A Country Gal's Domestic Journey: Say What? A Year?!

Amazing.

One year ago today was one of the best days of my life (thus far).

Our amazing, perfect, beautiful wedding.

The days leading up to the BIG ONE YEAR anniversary have made me reflect and look back on that spectacular day. I decided to hit up the wedding photo's and try to relive that day again. I can't believe the things that I had already forgotten. Going through these again made me smile and in some cases, laugh out loud. It was such a great day!

I'm pretty partial to some of our wedding photo's (I think they are pretty fantastic) so I thought I would take a moment to share a few of the ones that I'm certain many of you haven't seen before. Also, to share a few of the moments the way that I saw them.

It started with excitement and anxiousness and anticipation. We are best friends and have been since the day we met just about 5 and 1/2 years ago. Ironically, when you are planning your wedding you would think that the number one thing on your mind is that you are marrying your other half. Many would say "duh". But unless you've gotten married you have no idea what you're in for. Most of the time it's the last thing you think about...you're too busy thinking about how to save costs, how to make sure everyone has a good time, making sure you have enough food and drink.....blah, blah, blah. Some other things to consider are as follows.

Things you should keep in mind while planning your wedding:

You have to keep family happy.

You find out who your true friends are.

You always have one bridesmaid that makes you want to drink a little more wine.

Someone insists they should wear red (hahaha! just had to throw that in there in case Tater is reading this!)

People think they know how things should be planned even when it's not what you were thinking.

You add people to the guest list that you haven't seen in years.

You hear people complain that they don't have cool whip to go with their pie. No joke.

You have to keep family happy. Did I mention that?

And throughout all those moments, you keep smiling and ~~wished that you would have eloped~~.

But somehow, amongst all the chaos with thoughts swirling through your head, when you see your future husband standing at the alter and looking at you with such love, you forget everything. Suddenly you realize that those people who told you it was about YOU and HIM were right! (Who the heck is going to remember what they ate a year later? So what if people didn't get whip cream! )With 200 people staring at you as you walk down the aisle, reciting your vows to your spouse to be and thinking about how it's the beginning of the rest of your life, you don't notice anyone else. So it's the candid photo's that I love the most. The ones that caught the little things that I didn't see while living in the moment. I'm so thankful to Keith Weich Photography for capturing our day so perfectly.

My favorite part of the whole wedding was our ceremony. It was religious. It was meaningful. And it was totally us. It was funny and it was unforgettable. I'm sure there aren't too many weddings where the subject of a 2:00 AM coon shooting are somehow tied into the meaning of marriage. Let me say that I don't believe the Pastor will forget us any time soon.

I wanted to do something truly unique for our unity message. I came up with balloons. I did the research. We used decomposable strings (I didn't want a birds blood on my hands). I came up with a pretty great analogy and had the Pastor help me tweak it. It. Was. Perfect.

In my head.

I had no idea that the strings would be too long and therefore...too heavy!

Our balloons, that were symbolizing us joining together and starting a new life, came tumbling down. To the ground. If I remember correctly, the Pastor even said "I hope that's not a sign!" After some frantic "who's got a pocket knife?" (yes, because who wouldn't have one at a wedding) we finally got the strings shortened. We held our breath. You can see my husband hitting them into the air. Unforgettable all right.

And yes. They floated. Phew.

As I looked through my photo's I was struck by how many moments I don't recall clearly. But one thing I do remember and I know I will for the rest of my life, was the way that my best friend looked at me that day. I know we'll always have ups and downs and life will get sticky at times but I hope that every now and then, we'll stop to look at each other like that again. Like he...er...we won the freaking lottery. Just kidding husband....I'm a lucky lady! ;)

You know what else I never saw? My absolutely ADORABLE FLOWER GIRL AND RING BEARER. Not once did I get to see this cuteness go up or down the aisle. Look at them! I can't take it.

I just cannot believe that I spent a year and 4 months planning a wedding, consuming every single breath I took and feeling the day would never get here...and it's been over for a year! And working in a bridal store, you would probably think I'd change some things. But guess what? I'd choose the same things again! We'll see how I feel 10 years from now! :)

I remember thinking that people would be surprised that I played it so safe with color. For those that know me in the horse show world, I'm always combining COLOR, COLOR & COLOR with different textures and patterns. (Oh wait...I guess not just the horse show world. I just realized that describes my wardrobe. )

But once I got planning I knew A) without a doubt I was doing something green since it's my favorite color and B) I wanted to keep things classic. 5,10 or 20 years from now I MAY wonder about the cowgirl boots but honestly, it's who I am. It's wasn't a Pinterest fad. I didn't do it to be trendy. I wanted a wedding that reflected us. So if I question myself years down the road, I'll know it's because that's what was me.

I wanted a country romantic wedding. I love soft pastels. And I LOVE a man in a charcoal suit. I'm positive that I'll never question what the ladies or guys wore on our wedding. (No offense to the man who wore a baby blue suit to their wedding. You know who you are ;) )

How about a few random facts that you didn't know about our wedding planning & the day of?
(Sure...twist my arm)

There were supposed to be 2 bridesmaids in the pastel coral. It just didn't work out that way.
I (and a group of amazing people) hand made our invites.
My cousin and I made all the programs by hand, just the 2 of us.
My husband ~~pretty much only~~ helped choose the food and dessert.
I may or may not have asked my husband if he still wanted to marry me (numerous times)
I purchased my wedding gown from the bridal store I now work at.
It poured the entire morning of our wedding and I insisted that God would not make me get married inside. I was right.
It took 2 hours to do my hair.
I made all of our hairpieces myself.
I had an emergency use for alligator tape 5 minutes before the ceremony. (All I'll admit is it's a pageant trick. And I don't recommend alligator tape.)
We were provided one bag of ice on the day of the wedding. A gas station run was made.
My husband whispered something to me during the ceremony that only I know.
My (step) dad and I took dance lessons for a month.
After dinner, I saw my husband once.
My husband calls his dance moves (typically known as "the worm") "the snail"....
Lastly, I let my husband choose our first dance song from a selection of 5 (3 being country songs) and he chose A Thousand Years by Christina Perry (I DID NOT choose it because of a popular vampire flick)