We Got Married

It all seems like a very weird and fantastic dream. It was too beautiful, too amazing and too perfect to be real. But it was. It really, really was.

I look at pictures and think, did I really wear the dress? Did I have a rehearsal dinner? Was everyone really here? That can’t be me! It looks too wonderful. I look so happy, and I’m a wife.
Over a week after the big day and I am back to real life, which feels great and sad. The party is over, the music has faded, but when I close my eyes, I’m still there.

When I close my eyes, this is what I see. FYI, this is where the Donkey decided to object.

Wow, what a wedding! I’m going to call it, hands down, the best wedding anyone has ever attended or thrown. That’s right, crazy blanket statement and generalization, but it was better than I ever could have imagined. Yes, I worked very hard at organizing the shin-dig, but there were so many things out of my control that came off better than expected. Such as the weather. Holy moses, we ended up with the most beautiful day! I heard a rumor going around that scientifically due to the humidity, temperature, dew point and pressure, it was the most beautiful day in Austin history. I believe it. We could not have asked for a more beautiful canvas for our day, but we got it. Not hot, not cold, absolutely darn perfect.

PERFECT!

So many wonderful memories of the day but one of my favorites was about 20 minutes before I walked down the aisle. John and ‘Basil’ of the Eggmen were playing an acoustic set before the wedding, and while they were playing Beatles tunes, I peeked my head out of my dressing room and there it was, the most picturesque scene: the sun shining, the nieces laughing and playing with their fathers, guests arriving and smiling, family members buzzing from person to person, the temperature perfect and my true and absolute vision of what heaven must look like: pure joy. I couldn’t believe this was my wedding day. We left the door open at my request so I could hear the music. I was never nervous, never had the jitters or cold feet or really any anxiety the day of. I was just happy to go along for the ride.

View from my bridal room

View from INSIDE my bridal room!

I had a list of items I wanted for my wedding (http://reddeliciously.com/2011/08/08/my-5-requests-for-a-rock-n-roll-wedding-dream-list/) and I have to be honest, I hit every one of them. I wore boots (my own, nothing I spent money on), I wore my sweet, sweet Led Zeppelin button down (which my amazing brother&sister-in-law got for me) while getting ready, I got ready to a rockin’ soundtrack, had custom-made Beatles themed bracelets for my bridesmaids and moms, and, more spectacularly and most noted, I played with the band. Yes.

I’ve never played in a band for an extended period of time, but I’ve always wanted to play in a rock and roll band. I love rock and roll, potentially even more than the Joan Jett way. It truly saved my life. So, for my day, I wanted to play with a rocking band. And rock we did. If you weren’t there, I don’t know how to describe what happened. A bride rocked out hard, which I’m not sure has existed in the history of weddings. It was a blast!

Rock and roll ain't noise pollution to this bride!

Me and the Eggmen -- TOTAL BLAST!

I’m currently writing a list of advice for brides, as I had some friends do that before I got married and their advice helped me substantially. I have a lot of thoughts from putting together a wedding and epic party and the whole process, so that will be out soon.

I can’t wait for all the pictures to come rolling in. We’ve got a few from friends, but the professional ones and the ones taken by family I am most excited about. I’ve had several thoughts of using all the pictures as wallpaper because I just want them surrounding me at all times. I want to see them all, everywhere. It really was the most beautiful day of my life.

I did make a huge mistake Saturday, though. As a bit of background, I have always loved the movie Forrest Gump, but I always cry, neigh, bawl when Jenny and Forrest get married. Something about the 5 seconds of film where they are standing on Forrest’s well-groomed lawn, looking at each other, re-adjusting little Forrest, and Lt. Dan standing behind his fiance, Susan that just leaves me incapacitated every time. It is breathtakingly beautiful and simple yet meaningful. And that’s what I wanted.

This picture is what set me off. So beautiful!

So, with the pictures I do have, I got the great idea to listen to that song in the soundtrack to really get the feeling of my Forrest Gump wedding. Well, I got it, alright. The moment the song started and I looked at pictures of us in front of the beautiful background of the Lookout, I was gone. I cried hard. Like a little girl who fell on cement blacktop.

But it was because I was happy. Happier than I have ever been. I’m not sure why I got such the wonderful and beautiful day, but I did. And I am forever grateful. Those pictures and moments are everything I could have ever hoped for. I wasn’t a princess, and I never wanted to be. I wasn’t a bridezilla, and I made a choice not to be. It was the best day of my life, on the most beautiful day in Austin, with the most beautiful people I know, married to the most amazing person in my life.