Another "happiest day of my life" stories

I almost always think about it before I ever say, "This is the happiest day of my life" because in general, I'm a pretty happy person with LOTS of happy days.  Sometimes those days are simply that the 3 of us laughed a lot and spent time together.  Sometimes it's an EVENT, like the one I'm about to tell y'all about.  Sometimes it's just a general peacefulness that is perceived as happiness.  But whatever, I feel like we have moments when we feel like THIS is the happiest day of my life.  I'm going to tell y'all ONE of the happiest days of my life :)

June 26, 1999 dawned hot and humid in Woodstock, GA, but it wasn't unbearable.  I had been 20 years old for 4 months and felt pretty much on top of the world.  It had all come together in just 10 short weeks.  The venue, the food, the DRESS, the rings, the tux, the wedding party, the invitations ... ALL of it.  Even the honeymoon; 5 fun-filled days in Aruba in an all-inclusive resort.  We had managed to secure a rental car for the duration even though neither me nor my soon-to-be husband was 25 ... but that's a WHOLE 'nother story, lol.

Why had my wedding been planned and pulled together in a mere 10 weeks?  Well, speculation from family members was that I was already pregnant.  The reality?  The love of my life and I had decided that since we were engaged, it made sense to move in together.  You know, learn a little responsibility, pay all our bills, etc?  We WERE looking with potential room mates, but when I casually informed my mom I was planning to do this, I'll NEVER forget what she said to me.  Her "angry" eyes drilled into mine, and she said, "WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE ONE THAT TELLS YOUR GRANDPARENTS YOU'RE 'SHACKING UP', NOT ME!"  So of course that led to a pretty short argument that ended with,
"Well, why don't we just get married then?"

"FINE!"

(pull out my pocket calendar) "How about June 26th?  It's a Saturday".

"FINE".

Long story short, that actually led to June 26th being the real date, and I jumped on the details.  Dress from David's Bridal, Bridesmaids were my sister, future sister-in-law, and my friend from work.  I'd lost touch with many of my best high school girlfriends and felt awkward asking them to actually be a bridesmaid, but I did invite everyone.  Invites ordererd from Party City, the venue was right up the street in Woodstock; a historical house with a gorgeous garden and a nice, big, open "carriage house" where we cold hold both the service and the reception.  The original plan was to have the service in the garden, but what if it RAINED?

The only hitch in the entire process was the cake.  Oh, that cake, lol.  My future mother-in-law had a 'cake lady' named Mrs. Sailor that had done an AMAZING job on her 25th anniversary cake.  She arranged to have her make mine.  The design I had picked was a simple basked weave design with peach, baby blue, and navy blue flowers piped on.  What was delivered was a BLOB with these horrible neon green, neon pink and bright blue blobs all over it.  When it was removed from the box and set out, all I could do was laugh hysterically, it was that bad.  Fortunately, when the caterer saw it, she asked me WTHeck design I had told the lady to do, I explained it her, and she whisked it away to see if she could fix it.  I was whisked away to be coiffed and dressed, and right before guests were scheduled to arrive, I saw the cake again and it was AMAZING.  No longer a blob, it had an elegant basket weave pattern on it, and a few of my loose while lily flowers had been placed on top because icing flowers were NOT happening at that point.  I hugged my caterer and felt a sense of relief that was done.

After the ceremony, we took pictures outside, and I was EXCEEDINGLY grateful we'd done it indoors because I was sweating everywhere ... and my flowers were HEAVY.  They were beautiful, but they were huge and heavy.  Once the dancing began, there was lots of crying, lots of laughter, and lots of fun.  I am so grateful to everyone that participated that day, it WAS at that point the happiest day of my life.  David and I are celebrating 15 beautiful, glorious years today.  We've weathered amazing times, and hard times, and our relationship is all the stronger for it.  One year ago in 2 days, we trekked all the way across the country to continue our life together in a completely different place and situation.  It's been hard, but it's also been amazing.  I can not WAIT to see what the NEXT 15 years brings us; if I know US, I know it certainly won't be boring :)