Show and Tell Monday: Wedding Bells Ringing

I'm linking up again with Becky at From Mrs to Mama to write a little about my wedding...such a beautiful day!

 Are you married? If so when did you get married, and tell us about your special day. If not? How would you describe your dream wedding?

I am married to my wonderful, totally hot husband, Matthew.  We got married on December 29th, 2007, so we're coming up on our 5th anniversary in less than 6 months (he even said he's planning a getaway for us...eeeeeek).  Our wedding was absolutely gorgeous, at the church where I grew up and exactly what I wanted.  The reason we chose december is because both of our moms work in schools (mine, a teacher, and his, administration), so we had to choose a date that would work for both families.  We got engaged in february, so I felt that summer was too close to the engagement to plan the wedding.  Also, my brother in law was in the NAVY, and got out the month before our wedding. December weather in California is perfect for a wedding, it was probably around 40 the whole day and dreary.  

Our colors were black, dark red and ivory, which were perfect for December, and even though it was right in between Christmas and New Years, we had around 500 people at the wedding (I know, crazy).    We had seven bridesmaids and seven groomsmen (it's what happens when you have 4 sisters), and my brother in law officiated the ceremony (perfect).  Since it was in between the holidays, the church was already decorated for Christmas, so there was minimal decorating that we had to do inside.  The reception was in the gym (unfortunately), but with everyones help, they managed to make it beautiful, as well.  My mom made all the food (which I heard was delicious), and my aunt made our cake.  What a beautiful day to share with such amazing people!  The church I grew up in does not allow dancing, so after the reception, we went over to the Veterans center and danced (we rented it out, of course).

  

 Show us some wedding pictures. Either yours or of some that you love.

I loved every detail of my dress!

I LOVED my bouquet and regret not preserving it...Husband does not agree with that, even though he thinks it was beautiful, he also thinks it would be dumb to still have.

I love both of these photos so much, my parents and my sister and me!

My precious nephew and niece were the ring bearer and flower girl.

Our bridal party!

just married.

Husband has since lost his wedding ring, which is very sad...but someday I hope we can get him another one. 

Some of the details

Our favors were wonderful and thoroughly enjoyed by all the kids at the wedding.  We bought a variety of bulk candies and different jars and vases, and arranged all the candy in the jars.  We also bought little white to-go containers and I drew an 'L' on all of them (took a while).  It was so much fun!

 How about the engagement? Tell us your story. If not engaged, what's your dream proposal?

Matt was living in Southern California at the time, going to school (our entire relationship, minus 2.5 months was long distance), so I came down to visit him for the weekend.  He wanted to take me to Malibu for the morning before he had to go to work, because I had never been there.  Once we go to the beach, we were walking around for a bit and then sat down on a little ledge in the sand that the water had made.  We were talking for a few minutes about who knows what, and then I got up to go play in the water for a bit.  He called me back after a few minutes and asked me to sit down where I had been sitting, I happened to see that he had written something in the sand (WYMM), but I ignored it.  He moved so he was on his knees in front of me and we talked again (still, no idea about what), and then I asked him what the letters in the sand meant, and he said "WYMM."  By then, I had figured it out, but I didn't want to say it to him, so I said that I didn't understand.  So he said, "Will you marry me?", and I said nothing...I completely forgot to answer him.  He took the ring out of the box and put it on my finger and said, "so I'll take that as a yes?"  To which I responded, "of course, yes!!"

can you see the writing?

post proposal photo

Show us your wedding rings or an engagement photo! If not engaged/married ... show us your "dream" ring.

this is what he proposed with

this is my ring with the wedding band...LOVE IT!

Tell us why you think marriage doesn't work out for so many? What can we do to make things last?    

For us, a relationship with the Lord is THE key ingredient to our marriage.

It seems like people commonly go in to a marriage with the mindset of "well if this doesn't work, I can always just get divorced.  First, that is a mindset that sets you up for failure.  All relationships take work, no matter what it is, my relationships with family, co-workers, and friends, they all take work.  If I want something to work out, I have to put the necessary time into it.  I think people also expect so much from their spouse with out wanting to give in return.  Obviously, we would like it to be equal, but    that's just not how it is all the time.  We also can't expect people to change.  It seems like so many people get into marriage with the thought of "oh, he or she will change the way they are once we get married."  Honey, it's probably not going to happen.  I think the main thing that we all must do is LOVE.  Love can do so many things, but we must love and tell our spouse that we love them, not just assume they know. We also must communicate and spend time and compliment (big with us) and encourage and have a desire to serve the other person.  I find true joy in making my husband happy, and he the same.  Also, don't talk about your spouse behind their backs, I try to speak words of kindness and love about my husband...ask anyone I work with, I talk about how hot my husband is all the time.  Offer sex often, even if you're tired...it will make you feel like a great spouse (I promise).     Doing little things for the other person speaks volumes as well.  I wrote about the things my husband does for me a few months ago, here.  There are many things that contribute to a good marriage, and they can be different for each couple, but you will not have a successful marriage without love and respect.    

I hope you enjoyed this bit of info about us, I enjoyed reminiscing about all of it for a bit.  Check out Becky's blog, and if you link up, let me know so I can read yours!!