Happy Birthday To My Man

In honor of my husband's birthday, I thought I'd take a look at our own wedding (a fabulous occasion if I do say so myself). But first, let's take it back a little...

Luke and I met in 2005. I walked into my Michigan History class at UofM-Dearborn and saw Luke across the room. I had seen him before at the church we both attended but didn't really know him at all. Therefore, I promptly sat as far away from him as possible. (If you do not know me well, I am the girl who will duck behind a rack of clothing in the mall to avoid seeing the person I only partially knew from my 9th grade math class/church/old job/wherever.)

After class, I did the only rational thing to do. I made up an excuse to go talk to the professor so I could avoid awkwardly running into Luke in the hall after class ("um...professor...when you said that Michigan is shaped like a mitten, what exactly did you mean...").

Luckily, my man is who he is.

As I was waiting to talk with the professor, Luke came over, sat down, and began talking with me. It was as if he actually liked making friends. Who was this guy?

This was the guy that I would be great friends with for four months before we decided we couldn't go on as friends because we liked each other too much.

This was the guy that I would date for over two and a half years before realizing that I could not possibly live without him.

This was the guy that I would walk down the aisle towards after three and a half years, knowing that I had never been more sure of anything in my life.

This was him. This was the guy. The guy I'd been waiting for.

So let's jump to August 1, 2009. After 11 months of planning, our wedding day had finally arrived. We were married at five in the evening in my parent's backyard. This had been my dream and my parents and brothers worked tirelessly to make it happen. I am still, to this day, so grateful.

We were married on the back patio. My dad married us, after walking me down the aisle. The guests filled in around our pool. We had a 200 person tent set up in the back of the yard, complete with a dance floor. It was perfect.

After we were pronounced man and wife, the entire wedding party headed to a nearby golf course to take some pictures. 

Then it was time to meet our guests back at the reception tent. The fun was just beginning.

The wedding party was introduced to "The Final Countdown". You can guess who picked that song. :)

We made our way to the head table where we were showered with love by Luke's brother, my maid-of-honor, and Luke's best friend. Out of all the things we kept talking about over and over on our honeymoon, the speeches came up the most. Each person put so much thought into what they said. It was one of my favorite parts of the day.

After we listened to speeches, ate, and attempted to greet all 190 of our guests, it was time to party.

I have several favorite things about this set of pictures.

#1 - The fact that apparently my husband and I can't get enough of bumping, whether it be chest or side.
#2 - My brother, Jeff, and his girlfriend (now soon-to-be wife), Ashley, dancing in the top right picture. Jeff transforms into the life of the party at weddings. It's just delightful.
#3 - My mother, in the second picture down on the right. That woman doesn't mess around on the dance floor.
#4 - The little switcharoo that was pulled towards the end of the night. The bottom picture on the left is my brother and I dancing, while our significant others danced behind us.
#5 - The guy in the green shirt in the bottom right? None other than the pastor who said a prayer over our meal. You've got to love that.

I remember our DJ coming up to me at the end of the night, wanting me to make the call. I had to decide when the last song was played. It was up to me to end our perfect day. Even though my feet were so tired that I could hardly lift them anymore, I still wasn't done dancing. I wasn't finished with having my best friends, many who lived out of town, right there with me. I wasn't ready for the day to be over.

But I did it. It had to be done. We finished out the night by dancing to none other than "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie. And we would have done just that if we could have.

The day surpassed every expectation I  had of it. That didn't mean everything went perfectly. There were glitches. There were a few hiccups. But I was marrying my best friend and it was as great as everyone said it would be.

The best part is that it only got better from there.

Here's to my man. The one who felt compelled to come over and talk to me that day in Michigan History.

I cannot tell you how very thankful I am that he did. :)