19 years ago

Mariana just gave us this message for our anniversary: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I"M REALLY HAPPY YOU TWO MET!!!!! If not... I would have some serious complications in life...

I guess she has a point.

Well, 19 years ago in Montgomery County, PA, it was high 90s with about 90% humidity and our church didn't have air conditioning. And I insisted on an outdoor reception. Funniest Home Videos was a fairly new thing so we were hoping something would go wrong, but it didn't. Despite the temperature, none of the members of the wedding party fell to the floor. The unity candle did not catch on fire. The flower girl and ring bearer did their jobs as expected. And there was no alcohol or dancing so no chance to catch someone in an act that would embarrass him/her later.

So, other than the temperature, what do I remember about our wedding?

I remember that my mom tried to convince me to not make my wedding dress. Knowing that in the past I procrastinated on several sewing projects; finishing one just before putting it on and heading out the door, she didn't think she could handle the stress. She took me to several bridal shops to try on dresses. She was even willing to pay for the one I fell in love with but in the end couldn't convince me to give up my dream of sewing my own dress. Thanks, Mom. I'm so glad I was able to accomplish that goal.

I remember that we teased our flower girl about needing to grow hair on her head for the wedding. She came through and had a head of curly hair just in time for the wedding. Looking at her beautiful curly hair now, you'd never know she was a late bloomer.

I remember my best friend coming over to help us prepare the food for the reception.

I remember that I attempted to keep guests from clinking glasses at the reception by providing only plasticware and plastic cups. They, however, figured out that plasticware banged on metal chairs does make a decent amount of noise.

I remember all of the wonderful songs and poems people shared at the reception, especially the just-for-us song written by our younger brothers.

I remember a letter I received several weeks after the wedding. It was from a college friend who compared our reception to a Country Time Lemonade commercial (remember them?).

I remember that a bee went up the skirt of my wedding dress and it took some time before that crisis was solved.

I remember the song that my aunt led to direct us in the cutting of the cake. Accompanied by all the children in attendance it started with "The bride cuts the cake, the bride cuts the cake, hi-ho-the derry-o, the bride cuts the cake" and went on and on with verse after verse but before it got too graphic, ended with "I guess we'd better stop, I guess we'd better stop..."

I remember leaving the reception in a horse-drawn carriage; the most relaxing part of the whole day.

I remember going from the reception to the nursing home to visit a neighbor who had been like a grandmother to us. She had wanted to come to the wedding but was on oxygen and couldn't handle the high temperature that day. As I leaned over to hug her, a waterfall of bird seed fell out of my hair (remember these were the days before little bottles of bubbles had been invented but after the discovery that rice thrown at weddings ends up in birds' stomachs, so throwing bird seed was both the newest fad and environmentally friendly, until it was found that there were a lot of obese birds living in close proximity to church buildings). She was so incredulous that we had come to visit her that she told everyone about how we came, still in our wedding clothes, just to visit her. She also found bird seed in her bed for days afterward.

Most of all, I remember reciting the vows that promised my love and faithfulness to the man who has taught me so much about unconditional love. Thanks, John. I love you! (There, now you can't say that I'm not lovey-dovey or mushy.)