Wedding Day 1997

Mike and I are so excited to be travelling to MarriageFest at Ridgecrest, NC, this week with friends. We have wanted to attend for years, but have never been able to make it happen. This year, we just decided to schedule it and then work out the babysitting details. Thanks to Poppy, Nana, Granny and Papaw, we are able to see it happen this year and can't wait! The speakers sound great and Travis Cottrell, Beth Moore's worship leader for her Living Proof Live events, is the worship leader. He is also doing a concert on Fri. night!

So, looking ahead to a weekend of marriage related events and time together as husband and wife, I thought it would be fun to look back to our wedding day, April 5, 1997. We were married in our local home church in a ceremony perfomed by my dad/grandfather. Michael's brother was his best man and my sister was my matron of honor. Michael planned the music and my mom's sisters/sister-in-law decorated the reception area in the basement of the church. It was beautiful and we enjoyed the day so much. My colors were Navy and Gold. We had a great "90's" archways in the front of the church filled with flowers. Michael stood out front until one minute prior to the wedding to greet guests while I frantically got ready in the back. The little church was packed with all the special people in our lives. There were so many guests that we spent the whole reception time visiting with friends/family and didn't get to eat much - as I recall - one bite of cake was it! After the final photo shoot, we ran to the parking lot as we dodged pelts of bird seed and hopped in our get-a-way car that had been decorated with lots an lots of toilet paper. We stopped one mile up the road to remove all the toilet paper from the front windshield so we could see, stopped in the next town for burgers and fries at Burger King and off we went to Louisville. We spent our first night as husband and wife at the Executive Suites in Louisville, Ky., and then on to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We had an incredible honeymoon - and then married life really set it...please allow me to reminisce...

How handsome he was! I was so happy to be marrying this man!

I was nervous, but had a wonderful day! I felt so special that day.

The ceremony was memorable...performed by my father, introduced by my grandfather, songs sung by Mike's brother, Melisa's aunt and cousin, instrumentalists were friends of Mike. We talked to each other frequently throughout the ceremony. When we lit the unity candle, Mike looked at me and said, "you better enjoy this...it's going to be the biggest birthday party you ever get." And, it was my 25th birthday that day as well! What a gift!
We were so excited!
Where does our youth go so quickly? Did we really look that young? Boy, do I miss that time in our lives...little did we know what was coming down the pike...sometimes ignorance is bliss! And, what a ride it has been...ups and downs, hilariously funny times, moments of grief, years passing by...I would do it all over again...and again...and again...and again!
I love this man!