Check the Ring, Yo

Two weekends ago, we went to Ames to celebrate the marriage of our best friends!!  Ryan and I were both in the wedding, so we headed up to Ames on Friday after work.  We met up with some people Friday night, including the bride and groom to be, and had a lot of fun catching up!  I got very limited sleep on Friday night and then woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning to go work-out with Ashley at the hotel gym.  It was nice to have a little alone time/de-stress time with her before all of the craziness started.  At 10:00, we had our mani/pedis.

After our nails, we grabbed some lunch at Panera and then went our separate ways again until rehearsal.  I had to run a quick errand which turned into a scavenger hunt for a yellow cardigan because Ashley forgot hers in Omaha.  Luckily, Target still had the one that I was going to wear and I had brought a backup, so I bought that one for Ashley and it turned our to be a great choice!  I don't have any pics from the rehearsal or rehearsal dinner, but it was a great time.
We ran through the rehearsal, worked out some kinks, and then as we were getting ready to leave, Ashley and Andy gave their gifts to the wedding party.  The girls got these personalized bags and this super cute monogram necklace.

Then we headed out to the rehearsal dinner tailgate/picnic.  It was so laid back and perfect, it was a wonderful atmosphere to just relax, have fun, and enjoy some great food!  Ashley's mom made some beans that were just to-die-for and all the rest of it was great too.  I wish I had some pictures, her mom made this beautiful bunting to hang around the shelter  it was stoo cute!  The only downfall was the hike to the bathroom...well the hike down wasn't bad, but coming back up was quite the workout out, lol.


Wedding day arrived and started right off the bat with some hair appointments!

Back of my hair

Ashley looked so stunning already!

After the hair appointments, some of us went to the MU to get stuff ready.  This led to redoing Ashley's bouquet completely, putting vases on all the tables and putting flowers in all of the vases, placing place cards and table numbers, etc.  But with the amount of help we had, this took no time!  We went back to the hotel to chow down on some left overs and then get ready.
The men started their pictures at 2:00, and Laura and I had to run down there to bring them their boutonnieres (made from buttons!) and I snapped this picture of the sharp looking men.

Laura A and me

Once we took all of our pictures, it was ready to start the ceremony! It was an emotional one, Ashley and Andy looked so happy and he was absolutely blown away by how beautiful she looked. =)  Because they waited to see each other until the ceremony, we took more pictures around campus with the whole wedding party together and then were announced at the reception!  The whole night was so much fun from then on out.  Mat gave a great toast and I think Ashley really liked the girls' group, video toast.  And then it was party time!  I don't think the following pictures need much explaining.

We give this wedding two thumbs up!  I had so much fun and it was so special to me to stand up there with those two.  I've been friends with Andy since 8th grade, he's been one of my best friends since junior year of high school and when Ashley came into his life, I was so blessed to become one of her best friends too!  They are two of the greatest people I know and I am so happy for them.  So congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Flater!!