Friday, October 2, 2009

The Night Before My Wedding

Want to know what I was doing 11 years ago, 11 years ago on October 2nd? You do? Great, I can't wait to tell you! Eleven years ago, right about this time, I was thinking about how the next day, I was going to become Mrs. Jay Sharpe. I had just been through 6 months of engaged chaos and now it was all over. I was about to marry the man I loved. Sigh...

A little background: My sister had a really big wedding a few years prior and I vowed I would never go through that. I just didn't "get" why anyone would want to sit and look at flowers, invitations, etc. Eloping was more my speed but my Mom made me promise her I wouldn't.

I'm the type of person who likes to make things happen. I don't agonize over decisions. Whether it's a purse, outfit, sofa, house, etc. I pretty much know right away if I love it or hate it and I pretty much never second-guess myself. I have no idea if that's good or bad but in my mind, it's worked out pretty well.

I bought a dress 2 days after I got engaged. It wasn't a wedding dress but I loved it and thought it was perfect. It was very plain - not white - and so me.I had not made one single wedding plan but I knew they would end up revolving around this dress.

We were engaged for 6 months and in that time, I felt like I couldn't make a decision to save my life. I had one idea after another about where I wanted to get married but for one reason or another, none of them panned out.

One day my Mom and I just sat down and it hit us - why not get married at my Grandparent's small country church in Clanton. Once that decision was made everything just fell into place. It was like boom, boom, boom... invitations, announcements, flowers, catering, photographer - everything was just done.

You know what didn't fall into place? My dress. It just didn't "go" with a small country church wedding. So about 2 weeks before the wedding, I called my Sister and asked if I could wear hers. She agreed and I tried it on. The dress was SO NOT ME, but I think that may have been what I liked about it. I felt like a little princess, which is something I had never felt like in my life.

More tomorrow....

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5 comments:

Lois Christensen said...

Well that was fun!! Can't wait to hear the rest. What a great idea for a post! Happy Anniversary!

FYI, I had over 500 people at my wedding. That should make you shake a little!

Enjoy the weekend!

Mrs. Jennifer said...

Your sister rescues everyone's wedding, huh!?! I was an eloper, too, but, there were... what should I say..."other ideas". If Wendy hadn't coordinated mine, oh my goodness, I can not even imagine!!

MamaHen said...

I can't wait to read the rest (and I was there). I LOVE that we shared a wedding dress. Do you think Abbie might wear it one day?

Paulina said...

I too can't wait to hear the rest! Reminds me of the jitters and excitement I felt before I married my husband.....

mamahensmama said...

Jill, are you sure I didn't want you to elope, because that what I wanted to do. Your Daddy said NO. I think maybe I just wanted family at yours. It was beautiful, you were beautiful, Jay was handsome. We had the best time at the reception. I loved that you wore Wendy's dress. I remember the day you tried it on. I didn't know you were opening it and when I looked up and saw you coming down the hall, you took my beath away. I do hope Abbie wears it with her little bit of Irish lace sewn on the hem.