Dennis and I got engaged last August, and planned our wedding in only 3 months. I felt strongly that our wedding day was his day too and I wanted to have the day express who we are as a couple. Excluding my dress choice, Dennis and I decided all the details together. We even made all the maps for the invitations and assembled 40+ favors for our reception guests. We had a great time planning and playing together as we got ready for the big day.

Although I am usually punctual, the morning of the wedding I was running late. My matron of honor and my attendant put it all into perspective by reminding me, "they can't start without YOU." That helped calm me down a bit. After a couple of deeps breaths, a few bites of breakfast and some laughs taking behind-the-scenes pictures I felt much better. The hour was getting late though and Dennis, who was already at the chapel, was getting nervous. After pacing back and forth on the pathway next to the chapel, Dennis called me. I assured him that although I was running late, I had every intention of showing up to marry the love of my life.

My favorite part of the ceremony was that our Pastor, Dave, personalized it to us. His words made our family and friends laugh and cry as he highlighted how we met and why we loved each other. We also decided to have a special unity ceremony using colored sand instead of the traditional unity candle. To match the earthy, natural environment we had chosen for the ceremony, we selected rust and ivory sand. When it came time for the unity ceremony, little-by-little, we combined our sand by pouring it into a large vase as a symbol of our new lives together. In addition to being a very special part of the ceremony, it also gave us an artful reminder of our wedding day that sits on the shelf with our Picaboo album.

These days, we frequently go to the restaurant where we had our first date and remind ourselves of the conversation we had that got us to where we are today.