Speaker 1: This is the most traumatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison and Lauren Zema coming to you from the
Speaker 1: home office in Austin, Texas. And look, we're still basking
Speaker 1: in the glow as we have passed the one month
Speaker 1: mark of our wedding and our marriage.
Speaker 2: One month of NAPA, one week I think since Austin
Speaker 2: maybe eight days. We really had a month of marriage.
Speaker 1: There was so we've covered this before, but so we
Speaker 1: had two weddings. There was one in NAPA on October fourteenth.
Speaker 1: We did a huge blowout cowboy chic party here in
Speaker 1: Austin November fourth somebody asked, hey, what are you all
Speaker 1: going to do about your anniversary? When are you going
Speaker 1: to celebrate your anniversary? And luckily we both looked at
Speaker 1: each other. You know, when did you ever do this
Speaker 1: with your spouse And you say what are you thinking? One? Two, three?
Speaker 1: And you say what you were thinking? We did that
Speaker 1: basically with our anniversary. And we both said the same thing. NAPA,
Speaker 1: October fourteenth.
Speaker 2: You know, we didn't discuss the re Why is that
Speaker 2: the anniversary for you?
Speaker 1: I cried the most because it was the first time
Speaker 1: we set our vows, the first time we really said
Speaker 1: I do. That was all of our you know, mom's dad,
Speaker 1: my dad was there, brothers, sisters, all, so totally Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was just everybody was there.
Speaker 2: It was uh, it was the emotion that we wanted.
Speaker 1: It was the intimacy also.
Speaker 2: The anticipation, the build up of the walking down the
Speaker 2: aisle moment, and we hadn't heard the vows before.
Speaker 1: Yeah to me. Also, it'll feel weird to just it'll
Speaker 1: be like a stop sign. I'm blowing through a stop sign.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 1: We got married on October fourteenth. We're just going to
Speaker 1: pass go not collect two hundred dollars and go to
Speaker 1: November fourth. I would miss it.
Speaker 2: Anyone else is dumb. But logistically, yeah, my birthdays November thirty,
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving is the twenty score. There's too many things well truly,
Speaker 2: you know what. We struggled with that with our date
Speaker 2: and aniversary because we went on our first date two
Speaker 2: days after this is birthday, and so for a long
Speaker 2: time in our dating life, we literally moved. We started saying,
Speaker 2: let's celebrate our dating anniversary. Let's just pick another time
Speaker 2: and make it later than it because it's we couldn't
Speaker 2: do your birthday and then have our anniversary two days later.
Speaker 2: You got to space this stuff out.
Speaker 1: And I can bring something up dark. It was my
Speaker 1: first marriage. That was November twentieth.
Speaker 2: Oh, I did not know that, and it was right.
Speaker 2: I'm learning that for the first time. I had no idea.
Speaker 2: You got married on November twenty and.
Speaker 1: It was Thanksgiving week.
Speaker 2: Honey, Why did you get married on Thingsgiving week?
Speaker 1: It was a lot of bad decisions make that we
Speaker 1: just we had to move it up and graduate. It
Speaker 1: was a lot. I was so young. So we did
Speaker 1: it November and it was like Thanksgiving week. It's probably
Speaker 1: because the church was available for really cheap.
Speaker 2: You got to think about these things, I know.
Speaker 1: So I agree logistically October fourteenth is much better. And
Speaker 1: so we are over a month into this beautiful marriage
Speaker 1: and I can tell everybody marriage is bliss. We're loving it.
Speaker 1: Everything's fantastic.
Speaker 2: Well, the topic that we have today, which was suggested
Speaker 2: to us, is post wedding blues. Are they a real thing?
Speaker 2: Do you have them? I do not have them at all.
