Our Panhandle Wedding: Part 2

Apparently, people really like seeing wedding photos. Lucky for me, I just so happened to have half of the festivities saved for another wedding post. Seeing as how it is now 10:40 p.m. on Friday night and I've had an eventful day of getting a pat down at the airport and my bags searched (thank you to Texas and the inability to provide a real driver's license right away. Darned paper!), I'm going to admit I'm taking the easy way out with this post. Tomorrow I'll do better, but tonight, you are getting wedding photos, again from the fantastic Allyson of Originallyson Photography. Seriously, check this gal out if you are need any kind of rustic/country/farm photography. She took whatever we threw at her in stride, from horses and cotton fields in our engagement photos to a soaking wet Ranger dog and 100 degree heat on our wedding day. And she always makes us look good, which can be challenging!

Last post, I shared photos of getting ready, our couple portraits and wedding party portraits. Tonight, I'll share some from the actual ceremony and reception, as well as our family portraits. Here's a few details on our wedding...

• Our ceremony and reception were held on Royce's grandparents' farm, where the family has been farming for over 100 years. Royce is the fifth generation on this farm.
• Seeing as how agriculture is a huge part in both of our lives, we decided to have our family and friends join us on the farm. We had the ceremony outside on a grass corner and the reception in the new machine shed they built last year.
• Wheat is my favorite crop so I had it incorporated throughout the wedding, from my bouquet and the flowers to our "wheat ceremony." I'll explain that another time.
• We had steak for supper because what good Texas Panhandle rancher wouldn't serve steak at his wedding?
• At our reception, we definitely had an old Gleaner combine parked behind the guestbook table... And it was awesome!
• We honestly couldn't have pulled this off without the support of our family and friends. Y'all are seriously the greatest, and thank you for making this day everything I had dreamed of!

Overall, we had a great time celebrating, and it was so special to share our farm with everyone for our big day. You don't get much more ag than that!

I cannot thank my friend, Teal, enough for her work setting up the ceremony. It looked so great!

The face every bride wants to see at the end of the aisle - pure happiness. 

This face... Not so much.

Thanks for that nice gust of wind, Texas.  

My side of the family. Oklahoma, South Dakota, Iowa and Texas represented in one photo!

Royce's side of the family. Illinois and Texas.

Keepin' it classy.

Our beautiful cake by Misty Alvey in Pampa, TX.

Dad & Daughter Dance

Mother & Son Dance

Stepfather & Stepdaughter Dance 

Lots of dancers... As in, we really needed a bigger dance floor.

My handsome nephew showing off his moves. Watch out, ladies! 

The Wobble. No more explanation needed.

And then there was this because my husband and our friends are awesome. 

This is the seventh day of my 30 Days of Texas Panhandle Agriculture Series. To read more, please visit this introduction post. If you have questions or ideas about Texas Panhandle agriculture, I'd love to hear them!

Marriage: Month One

Let's talk marriage: like the fact that I'm officially a month into my own! 

It really is unbelievable to think it has been a whole month since the craziness that was my wedding. It also is weird to think that I haven't had a wedding to plan for over a month! So much time for activities - like all of the ones I couldn't get done while planning a wedding. I still have a pile of thank you cards to write (Thanks for all of the wonderful gifts! I promise, you will get an actual, personalized thank you - soon...ish.). I still have tablecloths and table runners to sell (I'll make you a heck of a deal if you take them all!). I also need to finish "unbachelorizing" our humble little home that my husband had been bacheloring in off and on for 10 years (This project may never reach completion.). The knot.com also tells me I need to review all of my wonderful vendors, which I totally mean to do, but I'm so darned sick of that To Do list! 

Besides a few remaining post-wedding action items, I thought I'd provide a quick look back at the first month of marriage to my Texan husband.

