Wedding Wednesday: Our Ceremony

Hi and welcome to Wedding Wednesday! If you followed our wedding planning process you know that we had a traditional Catholic wedding mass. If you haven't read my post Advice for the Catholic Bride you should really check it out even if you aren't Catholic because I had so many people reach out and say how much they learned about Catholic weddings from the post. To be honest it's one of my favorites because I interviewed three of my lovely sorority sisters for it. We also made the decision to have an unplugged ceremony (you can read why HERE) which I know our photographer Arastasia loved, enjoy the photos she captured so wonderfully. 

The back of our wedding programs that let our guests know it was a device free service

Now on to our wedding mass. It was held at Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Maple Heights, Ohio and is the same church that Brian's parents were married. Our processional music started with "The Ash Grove" which was the school hymn of Brian's alma mater, Lake Erie College. One of the cutest moments was when our flower girls got to the end of the aisle they took their remaining petals and threw them in the air in true Lebron Cleveland fashion. I walked in with my mom to "The Shaker Hymn" or as us Mountaineers better know it as "Simple Gifts." I have adored this song since my childhood because my grandma used to play it for me and then when I got to college WVU's marching band plays it in early pregame performance. It usually strikes a chord with WVU alumni when we hear it so when it started to play I saw a couple people's faces light up and it was such a special memory. 

I will never forget this walk as long as I live. It is the most incredible feeling seeing everyone you love most all in one place celebrating love. The looks and moments shared with our guests (especially my friends and family) were nothing short of magic. 

Father Lou was so wonderful

Our first reading was by my friend, Erin and the second reading was by my friend, Stacy. Stacy got married six months before we did and I read the same reading at her wedding mass, it's a passage near and dear to our hearts from our sorority days. 

Look at the beautiful wedding party!

Praying to Saint Mary for children...she answers quickly lol

And you have it folks! Thank you to all of our guests for unplugging for our long wedding mass and for giving us some of the most amazing memories. Until next time!

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Wedding Wednesday: Pre-Ceremony Portraits

Happy Wedding Wednesday y'all! If you stopped by last week you saw some of our first look photos and if you didn't go check them out! Anyway, one of the main reasons we decided to do a first look was so that we could also get some pre-ceremony photos with our entire wedding party at the beautiful Lake Erie College spots I feel in love with a month before. Boy am I glad we did! I can't remember if I've mentioned it but on our October 17th wedding day in Cleveland, Ohio the morning started off sunny and bright like summertime (as you'll see in these first photos), then shifted to a breezy autumn day, when we were arriving at the church it began to rain like the springtime, and on the way to our reception it began to SNOW!!! No joke you guys...we experienced all four seasons on our wedding day and it was kind of magical. Now onto our pre-ceremony portraits all courtesy of  Arastasia Photography...

The entire wedding party!

...another one for good measure

this is one of my very favorites

All the guys, my friend Justin's face in this kills me lol

The 5 of us have a tradition taking this picture, I'll share the others another day

The next photos were taken inside the social parlor that served as our "rain location" but I loved it so much we did pictures in there anyway. I felt it was southern charm in a northern place. Looking back I wish we would taken a few more here because they turned out so wonderful. I have some bridal shots of just me that I will share in another post. 

My full bridal party with house party and bridesmaids

My house party

My bridesmaids

Brian and his groomsmen

I loved how these photos turned out and they eased my mind so much knowing that even if the weather took a turn for the worse (and it did) that we got some great shots before everyone's hair started to fall and look a hot mess. Well I'm signing off today so make sure to stop by the Wedding Wednesday and What's HaPinning for more great blog posts. Thanks for reading.

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Wedding Wednesday: Something Blue

Hello and thanks for stopping by for Wedding Wednesday. I can't believe two weeks have passed since our wedding! It was such a fun day and even though we were thrown some insane weather curve balls it was still so wonderful. I debated on writing about this but I've always been honest on here throughout my wedding planning process so why not be honest about post-wedding happenings...to be completely real with you all, I'm having a case of the blues.