Speaker 2: I think in part because you know what else is working? Well,
Speaker 2: we are. We're just not stopping. We're rolling right into
Speaker 2: the holidays. We had Dad's begin at TCU. Thanksgiving is coming,
Speaker 2: We're going to go celebrate my birthday, We're going to
Speaker 2: have Christmas. So the celebrations just keep going. I remember
Speaker 2: reading a study that people are happier, not necessarily when
Speaker 2: they even have something fun presently that they're in, but
Speaker 2: when they have something to look forward to, Like you're
Speaker 2: a happier person if you're planning for a trip, or
Speaker 2: planning the holidays, or planning a vacation or something. So
Speaker 2: we just always have something to look for.
Speaker 1: It's busy, and you know, it's funny. You also, this
Speaker 1: is something that we got to pay attention to now
Speaker 1: all of us, I don't mean us. Is you spend
Speaker 1: a lot less time on your phone when you're you
Speaker 1: spend a lot less time just sitting there.
Speaker 2: Oh, somebody said to me, which I had not thought about.
Speaker 2: It made me so happy. We've had so many great
Speaker 2: compliments from people, and maybe everybody gets told this, but
Speaker 2: telling us your wedding was amazing, Like everybody loved Napa
Speaker 2: and I do. I feel like we got everything we
Speaker 2: wanted out of both days. I truly there's a little
Speaker 2: part of me that feels like like my dad was
Speaker 2: making sure we had a good ad and that everything
Speaker 2: went well because there was something magical about like even
Speaker 2: the weather that in Napa the week before it was
Speaker 2: a heat wave and then in Austin the week before
Speaker 2: it was thirty degrees. We just got lucky with both
Speaker 2: weekends and everything was so perfect. And by the way,
Speaker 2: in Austin, we did not have a rain plan. I
Speaker 2: did not have a rain plan. We got married at
Speaker 2: Ranch Austin, this beautiful outdoor ranch. If it had been raining,
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess we would have had to order
Speaker 2: an emergency tent. We did not have a plan. But anyway,
Speaker 2: we got lucky. But I also had people message me
Speaker 2: that at both weddings, so we did tell people, please
Speaker 2: take photos and videos if you want, but we asked
Speaker 2: that you do not post anything. We wanted to keep
Speaker 2: the weddings private, and then we wanted to just announce
Speaker 2: everything after Austin, and many people told me, well, because
Speaker 2: you said no posting, I wasn't like checking Instagram and
Speaker 2: I wasn't on my phone during your weddings and that
Speaker 2: made it so much more fun. And I thought that
Speaker 2: was a side effect they didn't expect. But that makes
Speaker 2: me so happy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's there I'd love to know where everybody falls
Speaker 1: on this social media. Our phones are such a big thing. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you go to concerts, all you see is everybody's phones.
Speaker 2: And a lot of the wedding photos you see people
Speaker 2: like when we walked down the aisle, people are taking pictures,
Speaker 2: which I get it, you wanted that was it all
Speaker 2: realize the event.
Speaker 1: Nobody really did that in Napa, which was great. Austin
Speaker 1: was much more of kind of a social party event,
Speaker 1: so everyone did have their phones out. But where do
Speaker 1: you fall on making that rule of no phones because
Speaker 1: also people want to capture those moments, and so I
Speaker 1: get it both ways of you're only going to walk
Speaker 1: down that aisle, well once at each one, but you know,
Speaker 1: like Colton's wedding, I remember.
Speaker 2: For Colton's ceremony, they actually, I think the officient actually
Speaker 2: said and everyone please put your phone down, which did
Speaker 2: make it so yeah, present and wonderful, especially at the ceremony.
Speaker 2: I never really get that because it's like, if you're
Speaker 2: a guest, you know, the professional photographers are taking the pictures,
Speaker 2: like you don't need to worry about it. But yeah,
Speaker 2: that was a good side effect of people saying because
Speaker 2: we'd said don't post. Yes, they took pictures and videos,
Speaker 2: but they said because we couldn't post them that night,
Speaker 2: I wasn't on social media, which I think made it
Speaker 2: really present and fun. Now, I will say, if we're
Speaker 2: talking about post wedding blues, it's helped not have post
Speaker 2: wedding blues to go through the pictures and videos. So everybody,
Speaker 2: thank you for taking some pictures and videos and posting
Speaker 2: them later.
