T'is the Night Before the Wedding Poem

It's been quite busy since we returned from our wedding and honeymoon. We traveled to Charlotte for my dear friend Anna's baby shower. We've gone to Winston-Salem to pick up things we couldn't get back from the wedding. We've had lots of visitors and we've even attended another wedding (Brandy and Joe's). Needless to say, that would be the reason I haven't had a chance to blog about our amazing wedding weekend. I am going to do my best to get back to it before I forget some of the wonderful details of the weekend.

I'm going to start with the speeches that were given. Kevin's dad began and then a half a dozen or more friends and family around the room all stood up one at a time and gave a wonderful speech or story about Kevin and I. I couldn't have imagined the great words everyone would have had for us that night. It truly set the mood for the evening. I wish I had a video or had written down what everyone said as it was all so special to us. However, I was able to get Kevin's mom to email me her speech. It was one of a kind and really neat the way she presented it. At first we were kind of looking around like what?!?! Soon enough we understood where she was going and she definitely had me in tears. I am so incredibly fortunate to have a mother in law that I simply adore. And after this speech I believe she may feel the same about me :)

She titled it- T'is the Night Before the Wedding Poem

T'is the night before the wedding and all through this room

All creatures are stirring, especially the groom

He is about to discover what his mother will reveal

His penchant for older women, he can no longer conceal
As the story unfolds, he lay naked on the floor

Beside him laid an older woman, with a body to explore

When out in the hall there appeared such a clatter

As the door swung open he cried “What’s the matter”
His mother appeared, about to discover4 year old Kevin and his 6 year old love

In his playroom he was, surrounded by toys
Doing what comes naturally to all little boys
She helped them get dressed, and gave an embrace

Trying to conceal, the smile on her face

She knew one day her little boy

Would become a man, searching for another pretty toy
As all mothers do, she hoped he’d be wise

And choose a bride with close family ties
She loved her two boys, but longed for a girl

But God knew better in His wisdom of pearl,

Be patient she thought, other plans

He must have for a little girley

Little did she know, He was preparing a Bre Gurley
Now, her prayer has been answered and satisfied she is,

A grateful thank you to the Gurley’s she gives

For all of their efforts to create a child with such love

She is truly grateful to the Gurley’s and to the Almighty above
With her long golden hair and a smile to die for
Bre Gurley is more than I could've hoped for
Her beautiful spirit and personality
Have won the hearts of our entire family
My son is intelligent, so I need not worry
His choice was wise, he chose a Gurley
Finally, in an effort to make the past right

I promise Kevin and Bre I will not open their door tomorrow night.
Wishing a joyous time to all

And to all, a goodnight

So creative!!!!

I've included a few pictures from our wedding as there are so many I am going to have to post them in multiple blogs...

Our handsome groomsmen

My beautiful bridesmaids
The trolley that took us from our wedding
The scrumptious cake, invitation, and our very special rings
Love my HUSBAND :)

This was taken down by the water as the sun was setting

My absolute favorite...this one totally caught the moment of pure bliss we were in <3

A Sample of My Bridal Portraits

The photographers from our wedding were finally able to post a blog on my bridal portraits. I had them taken back in October because I wanted to have them outside and they need a few months to get the portrait back. With an April wedding I knew February would be a little cold for an outdoor shoot. So...they've been waiting awhile to reveal these pictures. We had so much fun!

Bridal Portraits in Downtown Wilmington, NC

No longer... Soon To Be The Hatchers

I am ecstatic to announce that we are officially "The Hatchers"! April 2nd we tied the knot and had the most amazing day of our lives. On April 4th we left for our Honeymoon in St. Thomas and St. John for 10 magnificent days. Both events will take some time to fill in so I will try and get those posts out soon. Since we've returned things have been just a bit busy. For now I wanted to share a blog post from our amazing photographers in which they posted some pictures from our wedding. They turned out incredible and we can't wait to see the rest, but for now visit Piner Photography Blog Post to see a snap shot of the best day of our lives :)

Stay tuned for Wedding Weekend and Honeymoon Posts

3 days until I officially become Mrs. Kevin Hatcher :)

