h2>Dating : It’s Official — Chapters IX + X
I told C I only had three rules about when he proposed: 1. He had to use my full name, 2. He had to ensure some kind of photo was taken, and 3. He had to ask my dad for permission.
We began looking for flights to go back to SC to see my parents and brother. I wanted them to meet my dream guy, and I was eager for him to ask for my father’s permission. We actually found some decently cheap tickets, and we were planning on heading their way. When we called my parents to check with them though, they told us that they didn’t think it was worth us spending the money to come for such a short period of time, especially when they both would be working the whole time we were there.
Disappointed, we agreed with my parents, and C decided to ask my parents via facetime. We face-timed often, so it wasn’t like they were strangers by any means. I still remember him calling them. He was sitting at his kitchen table, and he thought I was in the other room doing my homework and watching tv. Little to his knowledge I was hiding in the hallway listening to the whole time. He called and expressed to my parents how much he loved me (and teared up), and then he asked them both if he could take me as his wife. My parents agreed, and they told him they were excited for him to join the family. I was over the moon. I quickly rushed back to my homework and prepared myself to look surprised when he broke the great news.
The next week, my friend Morgan invited me over to do our nails and watch Gossip Girl, I didn’t think much of it, but I later found out he had instructed her to do so. He was spending a lot of time up at his parents that week, but he was super mysterious as to why. I could tell something was coming, and I was dying to know exactly when it would happen! That Saturday, he told me to put on something cute because his friend was going to take our pictures for his portfolio. I put on a striped dress and hopped in his car. He told me we were going to meet the photographer up the canyon, and I could tell something was about to happen.
As we walked up the trail we were supposed to meet his friend at, I noticed a picnic spread in the distance. I rushed over to the huge display of balloons, pictures, and mementos from inside jokes. Inside he had packed my favorite snacks, diet coke with flute glasses, and had a giant wooden C&M placed up against the picnic basket. This was it. This was our moment. He guided me to the blanket and we sat down. Then he handed me a photo album and asked me to read it. “Who knew that this little boy and this little girl…” As I turned the pages, I saw that C had collected photos of the two of us from the time we were little up until the present. From embarrassing bathtub pictures to awkward, bracketed smiles from middle school. He had put so much thought into this. As I turned the pages, our stories finally crossed. He then had compiled all of the photos from our adventures together. Finally, I turned to the last page and read, “Would end up together forever.”
I immediately began to cry and hugged him. He then got down on one knee and with tears running down his face, asked me to be his wife.
I squealed with excitement and told him I would love to! It was at that moment that I spotted his friend snapping photos. I was engaged!! I was on top of the world. This was the happiest day ever!
The time after getting engaged seemed to fly by. I was working full time and I was now planning a wedding. To my mom’s credit, she honestly did ALL of the planning. She was amazing and so much help. Each day, we would receive new tasks to accomplish to help prep for the wedding. We had to get engagements taken, I had to find a dress, groomsmen and bridesmaid outfits had to be selected, we had to choose our cake, we had to pick our song, etc.
For the most part, things went fairly smoothly, but I was becoming a bit of a nervous wreck. Breaking down crying was becoming normalcy, but I swore it was just because of all the stress I was under.
My parents were worried that I was making such a huge life decision while I was feeling so stressed and anxious, but I continually assured them I was just breaking down from all of the pressure I was currently under. I told them I knew that I was making the right decision. I somehow managed to finish my spring semester with all A’s, and I felt grateful to my amazing tutor. C had gotten a job doing bookkeeping at a local real estate office, and he did his best to help me with all that he could. Some nights he would even do my laundry for me as I studied. I felt so lucky to have a teammate helping me as I was facing all of these stressors at once.
At times I would get nervous and ask him if he thought we were making the right decision by getting married so quickly, and he would constantly reaffirm me that he knew it was right. I knew I loved him, and I knew that he was a good guy. I also knew that I couldn’t imagine a world without him in it. I decided that it was just my stress and that it was nothing to dwell on. I even expressed these concerns with my church leader, and he told me that he thought it was likely my anxiety. He said that he believed that any two people willing to live righteously and serve the Lord could make a happy marriage work, and he said that I shouldn’t reject this opportunity if I truly loved C.
