13 February 2017

our wedding, part one.


our wedding photos arrived a couple of weeks ago and i've been gazing at them daily since, doing my best to gather our thoughts on the day. everyone told us our wedding day would fly -- that we'd blink and it would be gone, but we truly do not feel that way at all. the day passed in perfect tempo, heartbeat by heartbeat, and three months on, we look at each other and marvel -- we remember it all.

we were married on a friday afternoon under a magnolia tree, two years beyond our very first date. we liked that sentiment -- that that early november day will always, simply, be ours. for twenty fridays, we made plans -- small plans for our wedding, big plans for our marriage. we knew we wanted our wedding to be simple, intimate, meaningful, us. we wanted our ceremony to reflect our love and our beliefs about what marriage is. we wanted to be surrounded by our people. we wanted our music to reflect the life we already share. we wanted our wedding feast to be an evening of whiskey and gypsy jazz, supper served family-style down long king's tables, flickering candles and sweeping southern porches, stories told from the mouths of family and friends. our dinner party of dreams.

we decided early on that, while we wanted the first time we saw each other in our wedding clothes to be down the aisle, we wanted to spend time together beforehand. the morning of our wedding, we went to black tap for coffee and for a walk along the battery. i am so glad we did that. i am so thankful we have that morning's worth of memories together.

we have so many fond memories from that day -- dressing surrounded by family and friends and feeling butterflies knowing that my christopher was doing the same, one floor below. all the tears the first time my papa saw me as a bride. belly laughing when angie kissed me on the forehead and left a lipstick print. our sweet trio of flower girls. the toast christopher shared with his parents and brothers and oldest friend, just before the ceremony. the sun bursting through the magnolia leaves. my grandmother's joy at all four of her sons together. what it felt like to watch our family and bridal party walk down the aisle to benjamin britten's friday afternoons, op. 7: cuckoo! and beirut's postcards from italy. walking on my papa's arm to iron & wine's faded from the winter. meeting my darling, teary groom at the end of the aisle. martha's lovely gathering words. when christopher gasped, this is the best! right in the middle of the ceremony. megan reading walt whitman's song of the open road. amber reading the lyrics to la vie en rose. erin reading lawrence ferlinghetti's recipe for happiness khaborovsk or anyplace. our first walk as husband and wife to sigur ros' hoppĂ­polla. ducking into the belmont for bubbly, just after the ceremony, just the two of us. looking around at dinner and seeing the dearest people in our lives, filling a room. mollie's sweet tears, all the live long day. our first dance under the fairy lights and starry sky to louis' la vie en rose and the flower girls perched on the grass, watching. dancing with our parents to the very songs we danced to when we were little, and my papa's smile when he realized we were dancing to beauty and the beast. kissing a lot. hummingbird cake. photobooth shenanigans. stories and toasts that made us laugh and made us cry. hugging one hundred twenty people. waking up a few hours later next to my husband.

so sweet they hurt, these memories. it was one happy day in what we pray will be a long life, side by side, rich in happy days.

we are eternally grateful to our dear friends, meghan and matthew cavin, for capturing the day for us. such a gift, these photographs are!

4 comments:

  1. These take my breath away. The beauty of that day was surreal in some ways but captured every bit of the reality of your love for each other and the love all your people have for the two of you. Magical it was! XO

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  2. all those pictures are so beautiful and lovely. congrats to both you and your husband :)

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  3. Such beautiful, beautiful photos. Meghan and Matthew did an incredible job capturing such a meaningful day. Ahhh it was the best! Love you.

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