Wedding Memories

I just wrote about lots of wedding details, but I found an old email that I wanted to post about my impressions of our wedding day. I wrote the following to my friends after our honeymoon:

Waking up and having some time to myself - just for a few minutes - to drive to my house alone and be there and pray was great. Then Ali showed up, then bridesmaid after bridesmaid. Getting ready together was great. It was fun to laugh together and made my nervousness disappear. 

Then photos.  

Then hanging out at the church. Ali and Charissa took turns reading Anne of Green Gables to me. 

Then waiting for the ceremony with Dad was sweet (light hearted too). I couldn't see Seth at all as I was walking up the aisle. Because the pews are divided into three sections and we were coming up the side aisle, at an angle, and because everyone was standing up, I couldn't see him until I was a mere five feet away from him! It was hard to know where to look or what to think. All I remember noticing was just that the church seemed really full and that I was really happy. 

It's funny; I ugly cried at the rehearsal, remember? (But how could you not? That made quite the impression on everyone, I'm sure.) But when Dad saw Mom, who was crying, he started to cry. We walked two feet further and got to the front and! Seth was crying too! Rich waited a moment for Dad to compose himself, then asked "who gives this woman?"... then Rich started crying too! So I was surrounded by all of these tears. I'd already gotten all of my tears out at the rehearsal, so I just stood there smiling. Rich even said that I was the most glowing bride he's ever seen!?!  

I actually listened to the sermon. I've always wondered about that, whether or not the bride and groom hear the sermon. But I did. And it wasn't embarrassing like it had the potential to be. I mean, not that Rich would deliberately embarrass me, but sometimes he tells silly stories... The gospel was proclaimed, he reminded us of important truths. I think I messed up on my vows - no, I know I did. I said "I will" twice, not "I will" and "I do".
I just felt perfectly at peace and loved. We've taken forever to get married, so it was just time to (finally?)olk promise our lives to each other. 

Then photos... oh my. The groomsmen took some ridiculous photos. Jacob didn't tell us what to do (Seth and I particularly) what to do, which is either great or not so great. Maybe he should have. Because I didn't have "good" ideas of what I wanted to do. Just what I didn't want to do. (Surprise! Not like anything wedding-planning related.)
Then we drove to my parents' house. Family photos didn't go as planned. Hannah and Jack went to the store? so we obviously couldn't take photos without them. We got kinda-sorta an Anderson family photo later in the night, by my grandparent's car. And that's ok-ish, because we do see them often enough that we can recreate another photo. Dad's family, which is bigger and more spread out, all across the US (Hawaii, Caymen Islands, Oregon, California, Washington D.C.), so we don't see them all that much and thus can't take family photos together very often. 

Food was yummy. I guess they ran out of a few things (like chicken)... Mom and I still haven't sat down and made notes about what we were glad we bought, what we should have bought more of, etc. Seth and I sat with my Grandpa and shoveled food in our mouths. Then we went table by table to talk to people. I'm actually really happy that we were so successful talking to so many people. Sure, there were a few people we missed, but we did a pretty good job. And we had some "real" conversations too. Personal conversations, I mean. I wish we had been able to talk to more people and for longer, but I do feel like we tried our best. 

Toasts were... interesting? Very sweet. I didn't know what to expect at all. Toasts are always so awkward, but still. My Dad made me tear up. Um, the cupcakes thing, that was something that was a "bust". People were supposed to get them after toasts. Not wait for us. But despite the fact I explained that several times, the ladies from church didn't let anyone take cupcakes until Seth and I went over there. They came and got us and wanted us to feed each other. So awkward. I felt so uncomfortable. 

Dancing... we had a rocking dance floor. I didn't want to dance - I don't really like dancing on a good day, but every time I went out on the floor everyone stopped dancing to watch! Again, it was one of those "this is totally uncomfortable" things... But a lot of that is that it's only uncomfortable if I let it be uncomfortable. Seth, in contrast, looovveess dancing. Lucky me.

I didn't spent that much time with Seth, but we connected throughout the night. There were a few stolen kisses, a few smiles and whispered "I love you"s. His grandma should have been taken to the hotel after dinner, because she didn't seem especially comfortable sitting on the couch looking out on the dance floor. We should have thought of that and arranged for a ride for her. 

Seth and I left around 11:30? Midnight? Hil went and got my car (after Ruth's light blue 4 door Ford Escort - not my dark blue 2 door Ford Escort - was half decorated by the groomsmen). Then the groomsmen smeared cupcakes all over it in the driveway. We spread the word we were leaving and people made a oh, what is it called? They stood on either side and made a path with their bodies and arms... Then we got in the car and some of the guys (who, I don't know) jumped on it and shouted "get 'er done! get 'er done!" a bunch of times as we started the car and tried to drive way.