This week I’m mostly going to be talking about my wedding, so if that’s not something you want to read about, be warned!

Did you know weddings are nervewracking experiences? Of course you knew that. I knew that, too, but what I didn’t realize was how nervewracking. Planning a huge party is always an ordeal, but planning a huge party AND planning a meaningful ceremony that would flow AND preparing to see everyone I loved in one room AND needing to look really, really good AND OH YEAH committing myself to my new husband UNTIL WE DIE?

I was kind of a wreck.

But the good news is, spoiler alert, the ceremony went pretty well. Wanna see some pics? Let’s do it!

To get our hairs did, we went to Studio 19 (which I would HIGHLY recommend if you, for some reason, need a haircut in Mansfield). They gave us bagels and mimosas! What could be better? Not that I could eat much because I was so nervous about falling when I walked down the aisle.
Here’s Mama W. and me after getting our hair and makeup done. We look alike. I know.

And then it was off to the church, which was absolutely gorgeous. I may have had some problems with its religious message, but we used a Unitarian Universalist reverend to officiate, and she did a fantastic job, so it all worked out.

This painting was hanging in our getting-ready room, and it made me LOL because it looks so much like my parents’ wedding photos. I mean, their photos didn’t involve Jesus. They just had photos superimposed over one another.

Even though we said we weren’t getting each other wedding day gifts, H. sent me flowers, which was sweet and MAY have made one of my bridesmaids tear up.

Also our bouquets showed up, and they were OMG so gorgeous. I still just love looking at pictures of them. Flowers! There’s some Dusty Miller in there, which sounds like the name of a kid from my high school, but is actually just a plant. If you are in the Central Ohio area (again, for SOME reason), I’d recommend our florist, Forget-Me-Not Flower Shop in Lexington. Our arrangements were unique while still being really pretty.

At this point, I was so nervous that I was afraid I might pass out or puke. It wasn’t that I was nervous about getting married. I was nervous about the actual ceremony, and walking out in front of all those people. We had a relatively small wedding, but it was still a lot of people who could see me trip and fall, or somehow mess up the ceremony. I don’t know what I thought I could mess up in the ceremony, since basically all I had to do was repeat things. I mean, I’d decided not to have a unity candle to reduce the risk of accidentally starting a fire, so I didn’t even have that to worry about. I was starting to wish we’d just eloped.

Just imagine me thinking, “Heeeeeeeelp” in this picture, and you’ll get a good idea of what the afternoon was like for me.

The girls’ gorgeous dresses turned out exactly the way I wanted them to. Instead of picking out one bridesmaid dress for everyone, I told them all to just buy a coral dress. Since there are so many shades of coral, I counted on them all having one that was slightly different. I hate matching things, ever, so I was really happy when I saw all of their unique but equally pretty dresses. And the bonus is that they ACTUALLY CAN wear these bridesmaids dresses again, because they’re regular dresses! Also, to be honest, I just didn’t want to have to make any other wedding decisions, so it was easier to have the girls pick out their own dresses. Oh yeah, and there’s MY dress!

I got ready in the fancy-pants bathroom:

And then everyone helped me into my dress, which still fit perfectly. I didn’t do that thing where you buy a dress slightly smaller than you are so you have to lose weight, because, um, no. Clearly that wasn’t going to work for me because like I’m going to diet. Whatever. Instead I bought one that fit me like a glove, so I was really careful not to alter my eating/exercise habits too much for the past few months. I had to keep that weekly ice cream, you know? For the dress.

I really, really loved my dress. I wish I could wear it again, but barring some sort of weird wedding recreation attempt, that’s probably not going to happen.

And then 3:30 came around and it was time to walk down the aisle. Standing at the front of the church, hidden from everyone inside, with all of my bridesmaids in front of me ready to walk down the aisle, was simultaneously exciting and horrifying. I mean, it was time! Time for the whole reason 100 people drove or flew into the middle of Ohio. They were all here to see H. and me get married, and it was happening.

So I grabbed Papa W’s arm, asked him if he was getting emotional (“Hmmmm…a little,” he responded, unemotionally as usual), and walked down the aisle to Wachet Auf.

You know how people always say you don’t notice or remember much of your own ceremony? Well, I don’t know if people always say that, but a lot of people said that to me. And they were right! I pretty much floated down the aisle (didn’t fall!) and everything just happened. I didn’t cry, although I did tear up a lot and I almost laughed once (oops…I guess I’m not solemn enough). We had several readings that made me pretty emotional, including I Carry Your Heart by E.E. Cummings read by our friend/groomsman Dan. I could hear the bridesmaids sniffling behind me at certain times, but I kept it together (somehow, miraculously). And then we walked back up the aisle to Queen’s You’re My Best Friend, which is sort of our song.

And then it was over! In, like, 15 minutes! I was so relieved that we were through the hardest part that I was downright giddy as everyone went through the receiving line. And you know what? The receiving line was one of the most fun parts of the whole day. It was great to be able to hug everyone and say hi.

Then we had to take pictures, and even though it was April and just two days before I’d been comfortably wearing a sundress, it was cold. Like, so cold it had snowed earlier.

Can you tell we’re cold and miserable here?

It may have been freezing, but we suffered through the cold, even if everyone looked angry, sad, or confused (this is my favorite picture):

Luckily we had blankets!

But I think we (hopefully) got some good pictures even if we were freezing.

And then we went to the reception, which I’ll talk about in tomorrow’s post! I don’t want to overload you guys with too many pictures at one time. Thanks to our friends Cat, Jayne, Jessie, Mike, and Sam for taking so many great pictures of the day. In a couple of weeks I should have our (hired) photographer’s photos, and I’ll probably post a couple. And our friend Chad was our videographer, and soon he should have our highlight video done, which I plan on showing to everyone I meet, probably. So sorry if you’re not super-interested in wedding stuff and you wish I would just talk about, like, Taylor Swift or soup recipes. I do have a soup recipe coming up, but I also have a lot of wedding material that has absolutely nothing to do with soup.