Wow, I am a "Mrs." now! Chris and me during the reception.It might not have constituted traveling for me, but many guests of our wedding traveled to be there (from across the U.S. and a few from overseas). Also, my new last name is a location (but it means I revoked my membership to the Marcus first name/last name club, unfortunately) so for these reasons I decided my wedding fits within the constraints I have set up for this forum.
A few of my post-wedding musings:
I had a great time, but my memories of the day are fuzzy and seem almost surreal. (And no, not because of too much alcohol!) I wish I had a chance for rebuttals after the toasts (especially Kate's), but other than that, the day went as well as I could have hoped. Chris and I said many times that all we wanted was for people to have a good time - I know I did and I hope others did, too.
I tried my best to mingle and spend time with everyone, and the one person I barely got to spend any time with was Chris. Well, we have our whole lives, right? (Cheesy, I know). Another aspect of the wedding that I loved - spending time with friends and family. It was very weird to see so many people that I know and care about together in one place - all of these different facets of my life colliding! Weird, but wonderful.
So much attention on me! I don't mind attention (as many of you can attest), but I think if one more person told me that it was my "day," I would've slapped them. I like attention sometimes, but having people stare at me because I was in a white dress - not the type of attention I like, I discovered. Also, what about the groom? Isn't it his day, too? Way too much focus on brides, in my opinion.
And now on to the visuals. Below are some photos of the wedding that I enjoy and a bit of text to go with them.
We (bridesmaids plus a few friends, my Mom and me) got to the church early and were stashed away in the childcare room. I think this photo is really cute and sums up our sitting and waiting...
Our florist was amazing and I loved my bouquet so much! I feel like there was so much to appreciate about the wedding in general that I barely noticed the flowers, but they were gorgeous.
As I was walking down the aisle with my parents, we saw my sister Marushka at the altar with Sydny in her arms and Marushka's bright green dress and the vibrant bouquet, and my mom whispers to me "Your sister looks like a fertility goddess." And that she did. Here is a photo of Marushka, aka the fertility goddess (with Chris' eldest brother, David).
The ceremony was pretty much a blur. I remember trying not to fidget, thinking my chair was extremely uncomfortable, and trying to ignore Kate and Marush who were making faces at me. I also remember waving at a few people in the pews, and scanning the crowd and having a lot of fun recognizing faces that I hadn't yet seen since I didn't get to mingle before the wedding! I don't have a photo of the point in the ceremony when Chris pulls out his wallet and I get a quizzical look on my face (that is where he put his vows). Also, no photo of me (accidentally) ripping my vows in half.
I like this one because we are all doing something different and obviously oblivious to the cameras at this point. I am a fan of more relaxed, natural photos. Also, for any fans of vexillology we are the flag of Sierra Leone (except Marush and mom should switch spots to be completely accurate)! Even though at the time I got it mixed up with Estonia's flag and wrongly said we matched those colors. A photo with my dad in his dark suit would've made us more in the Estonian color scheme. I am a nerd, I know.
Perhaps a little more aware of the cameras at this point. Still a nice photo, but not as fun as the first one.
A bit more of a relaxed bridesmaids photo. Kate, what is so interesting up there? And what is everyone else laughing about?
During the toasts. Pretty flowers! The room had great natural light.
Chris in his new running vest. I won't have to worry at night any longer. Also, look how red my hair is - crazy.
Love this one of Ruth and me.
I am a big fan of photos like this of Chris - I suppose some might think he looks angry, but he is being goofy. I have many of these. And I am sure there will be many more to come.
Thanks to Ruth, Ellie, Tracy and Heather for the wedding photos!
