I wanted to write a post about our wedding since today is our one-year anniversary, and I honestly don’t know what to say about it. Our first year of marriage wasn’t how we envisioned it would be, to say the least, but we’re more in love and deeply connected than ever.
I remember wanting to write about the wedding a lot before it happened, and even after it happened, but I never wanted to come across as bragging about it or being one of “those brides” who can’t shut up about being married.
But the truth is that I am kind of one of those brides still, and I’m totally okay with it.
I feel like I could write several posts on my wedding and our marriage, and I probably will, but first of all, I can’t believe I’ve been married for a year now. In some ways, it feels like it’s been years since Josh and I have been together for almost eight and a half years. In other ways, it feels like we just got married yesterday. It’s cliche, but it’s also completely true.
I had the pleasure of marrying my absolute best friend in the world on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. At the dance, the DJ asked me to describe the day in one word. I chose “perfect,” and I meant it wholeheartedly.
Not everything went according to plan on our wedding day, but it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, we got married to each other and that’s all that really mattered.
Our wedding day will forever be burned into my memory as one of my favorite days of all time. I remember staying up late the night before trying to finish our programs and finalizing the decorations and our vows. I remember rushing to the venue the next morning, running a bit late for rehearsal, while we carried my dress and his tux and more decorations and my makeup and who knows what else. I remember not getting nervous at all until right before I walked down the aisle with my dad and step-father. I remember looking at my now-husband with such love and glee during the whole ceremony, but especially during our vows (which we wrote separately but were eerily similar). I remember after we were pronounced husband and wife, “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen started playing as we walked down the aisle and my mom nodded her head and said “Great song!”
I remember seeing my husband’s face the second he saw me during our first look. I remember having to wipe lipstick off his lips multiple times during our photo shoot, and neither one of us cared at all. I remember the look on my and my sister’s faces once I had my dress and veil and shoes and everything on before the ceremony.
I remember dancing the night away with so many of our loved ones. I remember being handed a microphone and then I started rapping the entirety of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” at the reception, which was not planned. I remember how much my cheeks hurt from smiling at how much fun I and it seemed like everyone else was having. I remember dancing with my husband and four of our friends until the dance ended at midnight.
I remember almost every detail of that day, and it still makes me so happy to think about. It was honestly and truly a wonderful day, and I’m so grateful for all of our friends and family members who came out to celebrate the day and the weekend with us.
I’m so grateful that our day was as happy and carefree as it was. I’m also grateful for all of the challenges we’ve been through both before and after the wedding and how we’ve both fought to prioritize each other and our relationship.
I’m also grateful that we planned the wedding together, every part of it. It wasn’t just my wedding; it was for both of us so we both wanted to be involved with everything.
We made a lot of things together, including our save the dates, invites, programs, centerpiece decorations and cupcake stands. While it got stressful at times mainly because of money, we both absolutely loved planning our wedding because it truly was ours.
Society and media make it seem like weddings are all about the brides and that the grooms just basically need to show up. That line of thinking definitely works for some couples, but it didn’t work for us. We did a lot of things differently than the way you’re “supposed to” because we wanted to make the day unique to us and our relationship.
I’m sharing all of this to say that if you’re planning a wedding, don’t feel like you have to do things a certain way because that’s how other people do them. We didn’t hire a wedding planner or coordinator, we didn’t use real flowers and we didn’t tour more than one venue. We both followed our guts the whole time, and we were both so happy with the end result.
So happy one-year wedding anniversary, my dearest love and husband. I can’t wait for the many, many more in our future.
Photo by Chelsea Joy Photography
