OUR WEDDING DAY

May 29, 2016, I married William Harrell. Each May since, I enjoy reflecting on the details of the day. After becoming engaged in August of 2015, we spent our senior year together at Millsaps College planning what would become one of the happiest days of our lives. It was a really tough time for both of us personally because in addition to his parents divorcing, my father had recently passed away after battling cancer for 18 months, and William lost his brother to a car accident all in the couple of years that we dated. When I think about the months leading up to our wedding, I think of all of the stress and sadness we were experiencing, but I also think of all of the opportunities we took to lean on each other during those times. We chose to love each other and create our own happiness in a really tough time, and I am so happy that we did. I’ll say here, that there is no way I could have done all of the planning without my wedding planner, Johnna Pyron. In addition to being a literal angel sent from God to help me through this time, she was so knowledgeable, had flawless taste, had tons of experience, and was so very kind. I can never repay her for all that she did. William and I knew we wanted to move away and do our own thing for a while after graduating college, so we picked a date close to graduation so we wouldn’t have to hang around too long waiting for the wedding. I actually suggested we graduate at 10 am and get married at 6 the same day and holy moly, I’m so glad William talked me out of that one. The date we chose was a Sunday, and I’m pretty sure I made the decision because the photographer I knew I wanted to use, Masa Kathryn, and the venue, The Old Capitol Inn, were available that day. We thought that having a Sunday wedding would make our wedding more low key (HA!) and have sort of a sweetness that comes with Sunday afternoons. Plus, everyone had the next day off work because it was Memorial Day. I say ‘HA’ because we sent out 150 invitations and there were SO MANY people at our wedding that I could barely get out of the courtyard door to go down the aisle because people were standing up lining the walls like sardines. I think everyone who was invited came and brought a plus one and then more people came because William loved to say casually to friends and acquaintances, “Hey man, I’m getting married soon, you should come!” Trying to remember what our wedding day was like only three years later is proving to be challenging, so I’m glad I’m doing this now and, hopefully, preserving some memories that I may forget if I wait any longer to write all of this down. It was a whirlwind of emotions and people pulling in different directions. “Where are my reception shoes?” “William forgot his tie.” “I need spanx!” “Are we having lunch?” “William won’t shave his mustache.” on and on. The best things I remember are the group pictures in the courtyard before the wedding, right after our first look. It was at least 90 degrees outside. Everyone was super excited for the wedding and everyone was sweating bullets. There were pink flowers blooming everywhere, and even though the forecast called for thunderstorms, it was the most gorgeous sun-filled day. It was commotion and excitement, then complete silence when I went to the bridal room to await my turn to walk down the aisle. I highly recommend having your first look and group photos before the wedding. It’s so much fun, and gives you more time to enjoy your brand new husband after the wedding. The ceremony was super sweet. We wrote our own vows. I uncontrollably sobbed. My friend, Kathryn Rooker Digennaro, told me a white dove flew over the floral arch during our ceremony. We ‘snuck’ away for a little alone time after the ceremony, had a few pictures taken, then headed to the reception. We danced to “Sunday Kind of Love,” never ate, and took a million pictures with our friends and family. At 9 o’clock we left the party through a sparkler tunnel and headed straight to McDonalds. We ate burgers and chicken nuggets in the hotel room and laughed at details from the day, while we stared at our new finger hardware. We were so excited about the honeymoon in Antigua that we didn’t know how we would sleep that night. But we finally did, and I’ll never forget the peace and happiness I felt as I drifted to sleep in William’s arms. Belly full of nuggets, heart full of love.