Marriage Monday

I was inspired to join the bandwagon on Chrysalis' site. She says June is the month of weddings...but not for us!

This was me and my sweetheart December 21, 2003! We joke around that it seems like it's been forever...but in a good way!

We were married at my parent's church in the evening by candlelight. It was beautiful--everything had a golden glow! There were lanterns on the aisle and candles in all the windows. There were huge oil lamps to light the front and a big white wreath in the front behind the altar.

My Dad officiated...and I figure that's pretty unique. When I mention it, people often ask me if he walked me down the aisle too and yes, he did! We walked down the aisle and he joined our hands and turned around and said that it was his honor, along with my mom, to give my hand to Darren in marriage. Something like that...I actually have the whole thing, his notes, in my wedding album!
We had a super small wedding party...just my good friend, Jill, Darren's brother, Dan and a sweet girl from my Dad's church, Mary Kate. The colors were red and gold. We used silk poinsettias and candles.
We took the pictures before so we could give our attention to our guests after the wedding. It was so late in the evening that many people had to go home right after the reception. My wonderful roommate from college, Becca came with her folks and my buddy Kyle--I think it took them something like 10 hours one way. How wonderful to be loved like that--she did the same thing for my baby shower a year later too!

A humor note: Right when we were supposed to be wrapping up the pictures to seat people for the ceremony, the photographer accidentally stepped on my train and ripped it off of my dress! Thankfully, my Dad ran up to the house and grabbed a needle and thread for my Mom to sew it back on again! Kudos to me for not crying!
We had a nice reception in the church basement with cake, punch and sandwiches. It was tight but I'm of the opinion that a crowded room is better than a sparse one! They rang little bells when we came downstairs and sang songs with "love" in the lyrics to get us to kiss. We opened all of our gifts at the reception. I'm sort of a "phob" about that whole issue. It irritates me to no end that presents aren't acknowledged at the wedding and very often no thank you ever arrives to let you know if they got it, much less liked it but...that is a blog for another time.
We took a short honeymoon to a neighboring city--went to museums, etc. cuz we're geeks like that--and returned to spend Christmas with our families. Another funny note...my new husband was rough housing around with my Dad at Christmas and accidentally broke his rib. He felt horrible and well, so did my Dad! He'd call us weeks later to tell us he'd been thinking of us, "every time he breathed." HA ha!