Reflecting on 7.14.07

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who have wished Ray and I a happy anniversary. You are all so kind, and it's been a pleasure sharing my life with you.

Thank you for allowing me into yours.

While we're spending some quality time together today, I'd like to share a few of my favorite pictures from our day, along with a few moments I remember vividly.

~:~

My Dress!

My dress was just my style. It wasn't strapless which is so popular these days. It was pretty simple, but the fabric made it really special. The designer is Spanish and it did have a sort of flamenco influence to it. It looks best in the pictures of our first dance, which we did to "Just the Way You Are" by our all-time favorite, Billy Joel.

This photo just cracks me up. The bustle had 16 ties, so here I have three women up my skirt trying to get me assembled for pictures.

Slippers to the Salon
Going to the salon with my sister-in-law, I realized I was still wearing my slippers! In our rush I hadn't noticed that I needed to put real shoes on. Driving with my veil on was a hoot; we got more than one double-take.

The arrival of the bridal party bouquets
I felt stressed until the moment they came. We were running late, the photographer was snapping candid photos, and Mom was following me around with a bowl of oatmeal in an attempt to make me eat. But when I laid eyes on our dazzling bouquets my heart went calm.

In the car with Mom and Dad

We weren't supposed to go in until the church doors had been shut. I remember how surprisingly heavy my bouquet was, and the look in my dad's eyes in the rearview mirror.

The Walk

I wanted the journey up the aisle to last for eternity. Not that I didn't want to get married, but that I wanted to clutch this magical moment and live in it forever.

Ring Exchange

Whispering "wrong hand" to Ray when he tried to put my wedding ring on the wrong hand (I had moved my engagement ring to the right hand to make room and it confused him :-)

Family

This picture sits in a frame above our kitchen sink so I can look at it all the time; I love it. My boys and I, a portrait of our close and playful relationship.

My father's speech

From a man who often speaks in front of crowds in his work, he did not disappoint. This is one of two moments we have on tape (we decided to skip the videographer, but my brother did some recording with his cell phone).

Ray's Song and other Antics

I finally came to tears during Ray's surprise serenade. I had held it together all day until that moment, but nothing would prepare me for "I Wanna Grow Old with You" in front of all our friends and family.

And yes, that is my groom in the Rastafarian wig. We met at a Jamaican dance and he was wearing this very wig. He brought it out right before the cake and told the story to all our guests. I could NOT believe it!

Dancing

Have I mentioned how much we love dancing together? I was a dance minor but it's rare that we get to anymore. I think I danced more than any bride at other weddings we've been to.

My Dad is Greek, so immediately after the Father-Daughter we opened the floor with a traditional circle dance. It was so much fun!

Enough reminiscing from me. Have a wonderful Saturday!

May I leave you with a few more random snapshots? As much for me as for you :-)

~:~

*A few of these were taken by friends and family, but most of the photographs were done by our photographer, Danielle Gillett.

We own the rights to all of these now and can publish/copy them as we wish, but I want to give her a shout-out because she is an amazing photographer and was a pleasure to work with.

Check out her website for more information; she has a blog too, and posts wedding pictures there that you can see before the entire portfolio is ready. If you check the archives for July 2007 here, you can see ours on the 25th!