Melodie & Christian ~ est. 2026

We are back home after an amazing and perfect day as we celebrated Melodie and Christian's wedding.

I knew today was gonna be busy, but the historian in me wanted to keep track of events while still trying to be as present as possible. Thus I didn't take too many photos, though I did take a few (that's what you get a wedding photographer for, right?) I did keep my own timeline as things unfolded. 

• 6- alarm - wake up
• Get boxes/ containers to hold the bread
• Ugh, Corey's car is already full, get some of the stuff out so I have room for 30 loaves of bread (three sax's, two barstools, one bag)
• 6:20 on my way to get Lily and bread
• Lily shows me her labor of love (she was awake until 4am!!)
  

• Lily and I bag 30 loaves of bread
• Get all the bowls and put them in the car
• And flour and glass jars of sourdough starer and Dutch oven
• 7:02 on our way to Terry's to drop off the bread
• Drop off bowls to Sybrowskys and Kofoeds first
• Drop of 12 bags of bread to Terry 
• 7:30 back at home
• 1 Apple for breakfast, Abi his helping Mel get ready

• Realize that I need to be Melodie's escort to the temple. She wants to leave at 8. I hurry and get ready in 20 minutes and give instructions to the girls to get everyone else ready and out the door on time, fingers crossed!
• 8:14 on way to temple with Mel
• 8:49 arrive at temple, sealing is at 10.

• I park the car, got a spot that was close, yay. Mel texted that she forgot her makeup, I go back to get her makeup bag. 
• 9:02 - Mel and Christian are ready to go! 
  

• They sign the marriage papers and get witnesses to sign. Christian's dad Eric and I walk with them upstairs. I help Mel get her temple robes on, she and Christian go and I go to the marriage waiting room. Some of Christian's family is there. Others come in an join us - people that I recognized first were my parents, then Beka, Hyrum, Wes, Neil & Amy, Wayne, Corey is here, yay, then Joseph & Eliza, Ethan and Bella, all of our party is here. We head into the sealing room at like 9:55.
• Christian's Grandfather was the sealer. He shared some beautiful remarks before the ordinance, testifying of how this really is a gift from God, and invitation to become like him, for Mel and Christian to become a king and queen and receive eternal life and posterity, according to their faithfulness. Such marvelous promises
• 10:23 back in Bridal room after sealing (Bridal room is the second prettiest room in the temple!! Celestial room is first, then bridal room - gorgeous chandelier, flower carpet, pink couches, we were both thinking how much Katharine would love this room. 
• I text to see if girls have flowers - I need to go get Mel's bouquet from them. 
• Finishing touches... 
  

• 10:40 Mel is ready to go greet everyone! Celebrate ~

Yay, everyone made it here! Katharine is wearing the socks and shoes I would not have chosen, but it's fine 

• 10:49 - still trying to get the boutonnière to stay put

• 10:51 - they come out, hooray!

• Photos on the east side of the temple, it is COLD!!! 33 degrees, video here of cute Mary staying warm
• Photos photos photos ~ video here
• 11:45 I go get Corey’s car to help warm up the little people

• 11:49 in car with Mary while they do wedding party pics
• 12:20 arrive at chapel for lunch, it all looks amazing!!

• 12:30-1:00 Practicing fiddler dance, got to teach it to Joseph and Ethan

• 1:20 Mel and Christian arrive
• 1:35 help K get her food
• 1:40 get my food
• 1:43 eating lunch

• Practicing bottle dance more, this is gonna be really fun!!

• 3:20 leave luncheon
• 4:00 at venue
• 4-6 SET UP!!! We tried not to freak out at Aidan going up to the top rafters with his ladder!!! 

• I didn’t panic, but I was watching the clock. GO TIME. Corey went back home to get the drapes which we had left there, doh. Arrived back in time, everyone was so so helpful, I'm amazed it all came together just in time. Terry and Aubrey were the refreshment miracle workers.

It all looked so beautiful and bountiful!

We did it!

• 6:20 - string lights are on, so we turned the overhead lights off, APPLAUSE!! It looked AMAZING! We’re ready!
• 6:25 - Mel and Christian arrived, their jaws dropped when they saw the room, amazed at what we had done. It was even better than they had envisioned!

• 6:30 to 9:30 - Party party party!

Our miracle workers - the Gilberts and the Jensen

• 8:30 - dancing - the highlight of the reception for me was Joseph, Ethan, Hyrum and Wesley doing the bottle dance from Fiddler on the roof, video here, so funny!

• 9:30 - send off
• 9:41 - Mel called with Christian's phone, she doesn't think she has her phone, I go check upstairs, yep it's here
• 9:44 - on my way to meet them at Macey's and pass off her phone
• 9:53 - back at Venue to help clean up
• 10:53 - finished mopping, all done!!!
• 11:08 - back at home
• Talk, laugh, watch the bottle dance several times via Marco Polo and videos that other people took, so fun
• 12:05 - they are still talking, I'm headed to bed. 

It was an amazing day, and I'll say again that I think everything that we did at the venue is a MIRACLE. It was all Mel and Christian had imagined, I'm amazed we pulled that all off for them. We did it! yayyyy, good night