I am blessed to have married an incredible man 10 years ago today. He is exactly what I needed in a life partner. God designed us to be together and I'm so grateful. It's been an amazing 10 years and I can't wait to spend the next 70 years with him!
Here's some memories from our special day:
Before the wedding started, Bill & I had pictures taken separately with our family & wedding party.
I was so nervous that day for everything to go right. I had so many great people helping that day. For most of the pre-wedding time, I was stuck waiting in this closet of a room that was hot. Someone (I can't remember if it was my Aunt Bev or Julie's dad) went to Walgreens and got me a fan. We still had that fan in our guest room until just this summer.
Of course Bill's dressing room was upstairs and he was able to hear our pre-wedding music- which was fabulous. Bill got Jerry Tietz and his trio to come down and play for our wedding. They were amazing.
Here's my dad walking me down the aisle. One of my favorite memories with him. Right after he gave me away, my dad & Bill's dad said a prayer for us. I still cry when I watch the tape.
Dave Ferguson married us. I still remember sitting at Dave & Sue's dining room table talking about our LifeMap personalities and budgets. We had so much to learn!
Bill wrote a song for me for our wedding and had Troy sing it. It's called "The Story of Our Lives". It was sweet and funny and so loving. It talks about some of our first moments as a dating couple but also talks about the future God has planned for us- "God as our guide, He will love us till the end."
We had Eric, Troy & my good friend Tamiko sing "Shine On Us" as we lit our unity candle. This song said everything I think that moment is about. Lord let your light shine through us, no longer as two individuals but as one.
The official announcement as husband & wife. I remember beforehand wanting to know how he was going to kiss me, being the planner I am, and he wouldn't tell. It was beautiful!
Finally married! Did I say that we were going to have a December wedding and decided we couldn't wait that long and moved it up to August?! We love each other. (don't you love all this goo!)
The staged kiss by the photographer:
Our wedding party. I love all these people dearly!
One of my favorite moments was our carriage ride to the reception. (The church & the reception were in downtown Springfield.) I remember Troy's kids on the sidewalk outside the hotel yelling & waving at us.
Our reception kicked butt! We had appetizers being served while we were getting all our pictures taken. We came in, did toasts, cut the cake & danced all night. It was a blast!!
Our first dance to our song "The Gift" by Jim Brickman.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the generosity of so many people that day--my mom's friend who did all the flowers in the church, people handing Bill cash all night for our honeymoon, tons of people driving from Chicago to be a part of our day, our parents footing the bill for so much, people picking up after me, helping me, all sorts of things I didn't even see. We have been blessed in so many ways. I now have 2 wonderful children who are a great mixture of the 2 of us! Thank you God for providing me with an amazing life partner! Thank you for our beautiful day!
