Updated for the Way Back Wednesday post from Stephanie… If you didn’t have enough wedding fun last week, check out these posts!
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Can I just say that I love twitter blog hops. A) It gives me something to write about. Because some days, I’m just not sure which part of my life to bore bless you with. B) I get to know more about people whose parenting blogs I read. So? Win win.
Anyway… jumping into the wedding.
July 4, 2008.
I waited six years for this day. Six years to stand in a church in front of all the people I love and who love me and promise to spend the rest of my life with a man I adored. Adore. And, I really wish I had been blogging then. Because I remember the months leading up to it as a whirlwind of dress shopping, meetings about flowers, budgetting and rebudgetting, browsing travel magazines and stalking my wedding registry.
And I loved every second of it. I loved the planning, stress included. I thrive on excitement and details. I sort of like being the center of attention, ahem. But also, I loved the security and comfort of knowing that once that day was over, my life, my family would begin.
A few weeks of searching led me to the dress. It was simple and classic. And it still makes me sad that I’ll never wear it again. Perhaps some day, after a few glasses of wine, I’ll trek up the steps, pull it out of the special perservation box, slip back into it and flip through my wedding album. Or not.
The day of the wedding started with a workout and breakfast with my best friend. Followed by hours, yes hours, of primping, makeup and hair. Until it was time to zip up the dress and put on the jewelry.
And then I waited. FOR AN HOUR. In my dress, in the hotel room with my brother and my maid of honor. Trying not to wrinkle the dress and ignoring the rumbling of my belly.
The nerves hit me on the way to the church. I was caught up in the details and trapped in the back of a limo on a windy road. The looming dark clouds were threatening to rain on my wedding day, I was wondering how the flowers looked and hoping that I had left enough time for pictures. As I was waiting by the corner of the church, watching the last few people walk in, it was all I could do to not hurry them along, so I could have my turn to walk down the aisle.
Once I got to the front of the church and saw him. Everything got very calm.
During the ceremony, we stood together and looked out at our family and friends. Pointing out faces of people we hadn’t seen in a while, waving at young cousins and grinning at each other. We laughed at the jokes that our priest made, hugged the families, said our vows, lit the candle and walked out as Mr. & Mrs.
Then… we got our party on. With traditional dances between husband and wife, father and daughter, mother and son. My grandparents were the last couple standing at the end of the anniversary dance. We made people who wanted to see us kiss stand up and sing a song to get it – no clinking glasses, thankyouverymuch. Craig and I served the cake to all of our guests, our way of making sure we spent a few minutes with everyone who spent the day with us. We danced to YMCA, We Are Family and all the traditional Central PA wedding dances. We drank champagne… and beer… and wine.. and oh my aching head the next day. We didn’t eat enough, but we laughed, accepted hugs and well-wishes and caught up with old friends.
At some point during the reception, the rain that had been threatening all day finally came. At the time that our reception was over, it was POURING. Craig and I walked to the door and then it hit me. The one detail I forgot. To arrange our transportation from the conference center to the hotel. It was only a few blocks, so maybe I thought we’d walk it. But the sheets of water falling from the sky meant that we needed a Plan B. So we waited while my mom and aunts cleared the centerpieces, we helped the DJ tear down, loaded gifts into the car and piled in the back of my aunt’s SUV.
:: sigh :: A girl can’t get it all right, can she?
So that’s it. That’s my wedding day in a five-minute blog post. The day I joined Craig’s family and he joined mine. The only day I’ve had just about every person I cared about in one room.
The day I learned that some things are worth waiting for.
**are you new here? do you know about Joanna and her #Karing4Keegan fundraiser? She is doing a really good thing, raising money for a family who needs the financial help as they focus on helping their baby boy fight cancer. I count my blessing every day, every hour, that I have a healthy baby. I wish I could do more. But maybe? If we all do a little, it will add up. Go read about Keegan, help if you’re so inclined, say a prayer if it’s what you do and hug your child a little tighter tonight. **
June 18th, 2010 at 6:59 am
You looked so beautiful! I can’t believe you worked out the mornng of your wedding – mommy was so excited she couldn’t sleep at all and was up at about 4… We like the floating candle centerpieces – and your dress, if course!
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June 18th, 2010 at 8:29 am
I loved my dress too and wish that I could wear it again. Your centerpieces are awesome. Love them. Beautiful wedding!
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June 18th, 2010 at 8:45 am
absolutely GORGEOUS dress!
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June 18th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Soooo beautiful! I love the pink accents! And that church?? That looks like a dream spot to have a wedding! Thanks for sharing!
PS: We had the same champagne flutes! We take them out on our anniversary every year and have a toast with them
PPS: We also had our guests sing for us to kiss. I can’t stand the constant clinky-clinky sound!
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June 18th, 2010 at 11:21 am
absolutely gorgeous dress! i love the pictures with all the details. Is that a picture of your grandparents?
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June 18th, 2010 at 11:25 am
So Beautiful! Seriously. You have inspired me to join my first twitter blog hop!
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June 18th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Beautiful wedding! That church is GORGEOUS and so are you. Beautiful!
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June 18th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
BEAUTIFUL wedding! I LOVE LOVE reading about people’s weddings…I have almost no pics of mine on my computer (days of film, you know…it was only the dawn of the digital at that time), but I LOVE seeing other people’s! And you? you were stunning!
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June 18th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
So sweet and elegant. And I totally love that last picture with the phrase “The Beginning.” Marriage truly is the beginning of the rest of our lives.
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June 18th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Everything is very pretty, but I really love the church!
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June 18th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
very pretty — loved your hair!
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June 18th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Gorgeous! I love the centerpieces – I looks at floating candles for days before I gave up on it and went with the most boring traditional round flower things ever. And how FANTASTIC is that old wedding picture?
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June 18th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
That church is gorgeous! Love seeing other 2008 weddings.
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June 18th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
happy almost 2nd anniversary! we both had july 4th weddings, what a great day! your wedding looked beautiful. I love the last photo in the series.
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June 18th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Such a lovely wedding! Your dress was beautiful and you looked so pretty
The idea of flipping through your wedding album wearing your dress is awesome. I say: DO IT!
xxo
andrea
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June 19th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Great idea! I won’t be able to join in on the blog hop until after July 23rd though,. WOOOT!
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June 19th, 2010 at 10:45 am
You are just beautiful! Thank you for stopping by my wedding post and I am so glad i saw yours! It was amazing!!
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June 19th, 2010 at 11:52 am
I love your dress! I wish I would have done something more traditional now : )
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June 21st, 2010 at 1:42 am
i LOVED the church. Wow, gorgeous.
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June 21st, 2010 at 10:21 am
LOVE your dress! What a gorgeous wedding.
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June 23rd, 2010 at 10:51 am
GORGEOUS wedding! Your dress is stunning!
Our first Way Back Wednesday blog hop is about weddings this week…come link up!:)
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June 23rd, 2010 at 1:03 pm
You had a gorgeous wedding! And I love how you served cake to all your guests!
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June 23rd, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Your wedding was gorgeous!
OMG, that church!
Great pics!
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June 23rd, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Thank you so much for your sweet comment on my wedding post! Your pictures are beautiful and I just love the centerpieces with the flowers and candles! I’ve seen different variations of those but I have to say, yours is the best I’ve ever seen!
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