Among the many memories of our wedding is this drone video put together by our friend, Bernhard Kohlmeier. I was quite touched, as was Erin, by the time and effort Bernhard put into documenting our big day. The video, along with the pictures we’re still collecting, will help us remember a day that we couldn’t forget even if we tried. Not with so many friends and family who came from far and wide and went above and beyond for us.
Looking back, I’m struck by how easy it is to spend so much time anticipating and planning for a day in which the main event takes up only a few short hours. Then it’s here and gone in what feels like the blink of an eye. I arrived at 1:30 pm for pictures, and we finally left at 1:30 am. The ceremony and reception itself lasted all of about 7+ hours. The amount of planning, thought, and anticipation that went into those few hours was impressive.
Beyond that, there’s just SO. MUCH. STUFF. The number of gifts we’ve received is truly astonishing. Keep in mind that we’re a reasonably successful middle-aged couple who’s fortunate in that there’s nothing we want for. Yet we’ve been showered with numerous examples of generosity on the part of friends and family. There is literally nothing we truly need, but Erin did the registry thing…and people have showed an impressive (and not at all surprising) generosity towards us. We had a pretty well-equipped kitchen prior to the wedding; now we have a fabulously well-appointed one. I almost feel kind of guilty for all the stuff we’ve been given; traditionally, wedding gifts were meant to help a young couple outfit a new home. We came into this already pretty well set…and now we’ve been gifted with all manner of extravagances- kitchen items, bedding, towels, and other things that will help make an already great life that much more comfortable. Truly, we are blessed to have so many kind and generous people in our lives.
Virtually every day for the past three weeks, I’ve come home from work to find boxes- from Macy’s, Pottery Barb, Crate & Barrel, etc.- waiting for me on our front porch. I came home Friday to find FOUR boxes…almost a week AFTER the wedding. It took two car loads to get the gifts home, and there may well be more to come.
Between the parties and the showers and the wedding itself, this has been quite the summer. It’s served to demonstrate (as if we weren’t already well aware) that we have a large number of people in our lives who care about us. We had 300 chairs at the wedding and there were still people standing during the ceremony. More than 90% of the people we invited accepted and were in attendance. It was a helluva party, and now it’s done…save for the honeymoon to Iceland and Norway in about three weeks. Then we get to go back to being like everyone else, trying to make our way through life as best we can.
It’s a pretty damned good life.
