our wedding day: getting ready

Emily
Apr 3, 2024
4 min read

when I woke up the morning of our wedding, I checked the verse of the day like I usually do, and I loved the verse that was picked for December 31st.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time" felt like the exact truth my heart needed that morning. the Lord promises to make everything beautiful in its proper time. we don't always know what that time will be (let's be real, we really never know), but He knows what that proper time is, and that's what matters. and the Lord never goes back on a promise.

that morning, exactly 365 days after our first date, felt like the fulfillment of a promise to make beauty from ashes. if you know my story from real life or the bits I've shared on YouTube, I have walked through sexual sin and temptation in college and the years after, making mistakes that I regret but have learned and healed so much from.

meeting and marrying Justen was not the fulfillment of the Lord's promise, Jesus is. but Jesus has used and continues to use Justen as part of my story and vice versa to bring healing and redemption to our lives and hopefully the lives of others who know us.

the second part of that verse that talks about the yearning for eternity that each of us has in our heart reminded me that the joy of this day pales in comparison to the joy of eternity with Jesus. He is the Giver of good gifts, and Christ-centered marriage is one of those gifts. but it's not the end of our story. Jesus is the beginning and the end, and it was honestly such a relief to be reminded that no day on earth can match a day in the Lord's courts in heaven. what a way to take the pressure off.

around 8:30 am, Justen picked me up from the apartment (when we were dating he lived 2 minutes away down the street!), and we went to the coffee shop where we had our first date and had a private moment together to sit and talk and pray and just soak up some time before the craziness of the day began. it was so wild to be there exactly a year after our first date! thanks Cocoa Cinnamon for being a great first date spot :)

lol at my self tanner looking DARK 😂 I got an at-home professional spray tan the Friday before the wedding, and I went a little darker than we did for my trial tan ... I love how it turned out, but I remember feeling like it was wayyyy too dark and orange at first haha.

little oompa loompa orange bride ;) and Mr. / Dr. J man eager for his ring

after our time was up around 9:30 or so, some of my pals came and picked me up and helped me carry my monster of a dress down from my apartment 😂 we drove to Market Hall (our reception venue) in Raleigh to get ready and met the other bridesmaids. my sister picked up Starbucks for all of us and we went up to the bridal suite after passing through the reception venue that was already partially decorated :)

the outside of Market Hall ^

there's my dress :)

we all ate some breakfast, had our coffee, and opened bridesmaid gift bags that I had made for the girls. we all had matching PJs but some of the sizes were off which made for a funny time swapping pajamas and trying to make it all work 😂 double check Etsy size charts y’all!!

the rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent getting our hair and makeup done by Wedded Kiss. the bridesmaids all got updos and more natural makeup while I went with a “Hollywood glam” look — big Hollywood waves, bronzy makeup and a red lip 💄(felt bold but very classy, feminine, and festive to me 😌)

giving my flower girls their coloring books and crayons :)

pretty sure I was telling my mom how hot I thought she looked here, hehe

we had so much fun listening to early 2000s pop and dancing around trying to calm my jitters that ended up being mostly low blood sugar (OJ fixes all problems). the time seemed to last forever as anticipation was building, and I felt myself going back and forth between being giddily excited and nauseous / nervous. everyone was so kind and helpful 🩷

and if you want to see any of these moments in action, you can check out my wedding day behind-the-scenes vlog that Jenna filmed: wedding day vlog ☺️