The Wedding! An Ending and A Beginning....

It has been quite some time since my last joyous post. Not surprisingly it has been a rather busy five months, and sitting down to write was a luxury I could not really afford. I am absolutely floored by the amount of planning and work that goes into a wedding. It was fun, but a little overwhelming. Luckily I had the best planning partner on the entire planet - my sweet Mom. It was uncanny (or not so) how alike and kindred we are - and it was so fun to see those similarities come out during the whole process. We work in such harmony that we were constantly doing the same things and finishing each others thoughts. It was great. She was a great support through all of it, and in no way could I have done it without her. I am so grateful to her, and I love the place that it has taken our relationship. But all that said, I shall avoid the dredges of all the details of planning. I would much rather get to the more exciting topic - OUR WEDDING!


I am now officially Mrs. Jim Asbrand!!!!! The wedding day was *absolutely perfect*. Truly. It went off without a hitch - even the weather held (after much stress and lots of prayers given the a 60% chance of rain), and it was just beautiful. The venue looked beautiful with all my colors, the flowers were great, the music was wonderful, and most importantly, the ceremony was just amazing. I loved walking down the aisle on the arm of my loving Father, all the while my eyes were locked on my husband to be - standing at the end of my short journey, looking so handsome. We couldn't stop beaming at each other. I took his hands and it began. It was a beautiful ceremony, lovingly crafted by us and our lovely dear friend Deborah (our officiator, who did a fantastic job) - but made SO much more meaningful when the words and vows were read that day and we committed our lives and hearts to each other. A huge thank you to those of you in attendance, who when asked by Deborah gave your promises of love and the support of us as a new couple, and then to each of our families to accept both Jim and I into them. It meant a lot to us, and we feel so lucky to be part of both the Zufelt and Asbrand clans, and have such wonderful friends that are also family. Oh it was so happy. One of my favorite parts about it was the huge boyish grin Jim kept giving me - it was a special smile I don't think I've seen before, and I will have that impressed in my memory forever. Oh then it was over in a flash! The next moment, we were pronounced husband and wife, we kissed, and were walking back down the aisle to triumphant music!

Then the rest of the day and evening were happy celebrations of that amazing moment of pronouncement. The dinner was great, and the reception was fantastic. All of it went by so quickly it still feels like a dream. It would be too much to just go through everything in detail or in order of events, so here is a small list of some of my favorite moments and aspects:

~ Being in such a beautiful place throughout the whole thing - it was the perfect venue, complete with waterfalls, natural rock formations, and a great view of the mountains. I loved being there during the dusk and evening hours as we just happily flitted around socializing. It was fun to show off our state to the out-of-towners.

~ Dancing with my Dad to the song he has sung to us his children our whole lives - Have I Told You Lately by Van Morrison. My Dad is my hero and will always have a special place in my heart. Then when Jim cut in and took his place, dancing to Frank Sinatra's All The Way. Our first dance as a new couple, and I loved it, the lyrics completely adding to the moment.

~ Talking to and feeling all of the love from the friends and family that came. It was wonderful to just greet everyone as they came and not have a line. It was really great to be with my new family too...they are so genuine and truly lovely to be around.

~ He'll roll his eyes at me for mentioning it, but I love that the photographer made my brother kiss me on the cheek. I don't think that had happened since our ages were in the single digits. I can't wait to see the picture, I'm sure I have quite the cheshire grin.

~ Wearing my Grandma Baker's wedding necklace. It has been worn by all the women in our family when they get married, and I felt their strength and love as I wore it pinned over my heart. I hope some of whatever magic was in my grandparents marriage of 60 years rubbed off.

~ Dancing at the end of the evening - it was a first for all 3 of us sisters to dance together, and then when our Mom surprisingly joined us it became truly monumental. It was so fun and happy! My Dad also cut quite the rug, and with several ladies - his sister, his mom, Deborah, his other daughter, I was duly impressed.

~ Cutting the cake was fun, and eating it was fun too. Really yummy. In fact, everything that night was really yummy! The food was fantastic.

There is more, but that gives an idea. I can honestly say that it was the best day of my whole life so far. It was everything I had hoped, and I can't express how much I loved it - it was truly magical. Not to mention the fact that I got the an amazing, handsome, thoughtful, loving, perfect-for-me husband in the world out of it! So here's to the end of my life as a single person, the end to months of planning, and the end of a fantastic, amazing day....but here's to the beginning of a new little, happy family - The Asbrands!

Written with much love and gratitude.


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Post Script - Thank you to all that helped set up, take down, courier presents, emcee, dj, and all-in-all make the whole thing go so smoothly and look so beautiful. I will put more pictures up once I have them. I will also write about our outstanding honeymoon on my travel blog Wanderlust.