Mark and I met on Saturday, April 14 at Parma 8200 for our first date. We enjoyed great conversation and a great meal together, parted company with an exchange of phone numbers/email addresses and the warmest embrace I'd ever experienced up to that point in my life. I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday night to receive an email from Mark thanking me for our date and reiterating that he had a great time and his interest in seeing me again. I invited him to call me and on Monday night he did. This first call set the precedence for what would become nightly calls exchanged from that point forward. We went on our 2nd date two weekends later to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It was there under a Crabapple tree that we had our first kiss. Things just grew from there.

We celebrated our first and second anniversaries and Valentines day this year by returning to Parma 8200.

Fast forward to April 14, 2015, our 3rd anniversary. Mark booked reservations at Kincaids in Bloomington for our anniversary dinner. Mark came home from work to pick me up for dinner and on the mirror over his sink in our bathroom, I'd constructed a post-it note heart describing 36 things I love about him, which I know meant a lot to him. When we were ready to leave for our reservation, I found three red roses on the seat of the car, along with a card. It has become Mark's custom to give me one red rose for each year (something I hope will continue, hint, hint!) of our relationship. Once we were underway, Mark told me he'd found a couple of songs that he wanted to play for me, to help him say things that he might not find the words to articulate otherwise. Both were songs by Earth, Wind and Fire (I'll Write a Song For You and Love's Holiday) and I, admittedly, got a little leaky over this very sweet and romantic gesture. We arrived about 20 minutes early for our reservation, so Mark suggested we go to Normandale Lake Park to pass a few minutes since it was such a gorgeous April evening. We parked the car and took off walking toward a bridge we'd visited once before. Along our brief walk, Mark made a comment about the passing of these three years and I replied with a quip about hoping it is the 3rd anniversary of our last first dates ever... there must have been something in the air...

We got to the bridge where I was just soaking up the mildness of the evening and Mark noticed a Bald Eagle flying overhead. He pointed it out to me with a comment that my Dad was there checking in... (there's a back-story here) and maybe his was too. After watching the Eagle until it left our sight, Mark asked me what I thought my Dad would think about having had my last first date ever (see how that fit in?). Now we have snippets of conversation like this every once in a while, so this was really not unexpected or out of the ordinary, but when he then proceeded to say that he thinks it is time to take the next step in our relationship and asked me to marry him, I was completely surprised. I believe my response was "are you kidding me?" asked maybe 5 or 6 times. He even had to ask me why he'd kid me about something like that. Finally, I said "Will you ask me again?" "Why?!?" he wanted to know... "So I can answer you!" I replied. Obligingly he asked again, and I of course, said yes! In talking about this later, he asked me if when I tell the story, do I tell people that I "made" him ask me a second time. Since that is an integral part of the story, of course I include that! ;-)

For his proposal, Mark picked out a stone for me which was placed in a temporary setting. He wanted me to have the opportunity to pick a setting for the stone he had selected. On Saturday afternoon, 4 days after the proposal, we went to Continental Diamond to shop for my engagement ring setting.

We walked in and were greeted by Roz, our sales lady, who was very enthusiastic about our engagement. The temporary setting was a little on the snug side, so she immediately set about having that sized while we were there, which was great! She then focused my attention to the group of 8-10 display cases housing their engagement ring selection and assured me we would be looking at EVERYTHING! She took out a tray, set it on top of thr first case and indicated anything I liked would go on the tray. To say this was a little overwhelming would be an understatement! However, the really cool part about this process was Mark's involvement. He pointed out some rings he liked, indicated a few he didn't, and made comments which really made this a joint effort. At one point, he suggested looking at the three-stone yesterday, today, tomorrow style rings, but then made the observation that this style of ring doesn't really highlight a single stone, and since he picked out my stone specifically, his preference would be to pick a setting that is more focused on the center stone. I thought that was sweet and I couldn't agree more, so we quickly moved past that display case. At the end of it all, we had a good number of rings on that tray and I had no idea how we'd whittle it down, but after some side-by-side comparisons, we ended up with a small handful of options to decide from.

