Our Two-Year Anniversary

Dear Pete,

Just two years since we said, “I do,” huh? Seems like we’ve been married forever.

In a good way 😉

I’ve been thinking about that crazy day a lot lately. There are so many good memories from July 15, 2017. But for the sake of this letter (and some entertainment) I’ll remind you of some of the more comical moments.

Tuxedo before we “I do”

Part of me wishes our photographer was around to capture this. Unbeknownst to me, all the tuxedos arrived to the shop two days before our wedding and none of them fit. They were all either too small or too big, or didn’t come with all the pieces. At least one thing was wrong with every tuxedo. (I got wind of this at some point, accidentally, while all of us girls were getting ready in the morning before the ceremony. But was quickly told that everything was fine…even though it wasn’t “fine” quite yet.)

So the tuxedo shop overnighted all the tuxedos and they arrived on the day of the wedding, just hours before the ceremony. Aaand the tuxedo shop was an hour’s drive away from the wedding venue. You did a good job keeping this from me. I’m surprised. Thankfully they all looked perfect for the ceremony. The black tuxedos in the 100º heat haha.

Butterflies Before I Walked

I could see most of the wedding party lining up for the ceremony. I had a secret place upstairs in the ballroom where no one could see me, but I could see everything perfectly out the window. All the guests arriving. The whole setup. Everything. I was able to take it all in and watch it come together. But somehow I never caught sight of you. I guess it was time for me to lineup before you’d made your appearance outside. I was so nervous. I was giddy. All smiles. I felt like a little kid.

I was standing with Dad and the photographer up there. I remember her saying to Dad, “don’t you wish you could bottle up her feelings and keep them.” I appreciated that and made it a point to take in exactly what I was feeling so I would always remember it. I was nervous, excited, and impatient to see you. I wanted to know exactly how you felt. I wanted to know how you looked, what you were thinking. I was literally asking those questions out loud, I think. Dad could see you and assured me you looked good. That was one of the best parts of the day, just because of the way I felt in the anticipation of it all.

Dad pulling out his phone to tell me how many minutes we had left before Go Time!

We were watching the wedding party line up below us. I was getting nervous to walk down all those stairs.

When I saw you first

When Dad and I turned that corner and I saw you at the end of the aisle, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I let all my emotions take over my face. I laughed, I cried, I did it all while walking down that aisle. It was almost relieving to see you standing there. “It’s here,” I thought, “here we are.” I couldn’t see anyone else. Only you. I was so happy to see your smile.

When Festus made the ceremony

I’m 95% sure this photo was taken the moment after you said, “And Festus.” Just look at that grin.

I really don’t know why I was surprised when the word “Festus” came out of your mouth. You were saying something to the effect of.. you’ll be there for me in sickness and in health, you’ll be there, pause, “and Festus,” you’d quickly added. This was not rehearsed the day before. I rolled my eyes, smiling, hiding the temporary, mild annoyance I felt creeping in. But of course, it wouldn’t have been our wedding ceremony without an unplanned comment out of your mouth.

When my butt met a sword

Right after it happened. Clearly Pete was not aware.

Me: OW!!
Pete: Did he hit you?!
Me: Yes!!
Pete:

I agreed to do this, yes.

*To provide some context since this letter is getting published on the worldwideweb…When one person marries another who happens to be in the military, an optional addition to the wedding ceremony is the “sword ceremony,” something done to welcome the new spouse into the military world. Pete really wanted this included and I was on board 100%. He basically had to pick another set of groomsmen from his buddies in the Marine Corps. There was a total of six Marines in this ceremony. Once the wedding ceremony concludes, the bride and groom walk up the aisle and under arch of swords.*

I really didn’t know much about what was going to happen with it. I figured I had enough to worry about so Pete was in charge of the whole thing. All I knew was that we were going to walk under the swords, and I would get smacked on the butt with one of them. When Travis announced, “Mrs. McCollow, welcome to the Marine Corps” I was so surprised I almost cried. I had no idea he would be saying that! And then Nat smacked me on the butt with his sword, and omg that freakin’ stung!!

The “Calla Lily Ceremony”

To play on the sword ceremony, my bridesmaids made a calla lily arch

When the bottom fell out of the sky

The ceremony was outside in the most beautiful weather, and soon as we got inside, in the a/c, it downpoured so hard you couldn’t even see outside! The next day, Nick told us, “for every raindrop on your wedding day means one less tear throughout your marriage. “So I guess you guys are going to have a tearless marriage.” This hasn’t been the case, (all about honesty over here) but I still wouldn’t change it. I think we’ve both grown and learned a lot in the past two years, and sometimes you have to move through some tears to do that. <3

Dress ripped for the perfect kiss

It was about the 1,000th time everyone was clinking their glasses to get us to kiss, yet again so I was in the perfect position to swoop in and give you the best smooch you’d ever had. (ahem, right?) Turns out, my dress wasn’t quite prepared for me to bend this way. And the clasp ripped apart in the back. Worth it.

The strip dance we didn’t get to see

Towards the end of the night, we were outside of the ballroom talking to some guests, when all of a sudden, people started coming out and asking if we saw the strip dance. Say what?

Apparently someone made a request for the dueling piano guys to play that Magic Mike song and a few of your groomsmen got up on stage and started taking their clothes off. I was so embarrassed when I found out. I thought for sure I’d get in trouble. This WAS the place of my employment, ya know. But I still thought it was hilarious and laughed at all the photos and videos later on. And it’s still one of the things people talk about whenever the subject of our wedding gets brought up.

I love ya, babe…

All this (and lots more) happened two years ago today. I really can’t believe its been two years. It feels like a lifetime ago. And even though you like to joke about how much money it cost and how we could’ve just saved that money and invested it, I’ll never regret one moment about this day. And the eight months spent planning for it. It was perfect. Some memories are worth spending money for, babe.

I know the two of us are different, and we can annoy each other and maybe not understand why one person does one thing and vice versa. But you know, I’d be pretty bored if you were just like me. I learn from you every day. Whether it’s about home construction, or destruction, or about why I do the things I do. It’s funny, you can learn more about yourself the more you spend time around people who aren’t like you.

I learn from you every day

So the fact that we’re so different puts us in a constant state of learning. And I think that’s my favorite part of us. Learning. I remember being attracted to you when we first started dating because you were always showing me and talking about things I’d never heard of. You were intriguing to this “choir nerd” (as you like to s\ay). And never boring.