We're Married!

We had the perfect wedding on January 6, 2007, in the beautiful Rancho Capistrano hillside in San Juan Capistrano. The wedding was outside overlooking a lake and the surroundings made it absolutely gorgeous. There was no need for any decorations other than the scenery already supplied.

The ceremony was during a beautiful, sunny late Saturday morning. The only weather "problem" we had was some heavy winds the day before that blew branches all over the venue. But other than that, no worries at all. God blessed us with he most perfect weather for a winter day and neither of us could have wanted anything more.

The day was so wonderful, in fact, that we didn't want it to end. We had so much fun celebrating, dancing, visiting, eating, and just being with each other and with so many people who love us that it was beyond anything we could have imagined or hoped for.

One of Jeremiah's favorite parts was the very end where we walked out to our truck and our guests were blowing bubbles everywhere. He thought that this must be what Heaven will be like: everyone you love in one place, smiling, and having fun.

The ceremony was beautiful and everything happened without a hitch. It was rather emotional for both of us. I thought I would memorize my vows beforehand (we wrote our own) and just use my notecards as a "just-in-case" but I ended up needing them the whole time as my memory was not there when I needed it!

Okay, I said the ceremony went off without a hitch, but I guess there really was one - but it was rather funny, even at the time it happened. When it was time for our mothers to light the candles that we would use to light the unity candle, they couldn't figure out how to use the lighter! We had bought one of those lighters with the long nose where you pull the trigger with your finger and a flame comes out the end. We thought this would be easier than matches - we were wrong. No one thought to test out the lighter before the ceremony as we have all used one of these before. But, I guess since the last time any of us had actually bought one was before they decided to put child safety locks on the lighters! So instead of just pulling the trigger, you have to first push a little lever with your thumb and then pull the trigger. It took a minute or so (with the pastor's help) to figure it out but they finally got it - and it really did put a smile on all our faces.

One thing that I really wanted at my wedding was a good wedding kiss. Well, I'm not one to kiss and tell, but I will say that Jeremiah definitely delivered (and I know he shocked everyone with it - including me!)

After we were pronounced "Husband and Wife" and proceeded up the aisle, we followed the walkway to the left and some tall bushes were now blocking our view from our guests. So we were for the first time alone and married. We both looked up into the sky a little and there was a beautiful butterfly dancing about right in front of us. It was so special and something we will never forget. It was like a little gift from God to us.

The reception was a wonderful party for us. We enjoyed the food, the dancing, and the company. We danced our first dance to "You Are the One" by Gary Rea (he's a Christian artist from South Africa - he performed at our church a while back and I bought his CD; when I heard that song, I knew that was what I wanted to dance to at my wedding).

Here's some of the other songs we had:

• My Girl by The Temptations
• Little Brown Jug
• Moonlight Serenade
• In the Mood
• Sugar, Sugar
• Beyond the Sea by The Royal Crown Revue
• Love
• Sunday In New York
• Rock Lobster
• The Way You Do The Things You Do
• Come On England
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
• Love Fool
• Pour Some Sugar On Me
• Sunny Came Home

Leading up to the wedding, one of the things we left until the last minute was the music. We spent the last few weeks finding and organizing all the music we wanted played before, during, and after the ceremony and reception. It too A LOT of work especially when you are down to the wire on time, but that was perfect as well. (I still listen to our wedding music at work and at the gym - it's just so much fun and reminds me of different parts of that day.)

It took a lot of planning and there were many times when we just couldn't believe what we got ourselves into. But in the end, it was perfection and it was one of the best days of our lives - and it was the first of our many adventures to come as a married couple!