Memories of a Wedding Two Years Past

{I interrupt my normally scheduled posts (HAHA) today to spend a few moments reliving the events from two years ago. }

April 5th, 2014; the day that my best friend and I committed the rest of our lives to one another. The day truly was a blur as I soared past on excitement and anticipation so I have been thinking about it a lot over the past couple of days, trying to piece together the emotions of myself and those around me.

In my opinion, it was one of the happiest, most light-hearted weddings of all time. (I note my own bias;))

In a wedding the important things are the ones that you will remember and cherish for years to come, and for me, here are a few of those things:

The officiant.

       A good friend of ours was willing to be ordained in order to perform the ceremony. He and his wife took us out to eat prior our wedding and offered pre-marital counseling and advice on living out a God honoring marriage. 

The guests.

      Having the family and close friends there to witness our union but more importantly to share in the joy of it all. It didn't need to be every person we'd ever met, every distant relative, or a day about spreading our "success" to the world. I hope all who came, came because they wanted to join in the fun, not simply because the received an invitation and thought it their duty to attend.

Not waiting for perfection.

      This one I can't stress enough. To any unmarried out there, you may have dreamed up the perfect wedding but I caution you now; waiting until you can have exactly that, won't be worth it. When you know you have met the person you need beside you for the rest of your life; don't wait. Start spending the rest of your life together. Plan a simple wedding, one that you (your families?) can afford, scrap all your extravagant ideas and make a list of what is truly important. For me: 1. Starting life with Wesley. 2. Giving God the glory for being the author of our story. 3. Family. 4. Real flowers. That is all I had on my list, sure I had ideas and pictures of what I wanted in mind but once the ball is rolling and you have a date set, venue reserved, and your wedding parties picked out the rest falls into place. At least mine did.

Its just not worth waiting until he's made his fortune or you've made your own name in the world, well, I can't say with absolute certainty having not done either of those ;) But I can tell you that I can not imagine being happier, certainly not if I hadn't spent the last two years by Wesley's side, or added Jerusha to our family's lives, or even the love and joy in the life of the baby on his/her way. <3

[Whoops. Got a little carried away preaching the virtues of marriage :P]

My dress.

     I bought it for $20 at a garage sale before I was even engaged and altered it to be what I wanted. Sometimes I feel like I missed out, having not gotten to go dress shopping, but in the end my dress is as special to me for the price I paid, work I put into it, and that is enough. I may not have gotten the same experiences as most but mine was special and maybe someday I'll get to go with sisters and girl-friends and watch them "say yes to the dress".

My earrings. 

     I wanted the perfect earrings to go with my dress and never found any. However mommy told me she had ordered some she hoped I would like and they arrived just in time for me to wear. They were perfect, exactly what I'd envisioned. I still keep them on their original packaging and break them out for special occasions; I will be wearing them tonight on our anniversary date.

Daddy giving me away.

    We haven't always had the clearest of relationships so it means the world to me that Daddy found someone he was willing pass me on to. We didn't talk much about "giving me away" but we didn't need to. I know and love my daddy and I should hope it wasn't too hard on him to pass the responsibilities of caring for me on to Wesley. It was honestly probably a relief to him, I'm not all that easy to care for ;) It wasn't a huge emotional ordeal and for that I am thankful. Daddy loved me and he still does, and he rejoiced in God's plan as he gave my hand to Wesley. To summarize; I am thankful that it wasn't a huge deal, that it was simple, daddy giving me to Wesley. The simplicity and peace of it is what I remember and love.

Our Families.

     Our parents and all of our siblings were able to be there. (Some barely, due to the flu.) We were missing some grandparents and in-laws but our best friends, the siblings who "chaperoned" us on dates, the sisters who listened to endless praise of Wesley, the one's who picked up our slack as we texted, talked, and dated, the one's who gave us advice, the one's who we know will be with us throughout the rest of our lives to pick on us, cheer for us, and make memories with us; they were present and they were the most important ones to share the day with. Followed up closely by the friends who are like family and who helped so much with our wedding and praise God with us as He continues to bless.

The flowers.

     We ordered bulk flowers from SAM's club. We ordered what came in the colors we chose for our wedding, we ordered what was in season, and we arranged them ourselves. They were perfect. 

The food.

     We didn't serve especially exciting food but we had plenty for all of our guests and I thought it was pretty yummy. I wanted it to be lunch, preferably sub style sandwiches and salads and that is exactly what we had. We ordered the subs and chicken salad croissants from Wesley's Casey's. Some people may have found that somewhat lame but I thought it was special since Wesley actually went in and helped make them and Casey's is a pretty important part of our life; I don't mind claiming them. Note: We didn't serve them in Casey's paper wrapping. If you didn't know they were from a gas station you, well, would never have known.

The pictures.

     I love the job our photographers did. They were new to doing weddings so very budget friendly but the moments they captured and images they created will forever offer me a glimpse back at that wonderful day.

My bridesmaids.

     I chose only to have three, my best-friend-sister, and two very close friends. They did a lovely job leading up to the wedding with a bridal shower and wedding preparation, and the night we spent together leading into the big day filled with stories, laughter, and prayer is cherished. 

I suppose that is it. The things that stand out to me as most important on my wedding day.

As I reread this I realize I didn't dwell much on the emotions of the day. I have stopped and pondered and tried to remember but from my perspective, it wasn't especially emotional. Or maybe I didn't see past my own to notice emotions of those around me? I was marrying my best friend. I was thrilled, ecstatic, over-joyed. There was not so much as a prick of sorrow at being given away, or leaving forever, or anything of the sort. I was given away, I did leave my family's home forever, but for what? To join someone else and have our own home and family. It's addition, it's multiplication. Never did it feel like subtraction or division. A new step was taken, a new family created, and I at least, and I believe my family as well, found nothing but joy in that. Two family's joined and another was created.

I'll leave you now with the vow I made and a few pictures of our wedding day.

Before God and these witnesses

I take you - Wesley

to be my best friend,

my faithful husband,

and my God given love.

I promise to encourage you

and to inspire you.

To love you truly 

through good times and bad.

To submit myself to you

and follow as God leads

I will forever be here to laugh with you,

to lift you up when you're down,

and to love you unconditionally

through all of our adventures in life together,

as long as we both shall live.

  

And I know I've thanked you before, but again, Thank You to everyone who helped make our wedding day perfect, from Mr. & Mrs. Smith who raised the perfect man for me to the guests who came to take part in our day; you friends who worked hard to set up and tear down, you family who put up with the chaos of a wedding: Thank You All. <3