We then moved on to the display case with the wedding bands. Here, thankfully, Roz, just kind of started pulling things together to show us how the rings we were considering would pair with wedding bands. This is where the magic happened, and where some background comes into play...

In our three years together, Mark has given me several pieces of jewelry. The earrings and pendant I wear daily have an intertwining theme and he has told me that they appealed to him because they represent how our lives intertwine. Also, when we text, email or sign cards, we always sign them with "xoxoxoxo". We also have talked about how individually, we were both quite content with ourselves, our lives, our accomplishments, but together, we are so much better, you know the idea of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts...

So back to the rings. One of the settings I had chosen has a split shank that crisscrosses, forming an x on each side of the stone and the stone itself is round, so it is an "o", which ties in so nicely with our customary xoxoxoxo signature to each other. When Roz put one diamond band on each side of the engagement ring, a transformation took place and the the whole setting together felt like a total representation of how we feel about our evolution together. Our decision was made, and my favorite part of the whole thing was that it was a joint decision and it was effortless.

That is not the end of the story, though... This is all a new process to me. I had no idea what to expect when shopping with a stone that would need to be placed into a setting; I thought you pick something you like, they take it out of the case, put the stone in while sizing it appropriately and you leave. Apparently not. This is not unlike a wedding dress, I guess! You pick what you like and 6-8 weeks later, you'll have a ring made for your stone! (No wonder Roz wanted to make sure that my temporary setting fit comfortably!) As luck would have it, the ring arrived the day Mark left for a week long Canada fishing trip, so I had to wait until his return to schedule an appointment to get my stone put into its final setting. I scheduled the appointment for Thursday, June 11, a date the store was open later, so we could also shop for Mark's wedding ring. Well, I had to get my stone to them so they would have time to set it. Not wanting to be without my ring for any longer than absolutely necessary, I opted to take a bus from work out to the store to drop off my ring on the morning of 6/11 so we could pick it up that evening after work. Of course that day was rainy and humid, and I only had a 20 minute window from getting off the bus to get back to the bus stop. Detours, rain, and quick stepping for several blocks aside, I got the trip completed successfully and got to take my new ring home with me that night!

Do I love it as much as I thought I would? Nope, I love it more!

On the same night we picked up my engagement ring with the diamond set, we shopped at Continental for Mark's wedding ring. He hadn't done any window shopping before hand, and lucky for him, there are only two cases of guy's rings for him to peruse. We peered through the glass on our own for a little while because Roz was with another customer, but after a bit Ann came over and offered to let us look more closely at some we were interested in. Mark tried on a white gold ring with 5 channel set diamonds in it, and it looked really nice on him. Very classy. He was fairly well satisfied with that one right out of the gate, but he looked at a few more and eventually stumbled (quite accidentally) across a square ring, which he absolutely loved the feel of. While it was just a simple metal band in a shape, it lacked the elegance of the other ring, so we had a ring custom made for him in white gold with channel set diamonds.

Continental Diamond exceeded expectations and had Mark's ring ready for us to pick up just a few weeks after we ordered it. He was very enthusiastic when we went to pick it up. It was very well done and has a sufficient amount of guy bling in my mind and we are both happy with the result of this custom ring. It's quite substantial, so provided he wears it, there will be little question that my Baby is quite spoken for!

The City of Minneapolis has this great service called "Meet Minneapolis" where you can fill out a form with information of the type of event you are trying to plan and they will push out notification to their distribution list of caterers, venues, rental companies, etc. With just a few months to plan our wedding and needing the venue set to move on with all other plans, I decided to utilize this service. Kris filled out the online form for me, and off we went!

Within a few days, I had over 40 emails from various places, informing me that their venue was available for our November 14, 2015 wedding. Some included attachments with information, others referred me to their websites. Some I was able to find rental information on readily, others I had to request the information from.

Since I work downtown now, I was able to visit a few of the hotels that had responded to the call, but they weren't doing much for me. I struggled to see how we'd get ballroom space to feel intimate and special for the actual ceremony without busting the budget on decorations. Also, I struggled to see how we'd adequately use the space that could accommodate hundreds when we were planning for less than 100 guests.

