Since she tagged me to do this, I was going to wait to post this because the anniversary of our engagement is coming up (March 29). But, I'll reminisce about that day in another post. Here is all about our wedding day.
1. Where/How did you meet? We met through a mutual friend who was back in Lubbock for a visit. I was a sophomore and Paul was a first-year grad student.2. How long have you known each other? Since April 1995.
3. How long after you met did you start dating? 5-ish months. We never had an "official" first date; we were always together so it's hard to say when we actually started dating. It was after Labor Day but before my birthday. :)
4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 3 1/2 years.
5. How long was your engagement? About six months.
6. How long have you been married? 7 1/2 years
7. What is your anniversary? October 2
8. How many people came to your wedding reception? We had about 80 people at our wedding and I think they all went to the reception
9. What kind of cake did you serve? The wedding cake was a 3-tiered stacked carrot cake with buttercream icing. Groom's cake was devil's food cake.
10. Where was your wedding? First Baptist Church in Canadian, TX; my parents' house was just across the street
11. What did you serve for your meal? We had a luncheon with salad, chicken cordon bleu, Paul's favorite green beans, something else I'm sure...
12. How many people were in your bridal party? 2 bridesmaids and 2 groomsmen
13. Are you still friends with them all? Yes, because it would make for awkward holidays if we weren't (my sisters were my MOHs; Paul's brother and best friend were the groomsmen)
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? No, but I was about 2 seconds from hitting the full-on ugly cry. I was starting to cry and I could see Jeff (best man) looking at the Kleenex in the front pew (because I didn't have any). Paul offered me his shirt sleeve to wipe my nose and I started laughing which made me stop crying.
15. Most special moment of your wedding day? My favorite picture is us walking back down the aisle as husband and wife--all the stress and worries getting up to that point were over and we were married! Oh, and Tech beat A&M in football that afternoon, which is always good.
16. Any funny moments? Yep, recounted here. And we didn't practice the "feeding the cake" bit (and didn't use forks) so I managed to get my thumb in Paul's mouth so he bit it when he bit down. I found it really amusing but I'm not sure anyone else knew what was going on. **And the thing Donna mentioned in the comments--the centerpieces at the reception were small pumpkins hollowed out and filled with mums. Our friend Bob decided he needed to carve a jack-o-lantern in the pumpkin on his table using his table knife. My aunt saw him and just thought he was "hiding" behind the flowers so she started "hiding" as well, like they were playing peek-a-book but Bob had *no* idea as to what my aunt was doing (and having been around my family quite a bit, he was already convinced 90% of them were crazy and this just reinforced that belief)
17. Any big disasters? No disasters, big or small. I remember my mom walking into the bride's room as we were taking pictures, grabbing me by the shoulders and saying "The cake! It's leaning!" I'm thinking Leaning Tower of Pisa leaning but it wasn't. Just a slight tilt. Crisis averted when I suggested we turn the cake plate so it was leaning to the back. Mom was a little nervous. :) Oh, and then one of my cousins refused to come into the reception if she couldn't sit next to our grandparents--Mom managed to resolve that issue with very few people (including me until after the reception) knowing what was going on.
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went to San Francisco. It just happened to be one of the hottest weeks on record for SF. We did get to see the fog one day though, so I was happy.
19. How long were you gone? We were in CA for a week.
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? There would be a few things I'd change if I were planning our wedding today just because I'm older and my tastes have changed. But for the most part, I'd have a very similar wedding if for no other reason than because it got us married which was the ultimate goal.
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Paul would say "the middle side" but I start out on the left-hand side (if you're in the bed).
22. What size is your bed? Queen
23. Greatest strength as a couple? Our commitment to each other and this marriage. We're a good balance for each other, as well.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple? Communication. But we know it and it's something we work on all the time, sometimes to more success than other times.
25. Who literally pays the bills? That would be the magic of online banking and automatic bill pay. But it was all set up by me because it just doesn't enter into Paul's thinking that oh, yeah, we should pay the electric bill.
26. What is your song? Hmmm...we don't really have a "song" although Paul likes to antagonize me and say Supernova by Liz Phair. And while I like the song, it's not exactly something you could play for a first dance or even play in polite company. "Hey, Grandma! Just ignore that f-bomb and the reference to sex! Thanks!"
27. What did you dance your first dance to? Paul's one request was no dancing at the reception. I would have loved it but he's not much of a dancer. We did agree that if we'd had a first dance, it would have been to Sinatra's You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me.
28. Describe your wedding dress. It was white with a tatted-lace bodice, cummerbund waist and a satin A-line skirt. The train, which was "sweep length" (a.k.a short) and detachable, had the tatted lace around the edge. No beading or sequins or fuss or muss--very simple and low-key which was perfect for our simple, low-key morning wedding. I found a picture of it in a wedding magazine and just knew it was the dress I wanted. It was the only one I tried on.
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? My MOHs carried hand-tied bouquets of red, orange, and yellow Gerbera daisies tied with chocolate brown ribbons. Mine was hand-tied cream Gerberas with a cream ribbon. The rest of the flowers around the church and reception were various kinds of mums and other fall-esque flowers. I loved our flowers. My inlaws paid the flower bill and I remember my MIL telling me that I could pick more expensive flowers but it was just what I wanted.
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say? I had Paul's engraved with "Always" and our anniversary date (10-2-99). I didn't mention engraving so he didn't do anything for my ring.
**My sister Donna has said that the picture of us kissing "freaks her out" because our eyes are open. I'd never even noticed that until she pointed it out to me on her last visit.
