The New Semkoff's

O has been absolutely crazy over the last few months. I graduated on May 4th from OSU, and then moved mine and Jared's whole lives to Denver. Jared stayed in Denver for the next three weeks, and I came back home to put the finishing touches on our wedding day.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a complete control freak. I thought that we had planned for everything. We had every moment planned from the time that Jared would fly in to the morning we flew out. My college roomie drove down from Missouri on Thursday afternoon, and shortly after she arrived we went to pick up my love. Jared flying in was one of things that had me stressed out the most about the weekend. After a year of delayed and cancelled flights we were both prepared for the worst but hoping for the best. Surprisingly Jared flew in right in time, and we were consumed by the wedding from then on. Thursday night we loaded up my Pa-pa's stock trailer full of decor, hay, and spools, and we left early on Friday morning to head up to Yukon, OK. Jared and I went to pick up our marriage license, Mckenzie & Madi went through OKC to pick up flowers, Mom, Cassie, Em, & Jana gathered up the last few things I needed in Purcell, and my sweet Nana and Papa pulled the full trailer up to the barn. Jared's parent and sister met us there, and we all spent the rest of the day setting up and decorating.

One of the reasons that we chose to get married in the barn was because of our family friends Josh and Laura being so incredible in accommodating our every need or want. They had already done so much for us, and then since a cousin was getting married in Nebraska the same weekend they opened up their house to us for the whole weekend. All week long we had been watching the weather, and they kept saying that their was a chance of severe weather in OK on Friday, but Saturday was going to be perfect. A little severe weather advisory did not bother a big group of Okies. About 5ish on Friday Jared and his parents left the barn and went to the hotel to start getting ready, and me and the gals started getting ready at the house. They all told me to take the first shower so I did, and when I got out everyone was setting on the back porch watching the clouds move in. Cassie is always the one to over react, and so the madness began. We all gave it about 30 minutes before we were all sent running for our cars and heading south. Their was about 15 of us that dispersed into 5 cars and all went different directions. My poor videographers pulled in at the same time that we were all fleeing and I was left telling these poor guys to run for their lives. We all thought we were going to be making a quick circle around the tornado, and then heading back to the barn for our rehearsal. In reality I was in the truck with my dad, granny, and two of my bridesmaid trying to go away from the tornadoes, but so was everyone else so we were setting on roads watching the dark clouds come over us. Most of my family made it to a shelter in Norman, and my fiance and about 15 others are driving in the opposite direction as us trying to run away from it too. Five hours later I ended up eating our rehearsal dinner at the Ihop in Norman with my sisters, brother-in-laws, and two bridesmaids. After dinner we headed back to Purcell because all the roads headed into Yukon were either closed or flooded. After getting about 4-5 hours of sleep we all headed back to the barn to finish getting everything sat up.

Jared and I both said that we would not talk or see each other the day of until our first look before the wedding, but since the night before went the way it did we both needed a little time together to figure out the rest of the day. Thank goodness he was there because we would not have gotten it all done without him. Jana and Madi spent the day making bouquets and boutonnieres, Kacy made popcorn, Cassie handled all the food, makeup, and hair, and Mckenzie was right there with me helping with everything that came my way. Around lunch Jared and I went to get ready, and we finally got to really start our wedding day the way we planned. The storm the night before actually made for the most perfect day in June in Oklahoma we could have ever imagined.

Our photographers showed up around 3 and we immediately started taking pictures. They were amazing at capturing every moment, and were so fun about getting every picture I could have imagined.

Jared and I had decided to do a first look because getting every picture we wanted was extremely important, and we wanted to try and keep the time between the wedding and reception at a minimum. Also, I am generally quite the cryer so we thought if we did a first look then I would have time to reapply some makeup, and get myself together before  the real deal. We were able to take all of the pictures we wanted prior to the wedding except four of them, and were at our reception within 20 minutes after the wedding. Definitely, one of the best decisions of the whole day. 

I also wanted to do a first look with my dad so that we could have that moment together. Also, he is a big cryer, and I was afraid that I would lose it if he did right before the wedding. 

We took a ton of pictures after that. 

Then it was finally wedding time. Since we had not had any rehearsal we just had to wing it. Everyone made it down the aisle fine and even back out. The ceremony was short and sweet, which was exactly what we wanted. We chose to mix dirt from each of our homes, and during that time my sister and her hubs sang the song "I Hope Your the End of My Story" by the Pistol Annies. One of my favorite memories of the day is that my Papa and Dad were there to walk me down the aisle. I have been so blessed to always have the love and support of these guys no matter where I am or what I am doing they have always been by my side and on that day I wanted it to be no other way.

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 The reception was great we danced, took more pictures, and got to hang out with some of our favorite people.Unfortunately our night didn't end there. We finally arrived at our hotel around 12am to find out that not a single hotel in the area had electricity, but never fear our faithful best man and dad came to the rescue and we went back to the hotel in Yukon and got some sleep before leaving for Punta Cana the next morning. We were so relieved just to be on our way that we slept the whole way on the plane, and only had to run once to make it to our next flight. We are so grateful for everyone that made the trip, and shared our special day with us. It was better then we could have ever imagined, and we have a story that will never be forgotten.