Happily-so-far-after

Today is our wedding anniversary.  We've been married for 4 amazing years.

I like to look back and remember our wedding just like any other bride.  It was somewhat nontraditional.

We had a beach wedding and I spent months planning it.  I like to think I was a laid-back, unstressed bride.

I picked the wedding colors and then let the bridesmaids select what they wanted to wear as long as it was teal and/or white.  The guys just wore really comfy Tommy Bahama type shirts and slacks.  We all went barefoot.

I spent a lot of time planning the details.  I made the programs myself and cut them out to make paper fans.

Good thing, too, because it was sunny out and warm out.

But we also had parasols for the ladies.

 We had tiki torches.

And a very talented harpist for the music.

And while it wasn't planned, we had Apache helicopters fly over three different times during our ceremony.  First when my daddy gave me away.  And then again during prayer.  But that was okay with me.  It's the little details like those that make ceremonies special and are remembered the most.

And although we did not have a traditional church wedding, I was a traditional bride and didn't let my groom see me until I walked down my "aisle."  I remember being so excited about marrying David that I was halfway to him before the harpist realized and started playing my walking-down-the-aisle music. 

And as a somewhat traditional bride, I remembered my old, new, borrowed, and blue items.  Guess what was blue?

Soon the ceremony was over and it was time for the reception.  We had a picture frame for everyone to sign and little beachy cards for guests to leave us wedding wishes.  We got some really funny wishes.

I was a little non-traditional with our reception, too. We invited all the guests to dig into the food while David and I and the wedding party took pictures. And we served "heavy hors d'oeurdvres" like coconut shrimp, chicken fingers, and beef kabobs instead of having a sit down dinner. And I'm really glad I stood firm on the finger foods. My caterer tried really hard to get me to change my mind saying things like "your supposed to serve a sit-down dinner for a 5:00 wedding" and the like, but I'm so glad I didn't cave to the pressure.  I think it's really important for the bride and groom to have their wedding their way - regardless of what's socially correct and what others think. 

And I received so many compliments on the food afterwards.  There was plenty for everyone to eat, plenty to choose from even for the pickiest of eaters, and enough food left over for those staying at the hotel to take to-go boxes back to their rooms.

For favors, I had silver trays (my trays that are now in my kitchen holding fresh produce) full of shells and starfish for our guests to take home.

And bottles of sand, too.  We filled every one of those little bottles the day before the wedding.

And my bridesmaids helped me make my centerpieces the day before, too.  I saved a fortune by not having flowers at the reception.  And I don't think anyone even noticed the lack of them.

And here is my wedding cake.  It was gorgeous and tasted good, too. 

And we danced and danced and danced at our reception.  David and I had our first dance first, but halfway through we invited the wedding party to join us.  Then I had my daddy-daughter dance and David had his mommy-son dance.  Then everyone partied the rest of the night. 

We did the traditional bouquet and garter tosses, but I'm probably the only bride who had people running around her reception in wet bathing suits.  But that was okay, too.  It was my little brother and a couple of my cousins in that picture.   Seth skipped out on the wedding photos after the ceremony to go swim in the pool.  Then he only headed upstairs to eat.

When it was time for David and I to leave the party, we left to sparklers.

We made quite a few people - namely my photographer and videographer and the hotel employees - quite nervous.  See, there's quite a few firebugs in my family and those sparklers were everywhere.  Could be a recipe for disaster.  I guess they thought we might burn the hotel down or something.  But we didn't.

David and I were pretty much oblivious to all of that.  We were just focused on each other.  That's the way it should be at weddings.

Our wedding had traditional elements but it was fun and relaxed.  Just the way I wanted it.

I had my best friends.

And David had his.

And we had each other.  Family and friends from all over the country travel to celebrate with us as we started our new lives together, and that meant the world to us.   We even had a few "other" guests watching our wedding from the beach, boardwalk, and balconies.  I'm sure some even crashed the reception, but it just made our wedding even more special by having so many around us wishing us a lifetime of love and happiness.

Our wedding was perfect - to me - and I still remember and cherish all the little details.

Every detail was thoroughly thought about and everything came together beautifully.  I loved planning our wedding and would love to plan another one.  Maybe for Hope if she ever gets married.  Sure there were a few bumps along the way just like every wedding is bound to have, but I wouldn't change a thing because I finally married the man of my dreams.  David is everything I ever wanted and more.  He truly is an exception man and makes me happier than I ever dreamed possible. 

While we are not sure what the future holds for us but if the last 4 years are any indication of how the middle and end will be; then we are in for an exciting and fulfilling ride.  Looking back there have been some tough days and  I'm sure there will be more.  But knowing how much we love each other and how much support we have from our family and friends, we are happier now than we were on our wedding day.  And that's pretty amazing.