life (one week) after our wedding

When you get married, everything builds up for months and months until it explodes into one glorious, ephemeral day that is over before it seems to have even begun. That is how I felt at least; my entire existence--well, more like all of my concentration and focus (let's not start this blog out all melodramatic)--revolved around making this wedding happen in four months, and then it was over in one day.

A wedding is a day. A marriage is a lifetime.

A beautiful saying that I completely agree with, and what I even told Jack the night of our engagement: "We can have a small wedding with our closest friends and family, we don't need anything crazy or fancy, just as long as we can finally get married!" (Yes, yes, that is what five years of dating makes a girl think after he finally pops the question...We could have had our reception at Chuck E Cheese's and I would have been happy.) Well, considering Jack has a large extended family and that I have a colossal extended family, that small wedding turned into a much more normal sized wedding in a beautiful and much more tasteful venue. What with all of our marriage preparation classes, NFP classes, meetings for the cake, the flowers, the photographer, the church wedding coordinator, the musician (not to mention all the hours it took to find all the vendors), all the crafts, programs, RSVP cards, table numbers, etc I made to save money and personalize our wedding, I found myself being completely immersed in the planning process. I thought about (and made mental plans for) my huge to-do list while I ate, drank, slept, showered, drove places, clipped my nails, you get it? etc.

And then, like when you break a nail after you have perfectly grown them out and manicured them for weeks, our wedding day happened before I could realize what was happening. I remember, standing at our reception, talking to someone who I ironically can't remember, and saying, "I really feel like I'm taking this all in right now."Then it was like flashing, dancing, laughing, and then, just over.

I have flashes of little memories throughout the day. My bridesmaids praying over me minutes before the ceremony. Feeling like I should be crying as I walk down the aisle (but really just being too happy and amazed that it's actually happening to shed any tears). Seeing my handsome husband in his uniform holding back his tears. My brothers kissing me on each cheek as my mom lets me go to my husband. Not being sure what we are supposed to do as he takes my hand and I proceed to stumble up the stairs in my huge dress. Holding hands on the kneelers feeling at perfect peace with my husband. These little moments I remember, and I guess that is what counts in the end.

Still. I'm excited that we decided to get a videographer. I cannot wait to see everything from an outside perspective, to see all the moments that we missed and to laugh and cry over all the memories.

Not that it is all over and the honeymoon (which was amazing) is over too, and I'm here, lounging in our queen-size bed with a beautiful comforter and fluffy pillows (that desperately need pillowcases), I can't help but miss it a little bit, the excitement that went so quickly, the food we never got to eat, the time with friends and family we can never get back. But as my husband jumps into bed with me all goofy-like to give me a kiss, I can't miss it. I can only rejoice in the day, because it brought us, along with the support of our family and friends, here together. <3




Jack and I would like to thank everyone who has supported us and prayed for us on our journey to this moment. We our so excited for begin our lives together and cannot wait to see what life brings. Thank you for reading--we hope you enjoy our attempt to update our friends and family on our new life together.