During the week or so before the wedding, I was ready to swear that the one thing I would change if I could would be to turn back time and hire a DJ. We had decided to save money and trouble by making our own playlists, but as the wedding date approached I was convinced it would have been better to pay someone else to handle it. I was fixated on making our playlists (the only big task that really remained) and I was sick of worrying about whether we would have the right songs. After CW and I finally had the chance to sit down together and work on it all, I felt somewhat better, but I didn’t really feel satisfied about that element of wedding planning until after the night was over and we had all gotten the chance to dance. Of course it turned out fine. Of course.
Everything turned out fine. It was perfect. One of those situations where there was really no reason to worry about anything. And of course, it wasn’t that I was terribly worried about it; rather, I just had so many thoughts circulating in my head (logistics! emotions! decisions!). I barely had any room in my mind for the rest of my life.
As it turned out, we were so happy with everything. We loved the readings we chose and the processional and recessional songs. Our readers and our officiant were all wonderful. I was happy with how my vows turned out (and his were SO lovely). I loved my dress, CW looked handsome in his suit, my fascinator stayed put. The flowers arrived without incident and were easy to make into bouquets. All the little details went smoothly. Everyone got into town easily; people got along and had fun; the food was tasty and the wine was plentiful. It was all perfect.
That said, I am happy the planning part is done. I won’t miss making the endless lists, having to call and email people all the time about various tasks, and worrying about budget.
My favorite part of the planning, really, was getting to sit and talk with CW about so many things — I really loved thinking together about what we wanted from our ceremony, how we would write our vows, the kind of sentiment we wanted the music and the readings to convey. We shared our favorite love songs and poems with each other and talked about what we wanted our marriage and our life to be like. The beauty of all that is, we don’t need to be planning a wedding to do that stuff. We can send each other love poems any time we want.
.
I also felt so lucky to be around my family, my close friends, and CW’s family (now mine too) and friends. We had so many people we love around us that every moment was full.
In other news, I am changing my last name, pending paperwork, and I won’t have any guff about it. I already made the change on Facebook, of course, because 1) that is what you do, and 2) I want to start getting used to it. So, it’s all new and different on there and it’s kind of weird but awesome.
In still other news, now I am married. More on that as the situation develops, but early reports say that it’s pretty effing great.
I want to write a real recap of the day sometime soon, when I have the professional photos to post along with it, so I won’t say too much more at the moment. I’ll share more of the details and such then. Just thank you all for the kind words over the past few days (and months). I appreciate the sentiment and encouragement and excitement so much!
Raveling Out 
Reading this makes me so happy for you and your husband(!). I’m glad everything was perfect, though I’m not surprised that it all worked out. Looking forward to hearing more, and wishing the best for your marriage & life. ❤
Weddings! They're my favorite!
Thanks so much! I’m not surprised that it all worked out, either, just glad it did and now I’m done arranging the details 🙂
Congratulations! You loved lovely.
Thank you!
There’s really no way to say this without being creepy, so allow me to just dive right in: your breasts look fantastic in that dress.
Unrelated: I loooooooooved planning our ceremony. It was unexpectedly my favorite thing about the whole planning process.
“Dive right in” — HA!!
Thanks 🙂 That was basically the first thing my friends and I noticed after we took that selfie. “Hello, boobs!” I think a dress with straps + a real bra was the way to go, for me.
Oh, lady, I love your dress so much. I love that you worked so hard on your ceremony — I hate it when that gets swept under the rug! I can’t wait to see the fancy pics! But these are lovely and happy. SO EXCITED FOR YOU!
Thanks! I didn’t expect to enjoy working on all the ceremony details so much, but I really did love it. Also, our officiant (a friend of ours) did such an amazing job helping us and putting things together.
yay! you look so beautiful and happy, and that makes me happy! (and what is your wedding nail polish?) best wishes and lots of love to you guys. you done done it!
Thanks, Mel! The nail polish is OPI’s Big Apple Red, which I like as a bright, straightforward kind of red. I got the gel manicure, so it’s basically indestructible and will be on my nails for at least another week 🙂
Congratulations (again)! So funny – I was thinking of the boobs thing too. Way to play up those guys! You looked so pretty on your big day. Looking forward to more photos… (and glad to finally see CW on here).
Thanks Carrie! I am glad I finally get to post some pics with CW in them. He usually hates to appear on any form of social media, but he didn’t mind me instagramming a couple of wedding-related things. After all, it’s the one day of your life when you willingly pay $$$ to have your every move photographed 🙂
Gah, my computer just ate my comment!
As I was saying, congratulations, Kate O.W.! (You’ll always be Kate O. to me. I hope that’s okay. I’m willing to add the W.!) I am so happy to hear that the wedding was dreamy and that you are enjoying married life. Your romance with C.W. has been a bit like a fairy tale, a grown-up fairy tale. It has been delightful to read your posts along the way.
PS I wonder if you might tell us a little more about your decision to take his last name? Such a fascinating decision that people make, and I’d love to hear your story.
Aww, that’s really sweet to hear. Thank you.
I think I will do a post about the name change here soon. I’ll probably wait until I get through all of the steps, but for now I’ve got my paperwork done at the SSA and DMV; just waiting to get the new cards in the mail before I do anything with my passport, work, bank, etc.