I Now Pronounce You Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Kinard!!!

This is my first post! Exciting! Ryan and I got married on September 27th, 2008 after six years of dating! We are high school sweethearts :) The wedding was at Storm Pointe on the Charleston Naval Weapons Station. It was absolutely gorgeous and so fun to plan. The three days before the wedding, the weather in Charleston was absolutely terrible- heavy rain and gusty wind! I was terrified that my outdoor wedding would be ruined! But I went to bed the night before (sleeping on my Mom's couch) praying for a beautiful, perfect day and woke up at 6am (early, I know!!) to the most gorgeous, warm, cloud-free day that was better than I could have ever imagined. As I walked outside I was met with a gentle warm breeze and looked up at the sky and thanked God and my Dad (who's up there in Heaven) for this day that was made for me to marry my best friend. My mom and I got dressed and headed to Mt. Pleasant to our hair salon where we shared Mimosas with everyone who came in to the salon that morning! It took a little over 2 1/2 hours to get our hair done and we left looking great! We drove straight to the Naval Weapons Station's restaraunt/club The Red Bank Club to check out the grand ball room, where the reception was to be held. Everything looked gorgeous and I got to lay my eyes on my BEAUTIFUL cake that I designed. It was everything I had hoped it would be- my mom's fiancee Bill's mother did a great job- it was perfect! Then we hurried over to the Storm Pointe conference building to get ready! I met up with Ryan's mom Debbie there and she watched me put on my makeup---- if you know me, I'm not the makeup-wearing type of girl. I had no clue what I was doing!! Then one of my best friends Sarah (I've known her since I was in elementary school) showed up and we started getting ready. Soon the rest of my bridesmaids showed up- my best friend Bridget and my two now sister-in-laws Melissa and Amy (yes, Ryan's brother also married an Amy so there are two Amy Kinards in one family!!) and then last but not least, my sister and Maid of Honor Chelsea with her little girl, my flower girl Rachel Makenzie! We all got ready and had fun taking pictures!! We even let the photographer in to take pictures before I was in my dress (wearing my bra and slip!!) haha :)



Bridget, Sarah, and Me getting ready!

Me and my best friend BB!

Then it was time to put on the dress.... which had to go over my head and not mess up my big hair! Sarah and Bridget were standing on chairs! My mom zipped the dress up and it fit me perfectly, better than all the other times I had tried it on! Then we realized I had forgotten to put my veil on! Sarah put it on my head and then we realized it was backwards!! "Oh well," I said, "It still looks good to me! No one will notice!" Melissa later told me that she was impressed at how laid back I was! I always told myself that I wasn't going to let the little things get in my way of this day!

Bridget, me, and Mom
All Smiles Here!

The BRIDE!

Hehe... my sneaky look!!

Ryan and the groomsmen and his side of the family took pictures with the photographer first. Then us girls were next! We got some great shots!! Right before the ceremony was going to start, my mom comes to tell me there is a bright green garden snake under the chairs that were in place for guests to sit in for the ceremony! I just smiled so big and thought to myself "Ok, Dad, I know you're here and watching over me today!" When my sister and I were little, we would always sneak snakes of all kinds into our house, which my Dad would always find, sometimes even 3 days later!! :) So I knew that little green snake came right from him!

My Sexy Groom!! Very Handsome :)

Ray, Brent, Ryan, Mason, Ronnie, Gary, and Brent

The Kinard Family!
My Beautiful Bridesmaids!! Love you all!

Melissa, Chelsea, Me, Bridget, Sarah, and Amy

The ceremony was beautiful and perfect. My Papaw (Dad's dad) drove me down in a white golf cart with gorgeous bows tied to the sides. The wedding party came down in matching gold Suburbans. Everyone looked so great! My little brother, Mason, walked me down the aisle. I am so proud of what a great man he has become! Seeing Ryan, of course, was the best part. He had tears in his eyes the whole time and was trying so hard not to cry, which of course made me have to try not to cry! Our pastor was great- Al Smith from Pinecrest Baptist Church. What a sweet, sweet man. Little Rachel ran to her daddy after dropping all the petals in one spot (which all flew up on my train and looked so pretty!) and Jack my ring bearer ran straight to his mommy, Sarah! So cute!!

Me and my Papaw! Love you and miss you!

Me and Mason, walking down the aisle!

The Bridal Party during the ceremony

Saying our Vows

First Kiss as Mr. & Mrs.

Of course there were lots of pictures after the ceremony! It was great getting the two families together. What a great close family that I have been welcomed into!

The whole Gang!

My Side of the Family

Ryan's side of the Family

Us with our gorgeous parents

The reception was spectacular! The wedding party was introduced and then we went straight into our first song, "Me and You" by Kenny Chesney (of course, my favorite!!) Then I danced with my little brother Mason to "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. Ryan and his mom danced to a wonderful song that his sister found online "The Man that You've Become."

This is truly one of my favorite pictures!!

I love how we look like a heart :)

Our First Dance

Dancin' with my brother!

Ryan and his Momma!!

The food was amazing, I was starving after not eating for almost 2 days!! My mom brought us some yummy raspberry champagne to drink in our pretty engraved glasses! :)

CHEERS!!!

My beautiful programs.... thanks for your help, Amy!

Dancing with my best friends and family was so much fun!! We did the "dollar dance" and got lots of cash for the honeymoon! My Papaw was by FAR the best dancer I've ever danced with, it was like having my Dad there.

Bridget's Daddy gave me $100 for the honeymoon!! :)

Dancin' with my favorites!!

Dancing with my awesome uncle!! Love you!

My favorite pic with Papaw.... love you!!! Funnest dance of the night :)

The cake cutting was fun, too! And not to mention delicious!! We did that to "How Sweet It Is" :) Our Beautiful Cake.... yummy!!!!
Cutting the cake

Hubby feeding me the cake!

mmm... this kiss tastes like cake!!

Our Rings


And the bouquet toss to "Girls Girls Girls!!"- the girl that caught my bouquet is a fellow nurse at St. Francis. She got engaged two weeks later, hundreds of feet under water where they were scuba diving! Congrats, Elizabeth! The garter toss was a blast too~ "Let's Get It On"! My little brother caught it~ he was stoked! What a cutie! The rest of the evening was spent dancing and visiting with all the guests! I had so much fun getting to spend time with all my family from out of town!

Check out my Grandma trying to catch it! :)
My mom this to my Dad at their wedding.... so I copied!! :)

Friends decorated my car and we drove off to the very pretty "Round" Holiday Inn in Charleston, we had a room on the top floor with a beautiful view! Too bad the next morning I had to leave in my wedding dress b/c I forgot to bring a change of clothes!! Oops! The old people in the elevator thought I was getting married that day, they said "Oh honey, it's going to be a beautiful day- you look gorgeous!" Did I mention I slept with the tiara still in my hair? Not a hair was out of place!! HAHAHA!!

I am so glad my family from out of town was able to come, especially my Grandma. I sure do love that lady. And my mom~ what a wonderful woman. I love you both! Thank you Mom for a beautiful, perfect day. I could not have asked for anything more wonderful. You truly are my best friend!

Giving my Grandma a good-bye kiss. Love you and miss you everyday!

Looking pretty in blue at the rehearsal dinner!

You are so pretty, Mom! xoxo Thanks for everything!