Speaker 1: It's amazing how refreshing it is when you go to
Speaker 1: an event that you're not allowed to have a phone in.
Speaker 1: We went to Dave Chappelle or I went to the
Speaker 1: Masters at Augusta, and it's crazy that that many people
Speaker 1: nobody has a phone, and it's so weird. It's like
Speaker 1: stepping back in time now to be present and realize
Speaker 1: you look around and everybody's present. You don't have the cheat,
Speaker 1: you don't have the defense mechanism where you're just going
Speaker 1: to go and look at something for no reason at all,
Speaker 1: just because it's like a nervous tick. You have now
Speaker 1: And I think for the most part the wedding was
Speaker 1: that as well. Even though people did bring out their
Speaker 1: phones in Austin, people were very present, and I love that,
Speaker 1: and I don't have the blues because I have no regrets.
Speaker 1: And I think that goes a long way, is that
Speaker 1: both wedding celebrations were exactly how we intended. It's exactly
Speaker 1: what we wanted, who we wanted. There was no drama. No,
Speaker 1: I don't look back and go, hmm, I really wish
Speaker 1: we hadn't invited her or him, and I wish they
Speaker 1: hadn't done that. I wish the meal had been this
Speaker 1: or you know, oh, you know what, we should have
Speaker 1: had this. I have no regrets. I have no and
Speaker 1: it's not saying it was so perfect that we wouldn't
Speaker 1: have made it better. I just have no regrets. And
Speaker 1: so when I think back on it, it's only fondness
Speaker 1: and beautiful and celebratory. The only thing you and I
Speaker 1: did say last night is everyone seemed to have such
Speaker 1: a great time and just it was such a great
Speaker 1: expression and release. Do we need to do it again?
Speaker 1: Do we need to do an anniversary like every year now?
Speaker 1: Do we need to throw a party on that scale?
Speaker 2: I mean, people have very kindly said, can you get
Speaker 2: married again? I had such a great time dancing all night.
Speaker 2: I've heard that from so many people or people after
Speaker 2: NAPA said can you get married again so we can
Speaker 2: all go back to NAPA together. I think I completely
Speaker 2: agree with you the look. Part of a huge part
Speaker 2: of the reason I fell in love with you is
Speaker 2: because I saw early on that to you, what was
Speaker 2: important in life was the people in it. And we
Speaker 2: did both of these weddings prioritizing people and NAPA. We
Speaker 2: wanted intimate time with family and friends. In Austin, we
Speaker 2: wanted a big blowout party with family and friends. Emotion
Speaker 2: was at the center of both. And by the way,
Speaker 2: I had somebody comment on one of my posts, wow,
Speaker 2: how decondent to have two weddings. If there is one
Speaker 2: thing I'm going to spend money on in life, it
Speaker 2: is the people I love. And we also worked very
Speaker 2: hard to keep the budget low and keep two weddings
Speaker 2: under the budget of one. But yeah, so I just
Speaker 2: I think the people being the priority was what made
Speaker 2: it perfect, right, Like, yeah, okay, I could look back
Speaker 2: and say, oh, maybe we should have done this or this.
Speaker 2: But I also realized when I was doing interviews, you
Speaker 2: can go into an interview and even if it went
Speaker 2: so well, you'll still look back and hindsight is, Oh,
Speaker 2: maybe I wish i'd ask this question too. It's impossible
Speaker 2: for something to be totally perfect, but it was pretty
Speaker 2: damn near close and it was everything we wanted. So
Speaker 2: you're right, I don't have the blues because I'm so
Speaker 2: happy without what. You can't ask for anything more.
Speaker 1: And by the way, whoever texted that, you're right, it
Speaker 1: was decadent. But one thing that Lauren and I have
Speaker 1: always agreed on is with our finances, and this is
Speaker 1: something huge in our marriage and our relationship. We spend
Speaker 1: money on the same things. We like to spend money
Speaker 1: on the same things, which is our family, our friends,
Speaker 1: each other, not really ourselves.
