On September 20th, 2008, I married my best friend. In short, it as everything we could have hoped for... we were very fortunate on many fronts. Writing this post wedding, I can't really capture the feelings leading up to the wedding. However, I thought it might be fun to write down some of the thoughts and feelings still fresh in my mind. Why a blog? I'm not sure, but it somehow seemed appealing, so I'm giving it a try.I remember walking along the Mediterranean in Barcelona, just days after we were engaged, beginning to talk about the wedding and some of the very initial plans... Where might it be? How big will it be? Who should be there? What feeling/setting are we looking for? Angie and I talked about spending our lives together prior to the actual engagement, however this discussion while walking along the water was actually the first time I believe I'd thought about what the wedding was going to be like. I think the only descriptors we walked away with that day in Spain were: small, simple and outside.
These really stuck for us, and in the end, we got just what we wanted. That's not to say that we didn't get overwhelmed once or twice along the way... but ultimately, we (with lots of great help from our families) were able to put together a beautiful and simple wedding outside for 50 people in a way that did not take over our lives. There were just enough people there so that both of us were able to spend some time with everyone before our three hour ceremony and brunch were over.
During the ceremony, I remember standing in front of everyone waiting for Angie to come out. Until this point, I hadn't really considered that I would be spending such a (seemingly) long time up there without her. Following me were Team Altman: Elizabeth, Mark, and Samantha. The girls really seemed to enjoy themselves tossing the flower petals. I remember Samantha being kind of entertaining. Having reached me, she had run out of runway, but still had some flower petals left, and didn't seem to know what to do about it. I imagine that this certainly hadn't happened in practice. Teresa rescued her, and sat her down.
The ceremony flew by... I couldn't believe it when when it was already time to say our vows. Wait, I wasn't ready! I was flustered, and had to think for a split second about how they started. Sometime during the ceremony, I found myself with Angie on one side of the aisle with both of us facing Patty. I was unconsciously rubbing her back. She said later this was her favorite part of the ceremony.I loved our wedding, and it was great to have so many people there with us. However, being rather introverted, I was really looking forward to having my wife to myself for the first time. After spending some time wandering around the Arboretum for a while, and watching others get ready for the more traditional afternoon/evening weddings, I was certainly happy to be married, and no longer "just about to be married". While we were leaving the Arboretum for our honeymoon and near isolation from society in general for a whole week, I was more happy, and at ease than I had been all day.
-Jake
