Adventures in P.Rose

We are winding down our visit of Wedding Lane; only a few details from our unity and celebration remain!

If you’ve not already noticed a trend, I’ll point it out – pretty much nothing about our wedding was traditional. The ceremony was certainly included in our tendency to be unique, as we did not have a pastor marry us. Our friends and family did.

A very close friend facilitated the ceremony for us, and our lovely friends and family contributed something – a song, a poem, a scripture or a story. It was so wonderful and meaningful. Our friends and family are an integral piece of us – I really could not imagine a more fitting ceremony.

Before the beautiful ceremony began, the sun burst out shining. My mama walked me down the aisle (and by aisle, I mean lush grass towards the stone arch). My boys were waiting for me.

I’ve already described our Unity Tree, but another part of our ceremony I loved was when those who came to support us laid their hands on us and blessed our life together.

We spent a lot of time writing our own vows, some serious, some humorous, and reading them to each other made my heart swell with joy. I really trust him and love him, you know? If the vows weren’t enough, the song he sang to Aidan certainly did me in.

There were tears, there was laughter. There was promise and joy. There were little kids walking around, looking for their bridesmaid mama. There was a horse who let out a loud “neigh” at a particularly well-timed moment. There was sunshine, a clearing sky and eventually a wonderful breeze. There were two soul mates getting married, and a little boy who already made them a family.

Love.

Red. Shiny. Something we don’t own.

Our beautiful getaway car, loaned to us from a lovely friend.

This was one of my favorite moments of our entire wedding day. The ceremony had just ended. Our friends made a tunnel of bubbles and shouts for us to run through. And we hopped into a stunning ’67 Mustang to take a spin down Lakeshore as husband and wife.

Just the two of us.

It’s funny how a wedding day can become so much more than just the two.

I don’t mean that in a negative way at all - it’s just that we decided to do a lot of it ourselves, or with friend help, and we had a decent sized bridal party and lots of children running around. The day was about us, but it was also about bringing beer and wine over at the appropriate time, making certain everyone knew where to be and ensuring kids didn’t jump in the pool too early.

The car ride was just us. We drove through the trees and into a sunny evening. We yelled, we honked the horn, we kissed and we looked into each other’s eyes and got teary and delighted, all in the same breath.

It is one of my most joyful memories of the day.

When I first saw all the pictures from our wedding day, this one made me break out into my nose-crinkling (read: extremely happy) smile all over again. This is the first picture taken of me facing the camera after the ceremony. It is such a genuine reflection of how I was feeling at that moment – I had just married my best friend, surrounded by our family, closest friends and wonderful six-year-old. This is ecstatic me:

I’m so glad she captured this shot – it’s pure bliss. I’m also glad she captured this shot, because it makes my heart pitter-patter.

I love that look, and I love him.

All photo credits to L engers Photography

Where to begin?!

It’s been a blur, yet there are so many moments I want to share. So many details I want to capture on this blog, for your enjoyment and also mine.

I have such vivid memories of walking down the tunnel to see Kyle for the first time on our wedding day, giggling like a school girl with my Mom as we walked down the gorgeous garden aisle – giggles that quickly gave way to watery eyes, our unbelievably intimate and unique ceremony that I will never forget, squealing with delight as Kyle and I took a cruise down Lakeshore in a hot, bright red ’67 Mustang immediately following our ceremony,  dancing with Aidan to Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young,” jumping on a trampoline in my wedding dress, watching nearly the entire guest list dive into the kidney bean-shaped pool at the end of the night, blissful laughter with family and friends.

And our family and friends – that’s another topic entirely. I cannot fully express how grateful I am for the help everyone provided in making our day spectacular. Just thinking about it makes me sigh with thankful joy.

There’s so much more than the wedding day, too! The beach bachelorette party with surprise limo, amazing food and games that shall not be described! The rehearsal dinner where multiple people (myself included!) ended up fully clothed in Lake Michigan. The post bachelor and bachelorette family recovery day at the beach. The delicious breakfast my mom hosted the morning after the wedding. And then an adventure-filled honeymoon to Costa Rica! Living it all over in my head is probably something I’ll do for decades to come.

For now, I’m slightly overwhelmed – our list of people to appropriately thank is long, there is much cleaning to be done, there is a child who needs quality attention for the rest of the day and our jobs that have been waiting for us will call bright and early tomorrow morning. As I prepare what will likely be a couple of weeks worth of blog posts and pictures, I’ll leave you with a few fun shots. To everyone who was by our side – thank you. It was perfect; we could not have asked for more.

I know royalty is having their wedding and all tomorrow, but I’m actually referring to ours!

I’ve learned several things while planning our wedding, and I’d like to help other future brides survive. My top three suggestions:

Lower thy expectations: You’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you do anything else. There have been a couple of times in the planning process where things just didn’t go our way, I got all stressed, threw a mini-fit and then decided we needed to make a change. The change has always downgraded the stress and ultimately made us happier. I’m actually at a point  where I am SO ready to marry the man of my dreams that I’m taking all the little setbacks in stride. I wish I would have started with a calmer attitude.

Let someone else make decisions: If you recall, I used to be an event coordinator. I was thrilled to spend several days before a wedding I was in doing anything to make my friend’s day better and helping her with last-minute decisions. I’m better in that role. I just want to show up to our party and enjoy it; decisions almost seem cumbersome. My mom helped pick my dress. Kyle helped me with the final selection on his ring (which I love!). My MOH found the bridesmaid dresses. My Mistress of Ceremonies will be in town on Saturday to help me make decorating decisions. (Apologies to her in advance, because all I will say is: “You have better taste than me! Just make it awesome!”)

Pick the right groom: Duh. But if you’re with the right guy, nothing else really matters. Which is why I would happily kiss my husband-to-be in pouring down rain where  the cake was dropped in the garden and one of the kids accidentally stepped in horse shit and smeared it on the dance floor. I love that man so much that really, details are just details! It’s one day. That being said, if you’re at the wedding, please try not to dump your glass of red wine down the front of my dress.

Brides or future brides or anyone with an opinion: What are your best suggestions to share, now that we’re just nine weeks away?