• Taking two days before leaving for the honeymoon was the best decision we made during planning. Like I probably would've killed him on our honeymoon if I hadn't had two good days of rest post-wedding.
• Ireland. You should go there. Just pack snacks because quite honestly, I wasn't impressed with the local cuisine. Which leads me to my next point...
• Ladies, marry a man with useful, life-saving skills, such as the Heimlich Maneuver. My husband had to perform the Heimlich (Thank goodness he was an Eagle Scout!) after I attempted to take an Imodium and obviously was failing - and flailing - miserably to cure my upset stomach. Let's just say I struggled through my upset stomach after that near-death experience. I also was reassured of my choice in spouse.
• Royce and I make a great team while driving on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. Despite a couple of close encounters with other vehicles on the road and that one curb check, Royce did an excellent job driving. I did a great job of navigating twisty, turning Irish roads. I also did a great job of hyperventilating at every rock wall that got too close, every car that got too close, every tree that got too close, etc. 
• Maybe I should've asked Royce's input on this post... What has he learned about me the last month? Well, I'm a nervous wreck when he's driving in Ireland and have problems taking a simple pill. Winner, Winner! He definitely married a winner.
• Post-wedding and post-honeymoon depression is a real thing. We got home, and neither of us did much of anything (besides go to work) for the first week and a half. Our dogs thought we had turned into zombies.
• Marriage doesn't magically change everything. In fact, I'm still coming to terms with being "married." I still forget some days that I am someone's wife and that I have a husband. But overall, marriage is good.
• Changing your name is quite the process. I finally turned in my form to the Social Security Administration yesterday. 
• Introducing yourself with your new last name is also quite the process. "Hi, I'm Kaitlyn Nelson... er, I mean, O'Neal. Sorry, its new." 

Royce driving in Ireland...
Notice the extremely blurry outside? That's how I felt!

Overall, I'd say month one has been quite successful for the new Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal. I mean, my husband literally saved my life once already! How does it get any better than that? 

My question to y'all is: Any advice to make month two through year 50 go successfully?

The Average Day in a Bride's Mind

Maybe you've noticed my sheer lack of blogging lately. Let me tell you why in two simple words: wedding planning. I never realized just how all-consuming planning my wedding day would be. Here's how my life has been the last month or so:

• Wake up from nightmares about the wedding. "OMG! Why is she wearing white at my wedding!???" 
• Relay nightmares to fiancé, who shrugs and states mildly, "Why do you worry so much? I'm just excited to be marrying you!"
• Go to work and attempt to focus on writing about wheat varieties. Get distracted about massive Wedding To Do list and adding to it so nothing important is forgotten. "Buy socks. Having the right socks for my boots is of dire importance."
• Take a lunch break. Talk about all of the Wedding To Do list with fiancé. "No! You can't eat right now! We must determine who is going to pick up your suit three months from now! Right now!"
• Go back to work, still attempting to write about wheat varieties. "This Hard Red Winter wheat is very drought tolerant.... What if it rains on my wedding day!?" Furiously google average weather for White Deer, Texas on August 30. Chances of rain are not likely. Determine back-up rain plan anyway.
• Leave work early. The florist closes at 5 p.m., and this is not a discussion for over the phone. Must be face-to-face. Florist: "You can just give me a call if that would be easier." Me: "It would be easier, but heck no! I must come see you!"
• Florist appointment is over in 10 minutes. Still don't know how much flowers are going to cost. "This wedding will in fact break me financially, but I need those roses!"
• Remember the Wedding To Do list - with the Need to Buy list - is still sitting on the desk. Fail to buy anything on the list while in town. "I can't buy anything without my list. I must be able to cross it off the list as I get it."
• Drive home, empty-handed. Think about all of the DIY projects you need to work on when you get home. "Paint that cardboard letter; hot glue that string on those bottles; remove the labels on said bottles; drink the alcoholic beverages in said bottles... Wait? What? I can't do that! I must be in tip-top form to paint and glue!"
• Eat supper with delicious potato salad. Second guess plan of having baked potatoes at wedding reception. "But this potato salad is divine! The guests would love it. Or would they?"  
• Call Mom to talk about the wedding. Get drilled with questions you don't know the answer to. "What dishes will the head table use? What song will you dance with your dad to? Who all is coming? How will you keep people cool? What are you feeding people?"
• Cry. 
• Cry harder.
• Sob uncontrollably.
• Add all the answers to Mom's questions to the Wedding To Do list. "Must get wheat dishes for the head table. Determine song for Father-Daughter Dance. Order fans - lots of them. Determine final menu."
• Attempt to sleep. Go through Wedding To Do list mentally, which causes anxiety and inability to sleep. Begin counting sheep, which soon morph into dancing wedding dresses. "One beautiful ball gown. Two sexy mermaids. Three fitted trumpets. Four flowy A-lines. Five zzzzzzzz."
• Nightmare about another woman wearing white to my wedding reoccurs. "Her!? Again!? That strumpet!!!!"
• Repeat process.

*Please note: Above process is exaggerated significantly. Wedding planning is sometimes rewarding, and I cannot wait for the big day!

**Also note: Notice the lack of anxiety about who I am marrying. I am 100 percent positive in my choice of husband, just not so certain in my choices of the wedding itself.

***Note to Mom: I love your input! I really do, but it just felt necessary to include.

****Final note: I promise I do actually work during the day. Although it can be challenging to stay focused with so much wedding happenings happening.