Matt and I started dating on May 1st of 2010. Our relationship was full of ups and downs with break-ups and getting back together sprinkled throughout.
In June of that year Matt graduated from high school and our summer began. We spent the majority of that summer getting to know each other better as we had hardly known each other at all when we first got together. Matt got to see just what an emotional roller coaster I really am and I got to see him handle it better than anyone I had ever met. It didn't phase him in the slightest. We talked about everything from past relationships, to family, to our childhoods. We went on adventures to Lagoon and took hikes through the paths above my neighborhood. By the end of that summer I really couldn't imagine Matt not being a part of my life.
In June of that year Matt graduated from high school and our summer began. We spent the majority of that summer getting to know each other better as we had hardly known each other at all when we first got together. Matt got to see just what an emotional roller coaster I really am and I got to see him handle it better than anyone I had ever met. It didn't phase him in the slightest. We talked about everything from past relationships, to family, to our childhoods. We went on adventures to Lagoon and took hikes through the paths above my neighborhood. By the end of that summer I really couldn't imagine Matt not being a part of my life.
August of 2010 was rather depressing for me. I had to go back to school for my senior year and Matt would be going to work. The majority of my friends had been in the grade above me, so that year didn't look very promising. I spent pretty much my entire senior year in the library reading, sitting in the hall eating by myself, and texting Matt. It didn't help that my best friend had gone off to BYU-I without me and was quickly getting swept off her feet by her return missionary. Matt was very good to me through my senior year though and took me to all of the school dances. I loved dancing with him.
I think of everything that happened my senior year, the most interesting and life changing of them all came later in March. On March 5th of 2011, three days after my 18th birthday, Matt took me up to Park City to the top of the mountain and proposed to me. Happier than I have ever been, I said "Yes!" The reason why I said this was the most interesting thing to happen to me was because of what occurred afterwards. I can't even describe to you how weird it was getting stopped in the middle of my gym class and being grilled by my biology teacher about the ring on my left hand. Some of these people I had never met and yet they felt it their duty to find out for themselves if the rumors were true and if I really was getting married. I can't be too hard on them though as I look back. I mean, how many people did you know in high school that were engaged? It was kind of unheard of at my school.
I think of everything that happened my senior year, the most interesting and life changing of them all came later in March. On March 5th of 2011, three days after my 18th birthday, Matt took me up to Park City to the top of the mountain and proposed to me. Happier than I have ever been, I said "Yes!" The reason why I said this was the most interesting thing to happen to me was because of what occurred afterwards. I can't even describe to you how weird it was getting stopped in the middle of my gym class and being grilled by my biology teacher about the ring on my left hand. Some of these people I had never met and yet they felt it their duty to find out for themselves if the rumors were true and if I really was getting married. I can't be too hard on them though as I look back. I mean, how many people did you know in high school that were engaged? It was kind of unheard of at my school.
Matt and I decided to get married the day after my graduation. That gave us all of three months to plan the wedding! My mom was going absolutely crazy trying to figure it all out. We asked my AP Art History teacher (also the photography club teacher) to take our pictures and then quickly sent out the invitations. We talked to pretty much every single person we knew in our church and managed to pull together a beautiful array of decorations that fit my hopes perfectly. My mom worked hard those three months sewing and fixing my wedding dress. She was very patient with me, even when I asked her to completely redo the bottom half. She even went so far as to take care of our wedding cake too. I love my mom!
I'm not entirely sure how I did it all. I just remember being exhausted. Wedding preparation took up my mind and I coasted through the last few months of my senior year. Somehow I even managed to score a 5 on my AP Calculus test in the midst of all of that crazy. Matt and I found a friend at church to take engagement pictures of us for free and he also took my bridal shots. They all turned out gorgeous. My father was able to get us a great deal at Chick-fil-A for food for our reception and that turned out perfect.
If you are paying attention, you might have noticed how very little money went into this wedding. I hear stories of thousand dollar weddings and how you need to save up like crazy for your daughter's wedding day and I just laugh. I think my parents by the end of this probably spent about $300 total on our wedding.
Matt and I got married on June 4th, 2011. For what little we had, we had been so so blessed. I could not have asked for a more beautiful wedding reception. We were married around 5pm on a Saturday in the church in my neighborhood. After which we had a family dinner of spaghetti. The spaghetti dinner was provided by Matt's parents and it turned out absolutely wonderful. My eldest sister was a genious and thought to bring Matt and I black and white aprons to cover our nice clothes while we ate. I would never have thought of that, but it saved my white dress from getting lots of red speckles all over it. I don't remember all of what was said, but I loved and appreciated everyone who got up and gave us words of encouragement.
When the dinner was over we all made our way into the reception. The reception took place in the church's gymnasium. We had the lights dimmed and we brought the high ceilings down by placing large dark umbrellas around the room above the tables. We had an area for dancing and my best friend's return missionary (her husband at that point) dj'd for us. There were pictures of us all around the room and flowers of blue and teal. It was so beautiful. I couldn't have imagined it looking any better than it did.
Matt and I got married on June 4th, 2011. For what little we had, we had been so so blessed. I could not have asked for a more beautiful wedding reception. We were married around 5pm on a Saturday in the church in my neighborhood. After which we had a family dinner of spaghetti. The spaghetti dinner was provided by Matt's parents and it turned out absolutely wonderful. My eldest sister was a genious and thought to bring Matt and I black and white aprons to cover our nice clothes while we ate. I would never have thought of that, but it saved my white dress from getting lots of red speckles all over it. I don't remember all of what was said, but I loved and appreciated everyone who got up and gave us words of encouragement.
When the dinner was over we all made our way into the reception. The reception took place in the church's gymnasium. We had the lights dimmed and we brought the high ceilings down by placing large dark umbrellas around the room above the tables. We had an area for dancing and my best friend's return missionary (her husband at that point) dj'd for us. There were pictures of us all around the room and flowers of blue and teal. It was so beautiful. I couldn't have imagined it looking any better than it did.
Honestly, the wedding and reception are all such a blur to me now. I don't remember all of the faces or what was said. We took lots of pictures outside and even that is a vague memory. If it weren't for the pictures themselves, I might have forgotten them altogether. All I remember was being so utterly happy. I was married and everything was going to be just wonderful. I had only general ideas of where we would be living and where we would work, but in that moment, none of it mattered.
It was time for Matt's and my adventure as newlyweds to begin.