By Courtney Danielson
March 21, 2015
After fifteen months of near-obsessive planning, visualizing and, yes — some tears — it happened.
On March 21, 2015, Chuck and I tied the knot in front of our nearest and dearest friends and family. And let me tell you, the entire weekend — from getting my nails done with my bridesmaids on Thursday, to waking up as a married couple on Sunday morning — was completely perfect.
The invitations went out. RSVPs came back. We had our final meeting with the hotel. We picked up our marriage certificate. We considered just signing it then and there and running away to somewhere tropical when my sisters got on my nerves. We had our first and only meeting with the priest. And I issued one of my few bridal edicts (and the only one I actually stuck to): As of 4 p.m. on Friday, March 20 (which is when our rehearsal at the church kicked off), I was off duty.
If any vendors or guests had questions, they were directed to my mother’s best friend, who would field everything, make executive decisions where she could and run things by us in case of a wedding-planning emergency. To my knowledge, not a single thing went wrong, but if it did she didn’t tell me, which is exactly what I entrusted her to do. I wanted my family, Chuck’s family, Chuck and I to be able to completely enjoy our wedding and all the festivities. I didn’t want to be dealing with all of the little details I had been dealing with for weeks and months leading up to it all.
So, as of that moment, I was just along for the ride, same as everyone else. And it was the best decision I made. I would highly recommend that every other bride do the same thing. I didn’t leave much to chance, mind you. I had created a huge timeline of events, beginning with getting my nails done with my bridesmaids on Thursday evening right through when the cake was going to be cut at the reception. I also pulled together a huge list of important contact names and phone numbers that included every single vendor as well as myself and Chuck and our parents (all of whom were grayed out with a directive to not call unless it was an absolute emergency), our siblings, and my mom’s best friend (who was highlighted in yellow as the contact person), anyone who was doing a reading or participating in the ceremony at church, etc., and emailed a copy to everyone on the list, so that if any vendors had questions they knew who to call and who not to call.
Once the rehearsal dinner kicked off, everything kind of flew by and was a complete whirlwind. I received this piece of advice after my wedding and wish I had heard it before: During the reception, find your new spouse and sneak off to the side for a few minutes to just watch everyone and take it all in. Just sit and observe. But do it in hiding, otherwise people will find out. Everyone wants a piece of you that day.
When I think back to my wedding day I remember just a few things clearly (and when you consider that the day started at 6:30 a.m. with the arrival of hair and makeup people and ended at 11:30 p.m., you can see there’s a lot missing)…
- I was left completely alone in my hotel room after everyone had gone downstairs to wait for the limos because I had to keep out of Chuck’s sight. The fifteen minutes between everyone leaving and my dad coming to get me so we could get into our limo was kind of peaceful. Up until that point there had been so much energy and excitement buzzing around for almost two days, that it was nice to just sit there in my dress and say, “Okay, this is it. This is what you’ve been waiting for your entire life, and certainly for the last eight years,” without fifteen people trying to talk to me or straighten my veil or tweak my hair or lavish me with praise. (By the way, that happens a lot on your wedding day — everyone tells you you’re beautiful all day. It’s awesome.)
- My dad and I laughed hysterically while he walked me down the aisle. I think we were both super excited and super nervous and the only way for it to come out was to laugh so hard we cried.
- While we were saying our vows (which, by the way, if you get married in a Catholic church are nothing like the vows you hear in the movies — they don’t even tell you when to kiss, so pay attention to the cues!) I looked at Chuck and he looked a bit choked up, which set me off completely.
- The limo ride from the church back to the hotel — our first time alone as a married couple — was completely surreal. And perfect. Oh, and we took a selfie!
- While we were taking photos back at the hotel I had to pee and had one of those, ‘okay, I need three bridesmaids to come hold up my dress, please’ moments. It was awkward and also felt like some weird bridal rite of passage.
- My mom looked beautiful and my dad looked super handsome. My bridesmaids all looked beautiful. Chuck’s parents looked amazing. Our flower girl and ring bearer completely stole the show with their cuteness.
- Chuck was easily the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life.
- My sister Jocelyn (one of my maids of honor) and Chuck’s best friend Richard (our best man) both gave amazing speeches. I had been really nervous my sister was going to take that opportunity to embarrass me a bit, but everything she said was just perfect.
- My dad and I laughed a lot (again) when we had our dance together…because apparently all we know how to do is laugh during serious moments.
- I cried — a lot — when Chuck and his mom had their dance because oh my god I love that man so much.
- My little cousin, Cody, who was a junior groomsman, has some SERIOUS dance moves. I mean, really, really serious moves. At one point everyone on the dance floor was standing watching him and cheering. We have no idea where he learned to dance, but it was awesome.
- Later in the evening (a few glasses of champagne in, I won’t lie), another one of my cousins was twirling me around on the dance floor so much that the bustle on my train broke — and it was amazing.
- I spent a lot of time asking people if they had seen my husband. It was fun to say “husband,” but it was weird that I had to keep asking where he was. Apparently this is completely normal. His friends and family wanted to talk to him, my friends and family wanted to talk to me, and we just kept getting pulled apart. And every time we would find each other, we’d get pulled apart again.
That’s it. I barely remember what the room looked like and now, three weeks later, have started asking friends and family if it looked pretty. I don’t really remember who I did and didn’t spend time with (I think I spent a little bit of time with everyone, but I know I missed some people), and while I know that Chuck and I had a good time, and I know that people keep telling me they had an amazing time, I don’t remember if the dance floor was packed.
All I remember is that it was the best day of my life.