Wedding Memories

Today I have been sitting around thinking about how I probably won't look that great in my wedding dress.  I've also felt totally lazy, bored, and tired of wedding planning.  I put the countdown on facebook as 20 days while simultaneously panicking about the time slipping away while so much remains to do.  Later this afternoon our flowergirl's mother posted on that countdown that her daughter, Scarlett, counts down the number of "sleeps" until the wedding.  This just melted my heart and I got all teary-eyed, because it seems like the little moments and memories full of squeaky clean excitement like these are what this whole celebration is about.  

A wedding is more than just one day, one night, one dress, one couple.  It's made up of all the days before, all the conversations with your mom about the ribbon colors and shoes and dress lengths, all the dresses I wore to go shopping for wedding favors and gifts, all the smiles and laughs shared at the showers.  It's made up of all the well wishes, and emotions along the way.  It's about all the old friendships that are rekindled, all the new friendships deepened.  It's about being thankful for people who drop classes and rearrange college schedules and miss soccer games and fly all the way from Australia and drive hours and hours and hours use up all their vacation days to get to come to the wedding. It's about the little kisses along the way, the printer malfunctions, sitting on the floor at Hobby Lobby analyzing paper.  It's about little cousins getting excited to be on the beach with all of their family for the first time, and the excited short conversations with cashiers who notice the ring.  It's about all the little car trips to the post office to mail more invitations, and feeling extra excited to mail one to Australia.  It's about eating the extra little icing from the cake after the shower, and watching Gilmore Girls while writing thank you notes.  It's made up of licking envelopes while moving into a new house, and hugs from your grandma recovering from hip surgery so quickly.  It's about the phone calls with people that ask the quirkiest questions, and little electronic chats about flowers and showers with your maid-of-honor in Ireland.  It's about dreaming big and sharing wide all along the way.   It's about soaking in all the marriage advice while knitting with other amazing Christian women.  It's about little siblings getting braces and cold watermelon on the hot summer days.  It's about the turkey and Christmas presents and Easter eggs and fireworks that got us to the big day.  It's about all the tiny little moments that you share with so many people along the way that slowly bring about the not just two people together, but family, friends, and sometimes even strangers.  It's not about how blonde, or toned, or tan I'll look in my dress.  It's about "counting the sleeps" like a precious little girl who can only imagine the day as perfect and lovely since she will be wearing, as she once told her father, "the most BEAUTIFULEST dress in the world!"

Thank you, Scarlett, for reminding me once again of all the wonderful blessings along the way!