Speaker 2: We spend money on experience.
Speaker 1: Yeah, neither one of us are big spenders about ourselves.
Speaker 1: Like you're not going to go out and really buy
Speaker 1: yourself a bag, or I'm not going to go buy
Speaker 1: a big watch or something like. We like to do
Speaker 1: that for each other. We like to buy wine together,
Speaker 1: We like to have dinners and buy people dinners and experiences. Yeah,
Speaker 1: experiential expenses. Those things are fine to us. And that's
Speaker 1: why not having a wedding planer was fine. Could a
Speaker 1: wedding a planer have maybe decorated, done some odds and
Speaker 1: ends better than us. Sure, maybe, but that's not what
Speaker 1: we want to spend money on. We don't get joy
Speaker 1: from that. And if you do, great, that's just us.
Speaker 1: So I guess my advice and my takeaway is we
Speaker 1: went through our wedding. Any big event, make sure you're
Speaker 1: spending money on what you want to experience.
Speaker 2: I have to say, I think part of why we
Speaker 2: don't have those post wedding blues and there's no solution.
Speaker 2: That was very out there, there's no I think it
Speaker 2: helped that it was our second wedding, your first wedding.
Speaker 2: We have such an intense culture around weddings in America
Speaker 2: and how it has to be this it's the biggest
Speaker 2: day of your life and spend all this money and
Speaker 2: and I think when you first get married, when you're younger,
Speaker 2: you probably factor in your parents and your family's desires
Speaker 2: more like we've got to invite, you know, our parents'
Speaker 2: business associates and all.
Speaker 1: That fifth cousin who you've never met.
Speaker 2: So I think this time around, we also were just
Speaker 2: a little older and wiser, and not that we didn't
Speaker 2: factor our family in. We did, but you know, that
Speaker 2: you've you're able to have those conversations and create that
Speaker 2: balance a little bit more.
Speaker 1: I don't no, one hundred percent. We were much more
Speaker 1: intentional ourselves, and we didn't. And look, I think the
Speaker 1: other thing is I didn't pay for my first wedding.
Speaker 1: I didn't have any money, right, I was a bro
Speaker 1: a broadcast kid. So they are definitely going to have
Speaker 1: more saying it because they're paying for it. And so
Speaker 1: that's also a decision we made. You and I obviously
Speaker 1: paid for one hundred percent of it. We weren't going
Speaker 1: to our parents in this adult phase of our lives.
Speaker 2: Maybe we should give a couple quick takeaways. Let's do
Speaker 2: five things were really glad we did, and maybe five
Speaker 2: things we wish we did. Let's start with the five
Speaker 2: things we wish we did, so that we end on
Speaker 2: a hihine.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, do you have any.
Speaker 2: I wish I'd called a florist sooner than a week
Speaker 2: before the wedding. That was on me. I will say,
Speaker 2: in Austin, in Napo, we did not have flowers, and
Speaker 2: that was because we got married on this beautiful vineyard.
Speaker 2: And in Austin, we got married in this beautiful ranch
Speaker 2: like the oak trees were beautiful, but we definitely needed
Speaker 2: something on the tables in Austin, and I was going
Speaker 2: to be really low key and just go to chib
Speaker 2: which we love Hi Blooms I've heard is great and
Speaker 2: get some flowers from them.
Speaker 1: I buy flowers for you often, yes, but.
Speaker 2: It would have been a lot of and so I
Speaker 2: ended up getting in touch with this incredible florist, something
Speaker 2: Pretty Floral out of Dallas, Taylor Davison's that she was
Speaker 2: amazing and she literally did the flowers in a week
Speaker 2: and they were incredible, but she probably could have done
Speaker 2: even more if I'd just given her more time. So
Speaker 2: that was on me. There were moments when I was
Speaker 2: a little too chill on the second time around. So
Speaker 2: that's one wish I would have done. I am miss
Speaker 2: flowers shouldn't be everything. I don't think you should spend
Speaker 2: tens of thousands on flowers because they don't make the night.