Mark, Kris and I spent a morning visiting two potential venues on complete opposite ends of the spectrum and it was through that exposure that it became clear to Mark and me both that a hotel would not suit our needs. I revamped my approach and explored some new options. On Wednesday, June 17 we visited the University Club on Summit Avenue and knew we'd found our perfect location. It's size, grandeur, and elegance were just what we both wanted for our wedding location. That night I sent an email to the catering manager there and signed the contract!

So back to the Meet Minneapolis service. Yes, it was utterly overwhelming to get a billion emails, but it saved me from having to reach out to all of those places and more to find out if they were available on our date, and it helped me formulate a strategy. I'd recommend using this service, but maybe do a little research first to see if you can narrow down your criteria so that not quite so much volume filters in!

On Saturday, June 20, Mark and I were out running errands between home and Farmington. He has an apparent affection for the Farmington Bakery, and during our drive I asked where the bakery is located. He suggested we just divert into Farmington, see if they were open, and collect some information. As luck would have it they were open in honor of Dew Days, so we stopped in and were greeted by one of the bakers. I confessed I had no idea what questions to ask, so she asked us if we've had a tasting yet, to which we replied (honestly) no. Luck struck again when she said she had another couple no-show for their tasting, and if we'd like to, we were welcome to reap the benefit of being in the right place at the right time. Who could refuse?

We sat down and were presented with 6 full sized pieces of cake in the following flavor combinations (all with buttercream frosting):

White red velvet with cream cheese filling

Strawberry with strawberry filling

Lemon with lemon curd filling

White with raspberry filling

Marble with sea salt caramel filling

Chocolate with fudge filling

We started with one plate, sampled each cake, and ranked them each 1-3, the moved onto the next plate and repeated the process. Our hostess encouraged us to mix and match cakes and fillings, so we did! We found we both loved chocolate cake with raspberry filling and that the white cake with the fudge filling was much easier on the palette. We couldn't find any improvement on the marble with sea salt caramel...

We agreed that the lemon and strawberry options don't work for our November wedding, and I simply was not a fan of the white red velvet with cream cheese, so we easily narrowed our choices and had a lot of fun doing it!

We have another cake tasting scheduled for July 3, so we'll see what we decide then! More to come...

Our tasting at Buttercream was a scheduled appointment, unlike our spur of the moment tasting at the Farmington Bakery. Quite a different experience it was, too. This is a place that pretty much just does wedding cakes, and they have clearly invested a lot of time and energy into an actual showroom. There is a separate entrance to the room and the walls are lined with cakes samples, there are tables set with elaborate dessert displays. It honestly was overwhelming. We were sat down at a table with a laminated sheet identifying the eight different kinds of cakes we would be tasting, and the young lady made recommendations as to where we should start.

While at Farmington Bakery, we were handed six full-sized pieces of cake, fully frosted, here we were given eight thin slices, unfrosted, with a small dollop of their buttercream frosting off to the side. Once we'd sampled each of the eight offerings and came up with two flavor combinations we liked, we were encouraged to fully peruse the showroom and decide shape, design, etc.

All in all a pleasant experience, once I got over the sheer volume of designed and examples to consider!

My sister Kris and Mark's mom, Donna, accompanied me to my first wedding gown shopping appointment. I'd gotten the recommendation from someone at work to go to this particular store because she and all of her friends had found their dresses there. She said they went there and needed go no further. Our appointment was on a Saturday morning and man, it was crazy busy! There were so many groups there waiting for their appointments! I must give the staff credit, though, because they kept things moving, got people where they needed to be and appeared to be brining a steady stream of dresses to the abundance of brides in the store. We were brought to the third floor and put into a fairly large room and the consultant assigned to me brought me in several dresses she recommended based on information I provided.

I really loved a heavy satin ballgown in ivory. So much so that I actually placed a (refundable) deposit on it that day. It was quite lovely and even had side pockets, which I thought was amazingly cool. I believe Donna counted 12 layers in the skirt, so it was...substantial!

Afterward, we went to the Grande Old Creamery and got ice cream to reward all of our hard work! OK, well to help us cool off from all those really heavy dresses!

