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Saturday, May 9, 2009

A Wedding Story

Retro & I were married on May 9, 1998. It was Mother's Day weekend that year too.

As ya'll know, we live in a small town and the county we live in is very close-knit. Both of our families were raised here & we either know everyone or are related to them (my side). Plus, there's not a whole lot going on around here so weddings in our social circle make for wonderful reasons to have a good party!

When I say that our wedding was a social event, I am not exaggerating. We seriously know everybody! I must say all the pre-wedding festivities were some of the most memorable times of my life. All these parties for me! oh & Retro.

We had like 10 showers/parties; Lingerie Shower, Bed & Bath Shower, Baskets Around the House Shower, a Beach Party, a Dinner Party, a Lawn & Garden Party, the Church-Wide Miscellaneous Shower, a Stock the Bar Party, a Cocktail Party & the Bachelorette Party Spa Day/Bachelor Party Golf Day. And that's not even counting the Bridesmaids' Brunch & Rehearsal Dinner! So many parties, soooo many thank-you notes!!!

Look how skinny I was!!! And Retro looks like he's 12. I love everything except my hair. I remember I was having some major hair issues that day. When I look at this picture, it reminds me how much I love my church. I was christened at this alter, married here & christened my 3 babies here. They even got new carpet for my ceremony. Coincidence, I think not.

Ya'll may not believe this, but I am a very emotional person. If I'm happy I cry, if I'm mad I cry, if I'm nervous or stressed I cry. I refused to be a blubbering fool during my wedding, so I took a Valium. My momma still says you can tell I "was on drugs" when you watch the video. I may or may not have given a thumbs-up to my reader. I still teared up a little during our vows. It's Retro's fault, he started it. But it did save those groomsmen from an encounter with Bridezilla.

Yes, we had a rather large wedding party; 14 attendants, 3 ushers, a flower girl & ring bearer. It was unavoidable. Momma made me have my cousins & Margie St. Morris. Really she did make me have my brother. We are not BFs & he didn't even want to be in it. Anyway, when you have lots of friends, you have lots of attendants.

And the guests! My word. We included a church-wide invitation in the bulletin, because it was the proper thing to do since they gave me such a huge shower. However, we didn't expect everybody to show up & I think they brought their friends! It must have been a slow weekend because people were standing up in the back of the church & it's not really that small of a church. Regular size for a small town Methodist church. My boy cousins were sent on to the reception to free up their seats. Some of our good friends were late & ended up sitting on the front row! Not directly in front of family, of course!

One of my favorite things about the wedding was the flowers. The ones that I wanted! They were freeze-dried. This preserves them in their natural beauty. 11 years later & I still have my bouquet. And my very long & heavy detachable train. Packed away safely. somewhere.

I know it's not traditional, but we had all of our pictures taken before the wedding. It drives me crazy to have to wait 45+ minutes at the reception for the bridal party to arrive!


This was our "get-away car". The driver had to go really slow so my hair or vail wouldn't mess up! Heaven forbid. I know you're wondering what's on my feet. I have an affection for slippers & this was kind of a long-running joke with my friends. So somebody bought me some new "wedding slippers" & I had to wear them! Please take notice of my actual wedding shoes in my hand!
I also loved my cake! Especially those flowers. Our reception was held "at the home of the bride's parents". Wedding cake in the dining room and groom's cake... on the back patio. It was a golf theme, not an armadillo! Actually, it was kind of cute. 3 square graduated layers of chocolate with green piping & white chocolate golf balls on each corner. One of the favors were personalized golf tees.

The party was a blast! I even had magnolia candles floating in the pool. Tons of food, tons of people & tons of dancing. The band was set up by the carport so the drive was the dance floor. We were so busy talking to everyone that we hardly saw each other. It took them 10 minutes to locate both of us for our first dance!

Everything went off without a hitch except for the fire. To be continued...


Just kidding. About the to be continued part, not the fire. Seriously, like I said my flowers were freeze-dried. This included flowers for the decorations. And freeze-dried flowers, candles & ceiling fans don't mix. One of the arrangements caught on fire! I didn't actually seen the fire because several of the men were able to get it put out quickly & without any damage. Except for my Aunt Ann who nearly had a heart attack! She still tells the story of that fire every chance she gets.

