Jan 7, 2021
From an old blog I used to manage.
With an “official” engagement at the end of December and a wedding two weeks into February, I had to get going on a lot of projects.
Scott and I had chosen a Vintage Travel theme for our wedding. The travel part represented who we are—full of adventure with a desire to travel and see the world. The vintage just makes everything look more artistic and rustic and gives it that extra elegance that a wedding needs. Plus, we both love vintage.
Things To Be Done and Prepared
“We” would be me and my mom. My mom was excited for the vintage travel wedding, as evidenced by the vintage suitcases and travel models (airplanes, cars, etc.) that she bought. But also part of the “vintage wedding” was my wedding dress, and, yes, my mom made it. She’s pretty much amazing!
One great adventure was finding material for the dress. I was not much of a lace person until my wedding. I hated lace when I was a little girl in the 80s and 90s when lace was everywhere. But, for this vintage wedding I wanted lace. And you’d be surprised that in my home state, with all the fabric stores, bridal lace is hard to find.
Through the luck of Yelp, we found a little shop called Tissú Fine Fabrics and Design—cutest fabric and design store ever! As soon as I walked in the shop I found the perfect lace. Beautiful!
My mom also made the bridesmaid dresses (all three of them), the aprons, and the table cloths. Really, my mom is amazing!
This wedding required a lof of fun decorating so there was a lot of gathering of display pieces and crafting of others to be done. We had the reception in the gym of the church where Scott and I met, and were pretty creative in how we used the space.
Along the outside of the room we displayed little scenes. In the far corner was little beach scene, complete with butterfly nets and a picnic basket. The windows each displayed our engagement photos on clotheslines. And we got this fantastic vintage bike from my grandmother.
In a comfortable vintage living area scene, I created a map featuring locations where Scott and I had traveled or lived in the last few years: South Korea, Paraguay, Michigan, Texas, Utah, Washington…
Each table had its own theme of a specific place around the world and were decorated with souvenirs from that location. The locations included South Korea, Paraguay, Germany, Denmark, Mexico, Japan, Hawaii, and Florida.
We had a lot of fun putting this together, and we had a great turn out. Although it was a little hectic getting everything together, the wedding turned out beautifully, thanks to my family, Scott’s family, friends, my aunt who came to help decorate, and anyone else who helped in any way. A special thanks, though, to my mom and dad who put a lot of time into the crazy craft ideas I came up with and, of course, my gorgeous wedding dress.
The Groom Getting to the Wedding on Time
The really crazy part of the whole wedding actually involves Scott, quite a bit.
While I was planning all this wedding stuff, Scott was a few states away in military training school. And we were not entirely sure he would make it home for the wedding until just a few weeks before the big day.
The day before the wedding was hectic, to say the least. I had many friends and family to help set up the reception room in the church and help get last-minute preparations in place. Scott was still not home. His plane would not get in until 11 something that night… almost midnight.
Excited for the big day, tired, and knowing I needed to get some sleep, I went to bed, restlessly because I was waiting for Scott’s call to tell me he had made it home. The call never came.
After midnight, almost 1 a.m., I was going crazy with anticipation and worry. His parents and brothers were picking him up from the airport and I would not actually see him until the morning of the wedding.
Finally, I called him. His plane had just landed. Whew. I can’t even begin to describe the relief I felt. I was getting married. All the preparations had been made for a reason. My husband-to-be was home.
The next morning, Scott and I were married for time and all eternity. It was the most beautiful and sacred ceremony with our family and friends surrounding us. Everything I had been waiting for had finally come to pass.
A Short Honeymoon and then Separation
Scott and I had the perfect wedding day and honeymoon weekend, however short. The next Monday, Scott ventured back to Texas to finish his training and I went home to live with my parents for a month and get all our things packed up into a storage shed.
A few weeks later, I joined my husband in California for his second phase of training. I lived in a hotel for a month-and-a half while he lived on base, mostly. But we got to be together and we were married and very much in love.
I have and never will regret the crazy, fast wedding Scott and I had. It spoke of who we are, it allowed us to be together sooner, and it truly was the best day of my life.
And the adventures have continued.
Even though it is now a few weeks after our first anniversary, happy anniversary, my wonderful, beloved Scott.