It's almost that time...the one I've been waiting for quite awhile now. The time seemed to pass so slowly for so long and now it is just days away. I cannot believe it. We have the car packed, our suitcases packed, and we are ready to hit the road to Wilmington this afternoon. We can't wait to get the festivities rolling. We have a lot to get done between the time we get down there tonight and Friday morning but we are so ready! The car is packed tightly with all kinds of wedding items from floor to ceiling. We barely found room to fit Ellie even with renting a Yukon for the weekend. I've loved just about every minute of this engagement and planning for this wedding. A few minor things that mean nothing to us now attempted to pull us down throughout the process. But through those minor setbacks we learned how true the saying, "everything happens for a reason" is. We could not be more excited about the venue we chose and how beautiful it has become. We never could have imagined the result when we first went to see it. It was our only option at the time, but now one that is simply breathtaking. In fact, we love every vendor we chose. Each one of them has brought such an amazing aspect to our wedding. I cannot wait to see it all come together. So much work from so many people has gone into this day and I am so excited to get down that aisle, say our vows, and finally call Kevin my husband!

The Final Countdown...

It has been one busy month to say the least! Unfortunately Kevin's family has had to deal with two very devastating losses, both grandmothers (Ganna-Louise Hathcer and Grandmommy- Frankie Jean Sutton). It has been a very tough time for both sides of Kevin's family. The engagement ring Kevin gave me was Ganna's ring. I feel so blessed to have her ring on my finger for the rest of my life. I feel doubly blessed that I was able to enjoy it with her while she was still here. The joy on her face when she saw that ring on my finger is something I will never forget. Both were loved so much and will truly be missed. With that, we spent the first weekend of March in Lumberton, North Carolina, where Kevin's mothers family grew up. Even with all of the wedding "to do's" we decided to let it all go for the weekend and just enjoy family. We had the most amazing time all being together and really spending time reminiscing old stories of Grandmommy and Granddaddy as well as the kids and grand kids. I even got the chance to meet a few of Kevin's extended family members that will be at the wedding. We were sad to leave but excited to think that the next time we would all see each other would be for the wedding.

The following weekend my mom came in town and my goodness were we busy. We spent the weekend in full fledged wedding mode. We worked on my dress, the ring bearers suit, knocked out a little shopping, altered Austin and Kevin's suits for the wedding, and knocked out a few of the "crafty" wedding tasks that I will reveal after the wedding. Needless to say we did not stop from the time she arrived on Friday until she left Monday morning. I am so grateful to my mom for EVERYTHING she has done for me for this wedding. I can't even list all of the things she has helped me with. Thank goodness for her amazing talent with a sewing machine otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do so many "do it yourself" things for our wedding.

Another thing to knock off the list...we received our wedding bands :) All I can say is I am in love and had a REALLY hard time taking them off after trying them on when they arrived. I cannot wait to wear those rings so very soon! I don't want to give away too many details before the wedding so I'll wait until after to describe them. The best part is the AMAZING deal we got!

Last weekend my bestest Lil Sister/Friend Ren came to spend the weekend. I was so grateful to have her help me with some last minute wedding tasks as well as keeping my mind off thinking of the wedding every second. She truly is an amazing friend and one that I just can't get enough of. We cooked, enjoyed girly movies and got organized for the wedding. There are soooo many things we have to get down there next weekend so she helped me put it all in order and box it up so we will be ready to pack the car and head on our way next week.

Well, that about sums up the last few weekends of wedding planning. I cannot believe how close we are. It's all about numbers now, how many "to do's" left, how much this, how much that, 6 more working days, 7 days until we leave, 10 days until the wedding...AHHHH! All I can say is we are pretty much done with everything we can do until we get down there so come on days and hurry up. I know I shouldn't wish away the last few days of our engagement, but all of this hard work over the past 15 months makes me soooo ready for this incredible weekend to arrive. I can't wait to be surrounded by all of family and friends. Not to mention the end result...Kevin will officially be my husband!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love him more than anything in this world and cannot wait to walk down that aisle and say our vows.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures for this post...it was all about the planning that can't be disclosed just yet...

Bachelorette Weekend!

