Finally A Moment...

anyone missed me? huh? what's that i hear? a little? k' well here is the return of the 30-day blogging challenge that i have inexplicably taken a week off from doing. i think i may be agreeing with my friend on the content of these questions because this one is "Your Dream Wedding".

is this the dream wedding that already happened or the dream wedding i wish i had? i have pondering this for a week. i am not any closer to knowing the answer...besides, i really was busy.

these questions are so vague and non-specific. perhaps that should be the beauty of this challenge; i can make what i want of it.

#7. My Dream Wedding (and Reception) that Already Happened (and Superman's that didn't)

i think this picture is pretty self-explanatory. i met a man whom i found had many of the numerous qualities i was looking for, one of which included being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. but he also needed to be able to enter into a temple marriage ceremony with me. i set a goal when i was a kid that i would be married in the temple. marriage in the LDS temple differs from a civil ceremony in that the marriage is for "time and all eternity" rather than "until death do you part". i am proud to say that i accomplished my goal and childhood dream and my life has been blessed for it.

even though superman and i really wanted to be sealed (that's what temple marriage is referred to as "sealing" or a "sealing ceremony") in the st. george, utah temple because both of our parents were sealed in st. george, due to travel expenses for the family we decided to marry in oklahoma city.

when we became engaged, my parents told me write down everything you think you want and we will see what we can do. my list went something like this:

reception NOT in the gym at the church
a professional photographer
a reception venue with stairs
a ring exchange at the reception
reception on the night before our wedding day (unconventional i know but this way we wouldn't be traveling all day since our reception was in tulsa and i didn't want to come back to a reception after our honeymoon...just seemed weird and stressful to me...)
ceremony in st. george, utah

as you can see the reception was very important to me with the photographer coming in a close second. i shopped around long and hard for a photographer who still was using film because when i got married the digital age was just beginning and to get really professional-looking digital pictures was VERY expensive. i think most photographers going over to digital just hadn't figured out photoshop quite well enough and the pictures looked like something my dad could do. i wanted pictures that looked like i hired a photographer.

bored yet? *yawn*

i think i included getting a limo on my wish list too, but that didn't happen. we held the reception at this gorgeous historical home in an older, richer part of tulsa. the home is called the Harweldon House (check out the beauty of this place in the photo gallery). i first went to tour this place as a girlscout, fell in love with its charm and beauty, and then made it a dream for my wedding reception. there i am, down there, on the night of my reception at the Harweldon House. and like always, this photo has a story that could be a whole 'nother post...

if i changed anything, i wish i would have cut the cake last. we cut the cake right after our ring exchange and unity candle ceremony and so all the guests went and got their food while we did our first dance. then, most the guests just left. i wish i would have stood in a receiving line while people were getting their food so that i could have spent time visiting with our guests and thanking them for coming then we could have had our dance and cut the cake. by 8:30 or so everyone had left and our big wedding "party" puttered out. we had the venue booked until 11 or so. with the extra time, we sat and opened our gifts with our families, which was special.

superman's idea of a dream wedding (reception) was completely different than mine. he wanted to have a BBQ at his folks house. looking back, i think we could have done it really nice with a tent and it could have been a kind of casual country affair possibly better suited for the majority of our guests. i admit it now...i was a bridezilla...i should have been more considerate of my groom. he and his family were really good sports and i really appreciate their support.

the bottom line is we have a temple marriage which, to us, means the world.

my gosh this is boring. *yawn* stay tuned for #8...something about music.