Before I start this, I should mention that Hannah and I got eloped on May 25, 2022. Our relationship had been trying to move faster than our plans to get married in a wedding ceremony, and we are both Christian. So to protect our faith and our relationship, we got eloped before our wedding so we would not move faster than we had originally intended to. With that aside, our wedding day is still a day of love, commitment, and everlasting joy (I hope that last one ages well).
My wedding day is a day that I hope I never forget. The day really started the night before when my groomsmen and I stayed up late playing games and enjoying each others' company. If it wasn't for the support I had from my friends I would not have made it where I am in life. If any of you are reading this I thank you from the depths of my heart and soul. That night we stayed up late playing Avalon. Avalon is like mafia, midnight ultimate werewolf, Among Us, etc. We spent the whole night laughing at the antics of my brother Nathan and my great friend Brandon. During the game, Brandon and Nathan would talk to each other like they were on a team even though most rounds they did not know if they were both innocent or not. During their talks they would predict the roles of the people around the table. Somehow, Brandon was able to correct people's base role of villain or innocent and occasionally guess specific roles, like my friend Ashlee being Merlin (Merlin knows who the villains are during the game, so calling them out to the villains is beneficial for the villains) without any deduction of reasoning. It was mad, but we had a fantastic night laughing about Brandon and his special ability to gamble well.
The reason I preface this story with the night before is because I want to emphasize the joy I was feeling going into the wedding. I was never nervous during the process (Especially since my wife and I eloped a couple of months before, so she couldn't say no) and the joy is what stands out to me the most when I think back to December 16, 2022. When I was waiting at the altar for my gorgeous wife to be escorted down the aisle by her father to deliver her hands into mine, My groomsmen and I were telling each other jokes. I wish I could remember them, but I do know they were goofy hypothetical situations of the ceremony. I don;t remember what song played (There is a lot I do not remember when it comes to minor details), but the song for Hannah qeued up and I anticipated her arrival to the aisle. When I saw that gorgeous woman in her dress and makeup stride towards me I was overjoyed with flustering emotions. I had the worst smile of my life on my face and I am so embarrased that they captured a photo of me at that moment. I think I can post it down below. IT was certainly one of the best moments of my life. Later during the ceremony, Hannah read me her wedding vows first. She was sincere and gentle with the words she had written. It was moving and full of unwavering love for me and our future together. I , on the other hand, had written a series of music based puns for my vows. Basically just using song names to string together the cheesiest poem I could think of. In comparison it was terrible, so I did what any sane man would do in this situation. I imporvised my wedding vows and pretended to read what I was saying off of my card. I have to admit that I knew my wedding vows were bad the night before, so I had been spending the whole day thinking of what I should actually say which helped (If you're wondering why I didn't rewrite my vows, it's because Hannah had the cards we were gonna use and she bought them with his and hers designs on the front. Plus, they were handed to us while we were standing at the altar. There was no way to insert a slip of paper with better words on it. Thank God for Theatre in High School, I think I did a decent job hiding the fact that I had mentally written and memorized a speech for my wedding vows. I did include my never gonna give you up joke from my vows though. I do love me some Rick Astley. Partially for the joke, and his music is good to my ears. Not much else is interesting about the ceremony that needs to be written down. Not that it isn;t important, but this is a lot to read and I haven't gotten to the reception yet. Not that I will have too much to say either, but I have procrastinated typing this out for a little bit and I need to get these memories written.
We held our wedding at a local event center, so we didn't have to travel to reach the reception which was nice. (We had also taken photos with the family at this point. I'm skipping to the better parts of the night.) The Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, Hannah, and I were all lined up to enter the reception hall. I had planned for this moment, so the groomsmen and I put on shades that had groomsmen, best man, or groom written on the side of them so we could fashionably stand out from the rest of the crowd (aside from our matching suits). I think the bridesmaids were a bit jealous they didn't think of anything fun like that, except Hannah's sister Emma who had a cowboy hat that she begged to wear (Neither Hannah or Emma are country girls. I do not know why Emma had a cowboy hat). After all of the other wedding party people entered the reception hall, Hannah and I entered together straight to the dance floor for our first dance. Come Away With Me by Norah Jones played as we swayed together (I didn't actually remnember the song that played, I had to ask Hannah). I was having a great time being the center of attnetion of the crowd and my wife. Of course, this was supposed to be a romantic moment, and I was still wearing the shades that had groom written on the side. Hannah had to ask me to take them off so she wouldn't laugh at me when she looked at me (Sorry Hannah).
