To summarize and make what could be a long story short... Josh and I decided to get married while he was overseas in Korea. There was a window of time between when he got home from Korea and before he left for Germany where we were planning to get married. I was trying to plan a wedding without the groom there, I was planning a wedding without a set date since we didn't know when he would get home, and I was trying to do it in less than three months. The biggest challenge - besides patience.... lots and LOTS of patience which most times I did not have - was deciding what kind of wedding I wanted.
Unlike most girls, I never really pictured a wedding for myself before. I had thought about my wedding (with different grooms) but I never made any set decisions about what I wanted. When the time came to actually make a decision I was completely unsure of what I wanted. Flowers? Um, I don't know. Bridesmaids? In a church... not in a church? Wedding dress? The only thing I had ever known was that I wanted my wedding to be small. I have always thought the focus of a wedding is the couple and their love and commitment to one another.I thought this was a good starting point for me. Small. A small wedding with just our family. I thought this would be a simple enough task... until you actually start to think about your family, and have to decide where to draw the line as to who can be there, and who can't. So... your grandpa can be there, but mine can't... my aunts can be present, but yours can't. I wanted the people important to us - our families - to be there, however we both have large families that we are close to. "Just family" quickly grew much larger and more complex than I wanted. At first, I did what any normal bride would do and freaked out. I freaked out, I cried, I stressed. Then I took control. Our wedding was already small, but I scaled it back even further and made it what I wanted it to be. Bridesmaids? Doesn't matter, don't want them. Flowers? Who cares. What about what other people thought? Believe me, I was told plenty what other people thought. I didn't care. What was important was Josh and I. I wanted a marriage, not a wedding.
Suddenly the stress was gone. It did not matter that I had no time to plan. It didn't matter that I had changed the plans for my wedding three weeks prior to it happening. Josh and I woke up the morning we got married and had a wonderful breakfast together. We drank coffee, made a list of things to do for the day, and then worked together all afternoon cleaning and preparing appetizers for our guests.
So we got married quietly at my house, in my kitchen on an unassuming Friday night. I walked down my stairs and was escorted halfway down by my father who then gave me away. We were married by Josh and my brother's best friend who was ordained on the internet (please laugh, I do). I wore a beautiful wedding dress my mom and best friend helped me to pick out. I had a bouquet my mom had specially made for me. My hair and makeup was done by a friend of mine. Our vows were classic, and they were the focus of the evening. Afterwards we enjoyed drinks and food with our parents, siblings, and best friends. We were surprised with a delicious cake by my best friend. It had all of the pieces of any other wedding... just maybe not in the most "traditional" of manner. But for me, it was perfect and everything I wanted, even if I hadn't realized it before.
One year ago... I said Yes
- To keeping it simple
- To focusing on love
- To a kitchen wedding
- To a web-ordained minister wearing flannel and suspenders
- To walking down stairs instead of an aisle
- To allowing myself to be "given away"
- To have and to hold
- To love, honor, and to cherish
- To the military, and all the adventures it may bring, good or bad
- To uniting two families
- To being a wife
- To cake... even if you run the risk of having it stuffed in your face
I said Yes
- To a best friend, supporter, sounding board, confidant
- To a life partner
- To an equal
- To true love
THE BEST IS YET TO COME
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