Five Year Anniversary | Wedding Throwback

Five years ago today, I was sweaty palmed and nervous, hand in hand with Alex as we said our wedding vows.

There were nine people at our wedding. Our beloved pastor (Pastor Bob), his amazing wife and our immediate family. Oh…and there was one more tiny person…a baby in my belly who would make her entrance into the world exactly two months later.

Let me rewind a bit…

It was early February of 2014 and I just wasn’t feeling well. I had no energy, often felt bloated, and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I had been to the OBGYN a few months prior, so pregnancy was the furthest thing from my mind.

I was growing my personal training business and my long-term boyfriend at the time was finding success in his own career. We were in love, happy and enjoying our fourth year of dating.

One day, I just had this bad feeling and texted my parents in a group text saying that I thought I might be pregnant. They LOLed and told me I was fine. By the end of the day, my dad had bought me three pregnancy texts and late at night after I was done working for the day, I took all three because neither of us could really believe that I was pregnant.

I WAS PREGNANT.

There were my dreams and goals for my life, circling the drain in front of me. That night I told Alex, and we both felt shattered. This wasn’t supposed to happen to us, not this way. Not at this time.

I couldn’t sleep that night, I kept praying to God, asking him how this was going to work out. I was almost angry at Him. I felt that my life plans were ruined, but little did I know that he had much bigger plans for me, for Alex, and for our unborn baby.

The next day, I frantically called every OBGYN office. I needed to find out how far along I was, and I needed to find out NOW. My dad and I drove all over the place until I was able to land an ultrasound appointment.

If you have ever been pregnant, you know that the first few ultrasounds are uncomfortable because they make you drink a gallon of water beforehand in order to see the baby more accurately. As the baby grows, that is no longer a requirement.

So, there I was, thinking I was at most twelve weeks pregnant, waiting for my ultrasound, thinking about how badly I had to pee for about two hours before I was able to be seen. As soon as the tech placed the monitor on my belly she looked at me and said, “Okay, you can go pee now”. I was so confused as I went to the bathroom. Why would I have to hold my pee for so long just for that?

That’s when she broke the news to me…I wasn’t twelve weeks pregnant. I was SIX MONTHS pregnant.

I could go into all the reasons why I didn’t know I was pregnant, but I will spare you the details. Let’s just say that the shock of pregnancy was multiplied in that ultrasound room.

But shock turned to awe quickly…

When I looked up at the screen and saw this beautiful baby sucking her thumb. A beautiful, six month unborn baby that I loved instantly.

A wave of peace, joy and gratitude washed over me. There I was, completely in awe of God. I had done a 180 from how I was feeling the night before, and was filled with this instant love for her.

Love that overcame my perfectionist ways, that overcame my worry of feeling judged or looked down upon. I loved this baby so much that nothing else in this world compared.

That night, I broke the news to Alex. I was not only pregnant, but I was SIX months pregnant.

Two months and a lot of life later, there we were. At our wedding with only the people who love us the fiercest, sweating, nervous, but so in love.

The only pictures captured of that day were ones on an iPhone. The cake was small and simple, just the way I hoped it would be, and I LOVE that that day was just about us. Just about our commitment to one another, to our future baby, and to the life and love we wanted to build together.

It was the perfect wedding, and every year on our anniversary, I look back on that day. It was so raw, so real and it truly defined the beginning of our marriage in such a sanctifying way.

If you know my family, you know we love a big party, so a year later Alex and I renewed our vows in front of family and friends with the newest addition of the family in tow. Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite details and moments of that day.

Wedding Details:

Planning a wedding with a newborn is no easy task, but Alex and I tried to make it fun, incorporating some of our favorite things and all of our favorite people along the way.

My dress is from Casablanca bridal. I loved the scallop and lace details and the long train.

My bridesmaids dresses were two of my favorite things: Lilly Pulitzer and seersucker. The print of Lilly’s reception dress (also Lilly Pulitzer for her namesake) quickly became a theme within our wedding.

Alex and the groomsmen wore bowties in a matching print to Lilly’s dress for the reception!

The Coral Charm Shop on Etsy made these sweet pictures frames for us using the same print as Lilly’s dress and the groomsmen’s bow ties.

The bridesmaids also had a sweet bow bracelet in the print (Sunnyside Pink Cabana).

One of my favorite parts of our wedding was renewing our vows with Pastor Bob, he has been such a special part of my life for so many years and was so involved in our (very last minute) marriage. He has taught us so much as a couple and we are forever grateful to him.

This is one of my favorite pictures from our day, my sister and maid of honor holding her niece and loving every minute of it.

My gorgeous bridesmaids.

My sweet bridesmaids

I love this picture of Lilly and me. She still sucks her thumb and snuggles in like this when she’s tired.

We traded a limo for a fun trolley to take us to our wedding reception.

Every summer, Alex and I head to Bald Head Island for a week long vacation. There are no cars on the island, only golf carts, so we thought with our love of BHI and his love of golf, that we needed to incorporate golf carts into our wedding in some way, so we took our bridal party out to the golf course for some pictures on golf carts!

The pictures we took on the golf course are some of my favorite.

Peonies were included in my floral bouquet because they are good luck and I of course had to incorporate Lilies in honor of my daughter.

Our cake is from Pastor’s Bakery! He brought my dreams of a Lilly Pulitzer-inspired cake to life.

My bridesmaids traded in their heels for a personalized ballet flat that they could dance the night away in.

Alex’s dad, Tom and his jazz trio entertained the guests at cocktail hour.

Alex is a Cleveland Browns fan (we feel sorry for him too) who now lives outside of Pittsburgh, my garter was a STEELERS garter. I had to have a little fun with my husband on our wedding day. Below I am throwing up the SIX in honor of how many super bowls we have won.

A special thank you to:

• Skysight Photography– for pictures I will cherish forever
• Pastor Bob and Covenant Presbyterian Church
• Pamela’s Golden Touch– hair and make-up
• Ridgeview Acres Farm– flowers
• Chestnut Ridge Country Club
• Gaetano’s Jazz Trio
• Pastor’s Bakery