Our rental car pack to the brim after checking out of the hotel

Let me start of by saying this has NOTHING to do with marriage, it's about the wedding itself being over. Brian has been his usual supportive self with me and I LOVE being married to him. He makes me so incredibly happy. I, like many brides, spent practically all my free time on wedding planning and now that it's over I don't know what to do with myself. I've been lucky that the past two weeks have been incredibly busy at my full-time job as well as my part-time coaching job but I'm having the hardest time trying to figure out my "new normal."

I've never had more fun in a piece of clothing

The three days following our wedding were filled with so many tears. I can't count how many times I said "I want to get married everyday!" Maybe it's the fact that I loved putting together all the little details, maybe it was seeing all my hard work coming to life, or maybe it't the fact that having everyone I love most in the world all in one place celebrating love and knowing that it's probably the only time in my life that will happen. On October 17th there were no family feuds, friendship riffs, or hometown gossip...there was only love. I knew I would be sad when the wedding was over but I never expected to grieve an event, one solitary day so much. No one told me it would be this rough and it left me wondering am I the only person who ugly cried when she packed up her wedding dress and threw out flowers. Am I being selfish when the next day important people had already moved on to "the next best thing" going on? Sunday people were already messaging and asking if they could buy my decor, I was incredibly flattered, but for heaven's sake my fake eyelashes hadn't come off and people were chomping at the bit to try to get my stuff. Would you message someone right after their child was born and ask to buy the dress they wore to come home in? I know my wedding wasn't the center of everyone's lives but it was the center of mine for a while and it's hard to get over. I don't have hard feelings towards anyone, I'm just trying to figure out how to deal with these loco feelings. 

Am I pouting about throwing away my gorgeous flowers or that the weather on Sunday was completely clear?! LOL

I know I should be happy, and trust me I am, about what amazing of a wedding day we had and how special it was. Each day when I have a moment of time where I'm not working or actively doing something I get so anxious about seeing the rest of our photos and how our wedding video will turn out. What I hate to admit is how nervous I am to see them both because I don't how I'll respond. Will it be tears of joy or a Forgetting Sarah Marshall "if I put my clothes on it's over" situation where I'm in a funk for months about it. I guess at this point, in time, the only way to know is to wait and see.

Until then you can find me channeling all my energy into coaching my dance team and trying to be the best wife I can be to Brian. For my fellow past brides...did y'all feel this way to? How did you work through it? What advice do you have for me? Any suggestions are welcome and I truly appreciate them. I can't wait to share the details of our wedding, but only feel it's right to do so when I've worked through this and I hope everyone can understand that. So this is me being real with y'all and truly hoping that I'm not alone in this. As always thanks for reading and I promise to keep things more upbeat next time around.

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday and What's Hap-Pinning?! so check them out :)

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Wedding Wednesday: {Guest} Post for our Photographer

Hi everyone and welcome to Wedding Wednesday! You think things would have slowed down for me since our wedding but they sure haven't. I didn't want to throw together a half done post so I decided to share the guest post I wrote last week for our wonderful photographer, Arastasia Rolain. I got a little emotional writing it because my photos, her work, were something I was so passionate about. I hope you enjoy it...you can read it HERE and make sure to read the one she wrote about us too because it's incredibly sweet!

Our amazingly talented photographer, Arastasia.

Thank you for stopping by and I promise next week will bring a new and exciting post!

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday and What's Hap-Pinning?! so check them out too :)

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Wedding Wednesday: Holy Schiff...We Got Married!

Hello everyone, Mrs. Schiffbauer here! I still feel so weird saying it but it's totally growing on me. As you know we were married this past Saturday, October 17th. The entire day was such a wonderful adventure and when one of my newly married best friends told me "it's not just a piece of paper...it feels different" man was he right! My friend/bridesmaid Katie's mom once told us a few years ago that your wedding is the greatest party you'll ever throw and Gayle you were 100% correct! I can't wait to share all the details of our wedding day with you over the coming weeks but, for now I just want to share my feelings (and some low budget iphone pics) on the day while they're still fresh.