Let me start by saying I had the best weekend EVER! My sister has never been to a bachellorette party let alone planned one and she pulled it of with an AMAZING weekend to say the least. The picture above is of the house we stayed in. There were a few of us that got there on Thursday night (Me, Dev, Suzanne, Anna, Celeste and Molly) and the rest came in at varying times on Friday (Lindsay, Kathleen, Amy, Ren, Emily, Claire, Erin, and Tiffany) . We stayed at a ski in/ ski out cabin in McHenry, Maryland. The resort WISP is located there. Friday the weather was crazy. It started with a rain storm and incredible winds and thus made for pretty slushy and horrible conditions to ski/snowboard in. Against our wishes we decided not to take the risk and we stayed in. Anna scooped me up and took me to the Spa. I chose the deep tissue massage and she chose the prenatal massage. I can honestly say it was the best massage I've ever had! I will certainly be going back for a massage the next time I'm there :) When we returned from the massage it was snowing...a beautiful powdery snow. A few of us grabbed some mimosas and jumped in the hot tub while we watched the huge flakes come down. The weekend had only just begun and was turning out to be such an incredible weekend. While we were outside a few of the ladies set up all the fun decorations. We cooked spaghetti for dinner and then spent the night playing games while everyone arrived.

The next morning we cooked an awesome breakfast and then my sister and I hit the slopes. I had never been snowboarding with my sister so it was a real treat to have the morning with her. She is so much better at snowboarding than I am but we still had a blast just the two of us.
We decided to head in for lunch so we could hang with the girls for a bit. After lunch we hit the slopes again to make a few more runs, this time Emily came with us.

Once we returned we jumped straight into the hot tub with the ladies that stayed back. Then it was time to shower and get ourselves ready for a fun night out at the local mountain bars (haha). The girls made really yummy fondue and chicken kabobs for dinner. They wouldn't let me do ANYTHING. Next up was present and game time. My awesome friends showered me with lingerie gifts of all types. I even got a special pair with my wedding date and MRS. HATCHER printed on it as well as two coffee mugs that say Mrs. Hatcher and Mr. Hatcher. I just loved them all! My friends are way too good to me. Next we began the trivia game. Claire got in touch with Kevin a few weeks back and asked him to answer a bunch of questions about himself, us and a few other things. Then she read them out loud and I was to try and guess what his answer was before she would read what he actually answered. We were in sync for almost all of them...I was pretty excited about that! I'll post the questions/answers soon.

After the game we took off for the bars to begin our ladies night out. We were only able to find one bar open and it was quite the hole in the wall bar. So, needless to say when 14 cute girls walked in those boys couldn't believe it! There was a great band and lots of dancing going on. I was so sad when the night was over because the next morning we had to get up early to get back in time for my sister and Anna's flights.

Below is a recap of pictures from the weekend. I was so sad when the weekend was over...I had been looking forward to this weekend with all of my girls (high school, college, and family) for a long time. How often is it that you get to have all those groups together at one time? Hopefully we will make it back there for another fun girls trip sometime.

The 1 Month Countdown Begins...

I will officially, most certainly, 100% become Mrs. Kevin Hatcher one month from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you can't tell I am just a tad bit excited. I cannot wait to marry the man of my dreams. I often wondered when people say that, if they honest to god felt that way or if it was just something you were supposed to say. I can say with certainty that I AM marrying the man of my dreams. He completes me in a way that no one in my life can. He stands by me/puts up with me when I've had a bad day and may not come off as the nicest person in the world. He rounds me out with the qualities he provides me. The bottom line is...I literally don't know what I would do without him and I love him with every ounce of my being. For all of those reasons and more I KNOW that I was created for Kevin and Kevin was created for me and that we were meant to find each other 7 years ago so that one day we would be walking down the aisle pronouncing to all of our friends and family that we will be together until the end.

There are many things left to do and I know you shouldn't wish away the last weeks of engagement, but I surely hope this last month flies. I can't wait for the most important weekend of our life to arrive.

Here is one of my favorite pictures taken of us back in 2006...LOVE HIM

This is another one of my favorite pictures of us more recently...

Here's to one more month as Breanne Parker Gurley :)