Warm weather in the spring of 2012 arrived early that year. I was teaching accounting at two universities, and I recall how lovely it was to sit outside that spring—even as early as March. In fact, at the private university where I was teaching accounting, my class size was small enough that I held class outside on warm, sunny days. We were hoping and praying that our wedding day would be as beautiful as many of the days that we experienced in March and April…and it was the most beautiful day of all.

Ryan and I met in July 2011; we started officially dating in September, and by the holidays, we were already discussing getting married. We even adopted a beagle together in January. She lived with me, though, until we got married, but he helped make the decision when choosing her from the rescue agency. Here she is pictured as the “hound of honor” on our wedding day.

Ryan didn’t officially propose until about 3 weeks before the wedding because he was waiting to get the ring; but by then, we already had our wedding planned and our honeymoon booked.

We chose our wedding date based on the fact that he was traveling to Alaska for a week of training to climb Denali at the end of May that year. Because he wanted me to go with him, we needed to set our wedding date before that week of training was scheduled. In retrospect, I would have chosen a weekend other than Mother’s Day weekend to get married… but we chose May 12, and now Ryan has the convenience of celebrating Mother’s Day and anniversary in one fell swoop. :-)

We had a very nontraditional wedding—we held it on the deck of the log home that he had built and moved into five years earlier. It was a small gathering of one of Ryan’s friends, one of my friends, and a few family members in addition to the pastor and his wife.

We wanted the wedding to feel cozy and inviting and very informal. While guests gathered and mingled, they could help themselves to chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate truffles made by Ryan, and scones that I made.

We played music from Ryan’s iPad through a speaker set up in the great room of his house. My matron of honor helped me get ready in the loft of the house.

When Pachabel’s “Canon in D” played, I walked down the steps and out to the deck to join Ryan and the guests, and we were married by the pastor of the church we were attending at that time.

We didn’t hire a professional photographer, but we asked the spouses of our wedding party (only a best man and matron of honor) to snap some photos. I was completely astonished when Christine, the wife of Ryan’s best man, gifted us a few months after the wedding with the photos that she had taken. She had done such an amazing job of being inconspicuous while she was taking the photos that I had no idea that she had captured our day so well—especially, the photos where she was in very close proximity!

After saying our vows and being pronounced as husband and wife, we went inside for our first dance as a married couple. When we met, I knew nothing about dancing, but Ryan, who was an expert at swing dance taught me to follow along.

After we danced, our friends and family members said a few special words. I still remember my dear friend and matron of honor, Beth, encouraging us no matter what life held to “cling white-knuckled to Jesus” and trust in Him and let Him lead.

Before leaving for the reception, we had some photos taken with the guests.

And here was our first “family” photo with our beagle.

Then, we drove about 15 minutes to an inn for our reception. When I made the arrangements, I just made arrangements for a luncheon—I chose not to tell them that it was a wedding celebration to keep the costs reasonable. It worked! We had a delicious meal with our guests sitting around one table in a private room in a charming setting. They even allowed me to bring our own dessert—and so I took cheesecake and gluten-free carrot cake that I had made. Our entire wedding, including the reception, cost less than $700. (I have a story about the dress that I will tell in a separate post).

In the garden of the reception location. Photo credit: Dave M.

And it was a beautiful wedding, and it has been a beautiful life—complete with joys and sorrows. We can’t believe that eight years have gone by already. We are hoping to make it at least fifty years (Ryan was nearly 40 when we married so we realize that we don’t have as much time as most couples do), and we don’t want to take a single year for granted.

Note: All photos in this post were taken by Christine Wright unless noted otherwise.

Our Perfect Day...