So… I got married this weekend

Rings, originally uploaded by MeganMorris.

For all of you who thought I couldn’t keep a secret—you were almost right.

After about six or seven months or planning, Ian and I were married Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008, outside Asheville, N.C.—exactly 11 years to the day that we met.* It was a private, outdoor ceremony held at RiverMist, land owned by the officiant who married us in Mooresboro. We stood barefoot on some rocks in a creek and exchanged vows and all that other wedding ceremony data.

Don’t be offended that you weren’t invited—nobody was. Ian and I don’t really like being the center of attention, and while we love all the congrats and well wishes we’ve gotten, the idea of having to stand up in front of a bunch of people in a tux and a frilly white dress and exchange some very personal promises was a bit overwhelming. Ok, it was a lot overwhelming. And after realizing how nervous we were before our private ceremony, we are 100 percent convinced we did what was best for us.

The prep
Even though I felt a little girly, I had my nails, toenails, hair and makeup done, and ok—getting my hair and makeup done=BEST. DECISION. EVER. Best wedding-related decision, at least. Even though the stylist took a bit (OK, a LOT) longer than anticipated and we were almost late for our own frikkin wedding, not having to worry about having a bad hair day or “holy shit I don’t know how to put on makeup I’m not a girly-girl” was great. It was all taken care of for me.

Also, I think I understand the point of the bridal party, the rehearsal dinner, etc., now. It’s not to invite your best friends and beloved family members to share in a wonderful moment in your life. That’s bullshit. It’s all about keeping the bride and groom occupied so they have as few “OMGWTFGETTINGMARRIED” moments as possible. Luckily Asheville has beer (lots of GREAT beer) that worked well in keeping us preoccupied, relaxed and almost stress-free (we freaked out a little bit the night before/morning of, but I think that’s normal. Right? Right?!?!).

The ceremony
The weather was perfect for an outdoor wedding. We were a bit worried when we rolled into town on Wednesday evening—it was about 50 degrees, and it didn’t warm up most days until after noon. Since we were getting married at noon, we hoped the sun would warm up the earth quickly. And it delivered—it was about 75 degrees, perfectly sunny, hardly any wind. I’m convinced including some pagan elements in the ceremony was an even better idea now; I think the earthen gods and goddesses—or maybe just the earth—were looking out for us.

The ceremony itself only took maybe 10 minutes, and was one we worked on together with Victoria, the woman who married us. She is a non-denomination minister who is knowledgeable in various traditions, customs and religions, and was receptive to the fact that we are not Christian and did not want a Christian ceremony. She sent us various blessings and vows that invoked Native American and pagan elements, and we worked together to create a custom ceremony that fit our personalities.

As you can probably tell by the pictures, we laughed a bit throughout the ceremony. Part of it was nervousness, part of it was the bee buzzing around our heads at the beginning, and part of it was that it’s just what we do. We laugh together. A lot.

So here’s to a long, long life of laughter.

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* For those of you who don’t know the story, I met Ian at CVS, which used to be Revco, in Murfreesboro. My first day was Oct. 4, 1997, and I met him later that day—he worked in the front store at the time. We became close friends pretty quickly and remained close over the years, but it wasn’t until he moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., in 2003 and after I went to visit him that we were ready to admit there was something more than friendship there.

He moved back to Murfreesboro in December 2003, and we spent time together every day the first week he was back home. After flirting for that whole week, I was walking out to my car after doing laundry at his mom’s house one night and he kissed me. Like a big dork I just said goodnight and went home, but he called me, and I told him we’d talk the next day. So the next day we met back up, talked about how we didn’t want to ruin a great friendship, but decided we wanted to see where things would go.

And so after more than six years of friendship, almost five years of dating, one house, three cats and lots of history later, here we are. Married.

Holy crap.

~ by Megan on October 5, 2008.