Speaker 2: But I should have factored in the aesthetics a little more.
Speaker 1: I probably I would have produced the stage a little more,
Speaker 1: set decorated more. Again, that was not having a wedding planer. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just because Yeah, Napa was perfect as far as that goes,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't change anything about NAPA. There's just nothing. There's nothing.
Speaker 2: It was my perfect that's why it's so anniversary. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But with Austin, we were a little bit more haphazard
Speaker 1: about it because we had had NAPA and it was
Speaker 1: the formality of it that we thought, let's be a
Speaker 1: little more loosey goosey, and Austin will kind of figure
Speaker 1: it out. Which was awesome because, like you and I
Speaker 1: walked down the aisle together. That's something you know, a
Speaker 1: husband and wife don't ever do at a wedding, to
Speaker 1: walk together down the aisle. It was great. I recommend
Speaker 1: it because we'd done it the other way. But you know,
Speaker 1: the stage being set and the band and where we
Speaker 1: were doing it and this, all those things I probably
Speaker 1: should have looked at a little earlier than two days before,
Speaker 1: which is when we did it.
Speaker 2: Yeah number three in Austin. I would have stuck to
Speaker 2: our timeline a little more. We somehow wound up forty
Speaker 2: five minutes late in Austin, and I want to thank
Speaker 2: the Little Wedding Band. If you have any party in
Speaker 2: Austin or anywhere in Texas, the Little Wedding Band brings
Speaker 2: the party like no one else, and they stayed about
Speaker 2: an hour late for us.
Speaker 1: So thank you, yeah, because we I don't know how
Speaker 1: we got off either, but that did happen. And again
Speaker 1: kudos to a wedding planner who would have been there
Speaker 1: and been like, hey.
Speaker 2: Guys, probably should have had a day of coordinator in Austin.
Speaker 1: My main thing. I don't know if this is four
Speaker 1: or five or whatever, but this is number one on
Speaker 1: my list. I at the end the night should have
Speaker 1: had a crew, a team to take down. So we
Speaker 1: had people from the event staff working serving drinks and
Speaker 1: kind of picking up trash whatever. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the night at my own wedding, I wanted to
Speaker 1: just get in our car and drive home and go
Speaker 1: to bed. Instead, we loaded up my truck. Yeah, we did,
Speaker 1: full of wine and alcohol and flowers and buttercake and things,
Speaker 1: and took props home and then we had to get
Speaker 1: home and then unload their So I spent my wedding
Speaker 1: night unloading boxes and things into our garage. So that's
Speaker 1: something I would have changed. I would have liked to
Speaker 1: have walked away from me that just been done.
Speaker 2: So we should have just had a little more help. Yeah,
Speaker 2: as great of producers as we are, I will say, look,
Speaker 2: like you know, we've talked about the not having a
Speaker 2: wedding planner thing. We should have done a day of coordinator,
Speaker 2: and then this day of coordinator probably would have helped
Speaker 2: us with all these logistics. I have no regrets about
Speaker 2: not having a wedding planner, but a day of coordinator
Speaker 2: might have helped us little more in the end. I mean,
Speaker 2: we're picking it's here. Yes, we're just giving our advice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's what I after two.
Speaker 2: Wedding, No, wait, after three weddings, given that we were
Speaker 2: both married once before and then had two weddings together,
Speaker 2: this is our advice and takeaway. So I would do
Speaker 2: a day of coordinator. I would say, think about the aesthetics,
Speaker 2: because the pictures go everywhere.
Speaker 1: And if you're doing it, if it's not a destination wedding,
Speaker 1: think about how much work you personally are going to
Speaker 1: have to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then, like you said, the staging and the timing.
Speaker 2: You were so good at something that I think most
Speaker 2: people probably don't think about. But it was your TV background.
Speaker 2: Chris was literally thinking where will the sun hit at
Speaker 2: the time we get married, because he was thinking about
Speaker 2: photos video. He was thinking about the sun in the
Speaker 2: guest's eyes. I recommend be at your venue and do
Speaker 2: a walk through before the wedding at the exact time
Speaker 2: that you will be getting married, so that you can
Speaker 2: think about.
