A wedding post

As most of you know, Stephen and I had the pleasure of getting married one month ago. And even though most of my readers will have seen pictures via Facebook, I couldn't resist using this week as an opportunity to celebrate one month of marriage, receiving our wedding pictures, and the best early Christmas gift I could have imagined - my husband.

I think in a lot of ways, one of my favorite parts of the day was how calm I was and how jittery Stephen was. See, I get overexcited easily, and it's always obvious. Stephen is nonchalant, always. The day we got engaged, he kept saying, "I'm excited," without even smiling, while I was a bundle of laughter. On our wedding day, I remember being more excited than I imagined, but also completely calm. That certainty of this is it and this is right kept me quiet and still, while people told me countless times how restless Stephen was. I love that image of him, pacing, lying down on the floor, fidgeting - so excited that he actually couldn't contain himself. And I loved being on the other side of the spectrum - excited to the point of stillness.

Call me crazy, but it was almost as if the first part of our wedding day was experiencing love the way the other person normally experiences it. Giving us both a never before had taste of each other.

We kept it small, with just under 70 guests, and it was absolutely perfect. A smaller guest list allowed Stephen and me to really celebrate with everyone and to enjoy to the fullest this day-of-all-days. It rained. It poured, and we learned that wet wedding days are considered good luck because wet knots are difficult to untie. We embraced the dreariness, knowing our venue offered the perfect indoor option, and that the sky would create a dreamy backdrop for pictures.

We danced (though we both wish we'd danced more), we ate delicious cake, and we had the time of our lives. I've always been a little iffy of brides who claim their wedding day was the best day of their life, because I feel like a life together should be filled with best days rather than limited to just one, but at least for the time being, this was the best day.

I became a wife. I gained a husband. We started a journey that is glorious and fulfilling in so many ways, both expected and unexpected, and I can't wait to see what other best days fill up our marriage.

All photos, except the very first, were taken by Candice Emerson, of C. Hope Photography.