As of March 4,2009 we have been married 21 years, and we both remember every detail of that day, like it was yesterday. After a short engagement of six months, we took the plunge and have never looked back. Short of a couple funny incidents on the big day, everything went rather smoothly.

The day before our wedding I went to the lady’s house who had finished some last minute alterations to my gown. After trying on the gown I gave my approval of her handiwork. She placed the gown into the garment bag and hung it on the door while I quickly changed back into my clothes. This took maybe all of 15 minutes. Needless to say my to do list which was half a mile long kept playing over and over in my mind as I rushed out the door with my gown in hand. I mentally marked pick up gown off my list. As the day slipped into night I somehow managed to get everything done on my list except the actual wedding itself.

I actually did get a decent amount of sleep although I don’t know how that was possible. Between the excitement and sheer panic that I had forgotten something I couldn’t tell you when I finally did fall asleep. With the morning came a sense of feeling refreshed. Well at least until it came time to start getting ready. After updo and makeup was done I slipped into my gown . “Okay, now can you hand me my veil?” I asked my soon to be sister in law. “Um…Uh…” she muttered nervously looking in the bag and around the room. ” Uh…I don’t…see…it.” she confessed almost in tears. MY VEIL WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND! The seamstress had not put it in the bag with the gown and it was probably back at her house but she was going on vacation that morning for two weeks. So I sucked it up and plucked a few baby’s breath from my beautiful bouquet and pinned them in my hair. Oh well, I thought, I’m sure I’ll laugh about this years from now.

My soon to be husband was having a crisis of his very own right about the same time. He does not care too much for being in the spotlight and felt that his nerves were about to get the best of him. So he asked his mom for something to settle his stomach. Well she thought she gave him a nausea pill but it was a nerve pill. So about halfway through the vows it hit him and he started slurring his words, swaying back and forth and nearly passed out. Once we made it through the ceremony, he headed for the back door of the church. I didn’t know about the pill. I thought he was a runaway groom, as did probably most of our guests. After a few minutes he came back inside and explained everything in detail. To this day he swears he still gets a little queasy when he watches our wedding video, because he can’t believe he actually slurred ” awfully red head wife ” during our vows.

Mike was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for Katie to come home from work he had been waiting for three days now. He called off work for two days, he phoned the local hospital and asked if she was there the only response he got was, “Mike she has been at work for three days I’m sorry I don’t know what to tell you.”

The front door never opened he just sat there staring at the pictures on the fridge waiting for her to walk through the door. Each picture telling a story in his mind of how they met, the life they have led, and the memories they have made together.

The picture of the day they met at the fair her sitting on his lap in the photo booth her lips pressed into his cheek, each wisp of her updo flowing in the summer breeze that blew through the booth. Her cologne filling his nose as he took in each breath with every thought on how much he really liked her He could still see the look in her eyes as she kissed him goodnight at her car, got in and drove away with a glowing smile on her face.

The picture of the day he met her parents for the first time, his sweaty palms when he first shook hands with her really large father of 6′8″ frame with hands big enough to crush him with one punch he kept thinking as he look up to look him in the eyes.

He struggled to hide how much he wanted to touch her out of respect of this southern classic farm family. How each minute seemed like a test of whether he would be a good addition to the family not just for their only daughter? His first time milking one of the families’ dairy cows, It kicked him so hard he fell and screamed a foul word afraid he was about to be disowned by her father, “Yeah you gotta watch out for Millie she’s a kicker.” was all he said as he giggled and helped him up. They all had a great laugh at dinner over that one.

The picture of the day they got engaged how she looked so happy and glowing as he put the ring on her finger just moments after asking her father for permission. He was so nervous he dropped the ring twice trying to get it on her finger, “Sorry.” He sat smiling thinking of how happy she looked that day when they were finally making the big step together.

That led to the picture of their first small house they purchased down the road from her family with the classic dowry her family gave him as a wedding gift. She looked so happy the day he carried her in just days before their wedding together.

The wedding day picture of just her looking angelic at the camera her

“This is true love. Think this happens every day?” The Princess Bride

This was the general theme of my wedding which took place on September 25th, 2005. My (now) husband and I were married on a mountain, literally. The venue was an old house atop Lookout Mountain that is now used to weddings, receptions, corporate meetings and other occasions of the like. The location we got married was split between Tennessee and Georgia, so I can’t really be specific as to which state we were in! All I know is that we got our marriage license in Georgia.

My wedding day is a day that I know I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I slept at my in-laws’ house the night before the wedding as to abide by the tradition that the bride and groom are not supposed to see one another before the ceremony. That is pretty much where tradition ends in regards to our wedding! My father-in-law drove to get his wife and myself some breakfast. He came back with chicken biscuits, and I only ate the chicken as I was excited and I didn’t want to become bloated. I showered, and obediently put gel in my updos as the stylist had instructed during my “hair trial” the week before. When it was time for me to dress, I realized with a sense of mild horror that I had forgotten to include a button-down shirt in my suitcase so I wouldn’t mess up my hair. I called my mother-in-law to the door and asked if she had anything that I could borrow. She thought for a moment, and moments later retrieved a white button-down shirt with a collar that stuck out to the shoulders on either side. It was trimmed with red, and I think it had robins embroidered all over it. Definitely not something a 21 year old girl would wear, but it was all that I had to work with and I was grateful for her saving my hair.

We drove to my updos appointment. The stylist was my husband’s sassy aunt. She was hilarious as she regaled us with tales from her own daughter’s wedding day. She tugged, curled, sprayed, and bobby-pinned my updos to the point that a hurricane couldn’t have ruined my style. I wore my updos up, with a tiara atop my head and my veil pinned underneath the curly tail she had created for me. My friend (and bridesmaid) Rachel came to pick me up and take me to the wedding location so my mother-in-law could go back home and get other things ready. We decided to stop at a gas station to pick up some snacks as I figured there may be some need of a sugar fix. As we walked into the gas station, I realized that I was wearing jeans,