Congrats to the Newest “Wifestyler” and Surviving Rain on a Wedding Day!

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please welcome the newest member of the new wifestyle….MRS. KENDAL MOHR!

kendal and chelsea avery

and i am also lucky enough to be her older sister! this past wedding week has been fantastic- so much fun, so much love and so much beach! the beach house/wedding house we were staying at didn’t have internet and the closest was about 35 minutes away so i opted to choose quality family time over driving an hour+ to post.

let’s play catch up real quick because this was one of the most fun weeks of my life! i had only met one of kendal’s bridesmaids before this weekend and already knew she was sweet and great but wasn’t sure about these other ladies…

turns out they are fabulous and my sister sure does know how to pick good friends. they were hilarious, so sweet and attentive to my sister and let me hang out with them and i don’t even think my mom paid them!

IMG_8645we had a fun bachelorette party for her which consisted of getting our nails while sipping on bubbly, eating adorable cookies (decorated as cute boobs and booties) ashley made and then going out in the charming southern town of charleston.

IMG_8578i’m typically not a super “girlie girlie” but when it comes to getting my nails done…i straight up rock the french manicure.

IMG_8755we had all the groomsmen’s lady friends join us for the bachelorette party while the boys were out…let’s just say charleston didn’t know what hit them.

if you think that’s my most awkward lean in to you a photo…you’re wrong.

IMG_8684my mom is so sweet and found matching chevron scarves in my sister’s wedding color! they are ‘new wifestyle’ approved. from left to right…my nana, my mama, my sister, my sister’s mother-in-law and moi.

IMG_8662things got a little cra-cra and we will just leave it at that…(ps. “crazy” to me is essentially more than 2 drinks and staying out past 10:45pm…so check and check)

IMG_6624the next day was the rehearsal on the beach and that’s when we decided all of our hair must be in an up-do because my hair literally got into people’s mouths.

the new wifestyle rehearsal kendal looking onmy husband took some amazing pictures during our practice run as well as captured an excellent photobomb!

the new wifestyle rehearsal photobomb

the new wifestyle rehearsal bridesmaidsi am not sure why my hand is placed upon his hip as though i’m blessing his unborn child. it’s what the south does to you.

the new wifestyle chelesea and ryan averywe had a delicious rehearsal dinner and i’d say the highlight was fried green tomatos! i don’t even like tomoatoes but apparently when you fry them, i eat them.

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you know those cute pictures of weddings you see on pinterest that are all DIY-y and look amazing? my sister has that talent. the amount of crafts, small details and coordination she put into her wedding was quite impressive! she even got us all these super cute (and striped) shirts to get ready in!

can you tell which one of us lives in abundant sunshine and the other lives in clouds?

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it was sunny and balmy as we were getting ready and then right at about 5pm…the weather changed significantly.

i have to give my sister HUGE props because quite literally once everyone took their seats on the beach and we were getting ready to leave the house to walk over…the sky cracked open and poured gallons of water on everyone. thank goodness she wasn’t out there!

how to survive rain on your wedding day:
1) drink straight from the wine bottle

chelsea and kendal wine drinking

2) learn the “wobble” song and dance your heart out while it passes

she didn’t sob, she didn’t break things and she didn’t yell at mother nature. she is a stronger woman than i am. she was rightly disappointed that all of her cute decorations and reception area had to be moved indoors as opposed to out in the backyard that she had worked hard on bringing to life. you handled that situation like a champ, sister!

my sister was a genius and had a wedding coordinator who took care of everything and put all of us at ease. she came upstairs and told kendal a sweet story about why rain on a wedding day is good luck. she said that rain is the most cleansing thing that can happen to the earth and it purifies everything. this also translate into the new chapter of love and commitment, opening the earth to give you a purifying start to your life together. cue the tears.

and let me tell you…they have the MOST purifying start because the streets literally were flooding while this rain lasted 40 minutes. the coordinator came back up and said “okay…i think we have a 40 minute window before it starts again so let’s do this beautiful bride!”

it was the most gorgeous thing ever.

the happy couple ryan avery photo!photo cred to my hubs.

i cannot wait to see the professional photographer’s pictures because A FULL RAINBOW APPEARED right as they walked down the aisle as mr. and mrs. mohr. straight up beauty.

naturally…i cried a lot (and reminder…i’m not one of those cute, dainty, recovers quickly criers…) their officiant even said to me afterwards “wow…you were really crying hard before you even walked off the board walk to come down the aisle!” thanks lady…but it’s my one and only sister and she chose a fantastic man to create a partnership with. i could not be happier for them and am so excited to have a brother-in-law now!

the rain cleared off eventually and we danced our hearts out underneath the stars and had their send off where everything was going to initially take place:

IMG_9235weddings always make me reflect back on mine but more important than the wedding is the marriage and partnership two individuals create after that special day. it made me appreciate my partner even more.

