Making a Wedding (An Imperfect One That I Loved Anyway)

Awhile back, I received an email from a lady who worked for Chicago Style Weddings Magazine. I was excited but also confused-- why would anyone want to feature our wedding?!

I'm still not totally sure of that...but they have featured us!

Photograph by Holly Donovan.

Click here to check it out!

My husband and I got married last June and had a very modest, simple wedding outside with dear loved ones. We didn't have a videographer. We didn't have a cajillion dollar photographer. We didn't have a chocolate fountain, or plated meals, or a decadent expensive wedding cake. I bought my dress from David's Bridal because I couldn't sleep at night knowing my bridal gown cost more than almost any other thing we own. My bridesmaids wore whatever they wanted for dresses and jewelry with simple guidelines to pick navy outfits that made them feel good. We didn't take fancy photographs in the hotel room before the wedding. 

Not that any of those things are bad!! But wedding industry B.S. makes it seem as if their way is the only way. 

It's not the only way.

We did it our way.

And we are still featured on a blog! Which is cool!

We made the day our own. 

I am still obsessed with our flowers. I loved my veil. The vintage pieces we rented from Forever Birdy in the Harvard Starline Building still give me goosebumps. Even though it was an undertaking, I made a giant fabric banner to hang between the trees in the park where we were married because I wanted something to hold onto in our home to remind of us of the vows we made. 

Photograph by Holly Donovan.

Many parts were perfect. And I thought I would want to wipe out or hide the parts that weren't. But instead, to prove that nothing on the Internet is exactly perfect, even when it looks that way...I'll share some secrets.

There were unexpected PortaPotties in the park that were in the frame of view when my family and myself walked down the aisle. 

It was HOT. It was in the 90's, sweating your head off, kind of hot.

We cried like freaks. Like snot-nosed, ugly-cry. Tissues were necessary, not optional.

Weddings aren't perfect. And either are marriages. It made realize that the things people make and post on the Internet might seem perfect but indeed actually have flaws, too.

So for the posts I write that seem just "perfect", please kindly remember, I might have had to move a pile of dirty laundry first or crop out empty beer cans. 

Big Duh Moment Here: Life is Not and Will Not Be Perfect.

I lost the Mary Fons Essay Contest. The blocks I whipped out like a madwoman are not quite exactly 10x10 like they're supposed to be. Instead of proofreading this five times like I normally do, I'm just going to hit publish. 

Because here's something I've figured out-- sometimes it's the act of making, that moment of making when you are IN IT that matters more than what everyone (including yourself) sees afterward.