December 16, 2011

The day started around 5 a.m. when Jen's alarm went off and, per usual, she hit snooze about seven times. She wasn't really asleep, though. She was too busy realizing that she and Ryan were getting married THAT day. All the waiting was finally over.

Ryan picked Jen up around 7 and they headed down to the Manti Temple. It was super foggy, and you could barely see the road two car lengths ahead. Jen spent the first half of the drive making a playlist for the reception and laughing nervously every few seconds. Ryan spent the second half of the drive taking Steri Strips off his chin so they wouldn't be on during the reception. We both spent ten minutes trying to see the temple in the distance through the fog, only to realize we were looking in the wrong direction.

In the temple, Jen sniffled just a little on Ryan's shoulder as she realized that THIS was the most important aspect of the whole wedding, and wished with all her heart she hadn't spent so much energy worrying about all the other ridiculous details. Being inside the Manti Temple together was true, pure joy. All the family that we love so much were there [minus John - on a mission in New Hampshire] and it was absolutely perfect. After the ceremony, Jen requested a few minutes to sit with Ryan in the celestial room, and it was amazing looking around at everyone who had come to support us and realize that we were, in fact, married to each other for eternity. For forever.

After going back to change, the temple workers hunted down Jen's veil, hunted down her bouquet, and left to hunt down her husband. Then she and her mom got tired of waiting and walked out to find Husband waiting anxiously in the waiting room where he belonged. We emerged from the temple to 20 degree icy cold-ness and spent hours taking pictures (literally!). Disclaimer: Jen really did not realize how long we had been taking pictures. She just wanted to make sure she got good pictures of the special day. And she did, courtesy of Abby Alger Photography:

You can see more at Abby's website. 


Two hours late, we arrived at our luncheon, where we ate and our parents told embarrassing stories and we spent a lot of time staring at each other and thinking about how we'd just married each other!

Then we rushed to Jen's house so she could fix her hair before the reception.

Then we rushed to the reception, where Jennifer's mom helped her back into her wedding dress, and she decided to be efficient and put on her garter for later, only it proceeded to fall down the whole rest of the evening, and she had to keep twitching it back up her leg.

Then we took family pictures.
And at 5:45 the people started coming.
The cultural hall was decorated BEAUTIFULLY! There were Christmas trees with white lights surrounding the whole room. We stood under an archway, and there was a picture table by us with some of our beautiful engagement photos, and even a large framed picture from our wedding day.

At 7:45 we finally escaped the grasp of a never-ending line of people who all wished us well and congratulated us. We shared an eclair. We cut some cake and fed it to each other (and the whole time we were discussing how very weird and awkward this cake-cutting thing was!). Jennifer danced with her dad to My Little Girl by Tim McGraw, and he cried and she cried and it couldn't have lasted long enough. Then she danced with Ryan to You and Me by Lifehouse, and when it was over she wished it could start all over again. Ryan even spun her, ballroom style. It was absolutely perfect.

Then Jen tossed a bouquet and aimed left (so McKenzi could catch it)... and it went left. Yeah. That's all we'll say about that. My eternal apologies to whoever had to snatch their hot chocolate out of the way of a speeding bouquet missile... And Ryan pulled off the garter (which had been hanging out around Jen's ankle for several minutes) and Logan caught it mid-air in a hail-mary pass sort of move (okay, I have no idea what a hail mary is, but it sounded cool.)

After Jen changed back out of her dress, and Ryan changed out of his tux, they said their goodbyes and exited the building amid a flaming passage of sparkling sparklers, (batch number two: batch number one burned out after the false alarm...) And they headed off to the Grand America for one night, and then a romantic week in a condo in Park City - courtesy of a very good coworker - complete with a fireplace, kitchen, and flatscreen TV and dvd player. [Honeymoon Heaven!]

It simply couldn't have been more perfect. But then, this is Jen and Ryan, after all - and our story, though not always easy, and not always ideal, is perfect. Perfect because we love each other and will do anything to make one another happy - and that's what marriage is all about.