For this appointment, Kris and I went during a weekday, which in general is a MUCH less busy time for obvious reasons. However, in this case we actually had the whole store to ourselves. We were able to go from rack to rack and pull out dresses we liked. And we pulled a lot of them! In retrospect, we maybe pulled a few too many, but it was a really fun experience to have the whole inventory to ourselves. I tried on a ton of dresses, found three I really liked, but none I actually decided on. We left the lovely store with a list of three potential candidates, but nothing I was just dying over...

Kris and I went to Luxe in May and were greeted to a true boutique experience. They had my name on a chalk sign outside the dressing room. We again got to identify the dresses that appealed to me and tried on several. The consultant was attentive and helpful, gave good feedback, and was fun to work with. It was not as overwhelming an experience as Effie's was; we tried on a good handful of dresses and got a fair representation of different styles. It was here that I ALMOST made a fatal mistake of picking the wrong dress, but thankfully I was spared that faux pas and instead said "yes" to the right dress for me!

My dress came in much earlier than expected, and I was quite nervous to put it on for my first fitting on 9/4, but I still love it! In looking back over the pictures we took of all of the dresses I tried on, this was really the only choice. Hope everyone (especially Mark!) agrees!

I'm a huge music person, always have been. I can name songs in an instant and sing along with thousands of songs covering 5+ decades. I could easily live without TV, but never without music. Mark is a music person as well, though his is more musical talent than simple music appreciation (as is my case). Since Mark and I met, I've been compiling a playlist of songs that remind me of him, us or songs that he says make him think of me. The very first song that I associated with Mark was "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen. All the way back in April, 2012, I was on my way to the gym and that song came on my Sirius XM radio channel (before it was a giant hit), it was just a total gimme. I mean, after our first date and him sending me an email, I invited him to call me, and as previously mentioned... he did! (And he still does to this day!)

This compilation of songs spans our entire relationship thus far and continues to grow, as I expect it will for some time.

We decided to plug in the iPod after dinner and share our songs with all of our guests. If anyone wants to dance, they are more than welcome to! In the mean time, I opted to share our list, just in case anyone is interested...

Final preparations for our wedding began in earnest on Thursday, November 12, 2015, when we began staging all of the boxes of décor in the garage for transport to the wedding venue itself, the University Club at 420 Summit Avenue in St. Paul, MN. We had 10 boxes of center pieces for the dinner tables alone, a box of extra candle holders for placement around the room, a box of rose garlands, two boxes for the head table, a box of spare wax candles and another with the guest registry stuff. There also were envelopes with programs, placecards, frames with lovely quotes in them, the greeting card box Mark and I made together. Not to mention the pile of stuff we needed to dress for the event: my dress, his suit, shirt, tie, shoes, socks, extra shoes. I think I can sum it all up by saying that the car was FULL. And not just for one trip, but for two!

Friday morning arrived and once we got Brandon off to school, we ate breakfast (possibly starting an annual tradition of the overnight blueberry cream cheese French toast ) and headed to the Club to drop off all that we were able to fit into the car. After a few more errands and a break for lunch, we met Kris at the house to head to our mani/pedi appointments. Mark was coerced into going, even though he thought it was weird and had reservations. We all three sat in a row in the pedi chairs with me in the middle. Mark was so adorable getting settled. While Kris and I both had on sandals, he was in sneakers and socks, so he had to strip those off, climb into the chair, have the arm lowered, etc. He looked a little bewildered, and he initially found the massage chair a little too vigorous, but once we adjusted the intensity and he settled into the chair and let himself relax, he found it quite enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed watching him wiggle as his feet were inadvertently tickled during the pumicing. As Mark's technician was finishing up, she asked him if he wanted color on his toes. He made a comment that if they had beer, he'd probably not care and would agree to it, but he didn't think so. Somehow a suggestion was made that he get his big toes painted in honor of the wedding, so we did a Google search and found a cute tuxedo design that he quite willingly agreed to have done. The result was adorable and he was quite thrilled with his own adventuresome spirit. He obligingly modeled his pedi for the clientele in the nail salon. After the pedi, we all got manis done too, including Mark! This time he was much more conservative and they just trimmed his nails & cuticles and gave him a nice hand massage and hot towel wrap. Now Mark hasn't necessarily said it was a great experience, but most days since getting his big toes painted, he's commented on them. He has even said he might have to consider going in and getting a Christmas design put on them. I love this idea and would fully support him having holiday and wedding toes for the rest of our lives!

