When we arrived at the hall, Trevor & I were just stepping out of the limo when we heard our names being announced, “Mr. & Mrs. Trevor & Anna Foster.” We looked at each other and said “What in the world is she doing?” Our bridal party wasn’t even out of the limo yet. We weren’t ready. We had specifically told her that our Groomsmen would let her know when we were ready. Our whole bridal party was to enter, get something to toast with, fill our glasses, and find their seats. Then we would be ready. Our bridal party just piled out of the limo, and we heard ourselves being introduced again. By now we were getting ticked. I saw my brother and told him to get in there and tell her we were NOT ready!!! I turned into Bridezilla, but my brother, Bless his heart, went in and told her. He then came back out and said, “Ok, let me know when you’re ready.”

HINT: When getting out of your limo, make sure somebody checks to be sure nothing is left behind! My shoes got left in ours (I had changed into my slippers), and somehow 5 people stepped over them without noticing them. I wanted them for my special dances so I wasn’t straining my neck, and so I wouldn’t trip on my dress. While we were supposed to be eating, I was running around trying to find them and contact the limo driver. I asked my girls, nobody knew where they were. The only people who helped me look for them were my friend Monica(not a member of the bridal party) and my dad. Luckily, the driver found them and brought them back before the dances.

Ok, so now we were ready to be introduced. We hear “Ladies & Gentlemen…” so we started walking in. Then we heard “Mr. & Mrs. Trevor & Anna Tholl.” Um, Tholl is my maiden name, our name is Foster!!! We were hot! We just looked at each other like, “What in the hell is she doing???” About 10 seconds later, she realized what she did and just blurted out “Foster.” This was all caught on video and you can just see the complete looks of disgust on our faces. She then rushed over to our table to say hi and never once apologized for that.

Then it was time for the toasts. The Best Man (Jerry)gave the first one, followed by 2 of Trevor’s Groomsmen (Kelly & Jason). Two of my bridesmaids went next (Monika & Wendy). They were all so sweet. Then my sister went, and we were both crying. My mom made a toast after that (she actually read a story she wrote).

I was doing ok again, but then I looked over and saw my little 8-year-old nephew Kyle with the microphone, getting ready to make a toast. Oh my gosh, I just instantly started crying. This little guy has always been so special to me. I wish I can remember everything he said, but here’s what I do remember. He said, “I want to thank all of you for coming. And I want to thank my Uncle Trevor for making my Aunt Annie so happy. And we want lots of kids.” The only part he was coached on was the last part about the kids. He did the rest completely on his own and sounded so grown up. On my gosh, I was just sobbing, it was SO sweet!

My brother went next and started to break down, which I think surprised most of us. He started off by saying “I’m not gonna say anything bad about Trevor because let’s face it, he could break me in half.” Lol (Trevor’s a big guy) But then he got serious and I was crying again. Next went my dad and he welcomed Trevor to the family, and thanked him for everything he’s done, and told us both he loved us. Then at the end, he said “Just take care of my little girl.” Yep, I was crying again. Trevor’s brother then made a short toast and it was time to eat.

After a while, we did the cake cutting. The floor where we had the cake was apparently quite weak, because any time someone would walk by the whole thing looked like it was gonna topple over! Thankfully it didn’t. We cut the cake and took turns feeding each other. Trevor went first and asked how mad I’d be if he smashed it (we had talked about this quite a bit prior). I just gave him a look that said, “Don’t you dare.” So he didn’t, and neither did I. It was just very sweet, the way I wanted it.

We had our first dance after that. We danced to Tim McGraw & Faith Hill’s “It’s Your Love.” This song has been special to us since we first got together 3 years ago. While we danced, we sang the song to each other. It was weird, it was like there was nobody else there except the two of us. It was so romantic and sweet.

HINT: If there are specific people you want to be sure see certain things, designate someone beforehand to gather these people when necessary. We found out later that my dad was outside and missed both our cake cutting and our first dance. I was disappointed, but what can ya do?

Then my Dad & I danced to “Daddy’s Hands” by Holly Dunn. I have known for the past 7 years that if I ever got married, this is the song we would dance to. While we danced, I sang the song to him and it got him choked up. There were points he wouldn’t/couldn’t even look a me. And of course, I was crying again! Lol And again, it was like we were the only 2 people in the room. I later found out that everyone at my mom’s table (friends and family) were all crying, too. Mom said my Aunts (Dad’s sisters) were crying, and then my Uncle Dave (Mom’s brother) walked over to where she was sitting with tears running down his face. Oh, and I also realized afterwards that Trevor was standing to the side hugging his dad during this as well. This also had people crying. After that, Trevor danced with his mom to “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion.

Then we did the Married Couple’s Dance. This was so cool because we had so many couples up there that were married for a long time. When the DJ was counting off the years, nobody left the dance floor between about 20 and 30 years. There were so many people still out there. The longest married were my Aunt Helen & Uncle Ladd at 41 years. Trevor’s Groomsman Kelly said that he’d never seen that many couples married for so long in one place before.

