Our Wedding Day

Currently Ryan and I are sitting by our beach side villa looking at the ocean and relaxing. It's still early in the day so we thought we would write down some little things about our wedding before we forgot them - plus, I KNOW ya'll are just dying to hear about it. LOL.

We got married at 3:00 on April 16th, 2011 on my family's land in front of our 9 acre 'pond'. The location was beautiful. We also had a gorgeous white tent up for the reception afterwards. Everything was decorated in our colors; purple, black, and silver. Our cake topper even showed up last minute! We had a Mario and Princess Peach cake topper because Ryan is obsessed with Nintendo stuff.

Our wedding day will always be a day to remember because it was the day that I married my best friend....oh yeah, and it was also the day that a tornado hit Wake Forest! Over 16 deadly tornadoes hit NC on April 16th. We knew that this weather was coming before the wedding. In fact, it is the one thing that made us very anxious prior to the wedding. We already had our Plan B...and C and D. :) I for sure thought that my wedding ceremony was going to be in a tent while it was pouring down rain. However, our prayers paid off! The weather held off during our ceremony and we were able to get some GORGEOUS pictures. I will never forget walking towards Ryan. I felt like a princess and he had the biggest grin on his face. It felt like we were in a bubble. Taking our vows and getting those wedding bands are the strongest symbol of our love. It was an amazing moment...then the bottom fell out.

Our reception was wonderful. We loved being surrounded around our friends and family as we all celebrated. We stuffed our faces with good ole NC BBQ and we danced like fools. We only had to take a good hour break while a tornado came through. Yes, my dad had to announce in the tent that a tornado was headed our way and we all had to go into the nearby houses for shelter. Now, if you know my family, it is no surprise that we just all went inside and had a good time there playing cards and laughing. After a while the tornado (that hit about 5 miles away) passed and we were able to go back and continue the celebration. WHAT A DAY!!!

As Ryan and I left for our honeymoon the next day, we drove past some of the area that was hit by the tornado. Large homes were left in rubble. I couldn't help but cry as I saw people's furniture and personal belongings smashed under the frames of the houses. Families were picking up stuff and some were just crying. It was so surreal to know that the happiest day in mine and Ryan's life was also the saddest day for others. Ryan and I counted our blessings that day. We were so lucky to have been safe and surrounded by our loved ones. As you can see our wedding day was an interesting one and by far the best days of our lives up to this point. We are best friends. We are soul mates. We have a good life ahead of us!

*** No worries - our professional pictures will be posted when we get them! Thanks to all of our loved ones who were able to share this day with us. For all of our friends that couldn't make it, ya'll were there with us in spirit. We love ya'll bunches!