Our Wedding

All the way up to the ceremony I had butterflies. In my life all celebrations had come at the end of an accomplishment, or came yearly irregardless of my performance. It feels natural to celebrate at the end of something after you have proven your worth. A wedding is backwards, you start with a celebration, and then spend the rest of your life proving why you deserved it. So on the morning of my wedding I was nervous and excited not because I was worried about anything, but because we were celebrating something that I would be working at for the rest of my life. I know I chose right, Ben is amazing, half the time I spend thinking: how on earth did I convince this man that I was good enough to deserve him, and the other I spend thanking my lucky stars that it worked. Ben and I have dated 7 years, and known each other for 9 years. We are high school sweet hearts. I think one of the advantages this gives us is that we know we're going to change, I loved him when he wanted to be a rock star, and I love him now that he wants to be a teacher. We have both grown up a ton, and we know that sometimes you need to take a step back and remember the cute naive person you started dating, others you just have to revel in the person they have become, and sometimes you just have to let yourself be excited for the amazing person you know they will be.

I was a bit overwhelmed on the day of the wedding, I felt like the world was passing me by at a million miles an hour, and I couldn't quite get my footing on what I was doing. Luckily my friend Nicole came along, and her confidence and organizational skills put me at ease and allowed me to just focus on my excitement.

The whole wedding went absolutely perfectly (actually a lot of stuff went wrong, I was, and still am, just too happy to care). Our moms had figured out everything for us that day, and the preceding week. I don't know what we would have done without their help, the place was beautiful, and we had to do very little to make our day perfect. Our ceremony was short and sweet, below are our vows to each other.

My Vows to Ben:

I love you more than there are stars in the sky. 

You emanate being a good person. People are drawn to how kind and genuine you are. I am so proud of you and proud to call you mine.

Friends are people that make you want to be a better person. You are my best friend and the love of my life. I want to make the world a better place, just so that it deserves you a little more.

I vow to be kind and cheerful, generous and inquisitive and to love you past the end of time.

Ben's Vows to Me:

I love you more than birds love to soar. 

Love is a verb, the more you put in the more you get out. As I love you more and more everyday I see just how rewarding it can be. I will keep trying for you and I will keep loving you more and more for our own ever after.

You are a beautiful, brilliant, and spectacular girl. People love you because you are witty and incredibly loyal. You will never give up on someone you love, and you are always there for your family and friends. I want to show you that same great loyalty so the world deserves you a little more.

I vow to be honest and loyal, to support and challenge you, and to always keep loving you.

Stunning Photographs by Edward deCroce: decrocephotography.com