Two years ago today, September 29, Dan and I began our marriage. It's been the best two years of our lives. We've laughed more than ever before. We've grown together. We've cried together. We've fought together. And we've simply thoroughly enjoyed life together. It's been truly wonderful.
While planning a wedding can be a stressful and busy time, it was really our goal to make our day about our love and the marriage that we were beginning. One of the ways that we did this was through the time we had alone when we first saw each other. While there were friends watching nearby, cameras snapping shots in the shadows, and random strangers gawking in the park, we felt utterly alone and together as we saw each other and said hello for the first time that day. We had planned to exchange cards at that time and we burst out laughing when we realized that we had bought each other the exact same handmade card from one of our favorite local stores (I Like You, NE Minneapolis).
As we planned our wedding, we wanted it to not only be a simple ceremony that was filled with those we live life with, but we also wanted it to be a wonderful celebration that would be thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance. People still tell us today that our wedding was the most fun they've ever had a wedding...so...we think we achieved our goal.
When I'm at shows with Dan, people often ask me if he serenades me each night before bed. I usually hide a chuckle as I imagine how unproductive our lives would be if that is what we spent our time doing each day, and then I smile at them and tell them, "not on a regular basis, but he does show me any new songs he's working on." He did however, serenade me at our wedding. During the reception he sat me down in front of everyone and sang the most wonderful song about the journey that we'd taken as a couple and the love that we will always share. "Minnesota Love" is on his album Roaring Dan, which was released in 2013 and will be available digitally in the weeks to come. We then danced our first dance to another song of his as well, "Till the End of Our Days." Being married to a singer-songwriter does have it's perks!
I tell you all of this for a few reasons. One, it's always fun to talk about our wedding! It was the most wonderful day and we were so happy with how everything turned out. The second reason is that I think weddings have gotten a bit out of control in our society. As a whole, we spend so much money on one day and I think too often people focus too much time on that day and not enough time preparing for the marriage that will follow. Throughout our wedding planning process, I tried to keep things simple and focussed on the fact all that mattered was that we ended the day as husband and wife. It wasn't always an easy process, and it wasn't as inexpensive as we'd wanted it to be, but we did keep it simple, we did have a party, and we sure did get hitched!
So, I thought I'd take this week of posts and share with you some of the ways that we saved money and kept things simple for our wonderful day. If you're interested, stay tuned!
Photo Credits: Lucas Botz Photography