But what's a good party without a little excitement!

And boy, just look at us now!


*If you didn't already figure it out, I got lots of inspiration from Shelby's wedding in Steel Magnolias.*

24 comments:

wife.mom.nurse said...

Gorgeous! Beautiful! Lovely! Amazing!

Wow!

Awesome!

Love it!

Happy Anniversary!

~Julie

Pretty Personal Gifts said...

Beautiful pictures and Happy Anniversary!

Jessica Ryan said...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! Your wedding pictures are gorgeous and you looked spectacular! LOL at the fire story. Every good party needs a story like that. Can't wait to hear more!

Tammy said...

OH I wish i lived in your town-i would have loved to be part of a real Steel Magnolias wedding!
Ive loved the idea of Shelby's wedding forever!
Im glad you had such a lovely wedding-and all those parties, sounds like a blast!
Happy Anniversary!

Tales From My Empty Nest said...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! What a beautiful wedding. I love weddings and looking at wedding pictures. I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend celebrating your anniversary and also Mother's Day. What an awesome family you have!! I have always thought your children are so adorable! Love & blessings from NC!

Mrs4444 said...

Sounds like your wedding really WAS a day to remember! I truly enjoyed reading your play by play. Happy Anniversary. Now, off to find your FF! :)

Mom of Three said...

so pretty! You had a really nice wedding. I like the Valium part! I couldn't find any of those, so I made sure I had a drink or two before mine. I still got super nervous and teared up, but it kept me chill until I had to walk down the aisle.

Domestic Diva said...

Thank you so much for sharing those priceless pictures. What a beautiful family..wishing you many years of happiness.
Happy Mother's Day!
xxxxx me

Laura said...

I think you were a beautiful bride and I enjoyed the chance to do down "memory lane"! Your dress was gorgeous - and I thought I had the longest train! Ha! Anyway, you have truly been blessed! Happy Anniversary! Enjoy your weekend!

Elaine at Matters of the Heart) said...

What a beautiful day. Loved all the pictures. Happy Anniversary, have a blessed day.

Anonymous said...

I do remember what a beautiful bride you were. I don't remember you acting 'drugged', but your dog certainly was. Just hilarious, the dog, I mean, not your wedding. The wedding was beautiful. Susan and Cynthia were assigned to the dining room to serve the cake. The dog kept trying to stand up, but...well, so funny... You were a beautiful bride with a handsome groom.
Joanne

Anonymous said...

You used the same 'get-away car' that Valerie and Jason used.
Joanne, again.

KK said...

Simply gorgeous--Happy Anniversary Shelby!

Sherrie said...

Happy Anniversary to you and Retro. Hope you have many more exciting and fun years together. And -- I enjoyed looking at all the pictures being as I wasn't there...LOL! Just giving you a hard time girlie! :)

Jill said...

Loved seeing all the photos. Happy Anniversary. (And PS - You win for the person I "know" who's had the most showers. Holy! Moly!)

Together We Save said...

Beautiful pictures then and now.

Unknown said...

Wow, thank you for sharing such a memorable time in your life! Happy belated anniversary :) Your pictures look absolutely GORGEOUS!!!

Helene said...

I.Love.It!!!! You made a gorgeous bride!! I love all the pictures, esp the one of you both with your whole wedding party and the family pic at the end! Isn't it amazing to look back at the wedding pics and remember exactly what your thoughts were at the time??

Hope you all had a wonderful anniversary!

Princess Freckles said...

Thanks for this post! Such beautiful pictures. In the middle of the all craziness, its nice to read about your wedding and remind myself what really important.

Anonymous said...

Holy cow! WHY wasn't I invited?!?!?!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the last picture of your family. Gorgeous! Happy Anniversary!

SarahHub said...

Beautiful! Happy anniversary!

Anna said...

Nice train.

Mags said...

Happy belated Anniversary!!! I enjoyed reading your wedding story.

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