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A Wedding Story

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I was 23, and Paul was 26. We met on a blind date when I was in college and he was in seminary. I’ve told that story before so for this post I will skip to the wedding day. It was August 5th, 1995 — probably the hottest day of the year. We got married in my hometown in southern Virginia, and the temps were close to 100. Of course, our church and reception hall had air conditioning so we really didn’t notice except during a very hot (and fortunately short) limo ride from the church to the hotel.

I absolutely adored my dress, and to this day I dream about wearing it again. Unfortunately that was 20 pounds ago and that’s not likely to happen in this lifetime.

Like many brides to be, I tried on probably a hundred dresses, and at least half of them were the very popular at the time off-the-shoulder style. Finally I found one that I was planning to order. I had photos of myself wearing it in the dressing room, I had the bridesmaids’ dresses picked out to go with it, and I had planned my veil and my shoes. The only thing I hadn’t done was place the order.

Then one day my mom and I were out of town when we just happened to come across a bridal store going out of business. We went in to try on dresses “just for fun.”

You know where this is going, right??

I ended up falling IN LOVE with a dress by Priscilla of Boston, sadly out of business as of 2011. It was unlike anything I’d tried on before. Since the store was going out of business, they were selling floor models for a song, which put the dress right at the top of our price range. The only glitch was, the floor sample was 2 or 3 sizes too big, but we were able to have it sized down for me.

What I love most about my dress is that it was timeless and it doesn’t shout 1995. I only wish I could say the same for my bangs…

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My childhood pastor performed our ceremony, which was so special. I remember that we had to work around his schedule to choose our wedding date, but we didn’t mind. It was worth it to have him officiate.

Everything was very traditional with a church ceremony, a harpist playing as our guests arrived, and Trumpet Voluntary on a trumpet accompanied by our huge pipe organ as I walked down the aisle, crying every step of the way. What can I say, I’m a sap at heart! Our reception was held at a historic downtown hotel with a classic musical trio playing while we ate. Music is a huge part of both our lives so that is something we put a lot of thought and planning into, and I loved it.

We were such young’uns, but we knew we were meant to be and didn’t see any point in waiting to get hitched. He was a good boy and didn’t smash cake into my face. He had been duly warned . . .

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Also. I love, love, LOVED our cake. The fondant frosting was amazing. It looked like porcelain, and it tasted divine. I still dream about eating that wedding cake. Maybe for our 20th wedding anniversary, I should order a single layer. That’s only a year away. GULP!!!!!

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Finally, these ladies are to this day my best friends in the whole world. I adore this photo of us. I was wearing my “going away” dress and getting ready to leave, and fortunately someone had the presence of mind to request this photo. It meant so much that they were both there for me on such a momentous occasion.

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I still look back on my wedding day as one of the happiest of my life. I wouldn’t change a thing.

How about you?? Was your wedding everything you dreamed of? Or are you still dreaming?

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9 Responses

  1. I got married just a few weeks before you on July 8. I also loved everything about our day including my dress. It was the first one I tried on and I feel like if I were getting married today, I would still pick it but I can’t fit into it either 🙁 Such wonderful memories!!!!!

  2. I still daydream about my wedding cake it had the most delicious frosting. I have a friend who gets a small cake or cupcake from the bakery that made her wedding cake every year on her anniversary.

  3. The only thing I regret about my wedding is not really eating!! The only cake I got was the bite my husband fed me. HE got to eat a piece while I danced with my dad. That still makes me mad!! 😉

    Otherwise it was pretty darn perfect in my opinion. Ten years ago this July!

  4. I so love that you shared this post, Jo-Lynne! Love the pix, love your shared memories and wistful recollection of the day and I love that you’re going to soon be celebrating 20 years together – AWESOME!!!

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