Having barely slept, I woke up early and double checked my bags. My best friends held up a sheet, so I could sneak behind it to my car without any risk of my fiance seeing me. (He was staying in the other half of the duplex, the side that would be ours.) We drove to the church. I curled my hair, applied my makeup, and pulled on hose and a garter. I carefully donned my white gown and shoes. I checked for my something borrowed (sapphire earrings), something blue (garter), something old (antique cameo pinned on my keepsake garter), something new (tiara), and made sure the sixpence was in my shoe. My bridesmaids, my Mom, and a few friends and family prayed with me. I pinned in my tiara and adjusted my veil. I picked up my bouquet, with my Mother’s bridal Bible as the base, and looked in the mirror. Then, on the arm of my Father, with a smile on my face and a gleam in my eye, I walked down the aisle
and married my Beloved!
I scanned in a bunch of our wedding photos today, and I’m going to stroll down memory lane. This blog is meant to focus on the lovely things in life, and marriage is way up on that list in my book! I realize there is a distinction between wedding and marriage, but consider this my way of celebrating both.
Before the ceremony. Isn’t he handsome? And so happy. Makes my heart smile. I don’t feel like I’ve changed all that much. (This isn’t to say that I look young – in college I regularly got cast as the mother of other students who are older than I am!) But this man…well, whether or not he’s grown up, his beard sure has!
We were just 20, in college and broke. We did most of the wedding ourselves and with help from family and friends. I made my own bouquet, did my own hair, makeup and nails. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but you can do a wedding on a small budget. Looking back, there are very few things I’d change, even if I had more money.
I am blessed to have a wonderful Daddy. The two of us are pretty close. I loved that he was so happy for me.
We did individual pics before the ceremony. Any of us together were taken after. I’m traditional in that way, and my favorite moment of any wedding is the look on the groom’s face when he first sees his bride. I still remember my Beloved’s vividly! One of my favorite moments in my life.
“You may now kiss your bride!”
Exiting as husband and wife! We could barely contain our joy!
With our wedding party. I’m still friends with all of my bridesmaids. They are such a wonderful part of my life, and I am so thankful! 3 of the groomsmen are my brothers-in-law, and I’ve so enjoyed getting to know them better over the last decade. They’re all 10+ years older than my husband, so we were in for a lot of good-natured teasing. It’s how I knew they loved and accepted me into the family.
We had a lot of family and close friends who supported us, then and now.
The reception was fun, too. A friend of my husband’s made the cake. We obeyed tradition and kept the top tier in the freezer to eat a year later. It was still so good on our first anniversary that we ate the whole thing! (A slice each day for a week – not all in one sitting!)
When my parents were married, they had personalized toasting glasses. This lovely woman in Wichita, KS handpaints them with the bridal bouquet. I was thrilled to find out that she was still available. She did a beautiful job, and these are one of the things that I’ve packed most carefully when we have moved. Notice that we have sparkling cider. We weren’t yet 21 after all! And that halo effect going on behind our heads is just some weird decoration on the wall of the reception site. I look like some kind of sharp, pointy angel in most of our cake pictures. We still laugh about it.
The rings, which my husband designed himself and had custom-made. Yeah, he’s that kind of guy. Didn’t I say that I’m blessed?
It was a GREAT day, and the beginning of a really beautiful thing. From this:
to this:
We’ve come a long way in 10 years, Beloved! I’m so happy to be your wife, and I’m so thankful for our children. I’m praying that we have many, many more lovely years together.
And a special Congratulations to my husband’s grandparents. This weekend, they celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. The actual date was a couple of weeks ago, but the family is gathering this weekend. We can’t be there, which makes me so very sad! I missed their 60th celebration because I was in the final stages of planning our wedding. 70 years of marriage! Isn’t that incredible! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa for being such a wonderful example for all of our family.
Eyes on Lovely 