The day before the wedding was insane! No scratch that, the MONTH before the wedding was insane. We had so much fun when we first started planning. The toughest part was the budget but once all of those issues are out in the open and everyone is fully aware of how darn expensive a wedding is it’s not so bad as long as you stick to it. Men don’t really get this at first….it’s quite a struggle for them to understand why we’d want to spend x amount of dollars on a dress we will only wear one time. If you’ve planned a wedding, been involved in the planning, are planning one, or have been a parent coughing over the dough, you fully understand the “that cost’s WHAT?!” concept but you also know it’s all worth it to make the day as special as it can possibly be.
That said, we had so much fun picking out colors, my dress, the cake (our favorite part by far), the location, etc. When we got to that last month, when everything was coming together but so much STILL needed to be done, we had some “holy crap how is this ever going to come together” moments. I’d say the last month for most brides is the point where you are really just ready to get your butt on the beach for the honeymoon and stop stressing over all the details like place cards! I’m sure my family remembers me frantically filling out place cards and throwing together a seating chart the night before, especially my poor mom who had to FINISH the place cards in the morning. Haha.
The girls and I got barely a wink of sleep the night before the big day. A huge thanks goes out to Billi (the most awesome Maid of Honor a girl could ask for), Carly, Charissa, and Hannah for staying up all night with me trying to make sure everything was perfect. Little did I know that my soon to be husband also did not sleep as I made the mistake of letting his boys celebrate his Bachelor status one last time before the wedding. *Note: if you aren’t married yet, DO NOT let your man celebrate his bachelor party the night before the wedding. Odds are you will have a red eyed, hungover, trying not to puke, groom. Honestly I can’t be mad at him, I think it’s hilarious. I mean this is a boy who never gets crazy and he chooses to do so the night before one of the most important days in our lives. Here’s one of my fave photos that pretty much sums up how J-dawg was feeling:
He’s trying to catch a little shut eye moments before the ceremony…..little to my knowledge. See I wouldn’t know any of these things until AFTER I married him. His plan? Perhaps.
Here are a few highlights:
Things that make you laugh but at the time you wish you could have changed……
I nearly sprinted down the aisle. Seriously. I watched the video people, so don’t tell me this didn’t happen. Clearly I was SUPER excited but no one slowed me down. Greg and Zack were probably unaware that they needed to bring their jogging shoes.
Awkward Moments- When we toasted each other I’m pretty sure we thanked each other for being there. Also, the toast itself was awkward because we had NO idea what we were doing and no one really directed us.
Good food- Those little pigs in a blanket appetizers were quite the hit! I’m pretty sure we could have JUST served those and most of our guests would have been thrilled.
Things that ticked me off and nearly brought out bridezilla:
The DJ couldn’t seem to keep a working mic on the floor. I think Josh turned his mic off and back on about a zillion times.
Things I loved:
Everything else! Really, the flowers were better than I could have imagined, the cake (still delicious to this day!) was amazing, the pictures were awesome, and having our family and friends in one place at the same time was great!
So now that a year has passed, what’s changed?
Well as I was telling my friend the other day, don’t believe all that stuff they say about everything ends when you get married. Yes there are some things that don’t happen quite as frequently because let’s face it, flowers are expensive and by golly we are sharing money now! For me everything is 100 times better than it was before I was married. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, spending my life with someone I love more than anything, and I know that he is always there for me. There’s a kind of peace that I have now that I never had before, a sense of comfort and “completeness” as corny as that sounds! So if any of you all placed bets….you’d better pay up! We’re in it for the long haul and plan for many more exciting times in the future.