After our nail appointment, we needed to repack the car for trip two to the Club, which coincided with our rehearsal, scheduled at the Club at 5:30. We got everything dropped off and the car parked and still had time to introduce everyone around. All were timely and we got through rehearsal quickly, so we headed to Buca di Beppo for our rehearsal dinner. The place was packed and there was a very brief moment of panic when they said they only had one rehearsal dinner on the books for that night (which was not ours!), but it was very quickly resolved and things went off without a hitch. In attendance, we had our friends Kathy & Dale Terrell from St. Louis, Pastor John, Jon & Lynette Aronson, Mom & Bob, Donna, Paul, Ryan, Paul, Margaret, Kris, Mark and me. Brandon surprised us when he arrived with Brianna - a very unexpected and pleasant surprise, since he'd declined the initial invitation to participate. We all ate heartily, good conversation was had, and I believe everyone had a good time. Kathy, Dale, Kris, Mark and I were the last to leave and I'm not even sure what time that was! After all of the other places we'd looked at having this event, Buca was a GREAT choice. They didn't force us to have a food & beverage minimum or a rental fee, and we were able to feed 17 people for only $320! Some of the other restaurants had $1500 minimums, which was insane for our small group! Once we were inside and seated, the busy-ness of the place was lost on us and we were well served by our waitstaff. (Our waiter took to calling me the "boss lady", which is kind of funny!)

On Saturday morning there wasn't much getting ready to do since Kris and I had hair and makeup appointments, so we just showered, ate some more of the blueberry French toast, and left. We got to Phresh Spa Salon on Grand Avenue right on time and Kecia sat me down at her chair and started in on my makeup. After she was finished, I moved over to Annie's station and got to give her the good news that the work we'd done on my trial three weeks before was all pretty much moot. If I stuck with my plan to have my hair pulled to one side, it would be the opposite side than we'd originally done, I didn't want it woven, and well, I might not want it like that at all because this day, I came with a tiara in hand! Annie took it all in stride, kept curling my hair, and we kind of talked our way through it. I think the pictures easily illustrate which way we decided to go…

Kris got her hair and makeup done at about the same time and she had a different vision for her hair. Hers was all coiled up so it was off of her neck, but it was pulled to the side and done in little rosettes. It looked so pretty! We got done with our salon session about 20 minutes late, and while we were off schedule somehow I managed not to panic. I called Pizza Hut and ordered three personal pan pizzas for delivery to the Club (cause we needed to eat!) and we were on our way.

Lynette was sitting outside when we arrived and she made sure Mark didn't see me until I was truly dressed and ready for the big reveal. When we got there, I wasn't sure how I felt about my hair and makeup. I didn't look like myself and I didn't think I looked very special, so I didn't hold out much hope for feeling bridal, but again I rolled with it. We did a few pre-dressing pictures in the hideously wallpapered bathroom and then headed upstairs for dressing. I hadn't seen my handsome Groom yet, and I sure was ready to.

I had made it clear that I wanted "first sight" pictures, to capture the moment we saw each other all dressed for our occasion for the first time. Jon and Lynette had visions of Mark poised in the foyer, me peeking over the railing at him, and I watched from the 2nd floor landing as they worked with him and took some shots. He was good - never tried to peek and spoil the moment! I had the distinct advantage of being able to see him first, without him knowing it, and he looked so handsome in his new black suit! My vision of having his shirt, tie & pocket square all monochrome looked fantastic, and it was even more special because it was made out of the same fabric as my dress. I had ordered an extra yard of the Moscato satin fabric and I hand-made his pocket square and I had a seamstress make him a custom neck tie. We found a perfect-match shirt, and the look was complete! He looked so darn handsome, which isn't hard to imagine, since he just naturally is, but the look was so classy! Just exactly what I'd had in mind! After a few shots in the foyer, they moved him to the Terrace Room and had me follow him in there to do the actual reveal. He had plans to do the Macaulay Culkin Home Alone scream face, but he restrained himself. I honestly don't remember the actual moment itself at all – I hope the camera captured something sweet! I can't wait to see what Jon captured from all of those photos!

