October 6 began and ended just as any other day would but it truly was better than just any other day has been. On October 6, I married my very best friend, standing alongside fourteen of our closest humans. WHAT. A. DAY. Sometimes I still find myself caught off guard by the simple fact that I am a wife; almost every day, I have turned to Daniel and said, “How are we married?!” I’m sure he is sick of my rhetorical question by now, but he politely rolls his eyes or shrugs his shoulders, offering a small smirk. It is so surreal to me that all of our planning, all of our lists, all of our budgeting has already paid off in what was the most important day of my entire life.
The week leading up to the wedding had me at about a 10 from the moment I woke up Monday morning. I took off work the last two days of the week to focus on all things wedding — nail appointments, errands and finalizing just about everything. The constant stream of questions that were flooding my phone daily was enough to make me want to drop my iPhone from a twenty story building (insert “dramatic Bridezilla” comments here). Thursday morning, Daniel stopped over for a quick coffee before heading to the venue to wait for the tent delivery. On his way out, he turned to me and held out his hand. “Give me your phone today. I’ll answer any questions that come to you; you just enjoy the day with your mom.” (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)
Our day itself could not have gone smoother. Becca brought Einstein Bro.’s bagels to mom and dad’s early Saturday morning where I loaded the cream cheese onto my Asiago bagel and we all crammed around the kitchen island, mom and dad included. We talked and laughed and sipped coffee, tangible excitement was in the air. All the bridesmaids drove together, starting with a pitstop at Starbucks before arriving at the venue at 10AM. As we made the last turn down the final road before the venue, trees changing color lined both sides of the road, leaves covered the ground, the music stopped before (to my surprise) Daniel’s voice floated throughout the car. Tears instantly welled in my eyes — he had written and recorded a song to surprise me with on our wedding day! Titled Waterfall, which is only fitting seeing as he proposed at LaSalle falls in upper Wisconsin. Needless to say, I was a teary-eyed baby as we pulled up to our wedding venue; but I was also more excited and sure than even before of the commitment we were going to make to each other.
After we unloaded our many, many bags of goodies, makeup, clothes and hair styling tools, we popped champagne, toasted to MARRIAGE!, and prayed the rain away. (While the mist did stop just in time for our ceremony, we resorted to keeping the chairs under the tent which turned out looking (truly) better than I had hoped.). Felicia arrived around 11AM to start make-up and Elle was soon after around noon to begin hair. I really cannot believe for all the stress I carried the weeks leading up to the wedding, how smoothly everything came together. The ceremony began a little after 3:15PM but hey, my make-up wasn’t done! As long as the bride is causing the hold up, it’s acceptable for a wedding to start late… I definitely read that somewhere. Anyway, I fully expected to be a wreck walking down the aisle, seeing family and loved ones surrounding us but as I tried to meet as many eyes as I could walking down in order to truly take in the moment, all I wanted to do was run down towards Daniel. I was more excited than nervous! We prayed, read personally written vows, Daniel kissed the bride and we were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Kerlin!
The stress definitely caught up to me, though, and we stopped at Starbucks for mint tea on the way to the Port Hotel that night where we would be lodging for the next two nights. The following morning, Daniel and I were up and dressed by 7AM, making our way to Walmart where we would proceed to spend over $40 on honey, Throat Coat tea, throat lozenges, Theraflu, etc., as well as a cozy pair of slippers for my blistered feet. (Said virus is still with me today, eight days later.) Daniel is such a good sport — never once did he act annoyed about my coughing or constant complaints. Sunday night, we walked a block from the hotel to a restaurant called Pasta Shoppe where he saw on the menu they had French Onion Soup. This did wonders for my throat and made me feel amazing for the whole twenty three minutes until my bowl was empty. I am seeing more and more how thoughtful Daniel is, especially towards me. He has an amazing heart, one that is sensitive but strong, caring and protective. The majority of our time at the Port Hotel was spent sipping tea, resting in bed in the massive oversized robes or relaxing in the Jacuzzi. We were spoiled.
On our way home after two days in Port Washington, I convinced Daniel to swing by IKEA (“It’s totally on the way…! Only a twenty-minute detour…!”) to pick up an identical bedside table to what he has on his side. We walked through the showrooms and fantasized about what our future kitchen and Man-Cave would look like until the store opened at 10AM and we were able to make a beeline for aisle 23, pick out the white-stained nightstand and continue home. I told Daniel I was going to put a roast in the slow cooker with potatoes and carrots that we could eat for dinner to which he responded, “I love being married!” I rolled my eyes and offered a little laugh while secretly jumping up and down inside, my cheeks turning a subtle pink. My parents made dinner for us the following night and afterwards, my dad’s typical question, “Daniel, espresso?” It was already late so I figured he would turn it down but he agreed, saying it was so he could stay up all night taking care of me. At nights, I have to sleep perched high on two or three pillows and even then, sometimes my throat will betray me and a coughing fit will start. I feel so bad waking Daniel up but he never seems to mind — he reaches out his hand to touch my arm or rub the small of my back and in these moments, my heart just about bursts. This virus is kicking my butt but it is also bringing out the sweetest husband so can I really complain?
I don’t want to forget coming home to our cozy apartment, sunlight streaming in, the tree right outside our balcony golden yellow, the most beautiful fall shade. I don’t want to forget Daniel being the happiest sick person — after coming down with the virus himself, instead of being annoyed, he reasoned with me, saying, “When we have kids, they’re going to be getting me sick all the time.” I don’t want to forget Daniel losing his voice and still trying to sing, seeing which notes he can or can’t hit that day. I don’t want to forget that even though we have gone through about fourteen bottles of YoungLiving oil trying to purify the air, even though we have gone through three tissue boxes and a few rolls of toilet paper blowing our noses, even though our throats feel like tiny swords are poking through, even though I am feeling crabby and defeated because of this never-ending virus, we have each other. And we have this love. And truly, that is enough.
All photos in this post were taken by the wonderful Lindsey Cole.
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