Speaker 1: A lot of people show up for their rehearsal walk through.
Speaker 1: Whatever it look if you're indoors as a matter, but
Speaker 1: if you're outdoors, especially, you go at ten in the
Speaker 1: morning and you look around, like, oly, this looks great. Well,
Speaker 1: if you're getting married at magic hour.
Speaker 2: How hot will it be? Will be in your guest's eyes,
Speaker 2: that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: So I stayed at the venue to wait to see
Speaker 1: where the sun was and how we were going to
Speaker 1: angle it, and so we we ended up pushing our
Speaker 1: ceremony thirty minutes later. We were going to do it.
Speaker 2: My gosh, that's why we were an hour late.
Speaker 1: We will well, we were going to do it at
Speaker 1: five thirty, and we did it at six because the
Speaker 1: sun was perfectly behind the oak trees.
Speaker 2: Oh there you go. There, what my timeline.
Speaker 1: It's okay. Then let's end on the positive. As we
Speaker 1: wrap this.
Speaker 2: Up, I'm really glad we did Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, well again, I'll say, walk down the aisle together.
Speaker 1: To me, that was one of the most magical things
Speaker 1: to do with you because I got to hold your hand.
Speaker 1: I was so calm and happy, and I got to
Speaker 1: look into everybody's eyes. I just loved walking with you,
Speaker 1: and you were the one that slowed us down. We
Speaker 1: were walking, you slow down, so we slowed down and
Speaker 1: took that moment in. That's one of my favorite things
Speaker 1: from our wedding is walking down the aisle together. I
Speaker 1: don't know why more people don't do that.
Speaker 2: Wellnjoy it because you want the walking down the aisle moment,
Speaker 2: which you kind of Napa. But in Napa you I
Speaker 2: was so focused on looking at you, which I'm really
Speaker 2: glad about. But then you know, you don't really see
Speaker 2: your guest face, so it faces. So I'm glad we
Speaker 2: had in Austin. And you know what, you, as a groom,
Speaker 2: got to have a walking down the aisle moment. Most
Speaker 2: grooms don't.
Speaker 1: Ever get that. Well, you kind of do it first,
Speaker 1: but it's it's.
Speaker 2: Such a yeah, you're just trying to get there and yeah.
Speaker 2: So I love that we did that.
Speaker 1: What's something else that you absolutely loved?
Speaker 2: Well, I could go big or specific. I mean, I
Speaker 2: am so glad that at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: our priorities always were people, good food, good wine, good
Speaker 2: music like that, that's really what you need for a party,
Speaker 2: and our focus state on that. And one thing I
Speaker 2: always had in the back of my mind which helped
Speaker 2: me stay calm and not stressed, like the florist did
Speaker 2: tell me you are the chillest bride I've ever met,
Speaker 2: which I I'll take that compliment, thank you. But it
Speaker 2: was because I kept going by this gauge. I kept
Speaker 2: thinking I love Chris so much I would marry him
Speaker 2: in our living room tomorrow and be happy. And because
Speaker 2: I had that in my mind, everything else i'd like
Speaker 2: was gonna be okay, no matter what. And yeah, that
Speaker 2: was a big thing. Getting back to specific, Sorry I
Speaker 2: had to say that, But one specific thing I'm really
Speaker 2: glad we did. I'm really glad everybody stayed at the
Speaker 2: same hotel in Napa like that, because it was a
Speaker 2: destination wedding and we had some people say, hey, could
Speaker 2: I and I was kind of an advocate of no,
Speaker 2: we want everyone at the same hotel, and we asked
Speaker 2: the hotel, the Archer Hotel in Napa, which was so
Speaker 2: wonderful in advance, we said, can you try to put
Speaker 2: all our people even on the same floors. It turned
Speaker 2: into this like almost sorority house dorm vibe where we
Speaker 2: were walking out of our rooms together and waving high
Speaker 2: to people and getting ready together. And it made it
Speaker 2: such a cohesive, fun weekend where our dream came true,
Speaker 2: and our dream was for the people we love, who
Speaker 2: maybe aren't from all the same worlds, to get to
Speaker 2: know each other even about it.
