Snippets of our Wedding Dinner Celebration

First, I’ll admit it – I was never one of those “have a line/throw a bouquet/reception kind of girls. As a teenager, I absolutely dreaded going to receptions and standing in line to shake six+ hands, of whom only one I was familiar with. The poor bride always looked ornery from standing still for three hours and bored from saying the same, monotone, “thank you for coming,” over and over. So, when it came time to plan a celebration for Gavin and me, I had big dreams in mind. My poor mother.
I had been offered an internship in Lille, France for the summer so this meant that my mom and I would have to do as much planning as possible before I left and then she would be on her own once I was gone. I must say, she did a spectacular job. We had our dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in the Empire Room. The second we walked in there we knew it was the perfect setting. It was in true European style: dark wood, ornate paintings on the walls and ceilings, beautiful molding. This was it. Once I’d chosen my colors-eggplant, moss green, and orange-they showed us options for flowers, decorations, etc. The color scheme was amazing and I’m glad that for once, one of my ideas came out stunningly. I fell in love with the eggplant calla lilies in the sample book and from there, my mom helped me pick bright orange roses and fun greenery to match. Then, I told her I didn’t want a traditional cake, I wanted a croquembouche/pièce montée – a French cream puff tower. This is common at French weddings and often they build a base of ice cream and then use a crème brulée torch to attach each puff. However, they did a perfect imitation with mine and used a praline sauce and chocolate to hold it together as well as adding flowers to dress it up. On a funny note however, when our photographers asked us to feed each other a cream puff for a picture, Gavin bit into his and the cream squirted out all over his tux! He laughed it off though and it made for a good picture.
We had a social hour before our actual program began and there was a beautiful array of shrimp, vegetable torte, and fruit. Then, the program started with introductions by my dad. Both he and Jim shared kind remarks, as well as Dallin and Hillary sharing some of their favorite memories. Then, Gavin and I sang “You’re Still the One,” by Shania Twain, and Phil Sykes sang a song he wrote called, “On Your Wedding Day.” It was a beautiful presentation! Being able to go around and visit the family members and friends that I love was wonderful. No line, no bouquet toss, and everything just as I hoped it would be. Again, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves since there are several. Enjoy! I hope to eventually catch up on the previous eight great months since we’ve been married. :) Ciao for now-

Wedding Video!

I had asked our videographer if she could convert our video into a file that would play on the computer and she finally did it. I'm so excited to have a copy of it on my blog. There are four songs: one with our bridal/groomal pictures, one with the temple pictures, and two with the dinner pictures. Voila!

I'm going there someday...

As a little girl, one of our family’s favorite movies was Father of the Bride. We would sing along with the background music as it said, “Goin’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get married!” Later, we replaced the word “chapel” with temple and still sang along. Finally, the momentous day came, August 22, 2009, when I, Haleigh Marie Heaps Burgon would go to the Provo, Utah temple to be married for eternity. The man who sealed us is named Jae Ballif and he performed a beautiful ceremony. Every minute of it was ideal; we’re talking dream perfect. The room was filled with our family members and close friends. Afterward,

despite the insane heat (nearly 100 degrees) all of our family members and friends gathered for pictures. I’ll post several of the various group shots along with some that the Shumways took of us. Up top Gavin and I are just exiting the doors of the temple (slightly embarrassed by the eruption of applause). Next we have a picture of my friends who were present at our temple sealing. From left to right we have: Cassi and Drew Barber, Meghan and Collin Barker, Allie Rhae Pixton, Ashley Rogers, Hillary Heaps, and Andrew and Lydia Nelson! Then we've got a big thumbs up from both of our dads, followed by Hilly who was the first one to run up and greet us as we came out of the temple. She enthusiastically welcomed Gavin into the family and congratulated us. Next, we've got the whole group-family and friends! It was so neat to be surrounded by our loved ones. They were all saints to stand out there in the blazing heat - it was hot hot hot! I also included a closer picture of our parents and grandparents, and then of course, the traditional couple and parents' kissing picture. I've got a few more with my darling sister, my absolutely fabulous friends, and my dream groom; so, I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves. More pictures to come including several from our dinner celebration.

Bridal Photos

I’m slowly but surely catching up on updating my blog and now have come to my bridal pictures. Naturally I wanted Gavin to be there for them; he’s the handsome man in the tux. The pictures are pretty much self-explanatory so I won’t add much commentary. Blake and Catherine Shumway from Imagery Experts were our photographers and they did an excellent job at making us look as happy as we really were.

It’s been months since I’ve had a chance to update and I’m so behind, I’m not quite sure where to start, so, since I can’t catch up on everything I suppose I’ll try to highlight as many moments as I can. So let’s see, after my last post, I was fortunate enough to have a few more bridal showers. They were given by the Koller family, the Neeley aunts, and Gavin’s home ward. At the Koller shower, several of our family members and family friends were able to come. My aunts ordered pains au chocolat and madelines

for a French themed party. At the next, the Neeley aunts planned a bunch of fun

games and we enjoyed the company of many girls at Joanne’s house in Huntsville. Finally, Karen Robison planned a ward shower at her house with lots of yummy food and nice ladies. I am flattered that I was thrown so many showers and Gavin and I were thrilled to find that we'd been given nearly everything to set up our new apartment.

Home Sweet Home!! !! !!

I am back home in Utah! Actually, I left Lille a little earlier than planned in order to surprise Gavin and boy oh boy, was he shocked! My sister Hillary called him around midnight saying she was scared and home alone so he ran over and when he rushed in the house, I grabbed him from behind! He was speechless for a good minute and then it took an hour or so to sink in. He couldn’t believe his eyes! Once it sank in he was thrilled and pretty much hasn’t left my side since! It is so nice to be back with my family! We are in the midst of lots of wedding plans, but having a good time too! Right after I got home, Kaye Hart planned an amazing bridal shower for me! She had the BEST decorations and planned with a French theme. She did an awesome job making everything authentic and beautiful! Jenny Agle helped with the great food and decorations. It was the most beautiful party! I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with all the ward ladies and reveling in the Frenchy atmosphere!
Quickly, so I don’t miss anything, my last week in Lille was quite eventful. My colleagues were so kind and planned a farewell luncheon for me in a restaurant that is located in a cave underground. It was one of the most delicious meals I ate. That same day, my internship professor Dr. Yvon Lebras came to visit and spent a few hours with my team. It was the most rewarding experience to hear them praise the work I had done and express their gratitude and admiration for me and my efforts. Truly, this was better than receiving a salary. The dean’s assistant Cédric then did my debriefing and I was so pleased that I had accomplished what he’d hoped. This was a life impacting internship and a summer I will never forget. Upon leaving, I knew it was time, but it was still hard. I had made such good friends and gotten so comfortable with my life in Lille. Angelique and Rosalie drove me to the train station and waited with me until I passed through inspections and they waved until I was out of sight. I have much more to say but not much time, so I’ll quit for now and hope to catch up later. 17 more days until Gavin and I get married! Plus, I just found out that my dear Allie will be able to be here for the wedding! Life is beautiful…