Two Years: A wedding and a marriage

Two years ago we stood in a big white church, the ceiling looming high above us, our friends and family layered in rows of pews to the back doors. We promised our I-dos; it was the best day ever.

I have been remiss over the past 730 days in not sharing more of the fantastic photos that our generous and thoughtful crew of photographers shot that day. So at long last, in celebration of this two-year mark, I’ve finally put together an edit of some of my favorites.

We were extremely fortunate that so many people selflessly dedicated their time and energy to making our wedding day so wonderful, and I would like to thank them first and foremost.

❶ To our families. Our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins…you all provided immense support and cheer during the entire preparation process and through to the conclusion of our reception. And frankly, over the course of our entire relationship. We love you and cherish you.

❷ To our wedding party. You all were heaven sent, I’m sure of it. From standing up beside us at the altar, to providing extra hands, moral support, and literal bodyguarding as we walked from the church to reception venue along one of the more colorful stretches of road in downtown Denver, we truly couldn’t have done it without you.

❸ To our photographers, our wonderful photographers and videographers. We came to you with this idea of splitting up the whole day into chunks, asking each of you to take a slice of the day to document however you saw fit, and you ran with it. You gave us this immense gift and we could not be more grateful.

❹ To our wedding planners. I found your fine company care of an assignment and was so grateful that even though I had almost nothing planned and only five more months to go before our wedding date you took up the banner and operated within our strict budget and insane schedules. You made the whole process so much easier than we thought possible and for that we thank you.

❺ And finally, to all of our guests. You came from near and far, traveling the country to come celebrate with us. You were witnesses to our vows and participants in the best dance party ever. Thank you, thank you.

We start at the beginning. This is going to be a bit of a marathon, my friends, so buckle up. Get some coffee. Grab some protein-rich sustenance. Ready? Here we go.

Check out all that hairspray. The bridal prep process is not for the faint of heart. Luckily I had these awesome ladies with me.

Meanwhile, the fellas were at our new little cottage house.

I’ve stabbed my fair-share of grooms trying to get those darn boutonnieres successfully pinned on, so that look of concern is understandable.

Let’s talk about our photographers here for a minute. We had a crew of seven different photographers agree to document our day. Six of them our Post colleagues and one a very good friend from the Denver freelancing community. It really is a special thing to be part of the wider photographer network. The people you will find there are among the best in the world, I’m sure of it.

I have never felt more fancy than on that day and was trying my best to be poised and collected to match the occasion.

An attempt which wasn’t always successful. Here I am with my sisters trying to strike a pose, be alluring, a tad mysterious…and 100 percent failing. My awkwardness knows no bounds.

I think it’s pretty clear that Dan missed his true calling as an air traffic controller. Or whatever those folks who direct planes on the ground are called.

Have you ever seen such a picture of grace and elegance?

Luckily the groom had a little more polish.

My poor sister, what a trooper. She was assigned the task of following me around throughout the ceremony, making sure the train of my dress was out of the way and laid out just so so that I wouldn’t trip and sprawl all over the marble stairs. She performed the duty with distinction and no one was injured in the course of the ceremony. And bonus, Emily got quite the workout.

Ta-da! Married! And then we forgot how to walk back down the aisle to exit the church.

Coordination is hard, folks. What can I say.

My hardworking bridesmaids, juggling all the things.

And then we made the lot of them walk 10 city blocks for lots and lots of photos and a quick stop by our favorite bar.

I’m pretty sure the girls in their fabulous heels wanted to murder me. But not a one of them complained (you go, girls, truly), and no one broke any ankles or toes.

Ever the multi-taskers; always working.

We had a big chunk of time between the ceremony and reception so we took our wedding party to Cap City, our favored and oft-visited local tavern.

While there, Dan got sabotaged.

Thanks, John!

And then it was time to party.

My siblings and I photograph very well. It’s a family trait.

Our wedding truly was perfect. Things went wrong and there are probably aspects we would do differently if we looked at it all again, but when you have your loved ones surrounding you and you have this person in front of you pledging a lifetime, it really does feel like the most perfect day. The best day.

But how to sum up two years of marriage? This early on it feels like everything is still brand new, and somehow at the same time like we’ve come a long way. We laugh a lot and silliness abounds. We have a tendency to work too much and can let all the noise of life overpower us. We work everyday to compromise and respect one another. It’s a constant re-centering on what matters most to us.

We have been married two years. Two years already! And at the same time, only two years.

Two down, hopefully many more to come.

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Shout out to our photographers!

And to our vendors!