when i was crying on my husband’s shoulder the other night about all the balls i felt like i was dropping, he reminded me of this day a year ago, and drew the metaphor of how there’s the way you picture how things are going to go… releasing flowers gently into the water, saying a quiet goodbye to them the day after your wedding… and the way things really end up going: having the flowers ripped from your hands by a 40 mph gust of wind and laughing your faces off. i told him i was going to shamelessly steal his metaphor and publish it on the internet. what’s his is mine?
my plan was to post about our wedding day on our first anniversary, but that was just the latest plan in a long string of “catch up on the wedding posts” plan modifications, beginning last july. there is what i think it’ll be like, and then there is what it’s really like.
the day after our wedding, we snuck off to the beach (house still full of guests tucked in front of a movie in our living room) with my best woman holding my camera. our intent was to hold a solemn little ritual releasing of my wedding bouquet into the ocean. i was ok with watching the natural decline of the rest of our amazing wedding flowers, but i wanted to remember the bouquet i carried as i walked to meet rich at the wedding trees in their full rainbow vibrancy.
it was a blustery day at the beach!
when we walked out across the dunes, the wind increased to the point of taking our breath away, dislodging bobby pins, threatening to steal earrings, and blowing sand in our faces. i don’t know if i have ever laughed so hard! here my husband is rescuing me from blowing away.
just trying to unwrap the lace from the bouquet was a major project requiring advanced teamwork.
it was unbelievably difficult to hold the bouquet upright in the wind! at any moment, i could be whipped by my sash, or have my vision obstructed by the lace, as well. i mean, look at our hair!
this is, hands down, my favorite photo of my bouquet. so thankful my bestie was there to capture these silly, beautiful moments.
to quote best woman, “i got the before, and the after, but there is nothing in between!”
as soon as i released my grip on the flowers, they had shot 30 yards down the beach!
we chased after them to grab some photos of them “gently floating away” into the sunset.
then i zipped up my hoodie and we got the heck off the beach! we stopped briefly for a practice run of one of his husbandly duties. husbands must catch their wives when they fall or jump off of high things! like sand dunes!
yes, i was wearing my jeans under my wedding dress the entire time.
~~~the prayer from our wedding~~~
God in heaven above please protect the ones we love.
We honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together.
We honor Mother Earth and ask for our marriage to be abundant and grow stronger through the seasons.
We honor fire and ask that our union be warm and glowing with love in our hearts.
We honor wind and ask that we sail through life safe and calm as in our father’s arms.
We honor water to clean and soothe our relationship — that it may never thirst for love.
With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony as we grow forever young together.
Amen.
This is all so perfect and better than planned (in my opinion anyway).
Glad you have each other and I love Rich’s way of reminding you.
Love and Laughter for you both always!
I wish I could have seen it in person but he photos and your retelling are almost as good!! Providence had other ideas….you can plan your steps but what is meant to be will be! 😉
I tried commenting on your last post but it rejected me…. 🙁