Fifteen years ago today, I married my best friend. I still enjoy thinking back on our wedding day…..looking at our wedding album photos. Here are eleven of my favorite memories from that day that I’ll be sharing with Briar today:
- Those were the days I didn’t even own a hairbrush. I dried my hair on the way to the wedding in the wind by holding my head out the window of the car. Right before I went down the aisle, the wedding director told me I needed lipstick. So I put it on for everyone else, but not for me.
2. Both of our mothers dressed in blue and were alive and excited to see us happy, in love, and getting married. They are no longer with us, and we miss them.
3. We asked three ministers to tie the knot extra tight – your childhood pastor, our good friend minister, and my preacher dad. In one of my favorite wedding pictures, The Lord’s Prayer is playing and Dad is standing over us with a hand on each of us, praying for us.
4. The florist didn’t put the wires in the tulips (my favorite flowers), and shortly after the wedding began, they started drooping….and drooped….and drooped……
5. We turned our wedding around. We didn’t want our backs to our guests; we wanted them to feel like they were a part of the ceremony.
6. I’d wanted a simple pair of gold sandals to match the gold in my dress, not flats and not high heels, but I couldn’t find any that I liked. So I found a pair of white sandals I liked, taped the soles and footbeds, and spray painted my wedding shoes gold.
7. I wanted a fresher, more updated version of Canon in D, so I chose Lullaby by Bond as the processional for the entire wedding party including me, because it makes me feel good inside time I hear it. It just rolled on and we all did our best to walk slowly. I remember that everyone’s face lit up with surprised expressions during our recessional, because at the very last minute as I was heading down the aisle at the start of the wedding, I had whispered up to your brother in the sound booth, “I want to change the recessional music. Ditch the Trumpet Voluntary and play the Hallelujah Chorus, will ya?” And so he did.
8. I remember just having the BEST time planning our wedding to be exactly what we wanted it to be – a small gathering of friends and family, with a short and personal service followed by a catered dinner reception. And we spent hours together making our own wedding favors that matched the candles on the tables. We cut giftwrap to go in bands around the candles and added our names and wedding date. And we are still burning these, fifteen years later.
9. You smudged my nose with carrot cake icing. That’s my favorite cake – so we had carrot for me and chocolate for you. Every part of that day was so much fun, but ironically the only bite of cake I got was the bite for the picture. We tried to eat the topper a year later, but after a year in the freezer, the frostbite had set in and it wasn’t tasty anymore.
10. We each served our new mothers-in-law a slice of cake to earn some brownie points on the front end. And it paid off!
11. And right before we left on our honeymoon, we called all of our children, nieces, and nephews up to gather around us. I gave each of them a flower from my bouquet, and then we prayed for them. We also prayed for all of the students in our community attending prom that evening, that they would be safe.
I didn’t think it was possible to love my husband any more than I did on our wedding day, but fifteen years later……I sure do!
Common Threads 
Kim,
Happy anniversary to you and Briar. I have a huge smile on my face reading this celebratory post. Painting your shoes is such a teacher thingy i do. I love it! And you are both so cute and adorable in all the photos. Have a wonderful time celebrating your love today and every day. 🥰
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Glenda, thank you! Cute and adorable – thank you for those kind words! It was indeed a fun day. Fifteen years pass and let’s just say I now know the full meaning of the tshirt that says “surviving on coffee and dry shampoo.” And now we take every opportunity to smudge each other’s noses in cake. Sometimes for fun. 🙂
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Happy 15th! May you enjoy many more years enjoying life with your best friend! What a fun and thoughtful photo essay!
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Thank you, Eva, for the warm wishes and for reading today!
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Happy Anniversary to you and Briar!! I loved reading about your memories from 15 years ago, it looked like such a beautiful day. You and your mothers were radiant, i know they are celebrating with you today.
I hope you both have an amazing day filled with love, laughter and happiness!!
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Thank you, Jennifer! It doesn’t seem like 15 years ago. Thanks so much for reading and commenting today and for the warm wishes. Glad you are here in this space and grateful for you!