It's so crazy to see him with a ring on!

The week leading up to our wedding was filled with excitement and stress as many former brides I know will agree but I'm so glad I had those feelings then and not on my wedding day. Our rehearsal went great and our rehearsal dinner was filled with laughs and so many loving speeches that my heart was bursting. I wish we would have thought to record them but I feel like I'll remember the kind words said about the both of us for years to come. I slept very light that night and practically wanted to jump out of bed the next morning because I was so ready for everything to begin!

 At the church after the rehearsal

Giving my girls (and William) their gifts at dinner

All the girls got ready at Brian's Aunt Sandy's house and it was so much fun. What a saint she was for letting us invade her home like that, I truly appreciate her kindness. Hair and makeup started and it all started to hit me, especially when my friend Stacy looked at me and started crying. Getting into my dress and having a "first look" with my girls was so special. We quickly loaded on the bus and did our best to get to over to Lake Erie College on time for my first look with Brian.

When I got off the bus I was welcomed by Brian's groomsmen and my close guy friends that were our ushers. They started crying and my heart melted. I was whisked away for our first look and I know I should have been so nervous but knowing that I was going to see Brian made me feel overwhelmingly calm. The moment we first saw each other is something I'll never forget.

Pardon the blurriness this is a screenshot of someone's snapchat lol

Our shuttle ride to the church was so much fun! I feel like our ride to the church was more rowdy than most people's ride to the reception. Some of my favorite memories with our wedding party were on that bus. Once we arrived at the church something crazy happened...little snow flurries began to fall. To think that when we first started planning we wanted to get married outside is comical. We all went into our holding rooms, my friend Meg who did my hair and makeup came in to put on my veil then we waited for the ceremony to begin.

Meg and I have been preparing for this "dress up" for 27 years!

I stood in the room with my mom as one by one each of the girls left to walk down the aisle to Brian's alma mater's hymn "The Ash Grove." The organist played a few triumphant chords to signal us and we were off as one of my favorite songs, "The Shaker Hymn: Simple Gifts" {performed at every WVU football game preshow} was playing. As we walked down the aisle the first people we saw were "my side" of the church. The feeling that came over me when I looked at all these people who love me so much was wonderful. They were looking at me in a way they had never seen me before, as a bride, and it was the closest thing to pure magic I think I'll ever experience. As I passed them I thought of all the times we had shared together and couldn't do anything but grin from ear to ear because in that moment I was the epitome of happy. How often is it that you have the ones you loved most in the world all together in one room. My angel mother put my hand in Brian's and we made our way up to the alter. I had a total Toddlers&Tiaras moment when I got up there and waved to them all! LOL!

The next hour was filled with readings, songs, a little blooper by our wedding party that I pray was captured on film because I bet it was hilarious, an adorably personal homily about us, and an awkward kiss...you would have thought it was the first kiss for the both of us! And just like that we were married!!!

I hope you continue to follow along with me as I share photos, memories, and all the things that made our wedding so wonderful. As always, thanks for reading and comment away!

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday and What's Hap-Pinning?!

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Wedding Wednesday: The Groom Takes Over

In an effort to allow my bride to focus on Saturday, I, the groom, have decided to take over this week.  I promise Jordan will be back next week so bear with me as I write my first ever blog post….Here it goes…

