A Wedding Story Part 1

   

People often say that the Wedding is never the most important part, that one should always focus on the marriage and not so much on the wedding. And I understand why people would say that, since we live in a generation where weddings are often extravagant and an idea of a perfect wedding has been sold to every girl since we were five. And though I agree with some of that statement, I am glad I was able to have a beautiful wedding, and it is a day I will never forget.

Now let me start by bursting the bubble that a wedding has to have this and that or be a certain way. My purpose for this post is to hopefully encourage you to be set free of the expectations and have your most incredible day. 

First of all the fact that my now husband and I are married is a miracle on it's own. Our dating relationship was far from perfect. We went through a lot obstacles and after having to wait for three years to finally be together, the day finally came for us to commit our lives to one another. One day I will tell you our story.

It was on November 26th that we got engaged and the 1st of February we decided to save the date. The comments from "wedding experts" came flowing in because there was no way anyone could ever plan a wedding in three months! And then there were even more comments when we decided not to have a wedding party. But they really went crazy when we said we were not going to have a reception! "How are you going to have a wedding without a reception! What are all the guests going to think???" Now, please, understand my heart on this. There is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting for 6 months or more to get married, or to have a wedding party, or even having a reception. But we wanted to throw all of those "You must's" out the window because ultimately we wanted to enjoy our very special day.

The reason why we decided to get married in three months was because we had waited 4 years to finally be together and we did not want to keep waiting any longer. The reason why we decided not have a wedding party was because I would NEVER be able to choose within my friends. I loved them all exactly the same and I wanted them all to be able to be a part of my wedding just the same as every other person I loved and invited. And the reason why we both decided not to have a reception was because we wanted to invite EVERY SINGLE person that we loved and was special to us, and there was no way we could have a budget to feed and entertain all of our guests. However, we did have something very special planned for all our guests :)

The wedding planning time was probably a bit stressful in the beginning since I had NO idea where to start, but thank God for my amazing mom who gave me ideas, drove me to Michael's, Lowes, David's Bridal, the only bulk candy store in South Florida and even the Dollar Store (lol, yes) to find everything we needed for our very special day. And it if hadn't been for my dad we would've have never been able to find the perfect location, a covered, open park with a beautiful view for only $60! And my sister who planned and made everything come together on that day.
The most important part of your wedding coming together is the people who love you, and though you may think you know better and they can get under your skin. They make everything so much better than you could ever imagine.

And then as I blinked my eyes, the day had come. My friends had flown from out of town and everything was ready to go...

To Be Continued...

Photos taken by: Nate & Ali Happer