A Day to Remember

Most people say that their wedding day is a blur. That all they remember is lots of pictures, smiling, kissing, and a whole bunch of hands to shake. Of course there's some truth to that - it is without a doubt a whirlwind of a day. I think I probably speak for all couples when I say it's much more than that though. Certainly it is the case for me, and my sweetheart and companion Ashley.

I cannot tell you how much we looked forward to our wedding day. We planned it with fervent zeal. We wanted to be a part of every bit of it. Whether it was decorations, colors, food, or what order the line was there, we were a part of the planning. We drew scale diagrams of how we wanted everything laid out at the reception - and not just one, but many different versions until it was just perfect. We spent hours deciding what music we wanted to play, putting together our own slide show, making photo mattes from scratch, the whole nine yards. All of that planning, all of that effort was for one reason, one big cause - we knew that our wedding day was going to be special, that it was the one day in all eternity that we would be united together, and we wanted it to be perfect.

Despite countless mishaps, misadventures and setback, the day did finally come! We woke up far too early in the morning, but we were ready to go. We got all dressed up, made up, and fed up (meaning we ate breakfast), then out the door. We went straight to the temple and they quickly had us changed and ready for the most important part of the most important day of our lives. We soon found ourselves in an empty sealing room, where we were prepared for what was to come. The temple worker realized I had all my temple clothes on backwards and twisted and made quick order of fixing it. Then we were left alone to ourselves for awhile and we talked and laughed (quietly) and maybe made a few silly faces in the mirrors ...

After a few minutes, the Sealer came in and talked to us about the sealing ordinance and about the miracle that marriage is ... along with some pretty funny advice. Soon we were in our sealing room, with all of our family's smiling faces. It was actually kind of frightening, or at least overwhelming to see all those people's faces. We were completely filled with the love and support of our loved ones, our family and friends. Those sacred words were said, we were united for time and all eternity, and it was the happiest moment of our lives. Tears abounded.

The ceremony over, we headed out to see everyone waiting for us. On the way out the door, I tripped over Ashley's dress. It was pretty embarrassing, but I just recovered and smiled at everyone. Then there were about four hundred thousand group pictures to take, and about a million of the two of us after that. It was fun - and very tiring. And it made us hungry.

Off to the Luncheon! The food and conversation was great, but I don't honestly remember much of it. We had a bit of time after lunch and so we went to our new apartment and put furniture together. No, I'm not kidding, that's really what we did.

After a bit of hard labor and some rest, it was time for more wedding day fun. The reception. It was a huge success. Everybody loved the creative decorations, great food, and fun slide show. So many people showed up, it was really a special evening to be surrounded by so many people we love. Some hours later we decided to try and get a bite to eat. That was a total failure - I think we got maybe one nibble and a sip of drink before we got dragged back in to the fray.

So after the reception we got in our, um ... nicely ... decorated getaway car and drove off. Of course, everyone thought we were going straight home, but we had a bit of a trick up our sleeves. Still in our full-blown wedding attire, we stopped at, well, Wendy's. We unashamedly ate in the store, and then we went back to the car ... but we weren't done yet. Next stop, Walmart. No joke. We needed a pillow. We didn't know yet what we were getting for gifts, and Ashley didn't have a pillow with her, so we bought a cheap one for the night.

Finally we were home, and the most special, wonderful, and crazy day of our lives came to a close.

-Adam