12 years ago today I made the best decision of my life - I married the man of my dreams! I didn't realize it at that time though. I knew for a fact that I loved him with all my heart. I just never imagined how much love grows deeper and truer through the years.
We had a really big wedding. There were nine bridesmaids, nine groomsmen, eight junior bridesmaids, a flower girl and ring bearer (who both managed to sneak out of this picture), one groom, one bride, and a partridge in a pear tree. LOL! The really cool thing about our wedding party was that it was made up of many of the kids with whom we worked on our church bus route. It meant so much to them to be included! They kept thanking me, but the truth is that I really couldn't imagine
not having them be a part of it! They were so special to us and were such a big part of our lives!
I had to go with a pastel, rainbow-type theme. It actually worked out pretty well. The girls were all such different shapes and sizes that it was impossible to find one dress that was flattering on all of them. So I grouped them into pairs and found dresses to suit each pair. It was different, but that's not unusual for me!
Looking back I've always wished we had gotten married in the fall. It had always been my dream. However, my husband won our honeymoon...and it had to be taken by the end of June. So, I gave up my dream of a fall wedding so that we could have a fantastic honeymoon. 12 years later I realize that we would have had a fantastic honeymoon regardless...he would have just had to pay for it! ;) No, now that I'm wiser I realize that we made the right decision in the first place. Why do we always second-guess ourselves?
This was the "beginning of the end" of my size 30 inch-waist fiancée! He looks so much healthier with meat on its bones! It was also the first time my mother threatened his life. You see, she made our wedding cake. It took her three long days. It was the best tasting wedding cake I have ever had! There were chocolate layers as well as almond flavored layers. Delicious!!!
Girls, this is why you
NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES listen to your fiancée when he says, "Hey, I know a guy who takes pictures at weddings..." Yes, this lovely photo of my husband in the men's bathroom was just the first of the many "classy" photographs taken that day! (Ready for this? The guy's name... JOHN! I know. That's not exactly lady-like lingo, but I found it ironic!)
What's everybody waiting for? Oh,
ME! This song
Butterfly Kisses was being played at the time. My Dad, who had already fallen apart in the bride's room, was trying desperately to keep it together! I'll never forget him crying. He had all the groomsmen in tears! It was just not something my Dad did in public.
This is our beloved Pastor Cunningham. He was explaining to my groom that, although he was about to become my husband, there were still two men above him in my life: my Dad and my boss (who just happened to be Pastor Cunningham!). We had a lot of laughter and a lot of tears during our ceremony, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
Hey Mr. Photographer! The ceremony is over and I have my entire family together including Mom, Dad, my grandparents, my brothers, all my nieces and nephews, etc... Where are you and what important wedding memory are you capturing for me?
Oh good! That's just so much more important than capturing my entire family all dressed up!
(Note the sarcasm in my writing!)
I just love a picture where I am surrounded by a group of guys who all love me! You'll notice that we found the ring bearer. He's the cute little guy beside me in front. That cute little guy is now 19 and about to have a child of his own! Time sure flies! The handsome man wearing glasses all the way over to your right is my Dad. I really miss him!
I also felt I should point out Tweedledee and Tweedledum in this photo. Tweedledee is the groomsmen beside my father. Please note that he decided to let his mother perm (yes, PERM) his hair the day before our wedding. All the way on the opposite side of the picture you'll see Tweedledum. He decided the night before my wedding to trim his sideburns. Having worked double shifts all week, he fell asleep with an electric razor in hand. This is why in the morning his wife had to shave the other side of his head in an effort to make both sides even. The picture below gives you a better view:
The two people standing are my brother and his 1st wife. He's on number three now and, as badly as #1 treated him, she is still the cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned!
This is me with my beautiful Mom. Amazingly she kept it together pretty good that day! I found out later that she fell apart after I'd left for my honeymoon. What a blessing to have had parents who weren't anxious to get rid of me! Didn't she do a beautiful job on the cake?!
Here's a better shot of the cake. We were cutting it to feed to each other. We opted to be nice and not smoosh it in each other's faces. Actually, I threatened him and he agreed. My aunt had gotten married the year before and I spent almost an hour trying to get all the colored icing out of her hair, veil, dress...it was really ridiculous!
Hey Mr. Photographer! Guess what? Not only am I about to throw my bouquet, but I managed once again to get my entire family together for that perfect photo memory!
Mr. photographer? Mr. photographer?
Okay, there must be some phenomenal wedding memory you're capturing at this very moment! I can hardly wait to see it! Oooh... just the very thought gives me goosebumps!!!!
SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY? Dude, you're killing me!!!!Will my marriage end over this photographer?
No, I'm a very forgiving woman...with very expensive plans for my daughter's wedding!
In this picture you'll see my beloved ring. I did tell you that it slipped off my finger when we were away from home a few months ago, didn't I? I miss that ring so much! It was insured and I have a beautiful new ring, but it's just not the same...
This is me desperately trying to shove 623 layers of material into our getaway car. Notice my handsome groom holding the door for me. As soon as I was in the car, he picked up the remainder of my 400 pound wedding gown and shoved it in on top of me. It's he romantic?!
As my groom came around the other side of the card to get in, he found that his seat was already occupied. This was probably one of my favorite memories of that day! My Dad had snuck in while everyone's attention was on me trying to get that dress into that car. He closed the door and told the driver to gun it. LOL! It was so much fun! He told me that there was no way he was letting me leave without getting a chance to tell me how much he loved me. We circled the parking lot a few times before putting my poor groom out of his misery.
I've saved my favorite picture for last. When my beautiful little flower girl went AWOL, I sent the troops out to locate her. It seems that the beautiful ivory satin gown, ivory tights with flowers embroidered on them, flower wreath for her hair, new patent leather white dress shoes, lacy gloves, and ivory satin lined basket full of rose petals was just too large a burden for little Miss. April to bear! (This is the child who most days could be found barefoot wearing a fluorescent orange shirt with red and green checkered shorts, and purple legwarmers!)
She was found sitting flat on the ground in the middle of the parking lot (an obvious suicide attempt). When asked by her mother if she was trying to get run over she replied, "Anything would be better than this torture!"
When she came back into the church, she ran up to me and gave me a big hug and said, "I hope you know, Miss. Stacey, that you are the only person in this whole wide world that I would wear this outfit for!" To this day that girl holds my heartstrings! I sent her home (she lived next door in the church personage) and told her to take that dress off and get comfy. Her mother wasn't thrilled, but she had completed her flower girl duties and weddings should be happy for everyone...especially little girls who will be dreaming about their own wedding one day!
Whenever you look back at the events in your life, you find things that you wish you would have done differently. Our wedding was really beautiful - even if it was in June instead of October!
The one thing I would've done differently (other than hire a real photographer) is that I would have had us write our own vows. I found the clip below online recently and it hit me that the vows this couple had written to each other is pretty much what we would have written to each other at the time. So, I thought I would share that today.
Peter, I love you more than I ever imagined was possible to love anyone! When I'm happy, you are the one I want to share that happiness with. When I'm tired, it's in your arms that I want to cuddle up and rest. When I'm sad, just knowing that you love me gives me joy. When I'm discouraged, you're the one who lifts my spirits and helps me to realize that things aren't as bad as I believe they are. I love you with every ounce of my being, and I will love you that way for all eternity!
