A Word of Advice to Soon-to be Weds

Many of you probably know our wedding didn't go off exactly as we had planned (This however is another story for another day and not the reason for this post). However, at the end of the day on October 15, 2011, Kevin and I were husband and wife and off to the beginning of a wonderful honeymoon.

I think society puts a lot of pressure on "brides" to be to make sure their wedding day is perfect, after all you only get to do it once. Every young girl dreams about her wedding, walking down the aisle hand in hand with her dad, and staring into the eyes of her "prince charming." I was guilty of it as I believe most brides are of obsessing over every tiny detail trying to make our wedding day pintrest picture perfect.

However, I stand here today to tell you that no matter how many phone calls you make, how many wedding napkins you have monogrammed, how many pearl picture frames you buy to display your perfect engagement pictures, and how many times the wedding party has practiced walking down the aisle, sometimes things just don't go quite as they are supposed to.

That being said, I look back on our wedding day and the festivities surrounding our wedding with many fond and happy memories. I remember the night of our rehearsal dinner hanging out in the hotel with some of my best friends who I don't get to see that often. I remember riding back with Kevin to my grandparent's lake house holding hands and thinking about how lucky I was to get to marry such an amazing man. I remember the morning of our wedding eating a donut with my dad and riding with my dad to get a key from Kevin. I remember trying to put the way I was feeling on a piece of legal paper to give to Kevin so he would know and I would always remember how I felt on that day. I remember the first time I saw him, falling in love with him all over again and hoping that our wedding day would be the worst day of our marriage, that each passing day would be filled with more happiness and more love.

So even though we didn't get to walk down the aisle in the Church in the Pines, our wedding day was what a wedding day is supposed to be, a commitment of our love to each other while we were surrounded by the people who love us and continue to support us on a daily basis. I got to marry my best friend and here we are today figuring out what happily ever means for us.

 I want to encourage any soon-to-be weds to enjoy their time being engaged. Enjoy the events leading up to your wedding. Something will always go wrong, nothing will ever be perfect as is life, but what you will remember about your big day, is the time you spent with the people who made you who you are, the people who are your past, the people who are your present, and the people who will be your future. If you do these things, no matter what happens or doesn't happen on your wedding day, you will look back months (and years) down the road, and deep inside you, you will be filled with a warm feeling and know you are loved.