Wedding.

So I've told Elizabeth a thousand times that even though I want to get married, it really wouldn't change things.  Two days in, I was wrong.  And I didn't know that I could love somebody as much as I love her.

The year, and even days, leading up to the wedding, Eliz and I fought.  A lot.  And the topic was pretty much the same everytime.  We could barely have a conversation about the wedding without me getting upset about something and us ending up pissed at one another. She is black, I am brown.  She wanted a Lamborghini, I had to have a Ferrari.

So the night before, we tuck the boys in bed, pack our final things, kiss, and go to bed like we always do.  It just felt like a Friday.  We woke up, went on our separate ways to the venue. My mom took the boys and I out for a plain, stomach friendly lunch at Panera.  After finishing, we arrived at the venue, and not 30 seconds later, my 5 year old had completely pissed his pants.  Disaster surrounds this boy, luckily my mom was there to save the day, and we hadn't yet dressed them in their suits :)

We get inside and start setting up. I decide to head up to the balcony to work on our homemade photo booth, which separated me from the crowd of friends and family setting up below. 20 mins later I peer down at the main floor where the decorations had begun to take shape.  It was at this moment I knew I was in trouble.  It looked amazing.  I eat crow.  Hats off to Eliz and Sherry.  Job well done. Most of the next 4 hours was a blur.  Setting up. Glad handing, although I was genuinely glad to be hanging out with everyone.  My friends and family were such a great help, support, and company that day.  The main thing I remember about joe and the booth, brian and the backdrop, erick and my boys was how positive everyone was. In a time in my life when I've been spun towards bitter, this was so refreshing.  It was good.

Fast forward to the ceremony.  I looped a song to last 10 mins for the bridesmaids entrances.  Good thing I did, her vows were left back at the barnhouse where she got dressed.  A few mins later and and an out of breath bridesmaid brought on my second favorite moment of the day, my beautiful Elizabeth walking through the doors. I was having a hard time maintaining my composure, so I grabbed Ray's hand and held it until she made it down the isle. I cried. I'm a cryer.  Deal with it. I was surprised, however, she had chosen a dress with heavy inspiration from yesteryear.  Very brown of her. She was beautiful.  The most beautiful.  And it was time to lock that down.  Our dear friend Brad married us.  He went through a lot to get ordained and did an amazing job of officiating, while making us feel at home. I can't say enough about how much it meant to have a close friend up there performing the ceremony.  It didn't feel like ceremony at all, it just felt like us.

We had the boys take part in a unity ceremony with us.  Instead of candles, we each took our namesake Avenger Lego figure and placed them together under a lego arch.  It was silly and unprofessional, just the way I like it. They are a huge part of our family unit, so it felt right to have something geared towards them in our ceremony.  My favorite part of the day was the vows.  We wrote our own.  I'm glad we did. I did my best to deliver mine, only to choke up when the heavy hitting words came up.  But Elizabeth killed me.  Every word she spoke was from her heart.  And I knew that she was speaking directly to mine.  Unwittingly, we both finished with a line from our first dance, I will follow you into the dark. I'll be honest.  The rest of the evening was amazing.  Great reception.  But it all could have ended after her vow.

The reception was fun (for me at least). There was kick ass rock and roll music, there was Pasquale's food: including a large pizza, just for me. It was great eating, dancing, and visiting with everyone.  Speeches were made (Kaitlyn, you killed me), cupcakes were eaten, Cha Cha's were slid. But I have to say it was a blur. Yes, I was sober, but between all the little events & obligations, I felt like I wasn't spending much time with my boys or my wife. The slow dances were great, it's like time stands still for a moment where you can share an embrace with your betrothed. Speaking of dances, the kids stole the show.  Ray came out of his shell, even more than normal, and provided us with soulful interpretations to the best club bangers. I did take a few moments to pause and look at all of the people, happy, supporting us on our important day.

The end of the reception drew neigh, I rushed around to help tear stuff down and gather things so Eliz didn't have to, and rushed her out the door before she managed to stick around to clean too much. The white Christmas lights they put up in the park outside the barn gave off the perfect glow as we said our goodbye to the venue. We had a small happy hour with some friends at our hotel bar.  It was like a classic scene at the end of a movie when the whole cast shares a drink and a few laughs to resolve the story.  This was more like a few drinks and a lot of laughs: Erick waltzing in to buy a round of shots and dip out like a ninja, baseball cards, fake hotel Christmas gifts.  Then the quote of the year by my brother: "It's 2013 and I'm here to say..." We were a bit tipsy and cut him off at that point to chide him.  Then he started again and delivered the Best Man speech that he refused to give during the wedding.  Love him.

I probably can't write too much about the rest of the evening, lest my wife get embarrassed. So in brief fashion, a cork about took my eye out, I got to remove a dress, and I spent the rest of the evening falling more in love with Elizabeth than I ever thought possible.

Here's to a lifetime of continuing that.