As part of Wedding Week (I'M MARRIED), today we are featuring Lorren from The Story Girl!
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Hello everyone! I am so grateful to Miss Remmers' Review for the chance to revisit my own little fairy tale. Our story began very simply. I was locked out of my apartment, and when I went to visit my friend, I found out she was hanging out with some guys at their apartment. They invited me to come over and I spent the evening playing Scattergories with my friend and the two men that we would each end up marrying. For the rest of the summer I hung out with them, although I was dating someone else at the time. As I got to know "The Husband" better, I learned more and more things that I liked about him. While he is a goofy and fun-loving guy, he had a very deep and empathetic part of his personality that intrigued me and I found myself growing interested. He and I were each in relationships with other people, but those relationships ended at roughly the same time and in a similar way. We ended up spending more and more time together, at first discussing our broken hearts but later switching to getting to know each other better. After months of hanging out, texting songs to each other, and tentative dates, we finally became official and had our first kiss under mistletoe that he slyly hung above my door (of course, when he called me to come out I was in sweats and make-up-less, but we'll just focus on the romance part).
After an amazing five months (yes, I know) of dating, we both decided it was time to make a further commitment and get married. While I was terrified at the thought of choosing someone to be with for the rest of my life, I knew that his personality, values, and sense of humor were exactly what I wanted and needed. He popped the question on May 29, 2010 at Municipal Pier in San Francisco. I basically giggled through the proposal — I was so excited and I couldn't believe that I was actually getting married. I loved that he proposed in San Francisco because now it will be our special romantic spot for the rest of our lives.
After some deliberation, we decided to get married on August 17, 2010. Because we were each in school and didn't want to deal with moving in the middle of the semester or trying to hurriedly get married over Christmas break, we decided a short engagement was the best route to take. The date also had sentimental value for us — August 17 is "The Husband's" parents' wedding anniversary, and we were married in the same place my parents were married.
Despite high amounts of stress before the wedding, August 17 was as perfect as I could have hoped for. My dress was a gown I'd seen in a catalogue before my wedding, and jokingly told my friends I would buy if I ever got married. I was so excited that I was actually wearing it! I had The Husband's niece and my sister as bridesmaids and The Husband's younger nieces as flower girls. We were married at 10:30 am in the Boise, Idaho Temple (I grew up in Boise and my family still lives there). We believe the marriage ceremony in the temple links us together as a family for life and after death, so it was a very special and spiritual experience. We were lucky to have our families there with us (The Husband's family kindly traveled all the way from California to be there) and several of our close friends from Utah also made the trip. Almost everyone we loved was there, and we couldn't have been happier!
That evening, we had our reception at a golf course near my parents' house. My mom and her best friend had set up everything just how I imagined it, with chinese lanterns and white flowers everywhere. The food was also exactly what I'd always wanted to have at my wedding — a chocolate fountain and amazing chocolate truffles that my grandma and aunt had spent the weekend crafting by hand. The best part by far, though, was the dancing! The Husband and I had been to so many receptions where the bride and groom just waited in a line and greeted all their guests. We did this for the first hour of the reception, but after that everyone got out and danced. I was almost sorry when the DJ called out that it was time to go and I had to hurry and change into my get-away dress... until I realized that now I could leave on my honeymoon with my handsome prince.
In my mind, everything was perfect, not because every aspect of the wedding pulled together flawlessly, but because I was surrounded by people I loved and was so happy with the person I was marrying. Our cake did turn out kind of ugly, my shoes did get ruined when the heel sunk into the mud, and my mother and I were nervous wrecks up until the day before the wedding. However, on the day of the wedding, I decided to just let things fall and enjoy the day as much as possible. In 20 years, I probably won't remember the ugly cake or the dirt that crept up onto the hem of my dress, but I will remember how it felt to dance with my friends and family surrounding me, completely in love with the man across from me.
Congratulations again to Miss Remmers (soon to be a Mrs.)! I hope your day is absolutely perfect!
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Lorren thank you so much for sharing! I love these beautiful pictures! I especially love the picture of you in front of the Temple! What a great story too! I hope your first year of marriage has been wonderful and I'll definitely be thinking of you on the 17th of August! Congratulations!