I did it. FINALLY. Six years ago I met my husband. After a year of glaring at him, three and a half years of dating and a year and a half of engagement, it’s official at last! The hard work and preparation really paid off, and everything was picture perfect. Of course, there were a number of things I shouldn’t have stressed out about: the program fans were pretty unnecessary as it was a perfect day at the top of La Jolla, and the boutonnieres and corsages I spent hours wrapping went largely unnoticed.

As with most days in my life, my wedding day did not go off without a hitch (pun totally intended. Heh, heh). Technical difficulties resulted in our processional music being  played from a stereo in our friend’s hands, High Fidelity style (that was actually pretty adorable). It also turned out that there was an error in the directions, and the signs intended to direct guests to the ceremony site…somehow…never got put up. Pulling up to the ceremony to discover that HALF my guests were lost was not so adorable. It all ended up working out, though, and I felt surprisingly calm as I walked down the aisle to “Another One Bites the Dust” (the processional was Queen-themed, and the bridesmaids all walked down to “Fat-Bottomed Girls” without the slightest tinge of annoyance). The minister – our counselor from college – announced that anyone with any objections should “shut the heck up and keep it to themselves” before launching into the best ceremony speech ever. There were some references to Dr. Seuss and (my favorite part!) he had Nathaniel promise not only to love, honor and cherish me, but also to never wash my delicates on high ever again.

I presumed that our unconventional ceremony choices would get the point across that we tossed tradition out the window long ago. Several friends were surprised to see me in a white dress and one commented that she expected me to stroll out in a pink tutu (my response: “Pink is soooo not my color!”). Alas, none of that stopped a couple of old-fashioned attendees from pointing out that I was egregiously going against a number of etiquette rules. And THEN someone fell into my photobooth and knocked it over, breaking my beloved Macbook Pro.

BUT. That is not the point. Those things weren’t the spirit of the day, they were just the stumbling blocks on our way to something fantastic. I don’t mention them to dwell or be negative, but to point out that this is just the nature of things. Every day, every life, every person faces problems that have to be overcome. Maybe it stands to reason that the greater the day – the greater the life - the bigger problems we’ll face. When I encountered the most overwhelming problem of the evening, I sat down for a minute and assessed the situation. I was frustrated as hell but quickly realized there was nothing I could do to fix it. I felt numerous eyes on me, waiting with bated breath for the bride to finally just lose it. Instead, I searched out my new husband in the gathering crowd. He was standing quietly, unphased, reaching his hand out to me. I took it, brushed off my dress, and followed him to the floor. We danced the rest of the night away.

So did everyone else.