Speaker 1: One thing that I think is interesting about most weddings
Speaker 1: is that the bride and groom aren't a part of
Speaker 1: most of the fun, which is just the simple times.
Speaker 1: And when we were all together at the same hotel,
Speaker 1: you go down on the lobby to get coffee and
Speaker 1: you just ran into people and you ended up sitting
Speaker 1: and having breakfast or having tea or whatever, and so
Speaker 1: there were so many more social moments where you and
Speaker 1: I got to enjoy everybody that was there for our wedding,
Speaker 1: as opposed to Austin when everybody's at ten different hotels
Speaker 1: and you heard later, oh we went back and did this,
Speaker 1: and oh we did this, and we weren't a part
Speaker 1: of that. We didn't get to experience a lot of
Speaker 1: what happened in Austin, and I'm glad everybody had a
Speaker 1: good time. But in Napa, I feel like we got
Speaker 1: eighty five percent of it. You know. We got to
Speaker 1: see everybody and just happenstance, run into people a lot
Speaker 1: more than we did in Austin. When we were home,
Speaker 1: everybody was all over town.
Speaker 2: I'm really glad we didn't do a big bridal party.
Speaker 2: I've just been a part of so many weddings where
Speaker 2: you got to start all getting ready at six in
Speaker 2: the morning because there's ten bridesmaids, and then you got
Speaker 2: to take a bus around and do a million photos
Speaker 2: with all the different groups. I'm glad that we didn't
Speaker 2: have this big bridal party because we were able to
Speaker 2: just start getting ready about ten in the morning. And
Speaker 2: also we weren't super focused on a million post photos.
Speaker 2: We got a lot of really good candid shots, and
Speaker 2: I think that gave us more time to do exactly
Speaker 2: what you're starting up to, just spend.
Speaker 1: Again with people what's important to us. You and I
Speaker 1: both agreed a bunch of staged photos. Granted, you and
Speaker 1: I have been photographed a lot in our life, so
Speaker 1: like The last thing I wanted was another just photo
Speaker 1: of myself looking you know, like, that's not going.
Speaker 2: To be your favorite photo when you look at it.
Speaker 2: Your favorite photo is going to be everybody together on
Speaker 2: the day.
Speaker 1: It's us dancing on fire.
Speaker 2: That's going to spark emotions and memories.
Speaker 1: And that's us. We share that together, which I love.
Speaker 1: But and my final takeaway is my favorite thing is
Speaker 1: everything was intentional. Those intentional things are what I will remember.
Speaker 1: What you know, we intended to walk down the aisle together.
Speaker 1: William Beckman, our good friend and country music star singing
Speaker 1: to us, Taylor singing beyond. You know Cameron from Bam
Speaker 1: BAM's Barbecue is who cooked our barbecue. It wasn't just
Speaker 1: some vendors of a very good friend of ours. Now.
Speaker 1: He actually cooked the pork butt in our driveway. I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the smoker in our driveway.
Speaker 2: Stayed with us at our house in Austin, was cooking
Speaker 2: in our kitchen for three days before the wedding. My
Speaker 2: mom is he's another son of my mom's, so at
Speaker 2: this point she low.
Speaker 1: So everything that was happening around us. It wasn't just
Speaker 1: someone putting out the food. It was Cam and you know,
Speaker 1: and I love that. When I saw someone pouring the wine,
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, that's Catherine Hall, and so I loved
Speaker 1: the intention. Everywhere I looked around our wedding, I saw
Speaker 1: me Yeah.
Speaker 2: And in Napa as well. It was vineyards that were
Speaker 2: special to us, Roy Estate and Lacoya for both nights
Speaker 2: and where we have friends were friends of ours for years.
