“And
this I pray, that your love may abound, yet more and more in knowledge and in
all judgment” Philippians 1:9
Four years ago today, I married my best friend, my
other half, my soul mate. Kris and I were together for nearly three years
before we were married, by that time we had been through so much more than any
two people should ever have to go through, especially at such a young age.
Through every problem, every health issue and surgery, Kris never left my side.
(A little backstory for ya: ) About three months
before wedding, I had been in the hospital, lost our stillborn daughter and
underwent an emergency total hysterectomy. Yet, this man still wanted to marry
me. He didn’t care that I couldn’t give him the family I thought he wanted, he
didn’t care that it might be weird to deal with a 21 year old menopausal woman,
he just wanted to be with me.
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| This image from rehearsal dinner, night before wedding :) |
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| Wedding Location |
Since I had plenty of time at home while healing
from my surgeries, I planned most of the wedding on my own, with plenty of help
from mama of course. We were lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family
members to help out with every aspect of planning, decorating, and refreshments that our budget was pretty low too.
Our wedding ceremony was held in my home town, the
small town of Pendleton, SC. The actual wedding was held on a family friend’s 57
acre farm. Kris and I both wanted a teeny tiny ceremony, but eventually did
invite around 40 people so that we could have our most important friends and
family with us for the big day. We requested that wedding attire be comfortable
and casual as it was an outdoor wedding and the temperature was HOT that day.
The
wooin’ and the courtin’s done, our life together has begun (from our wedding
invitations)…
Our simple ceremony included bride, groom, Maid of
Honor, Best Man, and two flower girls. Kristin, the Maid of Honor, wore a yellow sundress, the boys wore jeans,
cowboy boots, and green or yellow shirts. I, myself ended up in a maxi dress,
was still recovering from my surgey and the wedding dress I had spent months
and months searching for, didn’t work with the 50 pounds lost from hospital
time and the new 13 inch scar. So, I got the next best thing, a white cotton
maxi dress, and I guess it was alright. The cowboy boots I bought for the
wedding didn’t quite work with my cotton dress, so I also had to wear flip
flops, yet again, not a bad switch, just something I hadn’t wanted or planned
for. The wedding theme was country wedding and our color scheme was John Deere green
and yellow!
The majority of our music for the ceremony and
reception was country music and we handpicked each song ourselves. A few of our
ceremony songs included, Somebody Find Me a Preacher byTrace Adkins, Soulmate
by Josh Turner, and our final song for the ceremony was Forever and Ever, Amen
by Randy Travis.
Our dear friend, Rebecca, married us. She led the
quick, but beautiful ceremony and did a wonderful job.
These were our wedding vows:
I
choose you ___ as my best friend for life, to embark upon this great journey of
marriage with me. I take you to be my husband/wife, my partner, my soul mate. In
sickness, I will nurse you back to health. In health, I will encourage you on
your path. In sadness I will help you to remember. In happiness, I will be
there to make memories with you. In poverty, I will do all that I can to make
our love rich. And in wealth, I will never let our love grow poor.
As it was nearly 100 degrees with 100 humidity the
afternoon we got married, our ceremony was mighty quick and then we were off to
the reception for bbq and sweet tea!
Our wedding reception was also held outdoors, across
the field from our ceremony location. Guest were also invited to use the farm
house but as with most 100 year old farm houses, there was no air conditioning
and 40 people were quite crowded in that space. The picnic reception with SC
bbq helped to end out our perfect, perfect day. My friend Marion, from Circle M
BBQ, in SC catered our supper. If you’re ever in the area, check out Circle M BBQ, he’s on facebook. Guest enjoyed Carolina style BBQ pulled pork,
smoked chicken, beans, slaw, rolls, and sweet tea. Mom (my grandma) made her
famous punch and we had a variety of favorite pies and peach cobbler rather
than a wedding cake.
Kris and I left our wedding reception that evening,
headed for our hotel that night. We had an early flight to catch the next day
for our honey moon and my first trip out of the country. Catch next week for my
posts on our honeymoon trip to the Bahamas!
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| Bouquet Toss |
In the four years that we have been married, a lot
has changed but Kris and I are still crazy about one another. We’ve helped each
other to accomplish each other’s goals and are still working towards a few
things, school, adoption, adjusting to life in the northwest. I look forward to
many more years with my man and to what our future holds!
