8 years ago...

I was a bride. Yup, today is my anniversary. Hey out there, don't bother doing the math, I'll tell you right now. My Joey was a gorgeous ring bearer. Adorable! I don't have a scanner to add any pics but let's take a look back...

Since my husband comes from a picture taking family, we opted for the Relief Society Room instead of the chapel so we could take pictures of it. My mom and aunt did a great job of making it pretty. Bishop Harris performed the ceremony. My friends Lisa, Cheryl and my Aunt Denise were my bridesmaids. Cheryl was the maid of honor. James' cousin Martin was the best man and my brother Steve and friend Richard were the groomsmen. My wedding colors were deep purple with lilac and gold accents. My dad walked me down the aisle. I was totally teary eyed.

Cheryl sang "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand, since I thought it a bit tacky to sing during the actual wedding ceremony. Tacky for me, ya'll, maybe not for you that have done that. I did sing Celine Dion's "Power of Love" during the reception. My cousin Josh played the music on a CD player. Whatcha' we were like having a real wedding, eh (that was me impersonating my son, impersonating George Lopez). It actually was really elegant.

After we took a limo (my only time riding in one) to the reception, which was in Surprise at the Windmill Inn (that's behind the KFC on Bell Road, cute little hotel). The reception started at 2:00 and lasted until 10:00. We did have the reception at a hotel so James' family could consume mass quantities of alcohol. Don't worry, his family are cute drunks. They like to dance, with everyone!

Anyhoo, so I had karaoke at my reception, provided by a real DJ, not my primo on a boombox. We had mexican food prepared by James' Aunt Josefina (Josie) and it was amazing! My mom and I had made the decorations, though she did the majority. She made topiaries, large and small to decorate the tables. I went to every thrift shop in the valley and bought tea cups and saucers that we put candles in and placed them on the tables.

One of the most romantic things James ever did was pick out our wedding song. It's a Wynonna song, it's called "She is His Only Need." Look it up, it's about a cook and a waitress that fall in love and they live in Arizona. Totally us!

We stayed in a suite in the hotel (that was trashed by my brother and friends, but nothing I had to pay for) while my mom watched Joey. Just to let you know how trashed, when I sat down on the bed, the picture hanging above the bed hit me in the head. No damage. We went to her house the next morning, said goodbye to Joey before heading to Disneyland for our honeymoon.

It may not have been fancy, it may not have been perfect, but it was ours. It was an important step, although it was only "for the period of our mortal lives." But that's okay, we've done made it forever. Just like Bella and Edward ;)