7.12.14 || Ring Ceremony & Reception Pt 1

From the very moment Keaton proposed, I knew I wanted to have a ring ceremony. I know a lot of people have their own opinions on this when there is already a temple sealing, but I knew without a doubt that we would be having one. It was important to me that each member of our families felt involved and included the whole day. Especially for me, it was so important that my parents be a big part of my wedding day. Having my dad walk me down the aisle was really special. Having this ring ceremony didn't belittle the fact that Keaton and I were sealed in the temple. In fact, it made our wedding day even more meaningful and eventful.
Our Bishop conducted the ceremony and I am so glad he did. He was Keaton's young men's leader for a few years and he was the one to meet with me multiple times as I prepared to go through the temple. We are so grateful for him and the sweet words he shared with us and our families that day.
Our videographer got the whole thing in the video…I'll post it in another post soon!

The reception was held in the most gorgeous backyard in Keaton's neighborhood. We helped the owner with yard work the whole week before making sure it was all ready to go! I was so excited to have an outdoor reception, even though it was a million degrees and I was sweating to death in that dress. Nonetheless, it was the perfect setting and I have no regrets!

Without further ado:

^mary's face

These are my people and that makes me the happiest gal. 

It was a jolly holiday with you, Burt.

Halloween has come and gone, I can't believe it.
This year, Keaton and I had a party at my work that was on the 10th, so there was no option for a "last minute costume on Halloween". I turned to my good friend Google for some inspiration. I knew we couldn't spend a lot of money on them and I wanted it to be a couple's costume. Obvs.
Mary Poppins and Burt the chimney sweeper seemed like a very doable costume!

I already had the majority of what we needed (even a real chimney sweep, thanks to Keat's dad) and was going to borrow a few more, minus:
-The hat
-The bow tie
-A vest for Keaton

I turned to amazon.com for the hat - found it for 5 bucks. Added some dollar store flowers and spray painted it black and voila, I had a Mary Poppins hat!

I decided to just get some red ribbon and tie it in a bow. Easy enough.

Burlington had a great vest for an even better price!

We were at goodwill looking for a vest when I found the most PERFECT skirt. 6 bucks. Done.

I was thrilled with how simple it was and how big of a hit we were. SO much fun.
We wore our costumes three times, to the Witches Ball at This is the Place, our ward trunk-or-treat (hi, we were the ONLY adults who dressed up that didn't have kids - talk about embarrassing), and again on Halloween night when we had dinner with my parents and took Tatum to a few houses for some free candy.

Our trunk for the ward party.

I was able to watch Tatum during the day because I had the day off and she didn't have school. We went to the Aquarium for trick-or-treating and cute activities they had planned. We matched, it was cute.

We ended the night with some hot chocolate and movies at home, just the two of us. I could get used to the holidays as a married couple!!