the best decision I ever made

It's hard to believe that two years has gone by since we said our vows to each other. Our wedding day stands out in my memory as one of the most special, beautiful and chaotic days of my life. We were young, we were crazy, and we were just starting out on a journey that is turning out to be one amazing ride.

On July 28th 2007 we got married in Ottawa at a beautiful museum called the Billings Estate. Leading up to our wedding day I had flown to Regina to watch my soon to be husband graduate from the RCMP training academy. We had a fantastic time during his grad and then flew back to Ottawa to madly prepare for the wedding.

Family from all over came to celebrate with us and my mom and sister Sarah and all the wedding party took over (thank goodness for them) and somehow made everything magically happen. The weather on our wedding day was interesting to say the least. Rain would come and go in a down pour and I had my heart set on having the wedding outside. Five minutes before the ceremony was to begin it rained and rained and I thought our outdoor wedding wasn't going to happen. But just as it began, it stopped and not a drop more appeared.

My dress was beautifully designed and stitched by my dearest and most talented friend Eugenia and I felt like a princess wearing the Birks pearls that Winslow's mother gave to me at my bridal shower. Winslow looked so handsome in his red serge. Clean, crisp and put together.

The ceremony was beautiful and we included Filipino traditions such as the binding cord and the gold coins. We also asked my grandmother to read from the bible and had our bridemaids and groomsmen participate in the ceremony.

Later on that evening under a white tent with twinkling lights and big paper lanterns we ate delicious food, had some fun entertainment (no Filipino wedding is complete without a wedding singer and some line dancing!) and danced up a storm, making it the perfect ending to a busy day. As soon as it all began, it ended.

The next day we met up for breakfast with my side of the family and then went out to say good bye to Winslow's family. Then we jumped in Winslow's little Tercel and headed for our new home of Hamilton. There we were just freshly married, still high from the excitement of it all but completely exhausted at the same time.

On that day, I have to admit my mind was else where. I was worried about the weather, and if everyone was going to have a good time. I was worried about whether the vendors would show up and deliver what they had promised. Weddings are stressful and in the end I think it has taken me a while to actually allow myself to "take in" what that day meant. But now two years later, here are my thoughts.

When I think back to our wedding day, many things come to mind. The little details all stand out as very special and magical to me. Everything looked exactly as I wanted it: classic, artsy and handmade. But really in the end all the details mean nothing compared to what our wedding day REALLY symbolizes. To me our wedding symbolizes a love that has grown and seen many changes. Our wedding symbolizes a marriage that is strong and based on appreciation and respect. And our wedding symbolizes an everlasting commitment that we made to each other. In the end it really doesn't matter about whether or not something went wrong that day (which did happen, many times) or just how pretty the flowers looked. What matters is that we both showed up and made the decision step into the unknown world of marriage together. And now two years later, I can look back and safely say that it was the best decision I ever made. Happy two year anniversary Sweetie!

Pictures taken by my fantastic cousin Julia Christensen.