Otterly in Love: Two Families, Lots of Faces

Today's post title was easy to come up with, even though it doesn't make much sense yet. I think as is true for any wedding party, not everyone is always looking/smiling/paying attention when photos are taken so you end up with some pretty funny outtakes. Despite Stacy's warning that we were taking photos, there are some GEMS to be shared from the Otter outtakes. ;) But since I'm saving those for another day, here are the photos of our lovely family members!

(All photos by Stacy Able Photography.)

(Momma and Daddy Otter!)

(With my side of the family - even a smile from Lil Dude Otter, I'm impressed!)

(With our wonderful parents - we couldn't have chosen a better set!)

(With Mr. O's side of the family!)

(The mammy - what a precious grandma I have!)

(Our whole family!)

(I love this one of the mammy! We don't have too many photos of her, but this is one of my favorite ones. She just looks so precious. :))

(The Otter siblings.)

Now of course: you must be wondering why Daddy Otter has a gun. His joke was that he would have his gun prepared just incase Mr. O finally "got smart" and decided to run - one shot to get him up the aisle and one shot to ensure he said I do. 

A PSA: Knowing Daddy Otter made this a pretty funny joke, but in all seriousness: this was an UNLOADED gun, with the proper safety settings in place, and it didn't leave Daddy Otter's hands. He took it out for the photo and then put it back locked up in the car. (Just common sense, there! We wouldn't want anyone getting hurt!)

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: I Become a Bride
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts
• Otterly in Love: The First Look
• Otterly in Love: We Pose
• Otterly in Love: The Wedding Party

Otterly in Love: We Pose

Hive, I love taking photos. Put me on either side of the camera and I'm happy as a clam. So after the first look, which was almost entirely candid shots of us just talking and rejoicing in the fact that the wedding day had finally arrived, we started posing for our portraits. About halfway through, the wedding party members started showing up, so they got to watch as we posed.

I, being the shameless photo lover that I am, was not at all concerned. Watch away folks! Mr. O, on the other hand was freezing and doesn't like having his photo taken, so it was a bit less fun for him. (But on that note: he loved wearing that tux, so I'm pretty sure he wasn't complaining too much. ;))

(All photos by Stacy Able Photography.) 

My something blue: from MOH Cubs, a dragonfly to represent my deceased best friend, Kir.

Contrary to popular belief amongst friends, family, and coworkers - nobody is holding my veil! It was chilly out, and very windy, so as I stood facing the wind, it picked up my veil giving us this beauty of a photo. :) 

And on that note: let's talk weather for a moment, folks. Indiana is unpredictable. I mean, just take our rehearsal day - it was sleeting and most of the main roads were closed. Given that it was the end of April, we anticipated some rain, but we didn't anticipate how cold it would be. Throughout the day I kept telling everyone to think warm thoughts, because otherwise they were going to look uncomfortable in the photos. And since Stacy is such a pro, she would remind everyone to unclench fists and etc. before taking shots. 

Thankfully - the rain held off throughout the day, and once we were indoors, all was well. But (some foreshadowing) my veil did not quite make it as planned...

Another one of my favorites from the day!

A tip, for all of you who are still planning: vary your tanning routine. I prefer a certain type of tanning bed when I do go tanning, and this led to that lovely tan line you (sort of) see above.

Anybody remember my post on why I purchased a long veil? These ended up being some of our favorite shots from the entire wedding; a whole series of them already hangs on our bedroom wall!

Up next: The Otter Wedding Party

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: I Become a Bride
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts
• Otterly in Love: The First Look

Otterly in Love: The First Look

After opening gifts, Mr. O processed and I in separate cars to the venue.

While I was waiting in the car, I saw them walking him down to where we would later say our vows and I was once again overwhelmed with emotion. There he was, my soon-to-be husband. And he was about to finally see my dress, which I had managed to keep secret for SO. LONG. (An impressive feat for me, because I do not do a good job of keeping things from Mr. O!)

And now I'll let the photos speak for themselves!

(All photos by Stacy Able Photography)

One of my favorite photos from the entire day!

Mr. O assists me in moving locations for portraits. :)

Up next: We Pose

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: I Become a Bride
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts

Otterly In Love: I Become A Bride

Hive, I have to tell you. As much as the emotions hit when I was wide awake at 4AM, they hit hard when I had my veil put in. I'm not sure what it was about the veil rather than the hair or makeup or people going back and forth from room to room, but for some reason when I put that veil on, I just felt like a bride. In that moment, I felt another rush of emotion - this is it. This is me, getting in to my dress. Right now. I couldn't believe the time had finally come!

(All photos by Stacy Able Photography.)

And for honesty's sake: I have to say that in this photo, I just wanted to open my damn present (hence the veil in but no dress look that I have going on). See, I knew that in the other room, Mr. O had already opened his gift, and I was anxious to open mine. But nooo, I couldn't open mine until I was in my dress, and I couldn't be in my dress until everyone ELSE got dressed. I believe it was at that point that I started saying "get dressed, get dressed, you guys, come on, get dressed." I knew the moms would change in the bathroom, and I knew K (mom of the little ones and also one of my favorite people in the whole world) would also change in the bathroom. The ladies though? STRIP! We're all ladies, and quite frankly, I wasn't interested in seeing lady parts or who was changing where, I just wanted everyone to get dressed. 

(My thoughts: is this real life?)

(MOH Cubs and Momma Otter get me in the dress - finally!)

Another memorable moment from the day: I don't remember who said it, but when I got dressed for the sake of everyone in the room who was watching, I left my bra on until I had my dress on. Someone exclaimed "I love the black!" ...*crickets*... that's when Stacy explained that I still had my bra on and that was going away, haha.

(The details: my pretty dress, gorgeous ring, and a peek of my bird tattoo.)

(Ow ow! BM Blondesquared assisted with putting on the garter. ;))

(And BM Jen assisted with the shoes.)

And just like that - we were all dressed and ready to leave for the first look! (Okay so technically after I got ready, we exchanged gifts, but I got excited and things got out of order. Oops!)

Up Next: The First Look

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts

Otterly In Love: The Guys Get Ready

Well, hive, you may have noticed in my last post about gifts that everybody was already dressed... Oops! I might have skipped a post or two about getting dressed in there somewhere, so here's the first!

While the girls were getting pretty allllll morning, the guys were hanging out at the Otter apartment, watching TV and playing video games. They had pizza delivered for lunch, and then came to the hotel. From there, it took them a good ten minutes to get themselves ready for the day. TEN MINUTES! Compared to the ladies, they had it so easy! No hair, no makeup, and they could totally destroy their room because the purpose of keeping it nice was for them.

(As a funny note though: notice the Aldo box in the shoe closet? Yeah, BM Blondesquared really wanted that and it got left behind. Oops!)

All photos by Stacy Able Photography.

Another memorable moment: when BM Billygoat when to get his tux (suit? tux? We were never sure.) he text Mr. O to tell him how "classic" it was. "Classic" quickly became a buzzword, and this picture reminds me of that every time I see it! 

(Q: How many Otter dads does it take to get the groom ready?)

(A: Two.)

(Daddy Otter left to his own devices steals a bouquet instead of being pinned. Oh, Daddy O.)

Up Next: Things are all out of order, so you'll just be surprised. ;)

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts