Looking Like a Bride Everyday

My wedding day was the most amazing day of my life. It wasn't perfect, and there are things I would change... but it was a day I love to look back on.

Besides marrying my favorite human on the planet, I think my favorite part was my dress. The way I felt in it, the way it moved with me, the way it felt like mine. I never expected to love the way I felt in a dress like that. But I had never felt more beautiful.

It wasn't just the dress though. I had a spray tan, and my cousin did my hair and  make up, I had acrylic nails... things that aren't normal for me. They made me feel special. They made me feel like a bride.

But nothing made me feel more beautiful than the way that Jon looked at me coming down the aisle. The picture of his face is the best. It truly doesn't matter what I was wearing down the aisle... because his face just says it all. He loved me! And I knew it! The feeling you get after seeing so much love on someone's face... indescribable.

I have yet to feel more beautiful as I did on that day.

After the wedding day...

That's not real life, though, and I only had one wedding day. I couldn't waltz around life feeling and looking like that forever. My wedding dress doesn't even fit over my "new and improved" mom bod. 

Today is Tuesday, and it already feels like it's been a long week. I'm feeling defeated. I'm feeling deflated. I'm feeling "less than." I'm feeling like I'm going to be making the same mistakes over and over again for the rest of my life.

And in my moping, the Lord reminded me of this verse:

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Is. 61:10

"Like a bride adorns herself..."

So here I am today, feeling "fluffy" and deflated and a little stir-crazy from being home with Jonah so much.

But here's the best part: when Jesus looks at me, He doesn't see the cabin-fevered, hot mess that I am... He sees the most beautiful, perfect version of myself. More beautiful than I felt on my wedding day!

He does not see my flaws.

He does not see the extra pounds.

He does not see my shortcomings.

He sees a bride who is completely decked out, dolled up, and presented in her best dress. 

Not because His love is blind, but because His love is accepting.

Not because He doesn't see the flaws, but because He loves me in spite of them.

I have something more beautiful clothing me than a wedding dress: His incredible, unending love for me. That's my best dress. And I get to wear it all day every day. During the witching hour, the late night feedings, the sleepless nights, the disappointments, the sink full of dishes... 

On the small, messy, mundane days, God doesn't shake His head at me and say, "What a hot mess you've become!" He looks at me with eyes full of love, just like Jon did on our wedding day. 

Years later...

It's almost been 3 years, and I am far from that pretty bride that I was. I'm fluffier around the edges, 20 pounds heavier, and I haven't had a spray tan since. I never ever do my hair, and haven't put on a full face of make up since that day either. But thankfully, the look of love in my husbands eyes hasn't changed. 

Because that's what truly made me feel beautiful in the first place: how much I knew he loved me.

I am sinful and imperfect, and I'm going to make mistakes til the day I die. But what makes me beautiful and desirable and someone worth dying for is how much Jesus loves me. That's my best dress. And I get to wear it all the time.

And so do you. Whether your wedding day was Pinterest-perfect, in a courthouse, or a tragic day you don't want to look back on. Jesus looks at you and sees the most beautiful and perfect bride, and His eyes of love are what clothe you. 

4 Things I Would Change About My Wedding

My wedding will always be my favorite wedding ever. In that one day, I saw so many of my dreams come true! Marrying a handsome, godly man, feeling beautiful in the perfect dress, my dad tearing up for our last dance...

But everyone has things they would do differently if they could go back, even if they were to go back to a nearly-perfect moment. So I'm going to share 4 things I would do differently if I could plan it all over again, for 2 reasons: 1) so that I can process my regrets in a healthy way instead of getting salty about them and 2) to hopefully give new brides a few tips!
This post is not to complain, or to express my saltiness (I don't lose sleep about these little regrets!) but only because I think it is interesting to hear about what other brides would have done differently, so hopefully this is interesting to you, too.

1) Have a wedding planner/mistress of ceremonies

My mom was a rockstar when it came to pulling everything together. My family really did help me create everything I wanted/needed. But when the day itself came, it would have been really nice to have someone else to communicate everything and make sure everyone was where they needed to be. All of the groomsmen showed up late, the musician started singing late, the photographer took pictures in all the places I didn't want pictures, and Jon didn't even show up until guests started showing up!

None of these things truly stressed me out, and everything turned out fine. But everything would have gone smoother if I had a "go-to girl" or someone who could have handled these things for me or started chasing people down when they didn't show up on time.

Having someone else who understood my needs and vision for the day would have been helpful to answer the questions my mom and I weren't available to answer before the ceremony.

My brothers were the only groomsmen that showed up when they were supposed to!

2) Spend more time with my bridesmaids

I tried to be a low-maintenance bride and not ask too much of my bridesmaids, or girlfriends who weren't in the wedding. But I realized later that I missed my chance to spend some really great time with them! Part of it was because of the lack of time from planning a wedding in 2 months, and part of it was because most of my friends were still single and couldn't help with wedding stuff too much.
BUT I am finding now that hanging out with girlfriends is much much different as a married person, and being a bride is an awesome opportunity to get those last moments of single-girl time.

All of my bridesmaids - and girlfriends who couldn't fit in the bridal party - were all SO so important to me, but I don't know if they ever truly felt like they were important because I was rushing around so much. These are the people I don't get to see very much any more, and I wish I had realized that sooner.

All my lovely bridesmaids at our rehearsal dinner.

3) Get a full-time/professional photographer 

Even better, have two photographers!
Daytona was an awesome photographer, and gave us a great deal because she was a friend of ours. However, she was not able to do everything we needed her to do because she was not a full-time photographer. We have pictures in the wrong places because she couldn't come to the rehearsal, and we have no pictures from the rehearsal dinner because she was at her other job. 

Like I said, her photography was great, but I didn't realize before I hired her that she was not going to be as available as I needed her to be because of her other job.
(Also, there are certain moments/angles that can only be captured by more than one photographer. And if you ask me, it's worth the stretch on your budget!)

A side-note to this regret is not getting the ceremony recorded or video-taped in any way... again, partly due to not having enough planning, but I terribly wish I could at least listen to our vows again!

My "first look" with Dad... such a big moment, in such a bad location!

4) Invite more people

I know it isn't budget-friendly, but I definitely regret being so tight on the guest list. I especially wish I had invited more of our parents' friends who had poured into our lives when we were younger, and invited ALL of the high school kids I was close with when I was leading at Deep Creek High. There were definitely some people that I didn't realize were important to me until I missed their presence at our wedding.
The plan for a wedding is for it to only happen once (i.e., plan for a lifelong marriage!). So it makes more sense to invite everyone to a once-in-a-lifetime event in your life.

(Besides, the more the merrier, right?;)

My friend Scottie from Deep Creek and my teammate Heather helped out by taking our guest book pics!

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There are things I wouldn't change, too. Our DJ was the bomb, our cake was phenomenal, our musician (Shiloh Soto) has the voice of an angel, my youth pastor and mentor was able to marry us, the sparkle lights were perfect, and our caterer was awesome about providing gluten free options. The Lord blessed us so extravagantly by the people who were able to come, my parents and in-laws being so supportive, and my cousin being so selfless to be a bridesmaid, hairdresser, and makeup artist (what a trooper). I was even able to find an off-the-rack perfect wedding dress 7 weeks before the wedding date! If that's not the Lord's provision, I don't know what is...

Again, none of this is a complaint. So many good things happened that shouldn't have happened, and I have so much to be thankful for. But hopefully these 4 things can be helpful to a few new brides:)

(Did you miss the wedding pictures?? You can find them all on our wedding page or on Instagram at #CountdowntoCapra! If you want to check out where I got my inspiration, my wedding Pinterest boards are now "public" instead of "secret"! Go check them out;)

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Wedding Pictures Part 4: Mr. & Mrs!

Even though the rain kept us from getting all the pictures we (mostly, I) wanted, we still got a bunch of fun ones. Still a bit heartbroken I didn't get a picture with each of my bridesmaids, but so thankful I got these great group shots.

 These crazy ones make me smile the widest because I get to see the fun personalities of our wedding party.

Bethany, Amy, Sara, Karlie, Andie, Allie, Caroline, Darby, Joel, Chris, Josh, Ring, Zach, Hayden and Dustin... So thankful for these people, and so glad that they could stand with us (Especially Josh, coming all the way from Alaska!)

 Still can't get over how BEAUTIFUL my flowers by Isha Foss were!!! Lamenting that I could only enjoy them for a short time; I wish they had lasted forever!

(Anyone in the Hampton Roads or Va Beach area should absolutely check out her work; she is phenomenal!)

 These sisters of mine are so precious to me!!

 Jon and his brothers.

Alllll of the kissing pictures! #sorrynotsorry

 At this point we were hurrying to get out of the coming rain... & to be announced as Mr & Mrs Capra!

 I can't get over how beautiful our reception space turned out. Even though we were in a yacht club, I still felt like it had a warm, rustic, homelike feel.

 My mom and Karlie couldn't figure out how to get my train hooked up, and tried so many times throughout the night! Thankfully, they worried about that while I worried about other things... Like keeping my new husband within arm's reach!!

 They both kept me looking great, all night.

(Also, one more shoutout to my fab hairstylist/make up artist! Find her on Instagram at @karliedare or #hairbykarliedare. You won't regret it; she's the absolute best, and she has a heart of gold.)

 We got our cakes from Incredible Edibles, and man, they lived up to their name. Not only were they awesome to work with, but they made the top/Anniversary cake gluten free, and the side cake gluten free! (I and several of my good friends are gluten-intolerant). They were awesome.

My aunt made the burlap decorations, and they were perfect. Exactly what I wanted. So thankful for my family who came through for many in so many areas during the crazy wedding-planning process!

 For our first dance, we played Little Moments by Brad Paisley. This was the song that we danced to in the Food Lion parking lot when Jon first told me that he loved me. Brad has always been there for us on so many special moments.

 My last dance with Dad was a little emotional... We held it together pretty well, but my sweet mother didn't! Glad my brother's came to the rescue.

 Jon's dance with my new mother-in-law..!

 The rest of the night rushed past in a fabulous whir of dancing, shouting, and gettin' down!

My brother Hudson had some of the best dance moves out there.

(The Cha-Cha Slide, obvi)

Lining up for the Copperhead Road... Remember in Wedding Pictures Part 1? This dance is very important if we interrupted our getting ready just to practice!

Another important moment... Proving to the Scottie that I had finally mastered The Whip!

My brother/best friend.

Love this. My dad with my youngest sibling, Henry. He even wore socks that were my favorite color!

It was all over way too quickly, and I would re-live it in a heartbeat.

Every time I go through these pictures again I am overwhelmed anew at how blessed we were and are to start off our marriage so blessed by so many people who love us so much!

That's the end of the wedding pictures! If you missed the others, check out our wedding page! You can also find some more perspectives on Instagram from all out friends at #CountdowntoCapra!

Hope you have enjoyed this walk-through of our wedding day!!

P.S. I made my wedding Pinterest boards public! If you want to check out where I got my inspiration, go check them out;)