Anniversary Musings

Earlier this week was my first wedding anniversary. So, as any good nostalgic would, I spent last weekend reflecting on the wonderful memories I have of last year’s events.

When we decided to get married, place was always important. I like to tell the story of what can only be termed “the negotiations” back and forth between us. Church was important, but we each had our own, an hour drive apart, with issues attached to each, so both of our own churches were fairly quickly ruled out. Every few days another idea would bubble up and we’d send a quick email, or bring it up over dinner….a chapel in the National Cathedral (not just any Episcopalian can get married there) …Williamsburg….the Lee Chapel….the first Methodist church in the U.S…the only Methodist church in Rome (yes, Italy)....and many many more. I was beginning to despair that we would find the place which would be meaningful to us both. At one point I made a brainstorming list of every idea we could come up with, just to see if I could think of any more possibilities, and the list of rejected places wasn’t short.

One afternoon in August, I remembered a quaint little town near his ancestral home where we had spent an enchanted weekend almost 4 years before. It was beautiful, we both loved it, and it felt like home to us both. A quick email exchange led to an excited phone call--and we had found our place!

Two months later he proposed to me.

I have developed some pretty strong opinions about weddings over the years; what’s important and what’s not, and of course what’s a waste of money (so much of it!) So...there was never going to be a $500 cake, thousands of dollars' worth of flowers, or any grown women parading down an aisle in matching peach/pink dresses. There would be no tuxeudoed ushers, no wedding singer, no garter belt, no making 150 favors the weekend before. And, as a woman of a certain age with a lot of common sense, there was absolutely no way I was going to do the whole white gown thing again—and luckily my hubby-to-be was ok with all of this.

What was important? Family. Church. Being with the people who meant the most to us. Having FUN!! Not being stressed out, going overboard, or being self-centered. Not going crazy or worrying about making it "our day" or "perfect." And forgive my immodesty, but I'm quite proud that that's exactly what we did.

Since I've been behind in actually posting here, and I must get to bed now, I'm going to post this tonight with an awful "TO BE CONTINUED" ...and hope you return for the next installment.