Ten Years Ago Today...(or More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About My Wedding Day)

Ten years ago today, B and I got married. It was a wonderful day full of joy and family and friends. It was a beautiful wedding and a really fun reception. And for ten years now, I have been blessed with a wonderful husband.

As I think back on my wedding day, it's funny the little details that I remember.

I remember that I wanted my sister to spend the night before with me (like I did with her the summer before) but she didn't-- so I woke up alone in the bed I slept in as a child. I couldn't believe my wedding day had finally arrived.

I remember that my mom bought sandwiches (turkey and apple) from Magnolia Foods but I was too nervous/excited to eat much.

I remember arriving excitedly at the church to get dressed with my bridesmaids: my sister, B's sister, my college friend Nicole and two best friends from high school, Ann and Emily.

Ann and Emily arrived last with a bag from Burger King. They'd had a late night the night before. They had taken B and his groomsmen out for an informal bachelor night in "happening" downtown Lynchburg.

I remember that my sister couldn't find her earrings. I had given all the other bridesmaids a pair of dangling pearl earrings as a gift, but Cat already had a pair so I gave her a necklace instead. But the day of my wedding, Cat couldn't find hers so my mom lent her a pair that had belonged to her mom. They were perfect. They looked exactly like the new pairs except they were screw on instead of pierced. Since my mom's mom, my sister's namesake, couldn't be there (she passed away when we were babies), it seemed appropriate that something of hers be there with us.

I remember that my something old was a handkerchief that my grandmother had made for my great grandmother. Grandmother had passed away a few months before the wedding and I thought a lot of her that day. I also thought a lot of Corrine.

I remember my something borrowed were my mom's pearls and my something blue was my sister's garter. My brother caught it at her wedding the summer before and happily passed it back to me for mine.

I remember feeling so perfect in my wedding dress, but struggling to get my veil to look right--and getting grumpy with my sister about it.

I remember taking pictures with the bridesmaids and with my family before the ceremony in the church courtyard. We had to be sneaky so we didn't run into B. I remember there were these little tiny bugs that keep swarming around my veil and, at one point, we had to rush under cover when it started to sprinkle.

I remember that my bouquet, cream roses, was really heavy and much bigger than I had wanted. I remember that the bridesmaid bouquets weren't quite right either, too pastel, but I didn't really care because I was so happy that it was my wedding day.

I remember being so ready just to walk down the aisle and see B.

I remember walking proudly next to my dad down the aisle. He looked so handsome in his tux. I remember saying hi to friends and family on the way to meet B at the front of the church.

I don't remember much about the service except being glad that I was Presbyterian and that the service was pretty short. I have a vague recollection of my ring getting stuck but am not sure if that is an accurate memory or not. I mainly just remember being really happy that B and I were finally getting married. We dated for five years and I had known I wanted to marry him when I was nineteen years old. At twenty-four, it was finally happening.

I remember kissing B at the end of the ceremony and then going in for a second kiss because the first one was too short.

I remember feeling like I was floating at the end of the ceremony as we walked hand-in-hand down the aisle.

I remember how my brother's girlfriend, now wife, had decorated the trolley that we were taking to the reception with our groomsmen and bridesmaids. She had even decorated a Styrofoam cooler which was stocked with champagne. I remember thinking how lucky my brother was to have her. I thought back to the year before when we had ridden the same trolley to my sister's reception in the middle of a huge storm and I was thankful for the nice weather.

I remember our reception in snippets. Little things.

I remember being proud of how beautiful the setting was as all our college friends experienced this part of Virginia for the first time. I remember being so happy that so many of our friends had traveled to come to our wedding. I remember that two of them had to leave early because oddly enough they had another wedding in my home town to go to that evening.

I remember standing and greeting a long line of people and my friend Kate bringing B and I drinks.

I remember feeling grateful for B's one high school friend who traveled all the way from New York to be at our wedding.

I remember trying to sit and eat but getting interrupted every time until almost all of the food was gone and I was still hungry. Somehow we managed to get plenty of drinks.

I remember taking lots of group pictures: my mom's side of the family, my dad's side of the family, B's family, all of our friends from William & Mary.

I remember that B had brought a few kegs of beer from the brewery in Ohio where he worked and that all of our friends kept asking for a cup of "B's beer."

I remember my friends Ann and Emily hanging out in the cigar bar with my dad and uncles and how my friend Ann made an impression on all of them when she wet her cigar.

I remember how at one point I thought everyone had cleared out early because the reception area was empty. Then I realized that everyone had just wandered outside to enjoy the beautiful evening.

I remember "dancing" with B for our first dance and telling him that he had to at least move his feet a little because he was just standing on the dance floor holding me.

I remember dancing with my dad and thinking of all the other dances we'd danced together when I was little.

I remember dancing with my grandfather and being grateful to have him there, but worrying that he was going to fall each time he swayed. I remember he was so proud of himself for wearing the same suit he had worn to my sister's wedding the summer before. I remember being so proud of him for holding it all together only a few months after my grandmother's death.

I remember B's little cousin Olivia, around 5 at the time, kept wanting to dance with me.

I remember our friend Chris catching my garter and how happy I was that he caught it.

I remember B's cousin Kara, about 8 at the time, catching my bouquet and feeling bad for all my single friends.

I remember cutting the cake with B and how I neatly fed him some. I remember him holding a piece of cake and looking at me and telling me he was going to put it on my face because people would be disappointed if he didn't. I remember staring in disbelief as he actually did it. I remember being mad at him about it for much too long afterwards. MUCH too long. In fact, this might be the first time I've told that story without getting a little upset about it. Sad, but true.

I remember that every time B and I were apart during the reception, I just had to go find him because I wanted to be with him all the time.

I remember B kept making "suggestive" comments to me and was ready for us to leave. In his defense, we had been in separate states for the last year and hadn't seen each other in several months.

I remember that my dad had rented a limo to take B and I to Charlottesville after the reception because we had a 6AM flight the next morning (our flight out of Lynchburg had been canceled and thus our night at a local bed n' breakfast had to be canceled too). Unfortunately, the limo driver got lost and was over an hour late to arrive.

I remember that the band was kind enough to play an extra hour. I remember that my brother-in-law volunteered to drive us to Charlottesville. I remember that finally we were staging a fake exit because the photographer had to get home to take his babysitter home when the limo pulled up.

I remember that we left our reception wearing Mickey and Minnie house hats, mine with a veil and B's with a top hat, because B had bought them while at the World Brewing Conference in Orlando a few months before. Everyone kept asking if we were going to Disney for our honeymoon.

I remember having to give the limo driver directions and then being very happy to finally be alone with B as we drove the hour or so to our hotel for our first night as husband and wife.

I still can't believe that it's been ten years. I feel so very blessed.

Happy Anniversary, honey. I love you so much!