Ten Years

Just to give you fair warning, you may want to skip this post if you don’t enjoy looking at wedding pictures.

Today is our tenth anniversary.  It seems a little weird.  I know ten years isn’t much, especially for people like our grandparents who had marriages that lasted over fifty years, but today we’re happily celebrating ten years.

A friend framed our invitation for us, which was nice, because I probably wouldn’t have thought to do that. 

We got married at the Table Rock State Park, which is beautiful this time of year. 

The building is very pretty, so we didn't need to do much decorating.

We had our wedding and reception inside, but the patio was available for anyone who wanted to spend time outside. 

There are some gorgeous views from the lodge.

Even a lake view.

We took most of our pictures outside.

Nick and the groomsmen did some formal pictures.

And some more fun pictures.

And some fun ones with the bridesmaids.

And I had some fun ones with the groomsmen.

I loved the bridesmaid dresses, and I think the green looked great on all of them.

Butterflies featured heavily.  I made these to mark the reserved rows.

There were butterflies in my bouquet.

I also made the centerpieces for the table, with butterflies, of course.

For our wedding favors, we made a family and friends cookbook.  We asked everyone for recipes, and then compiled them into a cookbook.  With a butterfly cover, of course.  Almost everyone gave us at least one recipe, so we had quite a collection.  It took a lot of time to make the cookbooks, but they were very well received, and we have a lot of great recipes.  Time well spent.

We had a very informal reception, with no assigned seating.  We wanted everyone to be free to mingle and have a good time. 

The food was buffet style, with no assigned order.  Again, we wanted things to be fairly informal.

Our cake flavors were strawberry, Italian Cream, and traditional white cake.  Of course it had butterflies.

We played a wide variety of music at the reception, so practically everyone danced.

We both love oldies, so our play list included quite a few oldies.  The advantage to that, is that all of the older people danced.  They taught the younger people a few dances.

Even our youngest guest had no trouble finding dance partners.

Shoes, jackets, and even tuxedos were abandoned as the day went on.

It's hard to believe it has been ten years.  Time flies! 

Music Monday: Alison Krauss - When You Say Nothing At All

In continuing this month’s theme of songs from our wedding, today’s song is the Alison Krauss version of When You Say Nothing At All.

This is the song my dad and I walked down the aisle to.  We both really like this one, and had seen her in concert together, so it felt like the right choice.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Music Monday: Peter, Paul & Mary - Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

In continuing this month’s theme of songs from our wedding, today’s song is Peter, Paul & Mary’s Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.

This is the song that Nick’s side of the family walked down the aisle to.  I think it’s a really pretty song, so I hope you enjoy it.

Music Monday: Louis Armstrong -A Kiss To Build A Dream On

In continuing this month’s theme of songs from our wedding, today’s song is Louis Armstrong’s A Kiss To Build A Dream On. 

One of the dances our wedding D.J. suggested was a longest married dance; all of the married couples are encouraged to get out on the dance floor, and then the D.J. starts telling people to sit down if they’ve been married less than a day, less than a year, and on from there.  We loved the idea, and chose this song for it.  Obviously, Nick and I were the first couple out.

My paternal grandparents were the longest married couple there, coming in at 58 years. 

Nick’s maternal grandparents came in a fairly close second, having just celebrated their 49th anniversary nine days before.

Some honorable mentions included:

My parents, less than two months shy of their 34th anniversary.

Nick’s mom and step-dad, Susan and Alan, two days shy of their second anniversary.

And my aunt Diana and uncle Lane, having just celebrated their first anniversary three weeks earlier.

You’re probably wondering how Susan and Alan get an honorable mention at two years, and Diana and Lane get one at just a year.  Well, if it hadn’t been for the four of them, Nick and I likely wouldn’t have ever met.  As I’ve mentioned before, Nick and I met on E-Harmony; we were actually matched the week Lane and Aunt Diana got married.  Nick only tried online dating after seeing how it well worked for his mom, and I only tried it after seeing how well it worked for my aunt.  So, in a way, we owe it all to them. 

Just in case you’re wondering, Aunt Diana and Lane just celebrated their 11th anniversary on the 8th, and Susan and Alan will be celebrating their 12 anniversary on the 30th.  I promise this really isn’t an E-Harmony sponsored post!  I have no idea what the statistics are on marriages lasting if the couples meet online versus in a more traditional setting.  In our two families, the odds seem pretty good. 

So what about you?  Are you a Louis Armstrong fan?  How did you meet your significant other?

Music Monday: Savage Garden - I Knew I Loved You

Nick and I will be celebrating our tenth anniversary later this month, so my theme for Music Monday during September is going to be songs from our wedding. 

Our first dance song was Savage Garden’s I Knew I Loved You.  It’s a great song.  I hope you enjoy it.

Dance Like A Chicken Day

Today is Dance Like A Chicken Day.  I love the chicken dance!   It’s the one song guaranteed to get pretty much everyone out on the dance floor, and it just sounds so happy.  I think it’s practically impossible to hear and it not do the chicken dance, which of course puts a smile on everyone’s face.

My husband and I chose to play the chicken song at our wedding reception (of course we did, it’s a great song), and everyone seemed to really get into doing the chicken dance.   So, since I’ve promised you photos with every post this month, here are some photos of the chicken dance from our reception, and of course a youtube video of the chicken dance, so you can have the song playing in your head all day.