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Kim, Kim Kim – first, Happy Anniversary to you and Brian! How happy you both look in your photos, and you – so, so beautiful. Your bright spirit shines though every shot. I am laughing at the way you dried your short hair by hanging out of the car (I wore a Princess Diana bob for years). I marvel at the spray-painting of your shoes; it sounds like something I’d have done, and have done, albeit with lesser things. How fun to have both your favorite cakes! People do assorted cupcakes now but 15 years ago, having different wedding cakes was trendsetting… and WAIT A SECOND. Your favorite cake of all is CARROT CAKE? Guess what? Just one guess… one half a guess… really no guess at all, because you will already know before your eyes get to the next words…it’s my favorite, too. My mother made it from scratch when I was growing up; I’ve loved it all my life. I make it now from her recipe. I usually save it for Thanksgiving and Christmas (it’s a lot of work) but have decided to make it for Easter. Speaking of mothers: yours and Brian’s look radiant in their shades of blue – same color my grandmothers wore to my wedding. I know how very much you miss them, every day. It is a gift to look back at these family celebrations and relive a few hallowed moments. EVERY day has its celebrations, in spending moments with those we love. Cheers to you and Brian on today – thank you for sharing the photos and the joy – I wish you exponentially more!
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Fran, thank you – and you are so right – every day has its celebrations. And its own sorrows too. My heart still hurts for the finches but your post today brings such hope. We can learn a lot from birds. Life is better with my writing friends along for the ride! Thank you so much for reading and commenting today!
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Happy Anniversary! What a treasure of a slice to share with all of us! Those tulips weren’t drooping – they were relaxing in love. You had a beautiful day! I loved the comment about letting your hair dry in the wind on the way to the wedding…that is a gal who is certain about her future, no muss, no fuss, let’s get this going. I also loved how you both served cake to your in-laws …brilliant! I don’t think I’ve seen that before; it is very thoughtful. Enjoy this day together!
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Ha! Relaxing in love….I like it! Thank you so much for reading and commenting today. I need to hang my head out the window more often.
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I love this post – I love the pictures and the memories you shared. It’s amazing how getting married when you are a little older feels different that getting married when you are young. I didn’t worry about what was “supposed to be done”. We did what we wanted. It sounds like you did too! Thank you for sharing.
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Ain’t that the truth, friend? Yes, I tossed out all the rules and did what we wanted. We are much wiser about those things than when we were younger – – you are so right! Thanks for reading today!
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Happy anniversary, Kim and Briar! I sure enjoyed reading about your special wedding day and all you did to make it just the way you wanted it to be. Your ending shows the love and joy of a fantastic couple and relationship. Wishing you many more years of wedded bliss!
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Thank you, Barb! I appreciate your reading and commenting today!
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Kim, I love weddings and I felt transported to yours as I viewed the pictures, read the descriptions and listened to the music. The personal details you included were touching…especially serving cake to your mother-in-laws! The picture of your father praying over both of you was priceless and I loved that you gathered the young people and prayed over them. With a start like that, you can’t help but feel joyous today! Blessings to both of you.
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Thank you, Rita! The picture of my dad is one of my favorites, too. I appreciate your reading and listening to the music.
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Happy anniversary! What a beautiful wedding from beginning to end. I love your hair style. Can we do that now? The flowers to each of the children and nieces and nephews was a great touch. There are so many other sweet ideas–like the music! the three pastors to tie the knot extra tight. Carrot cake! Like you and Fran, it’s my favorite too. We use the same recipe for all the celebrations–birthdays, baptisms, weddings, and holidays. I’m making one this weekend for a family event. Have a happy anniversary! I’m sure your hubby will love reading your post. (By the way, is his name Brian? Your post says Briar, but I can’t remember.)
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Denise, I miss that hairstyle. It was the easiest I’ve ever had. I just had to keep it frosted. Thank you so much for your kind comments today – – and my husband’s name is Briar. Apparently he was named for a root from the ground that is smoked or something like that. I never really understood the connection except that there may have been a pipe smoker somewhere on the family tree who smoked briars. Thanks so mjuch for reading today!
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Oh, that is a great name. I am surprised I didn’t remember you saying it before! Anyway, a very happy anniversary to Briar and Kim!
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Kim, I so enjoyed learning more about you in this post. All the details paint a vibrant memory. I loved how you wore lipstick for them (not you), painted your shoes gold, and changed the music last minute. Happiest Anniversary! Also enjoyed the music links to get the immersive experience. Felt like I was in the audience.
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Thank you so much – – I’m glad you enjoyed the music, and I’m glad you stepped into my memories to attend my wedding!
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The details and the photos here create the most incredible slice! I feel like I know so much about you just from reading this. What wonderful memories. I especially love the switch to the Hallelujah Chorus. A joyful slice to read!
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