My Wedding Day

Sooo much has happened since I last posed! On Saturday, August 6th, I married my best friend. The whole day was seriously the funnest day of my life! First, I went and got my hair all pretty-fied with Leah. Our hair dresser agreed to come into work early just to do our hair. We had to meet her by the dumpster at the mall since we came before the mall opened...it was like we were on a secret mission! ;-) My dear friend Angie met us and brought us coffee and muffins! It was awesome! After the hair appointment, Leah and I headed to the church. We were running about 15 minutes behind schedule. I am the type of person that hates being late or running behind. When we got to the church, I told Leah to tell Gloria (my awesome coordinator) that I needed 15 more minutes before I would be ready. Gloria came into the bathroom and told me to take my time and not rush. She had planned a whole extra hour into the morning, so we would be fine. After that, I totally calmed down and started to just enjoy the moments.

Leah and I put on our make-up together and headed upstairs to put on the gorgeous dresses. ;-) Leah, Kathy, Gloria, and who knows who else helped me get into my dress without messing up my hair (It had to go over my head...my behind was a little too big to fit through from the top). ;-) After that my Aunt Wendy helped tie my lovely blue bow and then I put on my shoes and gracefully walked downstairs to meet my handsome prince. ;-)
At approximately 10:45ish...They opened the doors to the auditorium, and there he was...standing at the front of the room with a huge smile on his face. As  I walked toward him, he called out to me, "Can I come to you, I don't think I can wait till you get here?" He met me in the middle of the aisle and told me how beautiful I was. He just kept saying it over and over. We talked for a bit, and then we started taking pictures.
Our pictures went so smoothly! Our photographer, Erin, was awesome! She and Gloria worked together to keep it going fast. We had so much fun! We went outside across the street to an old warehouse and took some fun pictures. Michael's grandma from Michigan had brought some guns from Michael's great-grandpa to use in the pictures. We had a lot of fun with those, let me tell you! ;-) After that we took some pictures with the family. Taking pictures with our families was a ton of fun! My side of the family is huge because I have so many cousins, so those pictures were a blast! We were laughing so hard in several of them! Michael's family is just as crazy as my family...though my family did win the Crazy Award. ;-)

 

After pictures, we had a little while to relax in our dressing room areas and wait for the ceremony. We had fun peaking out the window into the sanctuary and looking at all the people arriving. It finally came time for the ceremony, and two by two my bridesmaids left to go downstairs. Leah and I waited together and watched from our window as the parents and grandparents were seated and the mother's lit the candles.
Then it was time. Again, I gracefully walked down the stairs and stood in the hallway. I waited till Gloria summoned me out. I met my Father and clung to his arm. The doors were opened and my two favorite pianists, Mrs. Linscheid (my piano teacher) and Mrs. Anderson (my elementary music teacher) began playing the Bridal March. We walked down the aisle, and my father told me to take it all in and smile at the people. ;-) The rest of the ceremony went wonderfully. My mother and my aunt sang a beautiful song about the sacrifice Jesus made for us and how we should live and sacrifice just as He did. Leah and our friend Ben sang The Prayer as we lit the Unity Candle. We were doing well...I hadn't started to cry one bit. As we started to say our vows, I heard it in Michael's voice...He was about to lose it. Then as Pastor Jim turned to me, he started to lose it. [Come on, people! We made it this far! Don't make me cry, too!] Then as Pastor Jim asked for the tokens we had brought to represent our love and commitment, Joey pulled out a light-saber. ;-) Now, you may ask, what is the meaning of this? Well, here is a little side story:
I hate weddings. I hate going to weddings and sitting there listening to love songs and watching people kiss and such. I am not one of those oooey, gooey, romantic types (on the outside) ;-) So, at one of the last weddings I was at, I was trying to amuse myself, so I could make it through the wedding. As the pastor asked the couple what tokens they had, I thought to myself, How funny would it be to have light-sabers or something rediculous like that?! I mentioned this to Michael and Leah and Joey. I never intended to actually do it at my own wedding. But Leah and Joey thought otherwise, and I am so glad they did. It came at the perfect moment and helped lighten the mood and keep me from having a meltdown. ;-)
After the ceremony, we made our way downstairs to the reception and enjoyed a wonderful time of food and fellowship. As I looked across the room, I saw people that had had such a wonderful impact on our lives. I saw my teachers, my pastors, my classmates, my church friends, my Sunday school kids, my family, and my best friends. So many people were not able to come to the wedding, and they were dearly missed. But as I looked across the room, I remember saying to Michael, "All of the people that are here are so dear to us!" It was like having all of my memories of my childhood and teenage years in one room at the same time. It was a magical feeling. When it came time for us to leave, I honestly was not ready to leave. We were having such a great time, but I knew that not everyone would want to stay there all night. ;-) We went upstairs and exited the church. As we made our way to the awesome convertible Joey was able to acquire for us, our friends and family showered us with bubbles. As we drove off, I threw my hands up in the air. We finally did it! My wedding day was the funnest day of my life! Thank you to all of you who made our day special! And praise the Lord for all that He did for us, and all that He is doing for us! As my friend, Kathy says, serving the Lord is so much fun! And I have to say that I agree! Thank you, Lord, for all of your blessings!