June has been a traditionally big wedding month..."June Bride" anyone? Me! It was me! :)
Matt and I got married on an overcast day in June -- 1995. It was a weekend of family celebration!
Friday night after the rehearsal, we had dinner at my mom and dad's farm...a family friend grilled chops, and my sisters and mom had cooked up all the sides and desserts to feed an army! I am the youngest of seven -- the last to get married -- and the house was filled with my family, Matt's family, and friends from near and far
to start the celebrating! (I think I learned the joy of celebrating from my parents --they took an opportunity to celebrate and were all in!!) If you grew up in NW Iowa -- you probably remember the garage or the shed being cleaned out for the party, right? A home party was where it was at!
Saturday dawned bright and ... well... cloudy. WHAT?!? Didn't the weather know that a June wedding day was supposed to be guaranteed sunny and bright? I do remember being disappointed -- and praying that it wouldn't actually rain. We were doing all indoor -- ceremony in my childhood church, and reception indoors...but I really just didn't want to deal with the rain on the "in-between"! Turns out our photographer was pretty happy with the clouds. He was chatty about the richness in color that you get on those days -- and when we got back our album months later --- oh he was spot on! ( catch that? months later...months with only the snapshots that your friends and family took on their film cameras that you also had to wait to get developed to know if you got "the picture"...months.) LOL -- the concept of taking the pictures and knowing immediately if you got it --- didn't exist!
A couple of things that remain the same --- we made sure that everyone had something to eat the day of the wedding -- but I was "forgotten" in that and missed it! So --- McDonald's chicken nuggets to the rescue for me and some of the nieces and nephews! BTW -- that's probably the closest my mom came to throttling me that weekend -- she rounded the corner to me standing outside in my WHITE dress -- and dipping nuggets in BBQ. (BTW -- didn't spill a drop!)
We saw each other early so we could take a lot of pictures around the church which was BEAUTIFUL before the ceremony. After the ceremony, we were taking corsages to my grandparents' home so that they could see me all dolled up -- and wanted to make sure we had time for that! And then off to the reception!
The cake. Oops -- I meant THE CAKE! This was a wedding cake boys and girls...and it was a sight to behold! My kids roll their eyes and say WHYYYYY...but I'm telling you. This is 1995 all over the place.
The dance -- ah the first dance is delightful -- a chance to have a moment in the midst of everything with just the two of you. This picture? Sigh --- it just doesn't capture it! And, in my ever-to-be humble opinion, it's the four white walls that distract. I can't tell you how much I wish that piece of the puzzle was different. Weird thing to focus on, right? But -- this was a driving force at The Great Hall of Royal when we were designing the space! I wanted a stunning backdrop for events -- and I LOVE seeing the pictures taken in the Great Hall!
Day after gift opening! Did I mention that mom and dad took celebrations very seriously? We actually had "breakfast" at the farm in the middle of the night -- after the dance ended. Because you know everyone will be hungry! (and perhaps a continuation of beverages!!). And then we had the gift opening brunch late morning the next day. Immediate family and friends all crowded in the living room to open gifts, share stories from the day before, and enjoy a little more time together before we all headed our separate ways!
These are the reflections of a June Bride - circa 1995. I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane!
Sara <3
PS -- if you made it this far you get the bonus pictures. This was our car after the ceremony. Decorating cars was a BIG thing. Like -- a go to Sam's Club and buy the pack of toilet paper, add in silly string and glitter confetti in the air vents kinda thing. The icing on the cake? Because it was a beautiful day the back doors of the church were open during the ceremony. So when the priest stood in the aisle and had us face him and our guests to recite our vows ( facing the back doors) -- Matt and I could look out the doors and to the car parked on the street -- and see the brothers-in-law who weren't in the wedding party "decorating". Yep. While we were saying our vows. Boys...what do you do with them?