Dinner was pretty good. We had Chicken, and parmesan encrusted squash, and some other stuff I can't remember too well (I'm sure you can see why I need to write this down. It's only been a year and I feel like it's been a decade with how much memory I have of this thing). The food that we taste tested was much better in flavor, but I imagine that having to cook all of the food in bulk made it much more difficult to replicate the meal that Hannah and I had tried months prior. It was still very good food though. The first parental dance was the father daughter dance (pretty sure this is always the case). Hannah and her father danced to My Girl by The Temptations. It was a nice dance, but it wasn't an emotionally sad dance like some weddings have it. There was no feeling of a dad giving up his daughter and living with the grief children growing up and starting their own life. Instead it was a joyful dance about her dad being proud of her. No tears were shed, only smiles. It was nice, and women hate crying in makeup so that was extra good for Hannah I think. For the dance with my mom, we danced to Perhaps Love by John Denver. This was the former emotion that I had previoulsy described. My mom did not cry, but I was and still am close with my mom. She takes pride in being a mother and watching me grow to loving my wife did fill her with a sadness of seeing me leave. We swayed to Mr. Denver serenading us and reminisced on our past and the love that we have for each other. The last dance of the 1 on 1 dancing was a grandma granddaughter dance. Hannah's mom passed away when she was 11. This caused Hannah and her grandma to grow a close bond, even when Hannah moved from Nebraska, to Texas, and then to Florida. The dance they shared was a tribute to Hannah's mom, and the bond between Hannah and her grandma. This was my favorite family dance the night. Afterwards the dance floor opened up to everyone, and that is when the fun really started.
None of my friends are dancers. Most of us would rather play games or talk in the corner, but that night we let loose and wiggled our limbs all over the dance floor. One of my best friends Stephen was especially grooving. Looking at him, you wouldn't think he would tear it up as much as he did. He is quiet and nerdy (all of us are nerds really). However, when we kicked out to the dance floor, Stephen was Jojo posing as part of his dance moves. It was awesome to see it. My younger brother Nathan and one of my best friends Bradon were doing some classic disco moves together, and my other best friends Alex and Ashlee were burning up the dance floor as a cute groomsmen couple. Robert and I were dancing with our wives and with each other. One of my best friends Luis (lots of best friends in this wedding) was getting funky in another corner of the dance floor with his wife. It felt like everyone was on the dance floor. Of course the bridesmaids were out their throwing hips and hands, and so was the rest of mine and Hannah's family (minus some of the elderly that would rather watch). I do think I went a bit too crazy out on the dance floor. I was constantly out of breath and I was very sweaty form all the dancing. The only problem was, right when I went to take a break, another good song would come on, so I had to get back into the fray and power through my fatigue. I do not regret my decision to bust a move in risk of busting a hip.
The last dance of the night was an empty dance floor. The reception hall was saved for just Hannah and I to embrace each other as we tiredly rocked to All I've Got to Say by Leighton Meester feat. Scott Grimes from The Orville (watch it, it's a great parody of star Trek that takes itself seriously). I think this song encapsulates how I feel about Hannah. There is so much that I wish to do for her to show her how much I love her. Yet I tend to procrastinate or get in over my head in my ideas. Regardless, I do love her dearly and all I can do is tell her that I love her, and she knows. We finished the night by walking through a sea of our family and friends cheering us on as we drove off back home to our apartment. I am so glad I spent the time to write this down, and I hope that this story can be interesting to someone else out their. I hope you have a good day, and I'll see you next time.