We Are Married! Very!

Well if the six kids, the mini van and the pet cat weren't evidence enough, here it is officially.  

We are....

Married! 

...very!!!

10 years and we still got it baby!!

When my very talented photographer friend said she needed a "model couple" for an "experimental" bridal shoot she wanted to do, I thought why not?  I never did get my dress cleaned and preserved, so it would be fun to have an excuse to get it out of my mom's attic and show it off to my girls.  My only regret from our actual wedding day in August '01 was our photographs.

Wedding August 18th 2001

Being that it was just a year or two before everyone converted to digital, all we have are a couple small prints.  Immediately following our beautiful beach ceremony, it started raining a tropical thunderstorm blew in, so we really didn't have time to get a good formal "bridal portrait".  And our photographer disappeared from the reception before the cake was even cut....still not sure what happened there.  So I agreed and held my breath (literally) hoping my dress would still fit after 6 pregnancies.

C didn't exactly share my enthusiasm at this golden opportunity that I was so keen on, but he very kindly cooperated and even watched all the kiddos for a couple hours that afternoon and sent me to get a little pampering.  My friend Ashley from Shear Indulgence offered to do a little makeover and hair-do which was a treat.  She very graciously overlooked the fact that I hadn't had a haircut in 6 months and did a lovely job with what she had to work with.  It was a fun afternoon in a nice salon and just the ticket to help this blushing bride tired mommy feel pretty.

There really was so much about this shoot that made me laugh.  A comedy of errors actually....

~Patty's original plan was to photograph us in a blooming peach orchard on horseback.  Well, the horse.....croaked.  True story.  It died a week or two before the scheduled shoot.  As truly sad as I am, Im so relieved this pretty pony went to horsey-heaven before I rode her, not after. Or while I was riding her.  Pretty sure my man wouldn't let me live that one down!
~When we arrived at the peach orchard the day of the shoot, it was past its prime and there were no blooms left.
~And what happens when a couple whose wedding photos were rained out tries to retake them 10 years later?
.....it rains of course!

Patty was so completely calm, cool and collected about the fact that we had to move from Plan A to Plan B, then C....D....E,F,G......
Her "feathers" were completely unruffled by the rain and location change and being the true artist that she is, she simply found beauty somewhere else and adapted.  It is such a fun memory and treat to have these lovely, dreamy, romantic rainy-day wedding photos.  Thank you Patty!  Patty also did our family portraits (righthand sidebar) last fall.  I really love her work!

And while we really are madly in love, let me clear up any misconceptions that our life is a steady diet of candlelight and long-stem roses.  Let me paint the real picture of what was going on at this intimate moment....
Instead of a Rolls Royce waiting to whisk us away to the honeymoon suite at an exotic location, there is instead, just out of the lens view, an overcrowded mini-van with steamy windows from 6 clamoring kids in the backseat.
And instead of leaving the bridal shoot for a 5 course ritzy reception banquet, we instead drove through Dominos and picked up 2 large pizzas as promised to bribe said children if they would cooperate for an hour while mommy and daddy got their picture taken.

Regardless, it was fun to play the part.  To look in the eyes of my beloved and have him whisper "sweet nothings" in my ear.  To be reminded of the day we made the vows that we have every intention of keeping for the next 60+ years.  To look back at our young love 10 years ago with the certainty that our commitment and affection for one another has only grown through the weathering and trials and joys and tears of the past century.

I love you C with all my heart!