Speaker 2: We're literally setting up our wedding events. I'll do some
Speaker 2: rapid fire things. I'm really glad. We did one signature drinks.
Speaker 2: We had these signature cocktails in Austin, and I love
Speaker 2: a signature drink at a party. It feels special, it
Speaker 2: feels fun. We did a little nod to The Bachelor.
Speaker 2: They were called the Final Rose and the Bachelor No More,
Speaker 2: made with our favorite Samprey tequila, and they were so
Speaker 2: good that we ran out of tequila. I think that's
Speaker 2: just like a fun little aesthetic and also yummy. Note
Speaker 2: people told me, yeah, one of them had rose syrup
Speaker 2: in them. It was Sanprey tequila lemonade roast syrup garnished
Speaker 2: with edible rose pedals. It was fun. Two really glad.
Speaker 2: A nap up that on the way to our welcome party.
Speaker 2: We did a boy's bus and a babes bus. We
Speaker 2: had that little mini bachelor and bachelorette party in the
Speaker 2: shuttle on the way for the weekend. We knew it
Speaker 2: would be everybody who's with couples, so we said, right now,
Speaker 2: all the girls on a bus, all the boys on
Speaker 2: a bus. And that was fun. Three. I'm really glad
Speaker 2: that for our wedding registry we did a donation page instead,
Speaker 2: so we asked people to instead of giving us gifts,
Speaker 2: to please if they wanted to donate to one of
Speaker 2: three organizations. AIM Mental Health, which is an organization Chris
Speaker 2: is supported for years and we host their gala for
Speaker 2: them every year. The Grant Haliburton Foundation, another organization you've
Speaker 2: supported for years for youth mental health and suicide prevention
Speaker 2: out of Dallas. And then the third was for Experienced
Speaker 2: Camps where I volunteer. It's camps for grieving kids. And
Speaker 2: we weren't able to track the AIM and Grant Halliburton donations,
Speaker 2: but Experience Camps was able to set up a special
Speaker 2: donation page for us, and to date right now we
Speaker 2: have raised seventeen thousand dollars, which has been amazing and
Speaker 2: was so heartwarming. It just meant so much to me,
Speaker 2: like stuff is stuff. It is amazing to me that
Speaker 2: we were able to give.
Speaker 1: Back tens of thousands of dollars raise for charity. It's
Speaker 1: awesome and it says a lot about you. But it
Speaker 1: was a great idea. I love that. And again, when
Speaker 1: you're into the second marriage, when you're later in life,
Speaker 1: you don't need a crockpot. So I love that we
Speaker 1: turned that into a charitable game, and I like that
Speaker 1: everybody dove in and became such a big part of it.
Speaker 1: Says a lot about the people that were at our wedding.
Speaker 1: So there you go. Those are the takeaways. And no
Speaker 1: wedding blues, no wedding blues, just happy memories.
Speaker 2: Just still no voice and cranking out content on Instagram
Speaker 2: so that we can share all of this because thank
Speaker 2: you guys so much for your support, your love, your
Speaker 2: wonderful comments, like sharing. A huge part of the joy
Speaker 2: of this has been sharing it with you all, and
Speaker 2: it's just really warmed our hearts. We feel so grateful
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 1: And speaking of giving thanks because that is the season
Speaker 1: we are in as we all head into Thanksgiving. Lauren
Speaker 1: and I wish you your families the very best, all
Speaker 1: the love in the world. If you are traveling this week,
Speaker 1: take care of each other, be safe, love each other.
Speaker 1: We all have a lot to be thankful for, especially
Speaker 1: the woman sitting next to me right now, and you
Speaker 1: thank you so much. We give thanks for the year
Speaker 1: that we've had with you on the Most Dramatic Podcast.
Speaker 1: We will continue to do it because we love it
Speaker 1: so much, and we love all of you, and we'll
Speaker 1: do it again next time because we have a lot
Speaker 1: more to talk about. Thanks for listening. Follow us on
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Speaker 1: to write us a review and leave us five stars.
Speaker 1: I'll talk to you next time.