"The birthday of the day that we got married" (that's how Roger explained our 9 year anniversary to our children this morning).

It was a hot sticky day in Georgia when I married my love.
We had planned a garden wedding at a beautiful hotel
but dark clouds loomed in the sky in the morning when I woke up.

The first thing that I did when I opened my eyes was to start crying.
My nerves were getting the best of me and
I was just so tired from staying up too late laughing
with my bridesmaids who stayed the night
with me in the hotel room the night before.

That was what I did all day, I cried on and off.
I was just so emotional and as we sipped Mimosas
at the salon where we were getting all dolled up,
the tears just kept coming between moments of calm.
I was surprised to see myself so unsteady on my big day.

In retrospect, I think that the idea of doing something
as intimate as promising your life to someone
in front of 105 of your closest friends and family just seemed so daunting.

Also, I had to make the decision if I wanted to get married
in the garden and risk getting rained on or setting up
the ceremony in a beautiful room in the hotel.
I agonised over what to do.

My vision had always been me, walking down the aisle
with flowers all around us.
In the end, I had to let that dream go.
We would not have our garden ceremony after all.
My heart heaved with disappointment.

After we finished at the salon, we were running late for pictures.
My bridesmaids and I piled into the car and
stuffed bottles of champagne all around us.
(We had a designated driver, don't worry).
We were such rebels as we sped to my wedding.
I was a crazed woman, drinking bubbly
straight from the bottle and trying to calm down.
When we arrived at the hotel we must have been quite a sight to see
as we hopped out of the car, bubbles practically floated all around us.

From there it was a whirlwind of getting ready.
My dress was slipped on by my mother and zipped up by my friends.
I floated around the room as my lovely bridesmaids
helped to place my veil on my perfectly fixed hair.
I was covered in glitter and felt beautiful.

I rushed downstairs to see my father waiting for me, he looked so proud.
As we all waited for the ceremony to start,
my nerves rattled and my sweet dad had to fan me with a napkin.
I just didn't understand why I was so shaky inside.
I could hear the music starting and watched my bridesmaids
file away to walk down the aisle.

It was time!

I rounded the corner to see a beautiful room before me.
Flowers were everywhere.
The preacher stood in front of a wall of windows
and outside a storm blew the trees and the rain pounded on the window.
Thank God we had decided to have the ceremony inside.

Then, I saw Roger standing there.
Our eyes met and suddenly,
I felt peaceful as I practically floated to him.
All the nerves that had rattled me all day
just dissolved when he took my arm.
The storm swirled on the other side of the
window as we started to say our vows.

We had decided to have a traditional ceremony
and not write our own vows.
There just seemed something so romantic
about saying the same words to each other
that people had been saying for generations before us.

When it was my turn to speak,
I felt warmth on my shoulder.
I looked behind me to see that a single ray of sunshine
pushed through the clouds and drenched me in sunlight.

It felt like God was smiling on our union.

Happy Anniversary, handsome.