Wed.

In Texas, where I'm from, there's a three-day waiting period to marry (3 days longer than it takes to purchase a firearm, by the way, which is why you shouldn't mess with Texas), so a little over a month ago, my Beloved and I flew to my hometown the Tuesday before we were to be wed there.

Soon after, our friends and family started arriving from all over the country and the world - and we put them to work. Our celebration of love thereby turned into the grandest communal expression of it, and whatever heartache we felt when regretful RSVPs rolled in (they don't warn you how sad that part of wedding planning can be) melted before the exuberant faces of those who gave us the honor of their presence.


For some, the new family starts when a couple has a child, but for us, the new family was officially born on our wedding day, when our friends and families came together as one.

My mom even plugged Shut Up and Love, much to my surprise, during the tea ceremony.  This is the exact moment it happened:

The wedding ceremony also included a German log-cutting (a cake adaptation of the actual log many Germans cut as their first matrimonial task) and show-stopping shoes, an American bridal tradition. Here's a wedding tradition scorecard for those who have been following along with our cultural differences:

And here are the reception shoes, because judging by your response to this old blog post, you want them.

After the ceremony, we all went downtown to the Nasher Sculpture Center for dinner and dancing in the sculpture garden.  My dream wedding has always been a museum wedding, and my Beloved's has always been a garden wedding.

Alas, this wasn't a dream, and a thunderstorm crashed the party at about 9 p.m.  But waking life must be lived; my dad wiped the dancefloor with dinner napkins, and my husband and I danced our first dance as if it would be our last. 

But it won't be. :)