Lovely Little Story: Part 4

And so wedding planning began. I was a gracious non-bridezilla, in my mind. Sure, the party was important, but really it was the commitment that was most important.

Joe picked the colors: Blue and green.
We picked the Temple: Brigham City Temple
I picked the reception center: Ogden Union Station
We'd picked the date: April 25, 2013

And before we knew it, our families were all in town.

We had an amazing wedding dinner the night before. It was small, just our closest friends and family members. We got to know one another, we had amazing food, and everyone shared stories. The dinner ended, and our last night as singles drew to a close.

Joe held a shovel in hand, with my hand in the other, and in my other hand was a box holding my sweet pet lizard that had died recently. We buried him in the backyard of my childhood home and went inside to meet our families. Our fathers both gave us blessings, and Joe and I stood on the doorstep, saying goodbye one last time.

I brushed back my hair and got ready for bed, walking down the stairs, when those two best friends, Brittany and Jackie, surprised me in the basement with treats and movies, and we stayed up far too late and had a hurrah.

The next morning came far too early, but just on time. It wasn't as if I had slept the night before. 6:30am I was at the salon, after which I went home and helped load the car with reception decorations. And then I put on the last dress I would wear before my wedding dress, got in the car, and drove to the Temple.

Joseph on the other hand, had a very stressful morning. He was so certain the entire morning that he was going to be late, and traffic was not on his side. But when he got to the temple and we both got out of our cars and saw each other, and held hands to walk through the doors together, everything melted.

We had time alone together in the most beautiful room the temple has, the Celestial room. We talked about where we had started and how far we had come, and we talked about how excited we were to go the rest of the way together.

We walked into a room full of our loved ones and knelt across the altar, and made promises that sealed us together as one for time and all eternity.

And I had never been so happy.