Our Wedding!
Rule #205: “A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” – Mignon McLaughlin
Today marks our six year wedding anniversary! It feels both like it’s flown by and also like it’s been the most eventful six years of our lives (which it most definitely has been thus far). Six years really isn’t a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but this man has been my solid rock for what feels like a lifetime. These two young fools had no idea what they were in for when they were posing for their engagement photos.
My dad gave me a side hug and swift, “Good bye” on the afternoon I left to go take these pictures. He was being a little distant for a few reasons:
1) He was feeling pretty terrible because cancer was taking its costly toll on his body.
2) He was sad because he knew he wouldn’t be at the wedding these engagement pictures were meant for.
3) My breath was a little stinky. I think I ate a Lean Cuisine with major garlic in it. Pretty sure he encouraged a good teeth brushing before heading to take pictures with my future husband.
But ohhhhh this man. My Jon Boy. He’s given me smiles and laughs and hugs on days when I was sure I’d never be happy again.
Six years and he still surprises me with his wit, humor, and absolutely genuine personality. I know him better than any person on the planet. I can tell you that he’s the same kind, compassionate, fun-loving person in front of strangers as he is when it’s just the two of us.
Our marriage is NOT a picture of perfection, but more like a messy Monet. Up close, it’s all kinds of funky colors, textures, bumps, and it may not make sense to anyone else. But, looking at the big picture, our life together is a beautiful canvas of resiliency, love, and powerful friendship. We’ve had a bumpy ride so far, but we’ve managed to hang on for dear life. We’ve even managed quite a few happy times on the way.
Okay – enough with the sappy stuff. Time to share some of my absolute favorite pictures of all time! I wanted to share a few of the most memorable moments from our wedding. We had the time of our lives with some of the greatest people on the planet by our sides!
These are a few of those ‘greatest people on the planet’! My ladies. I love them all so, so, so much! I really am pulling for another bachelorette in N’Awlins (New Orleans for those of you who can’t read my accent). It was the BEST trip with my fave gals.
The one thing I did NOT want to spend a ton of money on was my wedding dress. I wanted it to be classy, simple, and under $1,000. I hit all three goals! I had an amazing seamstress who fitted the two broaches to the dress and made about a million alterations for me. She was so, so patient with my very OCD-bridezilla-self.
On our wedding day, Jon Boy sent me the perfect wedding gift: some new Ariat boots! I still wear them anytime I get the chance, but I wore them for the first time that very night at our reception. They were a nod to my boot-loving Daddy, Texas A&M, and Texas itself.
I love these kind of detail-oriented pics. It’s a great shot of our wedding rings (I haven’t worn mine in months because of the swelling from Baby G #2), our Aggie rings, and the letters we wrote one another.
We exchanged the letters before the ceremony, but stood at the corner like this so we wouldn’t see each other before the actual wedding. We still have both letters in a safe spot, and we both definitely cried reading them. I won’t say who cried more, but I will say my makeup was still intact come ceremony time!
My brother honored me by walking me down the aisle in place of my Daddy. This picture is so painfully gorgeous and special to me.
OMG cue the cuteness! Our ring bearer and flower girl absolutely stole the show! They were two of the cutest creatures on the planet that day! Jon’s face says it all. They brought pure joy to the ceremony.
This was my favorite moment of the day by far. After being dropped off at the reception site, we had about 15 minutes to ourselves. We had some cocktails and hors d’oeuvre, smooches and giggles, and then we got gussied up to head out to the partayyyyyy.
Look at that handsome, hunky cowboy twirling me around for our first dance!
My “Father-Daughter” dance was a bit… unorthodox. Since my Daddy wasn’t there for the traditional dance, I decided to improvise. I had some of the most important men in my life dance with me in a song mash-up that matched each man (or group of men).
My brother and I started out dancing to a slower song, then we cut to “Brass Monkey” by the Beastie Boys and showed off our completely terrible dance moves.
My next partner was my Uncle, my dad’s brother, and we danced to The Eagles’ “Heartbreak Tonight”.
Then, all of the guys who were there for me growing up, basically another full set of brothers, came busting out and danced like only kids from Irving can dance to “Jump on It”. They were hilarious!
The dance ended with the most important fella in my life then and now. We danced to “I Feel Good” by James Brown to signify that, in my Daddy’s words, “It’s all good.”
I was channeling my inner Pinterest Queen (she’s a very rarely-used lady) when I made this ‘Family Tree’. It had the wedding photos of our family members (parents, grandparents, even great-grandparents). It was so much fun to put together, but also the root of many a curse word that month before the wedding.
I think our cake was probably my favorite ‘item’ at the wedding. I loved how simple yet elegant it was and holy biscuits was it delicious! I ate maybe 2 bites at the wedding, but the taste test was fabulous.
We loved our ‘send off’ because it was actually all staged. The party was still going on, but our photographers had to leave. So, we decided to stage our exit.
We hopped on the golf cart and it drove us alllllll the way around this little driveway and back (a total of about 30 seconds). Then we hopped off, paid the DJ an extra $100 we borrowed from Jon Boy’s dad, and kept partying.
It was the best night of our lives celebrating with so many of our favorite people! I wish we could recreate the whole thing again… ok maybe just the party part and not all of the stress. Maybe a 10 year anniversary bash? Either way… I’ll be happy to celebrate as long as Jon Boy is there to spin me around the dance floor.
I hope you enjoyed this Our Wedding! post! I know I enjoyed sharing it with y’all.