Celebrating 35 Years of Wedded Bliss on Oct. 2
The memories come flooding back. How could it have been 35 years? Where did they go? I don't have the time to relate all of that but I can recollect the most important moments from that time.
We were married at the First Baptist Church in Wyandotte, Oklahoma at 2:00 p.m. on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. The church sanctuary was filled to capacity. We might have opted for a larger church, but since I was the preacher's daughter, my mom was adamant that we use our home church. I am glad we did. Even though there wasn't enough room for the reception and everyone wound up sitting in the church sanctuary to eat cake and drink punch, it was our home church with our friends and family.
The days leading up to the wedding were hectic. I was enrolled in my final semester of college and had planned on taking Friday and Monday off from classes, but on Thursday one of my instructors announced that we would have a major test on Friday. Okay, so now I am supposed to study for a major test and get ready for a wedding. My future sister-in-law spent the week prior to the wedding with my future in laws to help get their house ready for the rehearsal dinner. I stopped by their house on my way home from school to tell D about my test. I was, to say the least, a little distraught. The future sister-in-law took this opportunity to come down on me for not helping out with cleaning their house. The final straw came when my granddad came by to inform me that he was going to have a funeral for some man rather than come to be a part of my wedding. It wasn't someone he was close to or even knew really well. He could have told them he wouldn't be available or even suggested that they have the funeral earlier in the day. Nope. Not my granddad. Family always came second. That was the way he was and he never changed. Of all of the grandkids who married while he was alive, I am the only one whose wedding he missed. Judy(his wife) was furious with him.
After they left, I lost it. I don't cry easily, but that day the tears came. The release of all the tension that had been building up was cathartic. After all of that, I just decided to go with the flow. As long as D and I got down the aisle, said our vows, and made our union legal, nothing else mattered. The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner went well. D, his brother, his male cousins, his friends, and my brother took off for the bachelor party thing while we girls went home to sleep and get ready for the next day.
I got up on the day of my wedding and went out to D's house to check up on things. Yes, he saw me before the wedding, and it has had no adverse effect on our relationship. D does not do well with little sleep and much beer. Those naughty guys kept him out all night and got him drunk. Right!!!! Bless his heart, he did look a little worse for wear. He just sat on the couch in a kind of stupor. He did look better by that afternoon.
Dad walked me down the aisle and my Uncle Mike had the services until Dad was able to give me away. Dad did the rest of the service. He was especially good at weddings and funerals, always knowing just what to say and how to handle all aspects of any occasion. I sure do miss him. D just wanted to say the "I do" and "I will" parts and had made that quite clear, but Dad had him repeat lots more than that. Dad was rather ornery in some respects and I believe he had an inkling of what had transpired the night before.
Before the wedding, my nephew and little brother, who were both 6, almost got into a fight. I told the nephew that if he would just get through with Aunt B's wedding, he could beat the uncle up afterward. He took me at my word. We made it through the wedding and afterward during the reception someone came in saying G and M were fighting and that I had said it was all right!!! Oops!!!
Scroll down after reading this to see some accompanying photos. I tried to get them to fit in with my blog but somehow they moved to the bottom and that's that. The son was trying to tell us how to do this over the phone. When he comes home for Thanksgiving, we will have to get some personal hands on directions. D and I were both on the phone with him trying to figure it out. One of the things I have learned during the last 35 years is when to exit. We were both getting exasperated trying to figure this out so I left. When the two of them had it figured out, I came back. No harsh words, no arguing, no hurt feelings. I surely do love those two guys.
The first picture is just before the wedding. My niece was my flower girl and she wasn't too happy when the picture was taken so my sis covered her little tear stained face. I am supposedly showing them my garter; however, I had left it at home. The bridesmaids' dresses were perfect for the 1970s even if some have compared them to Denny's waitress outfits.
The next picture shows us walking down the aisle. We both had hair and were in pretty good shape. What a difference 35 years makes! In this picture I look like the cat that swallowed the canary and D look likes a deer caught in the headlights. He got over that pretty quickly.
The last picture is of the wedding party. One of the groomsmen was quite mellow. We didn't realize this until we got the pictures back and noticed his eyes. Good thing he didn't have to remember the wedding for a blog.
I have been truly blessed over the past 35 years. Not everything has been perfect but we have made it through everything coming out stronger in our relationship and love than ever. What will the next 35 years bring? Stay tuned.
We were married at the First Baptist Church in Wyandotte, Oklahoma at 2:00 p.m. on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. The church sanctuary was filled to capacity. We might have opted for a larger church, but since I was the preacher's daughter, my mom was adamant that we use our home church. I am glad we did. Even though there wasn't enough room for the reception and everyone wound up sitting in the church sanctuary to eat cake and drink punch, it was our home church with our friends and family.