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cheers to the happy couple! kendal-i am so proud to be your sister because you are smart, hilarious, bold and you got me into pretty little liars…which is absolutely what we were going for in this picture. xo.

photo cred: casey o'mara

photo cred: casey o’mara

 the new wifestyle: more important than the wedding day is the partnership the two of you create after your celebration!

questions:
1) what didn’t go as plan during your wedding or something you’ve witnessed at another’s? (the fire alarm went off right as my husband and i were supposed to have our private ‘first look.’ the entire lodge witnessed this.)
2) do you dance at weddings?
3) what advice do you have for this newly married couple?

6 Comments

  1. Debra

    July 2, 2014 at 10:29 am

    1. At Emily and Stephen’s wedding, one of Stephen’s friend’s car caught on fire in the parking lot just as the ceremony began. Sirens everywhere!
    2. Love, love dancing at weddings. And I was most impressed with your Nana’s dancing at the reception.
    3. Don’t sweat the small things. Be kind and honest with each other. Listen, I mean “really listen” to what the other has to say. Respect each other. Have fun and dream big!

    • chelsea

      July 2, 2014 at 11:34 am

      oh no!!! that is so scary…goes to show you just how hot it can get in arizona! dancing must run in our family-we all have pretty decent skills and SO excellent to see you this past week debra (and paul) 🙂

      looooove your advice! thanks so much for sharing!

  2. Vivien

    July 2, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    1) I think what gives each wedding its own character its the little things that go “wrong”. As a mini-self-rant, it rained on my: elementary graduation, high school graduation, and BOTH University graduations (when I got my Bachelors’ degree and my diploma). Nowadays I always swear if I get married, it will rain on my wedding day!

    As a side-related note, there is this Chinese proverb (paraphrasing horribly) that says it rains when an important person goes out. I think that is applicable in this case, and I would agree your sister handled it like a champ. Congratulations to her on her wedding!

    2) I dance just the same as I dance everywhere else. Awkwardly, with limbs flailing, but having a blast 🙂

    3) Look towards your brother and sister-in-law to learn from example.

    • chelsea

      July 3, 2014 at 5:14 pm

      ohhhh it’s totally going to rain on your wedding day vivien-haaaa 🙂 so crazy that it’s rained at all of your graduations but see…it’s actually a good thing because you’re an important person. thanks for the congrats to my sister-totally a champ! love that you’re a dancing lady too! and that’s just about the sweetest thing you could say in terms of advice…did my mom pay you write that 🙂

  3. Paula Howley

    July 3, 2014 at 6:24 pm

    Your sister looked gorgeous and so did you Chels.

    1. I have three weddings to pick from. My first wedding was a total bomb cuz I married the WRONG GUY!!! totally. I did a couple of shots of Canadian Club right before hitting the church because I knew I was making a big mistake.

    1.1 the first time I married Lloyd our flower girl showed up half an hour late and her mom’s like “Aren’t you proud of us? We’re here half an hour early!” Duh! So the whole thing got delayed about 40 min but it sure added flavour!

    1.2 The second time I married Lloyd (in the Catholic church) it rained for us too. I also sprained my ankle the week before and Meaghan decided to give herself a billy idol haircut. On the way to the wedding, it was pouring so hard I had my wipers on high and was having a hard time seeing the road. Of course Meaghan (who was all of 3) had to go to the bathroom and it was an hour’s drive to the church. She couldn’t wait so we had to find a spot to pull over- now picture this- it’s pouring rain and I’m in my gown and she’s in a gown hiked up aroudn her waist and I’m standing behind her trying to hold her in a crouch position so she doesn’t get pee all over herself, which she doesn’t- it somehow ends up in my shoe. We get to the church and Meg decides she doesn’t want to walk down the aisle with her basket of flowers, she insists on having my bouquet. I acquiesce since everyone’s waiting for the show to get started. Then, halfway up the aisle she throws my bouquet on the floor and starts to scream. AHHHHHH!!!!! Luckily her godmother scooped her up and put her in an aisle. During our vows, the thunder and lightning started up and it began to rain even HARDER! Then, almost immediately after the ceremony, the rain stopped and we went to the outdoor venue for our reception and it was just lovely!

    2. Weddings, bus stops, wherever.

    3. love is a VERB. Marriage is the most important work of your life and it deserves your very best effort. Never ever ever give up on each other. 🙂

    • chelsea

      July 7, 2014 at 9:31 am

      thank you paula! haha hilarious (though stressful) about ms. flower girl’s mom thinking she was 30 minutes early! hahahah ohhh my goodness paula-you are hilarious and that was such a descriptive image of two gals in their gowns in the pouring rain and now there’s pee in your shoe. ahhhhh! so crazy but that rain cleansed your new start of your new path together 🙂 absolutely love what you said about love being a ‘verb’ and it does deserve our very best effort, doesn’t it? you’re brilliant.