In Which We Said I Do...

After our engagement in August, we set the date for January 4, 2014 and began wedding planning. The next four months were a whirlwind of making decisions, ordering and sending invites, wedding registries, engagement pictures, buying a house, wedding showers, making decorations, as well as attending the weddings of several friends.

We finished most of the planning we could about a month before the wedding so we could enjoy the holiday season, and before we knew it, the long awaited wedding week had arrived. Having spent most of Christmas day with Ben's family in TN, we drove back to Louisville to meet my family who was flying in from WA later that night.

The rest of the week would be filled with last minute preparations, dress alterations, and the usual wedding week events. The whole thing was surreal. After attending so many friends' weddings and being a part of several of their rehearsals prior to my own, it was crazy to actually be the bride, to be the one who had to make the decisions.

Each night that week, Ben would hang out at the house with me and my family at the end of the day, and when it was time to leave we would hug each other goodnight on the front porch. The day before the wedding, as we hugged that last time, it seemed like a dream. I watched him walk to his car and all I could think was that the next time I would see him, I would be walking down the aisle in a wedding dress to marry him.

I woke on January 4th, our wedding day, with a sense of peace and calm. Not too much later, we headed to the church where I watched my sisters and friends put on their bridesmaid's apparel, and waited for the photographer to arrive so he could take pictures of my dress before I put it on. I remember someone saying that Ben had arrived at the church, and my heart began to race. I wanted so badly to see him!


My mom did my hair and helped me into my dress. She cried when she put the veil on. Next, we took pictures with the bride and bridesmaids. It was a sunny day, but still quite chilly outside, and the bridesmaids were troopers. I almost lost my veil when the wind swept it off my head, but they caught it before it blew away. Finally, we headed inside for lunch. They taped a tablecloth around me and my dress like a giant bib so I wouldn't get any barbecue on it. After eating, we went back to the choir room where we had gotten dressed to wait.


Ben and I wanted to pray together before the ceremony, so when the guys had eaten lunch and finished with their pictures, Ben waited for me in a nearby room with his eyes closed. With my eyes closed also, so we wouldn't see each other, I put my arm in my dad's and he led me in to Ben. Joyfully, Ben prayed for our marriage while my parents looked on. It was less than an hour before the ceremony would begin, but we had kept our eyes closed the entire time so we hadn't yet seen each other.


In no time at all, the bridesmaids and I were gathered at the back of the church, and the music began. I watched as family and then bridesmaids and flower girls all entered. Then it was my turn. It all happened so fast. When the doors opened, Ben was standing at the end of the aisle waiting for me. He had only a slight smile on his face, and as I got nearer I could see it was because he was fighting back tears. It was only the beginning of what would be a beautiful ceremony.



My small group leader, who had done our pre-engagement counseling, performed the ceremony. He preached a powerful message about looking to Christ in our marriage. We sang, prayed, braided a unity cord, said both traditional vows and vows we had written ourselves, and exchanged rings. At the end of it all he pronounced us man and wife, and we shared our first kiss. We were married!




More pictures followed, and a whirlwind of a reception in which we cut the cake with a machete, and then we were off on our honeymoon. We were two people, not knowing what the future holds, but deciding to face it together as one, whatever may come. That day was only the beginning of our wonderful, crazy, challenging journey of marriage, and, to quote a song by Andrew Peterson, "it was harder than we dreamed, but I believe that's what the promise is for."


See more pictures from our wedding here.