf tea out on the patio, and it was our first time trying their teas. The flavors we tried were delicious!
Abigail LOVED the strawberry tea!
Alex and Melissa had their own table to eat dinner away from everyone else, which I thought was a genius idea. Alisha and I delivered their food to them ;)
They served Lawler’s BBQ for dinner, and everything was really good. Sidenote: I was amazed at how Joel and Amber could take such good pictures of BBQ and mac and cheese…haha
They had cheesecakes AND popsicles for dessert. The girls were beyond excited.
I was really proud of how the popcorn table turned out! I wrote all the signs, and Travis helped me bag the popcorn the night before the wedding.
The sea salt caramel flavor was the most popular by far! It was gone really fast during the reception.
Travis had it down to a science when we were filling these bags the night before…typical engineer! ;) He used a plastic cup and poured equal amounts into each bag while I held them open. It would have taken forever without his help!
The popsicles were a hit!
A few of us gave toasts during the reception after everyone had finished eating. It’s always neat to hear other people’s stories about the bride and groom…
I was a little nervous about giving a toast, although not quite as nervous as the first time I ever gave one (at my sister Jenn’s rehearsal dinner). I thought it went pretty well, but Travis said I was extremely loud…I must have held the mic too close to my mouth. Whoops. Hopefully I didn’t bust anyone’s ear drums! Brooklyn told me she clapped for me afterward…haha
We had a great night, and I was thankful they were able to have the wedding in spite of the crazy year it was. We wore masks some of the time, but not the whole time. I tried to balance precaution with just soaking in the evening and enjoying myself since this was a once-in-a-lifetime event ;) Most people did a pretty good job of social distancing, and there were quite a few people wearing masks inside during the reception.
I loved Abigail’s chocolate cheesecake grin ;) They were all getting tired by this point.
After we saw Melissa and Alex off, we stuck around long enough to get the girls into their PJs, and then I drove them home to get them in the bed while Travis stayed behind to help everyone clean up and load the cars. I got the girls home by 9:30 and in the bed by 10. The first day of (virtual) school was the next morning. Whew! I am so glad we were able to celebrate Alex and Melissa…it was a beautiful, fun day!
