Hello world!
Another spring has come and is full force. I don't know about you, but my spring has been pretty darn good! A couple of really exciting things happened.
The first exciting thing is my man and I became homeowners! Yes, we officially have our own place. It needs a lot of love to get it to where we want it, but hey it's fun. The house we have is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, a decent sized kitchen and dining room, and a very spacious living room. The yard is very pretty, a little run down, but that's all fun for me as well. I'll tell more about the house later, but I want to talk about other things and put down some other thoughts.
So we have a house, we're getting it fixed up, but that's not all. This spring, on April 21, we got married! It was a beautiful ceremony on the beach in Gulf Shores, small but comfortable, and so much fun celebrating with family and close friends. To be honest, I never thought I'd have a beach wedding, but logistics worked out for it to happen and it was amazing.
There is so much to the wedding story I don't know where to start. I'll just tell about the actual day, and then later tell the story. The day was just gorgeous. Since it was at the beach, we weren't sure what the weather would do and had a rain plan just in case. As it turned out we didn't need a weather plan. The temperature was in the mid-70's, and the sun stayed present all day long. There were a few clouds, but they did not make a fuss. The ceremony was at 4:30 in the afternoon, just after the heat of the day and early enough that we wouldn't have to worry about any lighting during the festivities. As the day progressed it seemed to drag, but as it got closer to time to walk down the aisle it seemed to go even slower! I put my dress on (with help from my mother, cousin, and niece) at just before 2:00, and I think that is when it started to really creep for me. The dress was on, makeup and hair done, all that was left for me to do was be in the right place on time for pictures. My girls got to see the dress first. None had seen the dress in the form I was wearing it, so it was just a fun, sweet moment with them to girl out and giggle about it and have some fun with pictures. Then came time for the first look with him. Oh the anticipation! He had already been around the ceremony site taking pictures with his groomsmen, but neither of us had glimpsed the other yet. Our photographers (wonderful family friends who did an amazing job) positioned us to get the perfect shots. As we were waiting for the cue for him to turn around, I could see the groomsmen watching. It was more than a little amusing watching them dance around and show excitement, almost as much as he was feeling. Almost. Finally he turned around and oh the look in his eyes when he saw me! I am so glad we were able to have that small moment together before the ceremony just to take each other in and savor the moment. After the pictures were finished all we had left was to wait for the ceremony. So many guests at the plantation stopped to congratulate us and wish us good luck. Finally, it was time to walk down the aisle. We made our way to the boardwalk leading down to the beach, lined up and ready to go. First our parents, then the wedding party. Our officiant, my groom, and the groomsmen made their way down to a Beach Boys song, followed by the girls dancing to Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride. Then the bride's song came on, Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts, a favorite. My niece walked down the aisle throwing seashells. Then my daddy escorted me behind her, walking slowly and taking our time, my arm through his and my other hand holding my bouquet of baby's breath and lavender. Walking down the aisle, I hardly noticed anyone except the one standing at the altar waiting for me. When we got to the end, my mother stood on my other side and took my arm, and he stood beside his parents. The pastor asked for a parents blessing and prayer. Both my parents gave me away at the altar, giving my hand to him. The pastor introduced the ceremony and guided us through the blessing and charge. For the vows, we both had written our own. We started with him. He pulled his out of his pocket and began to read, but could hardly make it through the first few words for the tears. Slowly, he made it through his vows with the most emotion I've ever seen him express. Then the pastor turned to me and it was my turn to pledge my life and love to the man standing across from me. Once the vows were stated, we stepped under the arbor to complete our unity braid. I had chosen burgundy, teal, and gold trims to use, matching our wedding colors. Then it was time to exchange the rings. In turn, we recited the ring vows we had chosen. It was a wonderful moment seeing him slip the silver ring on my finger, the ring I had waited for what felt like forever for him to put on my finger, and to slip his wood and metal ring on his finger. We were then pronounced husband and wife. And the kiss! He had joked about how he would deliver the first kiss as a married couple, but I still wasn't expecting it. The moment he kissed me, he wrapped his arms around me and dipped me. It was the most wonderful kiss. After the pastor presented us, we made our way down the aisle to Walkin' on Sunshine toward where we would take pictures with the bridal party. After the pictures were all taken (and it was a fun process getting everybody together for those!) we all headed to the reception.
The whole thing passed in something of a blur for me. I did get to sample some of the goodies we had, but not everything. The actual wedding cake was a small round chocolate cake with teal frosting, and I had placed a gray shell as the topper. The cake cutting was interesting! The cutting was normal, both of us slicing the cake. Then came the fun part. Instead of actually getting to taste the cake (what a novel idea!) we both ended up with cake on our faces! It made for a good laugh and was worth it, but I still wish I had been able to have a piece of cake! Then came the dancing. We danced our first dance to A Million Dreams (yes we love the Greatest Showman, don't judge). Right around the first chorus, we looked down and his niece, now my niece, was standing next to us wanting to join in. We bent down and picked her up, and she stayed with us the rest of the dance. It wasn't quite what I had planned, but it made for a sweet memory. After the first dance, the girls and I did our own dance. We had worked, admittedly last minute, on a dance routine to Dancing Queen, because why not! It was a lot of fun just letting loose and enjoying the evening. After that everything passed fairly quickly and before I knew it, it was time for the sendoff. My maid of honor helped me get what I needed for the trip and led me back to him. Everyone was lined up waiting for us, ribbon wands in hand. We walked through the line, enjoying the moment and dreading to see what had been done to the car! The car, once we were able to see it, was a colorful conglomeration of streamers taped to the outside, balloons, filling the inside, and *ahem* interesting soap artwork on the windows and doors! After the final goodbye hugs, we were in the car and on our way to start our honeymoon.
It was a beautiful day and full of memories that I won't soon forget. The butterflies, the stress, the excitement, all of it combined to make a wonderful day. There were so many friends and family members who helped to make it such a great day and to pull it off, I can't begin to thank them enough. If you were not able to be there, I hope this gives a good picture of what the day was like for all of us, and if you were there, I hope it brings back fun memories. If you were there, I wouldn't mind hearing your stories of the day!
