Our Wedding Part I: Setting the Scene

As Valentine’s Day approaches, I want to share the most magically romantic experience of my life, our wedding. True, that it was a day to celebrate our love, but this wedding was nothing what we had in mind. All of our planning turned into mass chaos, and I hope you’ll laugh along with us as I walk you through our wedding.

Date: You know what’s a beautiful time of year? Spring, say right around Memorial Day. Not too hot, not too cold, three day weekend. It’s literally perfect for a wedding! What could go wrong? And, great idea! Let’s do it outside with no indoor option!

First of all, it was 30 degrees. 30!!! Also, torrential downpours. Just nonstop rain all day. It rained so much, every guest felt obligated to say to me, “You know what rain on your wedding day means, right? A lot of babies!” I know they were just saying that to be nice, but also they were right. And! There were 90mph winds. Maybe not 90 exactly, but we’ll revisit the wind speed later on.

Second of all, it’s the end of May, which means baseball season. Why would you ever plan a wedding during baseball season when your husband is the local high school’s baseball coach, and they made districts, and the second round of games is on your wedding day… same start time? The answer is because you’re an idiot and want to have an emotional breakdown the week of your wedding.

But there I sat, on Tuesday, May 21, at a high school baseball game, cheering on my husband, knowing that if they won this game the next one was Friday, May 24. Our wedding date. I was having an intense inner struggle. I always want him to succeed, but also… wedding. In the end, the crisis was averted.

Venue: If you’ve been reading along with my blog, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I’m not real fancy. So, we decided to have our wedding on Jacob’s grandmother’s farm. It’s beautiful there, sentimental, and free!

We had it all planned out. We found two gorgeous trees that naturally created an archway for us to be married under. My father-in-law rented a huge white tent, chairs, round tables, and a dance floor for the reception. LUCKILY he also rented the sides of the tent last minute.

I wanted to maintain the theme of rustic, country and cheap, so I made all the decorations myself, including centerpieces and bouquets. I had elaborate place settings planned, and as I was setting them up, a huge (90mph) wind gust blew all of the place settings OFF THE TABLES!!! Nightmare. I chased silverware rolls and plates around in full hair and makeup.

Of course we had to make a day of call, ditched the ceremony plan and had the entire wedding under the tent. I’m sure the scenery would have been perfectly beautiful… if we could have left the tent open.

Food: When it was time to find a caterer for our wedding, we continued the theme of “the cheapest we can find.” We decided on picnic style, and I entered our parameters into Google including our location.

Having said that, when Jacob and I met, we lived over two hours away from each other. After dating for six months, I packed up my belongings and moved to him. I had no idea where anything was or how long it would take to get anywhere, so I just trusted Google when it said the caterer I found was “near me.”

Jacob, his parents, and I set up a meeting with the caterer and about an hour before, Jacob said, “Ok! Where are we going?” I put the address into my gps and immediately panicked. “IT’S AN HOUR AND A HALF AWAY!!” We sprinted to the car and Jacob’s dad drove.

You must know something about my husband’s family. They LIVE for this kind of situation. They love nothing more than to throw caution to the wind, not a consequence in mind. They especially love this scenario when they are behind the wheel of a car. It was like my father-in-law had been preparing for this moment all his life. We made it to the caterer in 53 minutes… 53!! I honestly thought I was going to die.

When we got there, it was this little shack with dead animals proudly displayed all over the walls. I just thought, what have I gotten us into. But the food was amazing! $9 per plate bought us four entrées, eight sides, salad, and service. In the end, I would have risked my safety all over again to find that lovely little place!

Join me next week when share the day of wedding festivities and the wild, sloppy, slippery mess that it was!