HINT: Make sure you tell your DJ not to start playing the songs until the people are on the dance floor. I never thought of having to tell her this, but she started playing every special song started before the people were out there. This meant that we lost part of the song for dancing, plus our special dances got interrupted for a professional picture to be taken. We wanted to take the posed shot at the beginning, then have the music start, but that didn’t happen. Also, when we did the Married Couples Dance, people were sitting back down before they even got to the dance floor.

The dance floor opened up after that. At one point, I had to talk to her about the music she was playing because nobody was dancing and she was ignoring most of the requests that had been made. I think she knew by this time, we were both fed up with her. So she did start playing some better music and most of the people had a good time. Not too many people on Trevor’s side got up and danced, but most of my side did which was great.

One of the funniest parts of the day happened when I had to go to the bathroom. Oh my gosh, what an experience that was. My sister and friend Monica went in to help me with my dress, and it was like a comedy of errors. By the time we were done in there, I had friends coming in and saying “Hey, I hear there’s a party going on in here!” lol We must have been in there well over 10 minutes. I made sure not to drink too much after that because I didn’t want to have to go through that again.

We did the Dollar Dance and apparently I got more dances, but Trevor got more $5 bills! We also did the Chicken Dance, which was great because it got so many people up there. We decided, at the last minute, to skip the bouquet and garter toss because so many people had already left. We didn’t think there would be enough people to do it. Looking back now, I wish we would have done it. But we were so flustered at that point, and being pulled in so many directions, that Trevor & I just said forget it.

Towards the end of the evening, Trevor’s niece came over to me and said “I think Uncle Trevor’s gonna sing soon.” I looked over and sure enough, he had taken off his tux coat and put his black cowboy hat on. I got so excited because I had looked forward to this moment for so long. He’s always loved doing karaoke, and he has an awesome voice (yes, I know I’m prejudiced). He looked so sexy up there getting ready to sing.

(We met over the Internet, and when we first started talking on the phone, we were just friends. After singing to me a few different times, I asked him, “If I ever get married, will you come sing at my wedding?” He said, “Of course I will.” Little did we know he would keep that promise, but that it would be my wedding to him.)

My bridesmaid Monika pulled a chair onto the dance floor, so I would be sitting close to the stage by myself. The first song Trevor sang was “The Dance” by Garth Brooks. This is the first song he ever sang karaoke for me. It’s funny because when he sings this song, he pulls his hat down low in front of his face, closes his eyes, and sings from memory. So he didn’t know until the end of the song that I was even sitting there. During this song, my 5-year-old nephew, Justin, came to sit on my lap. He had been with me when we bought Trevor’s white hat, and I told him it was a surprise for the wedding. So he came over to me and said “But what about the new hat?” So I had to explain to him that it didn’t fit. This is also the most I saw of Justin that day. He was busy running around with the other kids, having fun.

The next song he sang was “I Will Stand” by Kenny Chesney. This is just a perfect wedding day song. The lyrics are so awesome, and of course I was crying again. After this song, I had an idea of what was coming next and I just didn’t want to be sitting there alone. So I finally got my sister (with her sick little guy in his stroller) and friend Monica to come out by me. I told them they could get chairs, but they both just kneeled next to me and held my hands through the last song. It was “That’s Why I’m Here” by Kenny Chesney. This song had so much significance for us, and especially on that day. I think it was hard for both of us to get through. This time, when he was singing to me, was one of the most special moments of the day for me. I can’t describe it, other than to say it was a perfect ending to the day. My husband serenaded me at our wedding reception. I think he surprised a lot of people with his voice. My mom even said, “I had no idea my Son-in-law could sing!”

After that, we started to pack things up. Some of the people heading back to the hotel helped by bringing back the gifts and such. A funny thing happened with the wishing well that was holding the cards. My dad picked it up and was taking it out to his car. Well, he must not have realized that the bottom had opened up (I didn’t know this either), so as he was walking, the cards were falling out. Luckily, two of the Groomsmen saw what was going on and rushed over there to start picking them up.

It was hard saying goodbye to everybody. It seemed so sad that our special day was over. But by this time, we were also anxious to be alone and have some private time together. We hadn’t had a single moment since just before the ceremony, and we were very anxious to talk about our day and begin reliving the memories of it.

We had to stop off at mom and dad’s hotel to pick up our clothes. Several of our guests were sitting in the lobby, so it was kind of neat to see them again. Norma, a very good family friend, gave us one of the best gifts ever. She took a roll of film from our ceremony and had it developed in an hour. She gave us a set of the pictures, and we were absolutely thrilled to get them. Those were the first pictures we got back of our special day. We looked at them that night in private and brought them with on the honeymoon so we could look at them every day. We can never express to her how much it means to us to have those pictures!

I stayed talking to our friends while Trevor went to get our clothes. When he came back, we managed to sneak away without anyone noticing us. I didn’t want to have to go through the good-bye’s again, it was just too hard. So we quietly slipped out and left to enjoy our wedding night together.