After the reveal, it is really a blur of photos of just Mark and me in various places at the Club. I had pinned a ton of what Jon and Lynette referred to as "romantic" pictures, so Jon certainly had ample inspiration and a good idea of what I hoped to accomplish. We spent several hours moving around, posing, smooching, laughing! We had such a great time with Jon and Lynette. We were inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs… Jon said he typically has about 1 hour for couples photos and I swear I could have given him 5 hours and I'd not have gotten tired of it or bored. Seriously, it was FUN! I think that is so much of what made our day so magical. There was one point where he told us to kiss and then, when he'd gotten his shots, said "that's enough" but I wasn't done! We all got a good chuckle out of that!

Family photos were scheduled to start at 3:45 and we allotted 30 minutes for them. That went by very quickly and things started to feel very chaotic and twirly. I found out why things got kind of weird a little after 4pm, when I was told I could join the rest of the family outside to cool off. I walked outside expecting everyone to be milling around and visiting, but looking around everyone was lined up on the sidewalk, which seemed weird to me. I think I asked what was going on, why everyone was being weird and being lined up and stuff, and I think someone told me to look at my ride. Well, there was a small truck pulled into the drive so I'm pretty sure I gave someone a look like "funny joke", but then my attention was directed toward the road where I caught a glimpse of a horse-drawn carriage. Mark said I did a happy dance and a little clap of joy while asking "For me???" Again, no recollection for me at all, other than feeling surprised and so happy and thinking what an awesome surprise it was! Someone had my wrap and handed it to me as we boarded the carriage and off we went! I do remember giggling an awful lot, and by the time we got back, I couldn't feel my face because my smile was permanently etched on it. We drove side streets past some lovely houses. There were drivers who stopped to snap pictures with their phone. Most waved. Lots of people out walking or doing yard work stopped to wave, take pictures and call out their congratulations. It was so much fun! Mark was just beaming, he was so happy and proud that he'd done something so amazing for me; for us. We had about 45 minutes on the carriage, and toward the end of our route, Jon appeared again and was snapping pictures. As we pulled into the drive, apparently Pastor John announced that we were coming back in and our guests went to the windows of the Summit Room and were snapping cell phone photos. Lee Nelson even came back outside and took more pictures. It was an amazing experience which will be hard to top!!

After we made our way inside, it wasn't long before the ceremony was to begin. The Pastors processed, Kris and Paul processed, and then all of a sudden it was our turn. It was probably a really good thing that there wasn't a lot of time, because all of a sudden I was overwhelmed. In talking about it later, Kris said it was evident by the look on my face. Since I've not seen pictures as of this writing, I can only say that I'm hopeful Jon caught something of us processing where I don't look utterly terrified! We walked too quickly up the short aisle, so Margaret had more playing than walking, and I know she'd wanted to avoid that, but she did a fantastic job. When we rehearsed, I know Pastor John mentioned we should stand comfortably and not hold hands until instructed to, but about 30 seconds in, I was reaching for Mark's hand - I just felt I needed it right then, not when it was called for us to join hands later. The ceremony itself went by pretty quickly and I don't remember much other than the Ring Pop shenanigans. During rehearsal the night before, when PJ mentioned he'd ask Paul for the rings, Mark chimed in with "What rings?", which kind of blew Paul's plan, so he came prepared with two ring pops and offered those up, which got quite a chuckle from the guests and all of us up front. He did provide the actual rings, and that all went off flawlessly. No dropped or missing rings, no fingers so swollen the rings wouldn't go on. We did don the ring pops for our recessional, which everyone seemed to appreciate.

