While I'm talking about the (recent) past, let me tell you a little about something that happened 7 years ago. Let's talk about my wedding for just a minute. I've never mentioned it before because it never occurred to me that it might be entertaining. I'm even tempted to post pictures but it's just too much work for me to go dig them out and scan them right now. I'm nursing a baby and I'm lazy! But since my wedding was interesting enough to win me some awesome new makeup, I'll tell you all the story. Jason and I met when we were working at the same department store. I was a department manager and he was a sales associate. His manager was a good friend of mine but I had never met Jason.
One evening after work a couple of the other managers and I decided to go out to a restaurant after work. Jason came along and we ended up sending the entire evening talking. I'm not sure what happened but sparks flew and we ended up engaged just 6 months later.
We had planned to have a small-ish wedding the following June. One thing led to another and before we knew it we were buying a house together that May. A fancy wedding was never a priority for us and so we decided to have a private ceremony with a Justice of the Peace.
Our work schedules were hectic and we weren't even finished unpacking from our move. We called the Justice of the Peace to schedule a time for us to be married. He asked us if we wanted to do it at the courthouse or if we had a location in mind. We couldn't decide on a place to have the ceremony. Somehow one of us suggested the little "park" next to the mall where we worked.
The mall had been built over a historical area known as Vestal's Gap Road. This was a road used by George Washington to travel between Alexandria, VA and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Part of the mall was built right on top of this old road. In one corner of the parking lot there is a small stand of trees and a strip of pebbles with 2 park benches and a historical marker telling about the old road. For some reason this seemed like a good spot to get married. After all, it was just a few feet from where we'd met!
On a hot June afternoon we were married in the mall parking lot. We were both at work that day so we got dressed there. Jason wore his work clothes (a suit and tie) and I wore a white prom dress. My coworkers did my hair and makeup. The receptionist in the executive office bought me a bouquet of flowers. And then we headed across the parking lot.
The Justice of the Peace read a few words and we said our vows. A few of our coworkers had followed us over and took pictures for us. When it was done we went back to work. My boss had gotten a cake from Costco and we sat in his office and ate it. I think we had a toast with sparkling cider. Someone went down to Housewares and brought up a fancy cake knife that we kept.
After work we went home and called our family. They had no idea what we'd just done!
A few days later we "honeymooned" at Skyline Drive. We camped out with our dog. In a tent. And as we were eating hotdogs for our fabulous dinner that night something occurred to me. My own parents had honeymooned on Skyline Drive 23 years earlier after their outdoor wedding. Their camper had flooded and it was a disaster. And they ended up divorced. My mom got a real kick out of it when I told her where we spent our honeymoon.
But fortunately I've learned that the marriage is not about the wedding. The wedding is just one day. We've had a lot of crazier days since then. Like the day we had twins. Or the day we had twins again.
Honestly, Jason thinks our wedding was great. When I told him that I'd won a contest for our "wedding disaster" he was surprised. I guess he's just a wedding-in-the-mall-parking-lot kind of guy. He can't imagine why every couple doesn't do it that way! The scary part is that he is serious.
I'm not the only one who had an interesting wedding day. If you want to read about some other less-than-perfect weddings, head over to Michele's blog. And buy some of her makeup while you're at it!