Getting married was a huge step in my life, so it wasn’t really that odd for it to make me nervous, right?
I decided to go home two weeks before the wedding to help my mom get everything up and ready for the wedding. C would come one week before and help as well. I also wanted to have some time for him to get to know my family even better and get to see where I came from. The week before he came was filled with meetings with hairdressers, florists, the cake lady, and more. My mother and I were constantly doing something wedding-related, and it seemed like those seven days flew by.
When C finally got there, I was so excited! I took him to my high school, my favorite parts of town, to Charleston, to the beach, to all of the places I had told him about a million times. It was so fun to finally share these parts of myself with him. I did notice that he seemed to be acting a little odd. I chalked it all up to him being just as nervous as I was about what was to come.
Once again another week flew by, and his family was headed in town. Our wedding was that weekend, and I could not have been more excited. That being said, I was also still feeling a lot of anxiety.
Was I old enough to be getting married? Was this the right decision? I knew I loved him, but was that enough?
The big day came, and I woke up beaming. I chose to do my own makeup because I’m awfully particular about how it’s done, and then I went to go get my hair done in downtown Aiken. C met me there, and we drove up to the temple (P.S. A temple is an LDS place of worship and where we hold marriage ceremonies). My mom had us get there early and meet the photographer so we could get our photos taken before the actual wedding and hassle began. I don’t believe in an ounce of superstitions, so seeing me before the ceremony wasn’t even on my mind. It was just so amazing to be at the temple in my wedding gown. This was the day I had always wanted, and I was marrying the guy I had always dreamed of. He was a returned missionary, an accounting major and brilliantly smart, athletic, funny, tall, and absolutely handsome. How had I gotten so lucky?
After an hour of photos and smiling to the point my cheeks were sore, it was time for us to go in and get ready for the ceremony. (In LDS weddings, the couple walks in together to the ceremony) C took forever to meet me outside, but when he finally met me at the door, I couldn’t help but tear up. This was it. I remember looking into the big mirror as we stood hand in hand. This was my happily ever after. We were ushered into the room where all of our family and friends were gathered and I gave his hand a tight squeeze which he reciprocated. We knelt across each other on the altar, and the ceremony began.
I couldn’t have told you exactly how I was expecting him to act during the wedding ceremony, but I wasn’t expecting what occurred. The entire time, he avoided eye contact with me and seemed to be staring off into space. I was so confused and eagerly tried to meet his gaze.
Was something wrong? I definitely couldn’t just out right ask him in front of all of these people. Was he having second thoughts?
Was everything about to fall apart? To my relief, he said I do, and I did too. The sealer announced us husband and wife and we kissed across the altar.
After our big walk out of the temple and another hour of photos with all of our cheering family and friends, it was time for us to head back. We climbed into the car we were using while we were in town, but as soon as we buckled up, I burst into tears. To be honest, I didn’t even see it coming. I could tell this really threw C off guard as well. He just stared at me for a few seconds and then asked me what was wrong. I immediately asked him why he didn’t look at me? I wanted to know why he didn’t look me in the eyes as we knelt before our friends, family, and God and promised to love each other forever. I couldn’t even fathom it. I knew it didn’t have a concrete meaning, but I just felt so wrong about it. He swore he was just nervous and calmed me down. He held me for a few minutes, and I regained composure. I told him I was probably just anxious and over-analyzing things, and I apologized for overreacting. (Is anyone else growing tired of my apologizing?)
That evening we attended our amazing reception. My parents had really gone all out, and it could not have been more perfect. I felt so loved and lucky to be surrounded by so many of the people I loved on my special day. Between the dancing, small talk, toasts, and long hugs, I felt like I was getting my happily ever after.
I was finally married to C, and we were going to start building our lives together. I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us next.
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