On March 23rd, 1996, I got married to my dear husband, Ryan. I was 19, he was 20. Just a couple of kids.
We eloped…..kind of.
We eloped, but we took our family with us. So, in attendance, we had a total of 10 people, including us. 11 if you count the “minister”. My parents, his parents, my sister and her husband and my grandparents.
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| This is us with my grandparents. So special that they made it! |
My mom made my dress. Even my dad helped in getting it assembled. I remember sitting at the kitchen table, all of us working on gluing beads onto the lace, to fancy the dress up a little more. It was a challenge getting it completed in time. I think we gave my parents a little more than a week to help me get that wedding together. We decided we wanted it so soon, because his college spring break was going to be the next week and I was insistent on getting a honeymoon. Any longer seemed like an eternity!
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| She was still sewing on it right before it was time! |
We were married on a floating gazebo, sitting out on a pond at a small resort. It was so windy that day, my veil nearly blew away! Thankfully, besides the wind, the weather was nice!
After the wedding, the weather turned cold fast, so we decided to head down south for our honeymoon. We chose our destination to be San Antonio, TX. It was a great choice! We didn’t have much money, but enjoyed the zoo, the River walk and we even went to a San Antonio Spurs game. I laugh now about that because I didn’t really fathom how much my husband liked sports at the time. He still says he was crazy for getting married during March Madness. He must’ve really loved me! I remember wondering why we always had to stop and look at the basketball games on the TV’s along the river walk (or anywhere else for that matter).
About a month after our wedding, we had a reception with our friends and family in our home town. It felt a little weird to get all dressed up in my wedding dress again. It was fun to celebrate though!
Little did I know back then, that I would be the mom of 6 children. To think, none of these sweeties would be here, had Ryan and I not fallen in love!
I love you Ryan. Happy Anniversary! Here’s to the next 16 years!
