It's hard to believe it's been seven years...
Seven years ago I married my love. My partner in crime.
We've actually been together nearly 13 years (that anniversary is coming up in a few weeks), and in one sense it's hard to remember a time without him in my life, but at the same time, it's hard to believe so many years have already come and gone. And so to celebrate, I wanted to take a look back at our special day, and share a few snippets with you all.
This is going to be a little image heavy.
We were still living in Alberta when we started our wedding planning. But I knew I didn't want to live there much longer, and I didn't want to get married there either. So after some intensive online searching, we decided to take a trip to the coast and visit a few of our potential venues, which turned out to be very successful. Not only did we find this beautiful venue beside the sea, but we also totally fell in love with the area, and decided to pick up and move just a few months before our big day. That made the remainder of the wedding planning a lot easier, but being new to town posed its own set of challenges. I'm happy to say that everything worked out, and despite all the insanity, I wouldn't change a thing.
Our venue was about a half hour drive away from where we live, so after getting my hair and makeup done with my mama and sister, my bro-in-law gave us a ride to the hotel/b&b where we could get dressed and finish getting ready. (While hubs was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to accomplish all the things on the last minute checklist, whilst sporting a pretty gnarly hangover.)
The room was absolutely gorgeous, full of beautiful details, with plenty of room for us gals to get ourselves ready, take some photos, and attempt to relax before the madness. This window overlooked the garden, where the ceremony took place.
After years of talking about our future wedding, hubs had made several jokes along the lines about what would happen if I were late on our wedding day. He insisted that if I were late, he would leave. And what do you think happened? Yup, I got ready at the venue with plenty of time to spare, and HE was late! 😂lol I was actually a little bit thankful for this (not only because I can give him a jab about it every now and then 😜) but also because it meant a little while longer with the photographer, in that stunning room. This is one of my favorite photos, and it never would've happened if we didn't have that extra time.
Finally, we got the call that it was time to head downstairs, and get ready to make our way down the aisle. My sister was my Maid of Honour, and also the person to walk with me. She has anxiety, and I wanted to support her, walking in front of so many people, and she's my big sis, my best friend, and has always been there to support me. We've always been inseparable, so it only seemed right that we do this together too. We were both excited and anxious as hell.
Another reason I'm thankful that things got delayed: being the end of March, the weather around here can be questionable at best. It had been sprinkling rain off and on all morning, and just as I started to walk down the aisle, the sun broke through and bathed us in this gorgeous, warm sunlight. He's laughing in this photo because this is the moment when I pretended to walk off on a different path and make a break for it. 🏃
I obviously didn't actually run away, but I can never resist breaking a serious moment with some comedic relief. I think this photo captures that I really was happy to be marrying this sweet and loving man.
The ceremony was beautiful. Short, but sweet. And our backdrop was a garden beside the ocean.
Obviously, a good sense of humor is important in our families... with the venue being at the seaside, my father-in-law just couldn't help himself. He showed up ready to take advantage, in his fishing boots, fishing rod in hand. 😅
We signed our marriage license, with that beautiful sun shining down on us.
He had to make a crack about it: "wait, that's your middle name?!" So I gave him a hard time about signing on the right line.
After the ceremony, we went off to take some photos around the grounds, and along the shore. I'll just share a few of my favorites. Believe me, there are plenty more, but I'll try and keep things within reason here. 😉
Just as we were getting these photos with cherry blossoms in them (which I had insisted needed to happen), our wedding coordinator came out to tell us that the guests were anxiously waiting for us to come back. I had hoped for a first look at the reception room, but we had taken a little extra time, and I'm thankful that they made sure our guests were taken care of.
They also informed us that our cake looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
This photo was taken a little earlier in the day, before it got really crazy.
I made the cake topper myself, and it now sits on display in our living room.
I was a little bit heartbroken, because it had turned out so beautifully, and I wanted to enjoy looking at it a little while longer, but after we'd finished our first dance (which we did as soon as we made our entrance), and got the speeches done, we decided to cut it, and save it from certain disaster. This turned out to be a good thing, because then people were able to eat some before filling up on all the other amazingly delicious food.
It was also a hilarious moment, which I will remember vividly forever and ever.
Yes, I had forewarned him that if he were to try to smash a piece of cake into my face, I would be livid... no way did I want to ruin that makeup! But, it's just not the same if you're not wearing at least a little, so he was nice, and just gave me a little "boop" of frosting on the nose. He had placed the cut piece of cake in my hand, and as I tried to get him with the small piece you see me holding in my fingers, he essentially gave himself a cake face-wash. And he was rather proud of himself.
Not the most flattering photo, no, but one of our favorites. Those faces just kill me. 😂
Oh, and let's not forget to mention the favors. It's one of those things that way too many brides spend way too much time fretting over. But why?! As someone who's been to a bunch of weddings, I can say that the favors are a cute memento, which nearly instantly get tossed to one side and forgotten about. So I wanted to make sure I had something that people would appreciate, and that wouldn't eat up a big chunk of precious time during all the preparations. And so, we decided to do a candy buffet! We provided the candy and the favor boxes, and our guests were encouraged to fill them with whichever treats they pleased. It went over extremely well, and people still talk about it! Plus, very little prep time involved. Win-win! 😄
It was a fantastic day, and a very fun evening. There were tons of laughs, and more than a few tears. It was an amazing start to this life we're building together.
