When I first started planning our wedding I had a vision of keeping it a small and simple affair. I think a lot of that came from my own personal doubts that a lot of people would actually come, not because people don't like us but because so many of our friends and family live out of town/state. In this day of rising prices and the horrible airline industry (see post below) I didn't expect people to travel all the way to Richland, which is not the easiest place in the world to get to. BUT, God showered grace upon us like a thunderstorm--SO many people came to our wedding! I was a millimeter away from becoming a sobbing, slobbery mess the whole time because I was so moved by the love God, our family, and all our friends have for us.
It was perfect. Minus a few special people almost everyone was there. I kept looking around thinking 'Is this really happening?' The week of the wedding had been the usual volatile Missouri spring with an hour of sunshine followed by an hour of torrential rain and hail. But praise the Lord the weekend was lovely (for the most part). I picked up my India girls on Thursday and we had a pizza party that night with Jared's friends and both our families. Then the girls watched Bride and Prejudice while the amazing April did our henna. We all knew April was good, but she really out did herself--everyone was amazed, as they should have been, by her genius.
Friday morning all my friends had a personal shower for me at this little restaurant called The Blue Onyon (which is where my wallet was recovered two weeks after the wedding...see post below). It was so fun! I had friends from all stages of life there and it was nothing short of hilarious and incredible. I wish I could tell you more, but come on, it was a PERSONAL shower... That afternoon was pure chaos in the best sense of the word. We decorated the church and the gym and everyone was amazing and a huge help, but it was a lot of work! My parents were the stars of the show. They worked so hard! My dad, fortunately he's a lightbulb guy, managed to string these lights across the gym with the help of some other guys. He was practically subhuman through the whole thing. It seemed like there were five of him running around, which is pretty normal if you know my dad. It was my mom's idea to get matching tables and chairs so that made everything look much better than it would have if we'd used the ones already there--good call mom! Even though it was crazy i wouldn't change a thing. i had such a great time and felt so special that so many people were willing to help.
Friday night was the rehearsal and the dinner. jared's parents worked really hard to make it special. ruby tuesday's catered and we had a special video with all our pictures. we expanded the dinner to include more than the wedding party--all our relatives and out of town friends were there. our friends shared special stories about us and then chesed surprised us with a song she and alicia wrote (with a little help from jared's friends) and it was all i could do to keep from losing it! if there was ever a moment where you felt like saying, 'look at me, i am LOVED,' that was it!
the actual wedding day was really fun. everyone told me to slow down and enjoy it but i couldn't focus on anything. getting ready and taking pictures kind of feels like a blur now, although i do remember wishing i had worn more comfortable shoes. the ceremony was great! we wanted it to be a spiritual and reverent time, and it really was everything we hoped it would be. i was so glad we wrote our own vows because they really seemed to communicate what we wanted them to--so many people have asked for copies of our vows! we wanted everyone to know that we were there because God was good to us and gave us what we didn't deserve and He's the One who deserved to be celebrated--not us. i think most people got that from our ceremony so what more could we ask for? we had a lovely reception and i spent the majority of it walking around taking pictures and talking to people. i didn't realize i hadn't busseled my dress until about halfway through--boy did walking get a lot easier after that!
it may sound cheesy but i really feel like i had the wedding of my dreams. God has given jared and me such a neat story and i'm so glad we were able to celebrate it with so many loved ones. everything was so beautiful and i wouldn't change a thing. i might change losing my wallet and almost getting kicked out of the airport on the first day of our honeymoon, but that would really be the only thing! in case you read my previous blog and were wondering...we did make it to our final destination and had a great time. more about that later!
as for right now...we are preparing for our move to dc! in a couple of weeks we will be in nc for lindsay's graduation and then we are going up to dc to apartment hunt. our most exciting news at the moment is that jared just received a scholarship from american that covers most of his tuition! praise God! we weren't expecting him to get anything because it was getting late but the Lord surpassed our expectations once again! i guess i'm not too surprised though--my husband is pretty smart. and he worked in mother theresa's home in calcutta and what university doesn't like stuff like that? right now i am in the process of job searching. i actually just applied for my first job today, which i'm very underqualified for, but hey, dream big right? i have found a few jobs that are a little more realistic and will apply for those next week. pray for me! ...or hire me if you are an employer in the dc area :)