“When you know, you know.”  That was a line I must have used literally 500 times to describe why and how I was able to make the biggest decision of my life after just seven months of “officially” dating my bride-to-be.  As some of you may know, Jordan and I started talking via Facebook in July 2013 and met for the first time in late August.  I was as nervous as I possibly could be and even had to change shirts after the flight to Orlando because well….I’ll just blame it on the humidity.  The first time I saw her, between the awkward hug and the zero personality I showed during dinner with her and her friends, I was awestruck.  She was and still is a beautiful woman that just makes everyone smile and laugh until it hurts.  Of course I was too busy rehydrating from the “humidity” and being a complete dud to be captured by the smiles and laughter.  I knew that things were off to a rough start and of course thinking I already blew my opportunity, I was pretty quiet the entire 25-minute drive to her house, which felt like 2 hours.  Erika, who introduced us and came with me on the trip, was supportive, but I think even in the back of her mind she was thinking that I had squandered away this opportunity.  The next morning in an attempt to get back into the good graces, I did what every man should do; get her and her roommates Starbucks.  Later that day we headed to the parks and maybe it was my childish reactions to everything Disney that melted her heart…or made her feeling sorry for me being 26 years old and still enthralled by things meant for 5-10 year olds, but either way she made me feel an excitement and suddenly a good nervousness that I had never felt before.  We watched fireworks under the stars at Epcot and as they began I started to video them and she swiftly took the phone out of my hand and said, “No.  You watch them and I’ll record.”  The thing was, I watched them for about 15 seconds and the rest of the time I tried to steal looks at her and of course playing the game to not let her see me.  It was at that very moment that I just “knew.” 

 My first ride at Disney, selected by Jordan.

The first, of many, Rosa Regale toasts.

It is now 2 years, 1 month, and 3 weeks later.    We are preparing for the biggest day of our lives in just 3 days and I’m trying to wrap my head around the flurry of events we’ve already experienced and the ones that lie before us.  Our move to Atlanta was tough at times and tested our relationship along the way, the planning of this wedding was the one constant that we would look forward to, put our tribulations aside, and just talk about things sometimes as small as ‘what candy to have’ and as big as, ‘who do we invite?’  Everyone asks, “Are you nervous?”  My reply is always the same, “Not at all about who I’m marrying, just about the things I can’t control.”  Jordan has planned a beautiful wedding and the things we can control, I don’t stress about because she has an answer and emergency plan for everything (I feel like that will be a trend in our marriage).    

I am a blessed man.  Truly blessed.  Not only do I have a wonderful woman by my side, but I have the upbringing of the two best role models a guy could ask for.  This past June, my parents celebrated 33 years of marriage and recently a close friend and pseudo family member told me, “I saw your Dad today and we got to talking about your parent’s new camper and he said “all I want is to make Laura (my mom) happy.”  My parents have overcome a lot in their marriage as most couples do, but they were always a rock for my brother and me.  My parents were dating seven weeks before they got engaged so I knew just who to call when I knew Jordan was “the one.”  I asked my Dad if I was crazy for falling so quickly for a girl 700 miles away and he promptly said, “No.  Because I knew with your mother and I wouldn’t let anything get in my way” (Even my 6 ‘4” 275lb NFL alumnus grandfather). He was determined.  For me, if I wanted Jordan I needed to be there for her and support her just as if I was in Orlando with her, so I vowed to always support, care, and strive to make her smile and laugh…unlike I did the first time I met her.  I can’t wait to make that vow official on Saturday. 

Our first Christmas together was spent at Disney.

In closing, for all future grooms, this is a day that we probably started thinking about shortly after we dropped to one knee. However, for our other half, this is a day they have thought about and imagined since the age they probably first scraped their knee. Respect their vision, listen when they want to talk, and as Jordan says, “be in the moment.”  It goes a long way.   It is our job to love and support them, through times such as the day they find THE dress, but also through the days when they find out that a loved one won’t be coming to the wedding or that planning a wedding 775 miles away may be just the most frustrating task of all-time…Okay maybe that last one only applies to .01% of you.  However, if we can’t handle and support them at the worst of times, we don’t deserve our brides in the best of times.  Thanks for reading this week and don’t forget to follow our hashtag #SchiffJustGotReal on all major social media!  See you at the altar!!!

-Brian

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday, What's Hap-Pinning?!, and Falling for Fall so go check them out!

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