Mark and I held a receiving line immediately following the ceremony and I was so impressed with myself that I knew everyone's names! I mean, I guess it makes sense, since I managed the invitee list, addressed the envelopes, managed RSVPs, etc., but I mean there were people there I'd never met, but it was obvious to me who they were, and I was able to address everyone by name! I think we made a good choice having the receiving line because it afforded us an opportunity to greet all of our guests, which we may not have otherwise managed. As soon as the receiving line was over, we mingled and I really didn't get any further than the doorway to the Terrace Room, though I did manage to get to the bar and get a Diet Coke and a glass of my Moscato… Jon was milling around and I know he got many more pictures. Pastor John was busy making sure the marriage certificate got signed and the guests were socializing, snacking, drinking… it certainly sounded like everyone was having a great time! Did I mention that my silly (but highly adorable) husband was seen removing his shoes and socks at least one time to show off his event-appropriate pedi? Oh yeah, I think he was proud of his personal art! Love him all the more for his enthusiasm!

After the staff at the Club completed the Summit Room change-over, Dave brought me into the room for a big reveal, and it was simply lovely, they had done a great job executing our vision with minimal direction. Apparently the staff thought so too, as comments were made that it looked really great! (We take that as high praise, because these people see this room in all of its glory. If they thought it looked good to them, it really must have shown!) I got Kris to make sure she'd see it, because I know that she put a lot of work into making sure it was up to her very high standards. She was so adamant that I'd be happy with how things looked and that everything should be perfect!

Mark had purchased a cool purple and brown paisley jacket that he wanted to reveal for the reception, so we went upstairs as the guests were being seated. He changed, and we exchanged "cards" while taking a little breather. I had made a big book for him of all the things I love about him – a continuation of the 36 things I'd posted on the mirror for our 3 year anniversary – and he had a lovely card for "his bride". Eventually Dave came up to gather us so we could be introduced as we entered the dining room. Upon his approach (and not realizing Kris was in there with us), Dave was joking with us about needing a cot brought up in case we were messing around… (too bad he hadn't offered sooner!) In a rather offhand manner and essentially in the same breath, he mentioned that there had been a minor mishap in the form of a fire in the Summit Room, but that it was quickly under control and that they were airing out the room… I totally thought he was joking until we began to descend the stairs and I could smell the burned odor. I guess a taper candle flame was too close to a silk flower and it ignited. No harm, no foul, and I guess it happened before any guests were in the room… thankfully nothing major, but that was an interesting little development.

Once Dave announced us, we sat at the head table and dinner service began. I don't even think we'd gotten our chairs warm before someone started clinking glasses, so we stood back up and did the obligatory smooch without complaint. Dinner went smoothly, with minimal interruptions for glass clinking (too bad, really, I'm always up for a smooch with my sweetie…). One of the glass clinking incidents happened when Mark and I were across the room from each other and I was visiting with the table of some of our friends from church. The glasses started clinking and Lee Nelson promptly popped up out of his chair and flung his arms open wide for a smooch. I did oblige and got all kinds of laughs and oohs and hoots. And Lee did the victory arm pumping…it was a funny moment.

As the wait staff got busy passing out cake, both Mark and I commenced making the rounds to the tables separately. I know there are tables we both missed in our rounds, but attempts were made to touch base with everyone again. Pretty soon people started making their leave, and by 10pm, the place was empty save the staff, Kris, Mark and me. Mark made his way over to the sound system and started disassembling it. I said to him that I was thinking he was going to pick a song and dance with me. He asked me if I'd like that, which I said I would, so he picked "I'll Write a Song For You" by Earth, Wind and Fire, and we had a private first (only) dance. Someone on the wait staff turned down the lights for us and made sure the room stayed quiet for a few minutes, which was sweet. After that, we started puttering around in earnest… moving from room to room, picking stuff up and putting it down in another place… doing nothing worthwhile really, but in hindsight, I think neither of us were ready for the night to be over.

A lot of planning had gone into the day and we had hoped for a fun event, but for this one day, we got something more magical than either of us could have anticipated. I can't find the words, I can't do it justice. If there is never a better day than that of our wedding, I am 100% OK with that because on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at the University Club of St. Paul, we had perfect weather, a perfect celebration, and I married the man who is perfect for me. This day was better than a fairy tale, because it was our reality and we wouldn't change a single thing.

Thank you to all who participated, helped and celebrated with us. It was a joy to celebrate our love and our marriage with all of you. See you again, same date, same place, in 25 years! We'll do it all again!