Almost a year has passed since Steven and I were married. We will be in Las Vegas Monday celebrating our anniversary. I thought it was finally time to share my account of our wedding day.

Steven and I were married on November 7th, 2015. I was not sure I would know how to put it all together. I always wanted to have a wedding. A husband I was not so sure about. But then Steven came along and I knew we belonged together. When it actually came time to plan a wedding, I had no clue what to do. But Steven and I worked side by side and we had the most beautiful, fun day of our lives together!

I was so excited that it was finally our wedding day! One of the reasons we picked Covey Rise as a wedding venue was because of the beautiful bridal suite and the comfortable grooms room. We both wanted to be able to get ready at the venue and be able to relax while everything was coming together around us. I enjoyed sipping champagne with my bridesmaids while my hairdresser did my hair and make up.

I thought I was going to be so nervous but I was surprisingly calm the entire day. Lavender is one of my favorite things and I had it throughout the wedding. The bridesmaids’ bouquets had fresh lavender and stargazers. I brought the lavender wreath Steven bought for our apartment together and put it on the door to the house. I also had lavender diffusing in the bridal suite, the cocktail area and the reception area. I know the lavender and my very detailed planning helped me to stay calm.

I made my own bouquet. I wanted to have a brooch bouquet to make use of my collection of brooches, as well as brooches of my grandmother and Steven’s mother whom had both passed away. I wanted it to be a way to honor them since they could not be a part of such an exciting day for us. I was lucky enough to have many friends and family members contribute brooches as well. I also included pieces of sentimental jewelry that I collected over the years.

I had a few single shoe brooches as well. When I was living in my early twenties in Manhattan I would come across abandoned single shoes on the street. They came to have special meaning to me. I believe that when I find a single shoe that is a sign that I am on the right track. When it came time to decide on gifts for my bridesmaids I decided to get them each a necklace with a single shoe, each on different that the other and representative of how they came to be on my path.

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I must take a quick moment to mention how much we adore our wedding photographers, Tanya and Bobby, founders of Frozen Exposure photography. I have not picked out my wedding album pictures yet because I CANNOT DECIDE. I love too many of the pictures. Not to mention they are the sweetest and I love how cute they are together. We are very lucky to call them friends.

Steven is a big WWE fan and he gave each of his grooms people a WWE ring that looks like the WWE championship belt. He also got a WWE championship belt for our Lip Synch Battle prize. Some of my favorite pictures are Steven and his grooms people doing different wrestling moves.

The weather was just warm enough to get married outside of the house on the front lawn. Our ceremony was short but sweet. Steven and his grooms people walked down the aisle to one of their favorite wrestlers, Daniel Bryan’s entrance music, The Flight of the Valkyries. My song was my favorite singer, Barbra Streisand’s song from her wedding to James Brolin, I Dreamed of You.

Walking down the aisle was one of my favorite parts of the day. By that time I had forgotten about other people coming to be a part of our day. I was so happy to see everyone smiling back at me. Thank you to each one of the guests the took the time out of their lives to be there with us. Those few moments will be forever special to me.

Our officiant was Jacob Armstrong from Providence Church. Jacob and I had gone to church together when we were in junior high and high school. We wrote our own vows and my friend Meredith wrote a very touching speech that was completely tailored to our interests and finding love when you are over 30. And then we were married! I still can’t believe I am married to my best friend.

After pictures, and cocktail hour we all sat down to eat. But there was a catch. Each table with the exception of the wedding party had to sing for their supper. We picked out songs we enjoy and thought would be well known and each table sang their song, some more enthusiastically than the others, before they could go to the buffet. We had so much fun listening to everyone singing their songs. Some people including Steven, loved it so much they went to all the tables and sang with them. Singing together was a great way to get people ready to party. I still get comments about how much fun this was!

After dinner Steven and I performed a lip synch battle, as it was only fair for us to sing for our guests. We kept our songs a secret from each other. I sang Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero and had a secret weapon of one of my bridesmaids and her sister, the lady of the lavender, as my back up singers. After our amazing performance Steven blew everyone away with his rendition of Miranda Lambert’s Little Red Wagon. I knew he had something special planned and boy did he ever. He had some serious moves and let the performer inside him out for those three minutes. Despite his skills I won the battle and the WWE championship belt. Steven would tell you he was the actual winner. We then sang a song together, Positive K’s I Gotta Man.

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After the lip synch battle our wedding planner, Terri of Events Unfolding, told me that everyone was going outside for some sparkler pictures. The wedding party Steven and myself were all going to go up to the balcony. I wasn’t sure why everyone needed to be a part of the pictures but I did what I was told. Once we got up to the balcony we waited for a few minutes. Then there was a loud noise and some music. I turned around and there were fireworks in the sky and Frank Sinatra singing The Way You Look Tonight. I couldn’t believe that Steven was surprising me with a 4th of July style fireworks show! Fireworks are one of my favorite things. Impact Pyro did an amazing job with the fireworks. I was completely surprised.

After the fireworks we had toasts and cake, the wedding cake was a vegan white cake with almond icing and Steven’s cake was chocolate and in the shape of his favorite musician Prince’s symbol both from Whole Foods.

We danced the night away and before we knew it, the time had arrived for our exit. The guests lined up with sparklers and we had a ’54 Bel Air from FADD’s Party Bus pick us up and take us to our hotel downtown. I still can’t believe pretty much everything went as planned and what a wonderful day we had!

Tears come to my eyes even now almost a year later remembering what a special day it was. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives that were there for us on our wedding day. We had so much fun and people are still talking about how awesome our wedding was. I never thought I would find someone that would accept me as I am, that would take me, my food allergies and my quirks and want to do life together. Somehow the stars finally aligned and Steven and I are together. A lot has happened our first year. Life presents challenges but we are still enjoying adventures all over the world and falling deeper in love. I love you Steven and I am so happy we are married!