The days leading up to the wedding were hectic. I was enrolled in my final semester of college and had planned on taking Friday and Monday off from classes, but on Thursday one of my instructors announced that we would have a major test on Friday. Okay, so now I am supposed to study for a major test and get ready for a wedding. My future sister-in-law spent the week prior to the wedding with my future in laws to help get their house ready for the rehearsal dinner. I stopped by their house on my way home from school to tell D about my test. I was, to say the least, a little distraught. The future sister-in-law took this opportunity to come down on me for not helping out with cleaning their house. The final straw came when my granddad came by to inform me that he was going to have a funeral for some man rather than come to be a part of my wedding. It wasn't someone he was close to or even knew really well. He could have told them he wouldn't be available or even suggested that they have the funeral earlier in the day. Nope. Not my granddad. Family always came second. That was the way he was and he never changed. Of all of the grandkids who married while he was alive, I am the only one whose wedding he missed. Judy(his wife) was furious with him.
After they left, I lost it. I don't cry easily, but that day the tears came. The release of all the tension that had been building up was cathartic. After all of that, I just decided to go with the flow. As long as D and I got down the aisle, said our vows, and made our union legal, nothing else mattered. The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner went well. D, his brother, his male cousins, his friends, and my brother took off for the bachelor party thing while we girls went home to sleep and get ready for the next day.
I got up on the day of my wedding and went out to D's house to check up on things. Yes, he saw me before the wedding, and it has had no adverse effect on our relationship. D does not do well with little sleep and much beer. Those naughty guys kept him out all night and got him drunk. Right!!!! Bless his heart, he did look a little worse for wear. He just sat on the couch in a kind of stupor. He did look better by that afternoon.
Dad walked me down the aisle and my Uncle Mike had the services until Dad was able to give me away. Dad did the rest of the service. He was especially good at weddings and funerals, always knowing just what to say and how to handle all aspects of any occasion. I sure do miss him. D just wanted to say the "I do" and "I will" parts and had made that quite clear, but Dad had him repeat lots more than that. Dad was rather ornery in some respects and I believe he had an inkling of what had transpired the night before.
Before the wedding, my nephew and little brother, who were both 6, almost got into a fight. I told the nephew that if he would just get through with Aunt B's wedding, he could beat the uncle up afterward. He took me at my word. We made it through the wedding and afterward during the reception someone came in saying G and M were fighting and that I had said it was all right!!! Oops!!!
Scroll down after reading this to see some accompanying photos. I tried to get them to fit in with my blog but somehow they moved to the bottom and that's that. The son was trying to tell us how to do this over the phone. When he comes home for Thanksgiving, we will have to get some personal hands on directions. D and I were both on the phone with him trying to figure it out. One of the things I have learned during the last 35 years is when to exit. We were both getting exasperated trying to figure this out so I left. When the two of them had it figured out, I came back. No harsh words, no arguing, no hurt feelings. I surely do love those two guys.
The first picture is just before the wedding. My niece was my flower girl and she wasn't too happy when the picture was taken so my sis covered her little tear stained face. I am supposedly showing them my garter; however, I had left it at home. The bridesmaids' dresses were perfect for the 1970s even if some have compared them to Denny's waitress outfits.
The next picture shows us walking down the aisle. We both had hair and were in pretty good shape. What a difference 35 years makes! In this picture I look like the cat that swallowed the canary and D look likes a deer caught in the headlights. He got over that pretty quickly.
The last picture is of the wedding party. One of the groomsmen was quite mellow. We didn't realize this until we got the pictures back and noticed his eyes. Good thing he didn't have to remember the wedding for a blog.
I have been truly blessed over the past 35 years. Not everything has been perfect but we have made it through everything coming out stronger in our relationship and love than ever. What will the next 35 years bring? Stay tuned.
posted by Mrs. E at 2:18 PM
2 Comments:
Happy Anniversary!
Oh, and now I know why you kept referring to the pictures being on "new pages." Remind me when I come home to show dad how to zoom and crop when he scans . . .
After all, we need much, much clearer pictures of the Denny Waitress Bridesmaid dresses.
Oh wow. You looked positively radiant! I LOVE those bridesmaids dresses and your dress was GORGEOUS! Can you tell that I really would've loved to have lived in the 70's? I wanted to wear Mom's wedding dress - empire waist, very 70's chic, but alas, it just didn't work out.
I'm so glad you posted these!
Happy Anniversary!
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