I ended the last post with David proposing. I guess I forgot to write about my reaction to him proposing. At first I was shocked, then after it sunk in I started to tear up. As soon as we were back at the truck and David had a signal he was taking out his phone and posting on Facebook I said yes. (Some people asked why they saw it on Facebook first.) At first we were thinking an October wedding, but plans ended up changing. Some friends who got married on June, 07, 2008 were telling us we needed to get married on 09-10-11 since they got married on 06-07-08 and then on 12-13-14 we would plan something really big. We laughed about it, but didn’t think that would happen. (We didn’t even check what day it was on.) The pastor we had asked to officiate the wedding told us he could not do October because it was Missions Month at his church. We asked him if we switched it to September if he would still do it. He said yes. We check and 09-10-11 was on a Saturday to our great fortune. So 9-10-11 it was. It was a very interesting call to the family. We told them we were moving the wedding date. Some asked why we were moving it back. We had to laugh and tell them we were moving it up! That they were okay with. 🙂 For whatever reason they were afraid the wedding was going to be put off. Nope. Not going to happen. We went from talking about a December wedding, to October, and then ended up in September. David and I were very excited to get married and neither one of us were going to push it back. I know some couples joke about one having to drag the other down the isle but not us. We were both very anxious to be married. The wedding process went by so fast. I remember feeling like my head was spinning. I felt so over whelmed with everything. Thankfully I have many people in my life who love me and helped me. I have great family and friends who did everything they could to help out.
The day I got my dress was very memorable. My parents and I had visited David’s Bridal but there was nothing ‘just right’. There was one gown I really liked and was going to go with that one if I found nothing else. My mom and I decided to give a chance at the local Bridal Boutique in Saint Joseph before definitely decided on the gown from David’s. They had just moved stores and some dresses were still packed up. We went through what they had out and I found a lot I liked, but still not perfect. I looked through the selection one last time and a chiffon dress caught my eye. I love chiffon. My favorite dresses are made out of chiffon, and I’ve been partial to the material ever since. I asked to see the dress hanging in the bag, in the corner. “Well that’s one we just got unpacked. It’s wrinkly.” I didn’t mind, and when they checked the size, it was my size. I tried it on, and it was a perfect fit. The straps needed to be altered and that was it. I stood in front of the mirror and looked at my mom. My mom told me she was not going to give her opinion she wanted to know mine first. I told her it was perfect and we agreed it was the right one. It was the last one of a discontinued line. I took it to my mother-in-law to do the alterations. (Cheaper that having the store do it and I trusted her not to mess up my dress.) When I stopped by her store to try it on after she adjusted the straps, she told me she was showing the dress to different people and they all agreed it was a gorgeous gown and the perfect dress. (Later after the wedding she had it at her store because she was taking it to the dry cleaners for me, and she showed it to people and apparently my dress got lots of compliments. Yup. Right dress. 🙂 )
The day of the wedding was the craziest day of my life. My bridesmaids were the best ever. My best friend Cortney was my maid of honor and kept me sane. I didn’t sleep at all the night before. I woke up and I felt drowsy and unable to think. I look at the pictures of me getting my hair and make up done and you can see the dark circles and how tired I am. Not my best moments. David looked bright eyed and ready to go in his early morning shots. (Not fair.) In the moments before the ceremony started I was praying for people to come see me so I could be distracted. Not because of nerves… Those couple hours of getting ready felt like an eternity. I remember listening to my iPod and playing some of my favorite songs to calm my nerves. I was worried about everything being okay and going well, and happening like it was supposed to. If it’s your big day and you aren’t a tad anxious, you’re crazy. Not everything was perfect, and you know what… No big deal. At the end of the day David and I were married, and I have fond memories of the quirks that happened. It lightened things up and even I cracked a smile or two.
We had two things happen during the wedding. One was when my maid-of-honor was supposed to hand me the ring. Her hands are so much smaller than David’s she was afraid of dropping the ring, so she tied it to her bouquet. Well the knot got stuck. It took a few minutes for her to get it untied. Also David and I planned for him to dip me when we kissed and we even practiced it a few times. However, the problem was we had never practiced it on the wood stage with him in his dress shoes. (No we didn’t think about the slick factor.) David’s foot slid out from under him, but he caught himself and we did not fall on top of each other. Disaster, and ruining the whole moment was adverted. The photos from that moment are interesting to say the least. I honestly didn’t realize how close I was to the ground. I am so very thankful David thought fast and was able to keep me from falling flat on my back.
The reception went great. I have two favorite memories. The staircase in the ballroom where we had it, had a large pillar slightly back and to the left of it. When I threw the bouquet from the staircase, I threw it right into the pillar. No one expected my ‘breakaway’ bouquet. When it fell apart every one was afraid it was an accident and I would be so upset. I wanted that surprise. 4 or 5 of my friends and family got flowers, instead of one person. One of my younger cousins got a flower and it meant a lot to her she got one. Also my other favorite part was at the end of the reception as everyone was finishing up, all my friends and I danced to the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’ I have photos of that in my office. After all said and done we dropped his tux off with his parents, gathered our stuff, and we headed home to Blue Springs. We were going to drop off some of our stuff, grab our bags and drive out to Saint Louis before flying to Ireland. We got to the house and David realized he left his laptop at the church. We had to hang around the house for a few hours waiting for our friends to deliver the laptop. David and I spent that time opening gifts and putting stuff away we weren’t planning on dealing with till we got back, but why waste time. It was nice to sit in our living room, and breathe. The wedding was over and we could finally relax. The wedding was wonderful, the reception was excellent and we were married.
Well here is a good stopping point and next will start the honeymoon blogs.
Always,
Megan