My Reception and Honeymoon:-)

Today over at Kelly's Korner, we are showing our reception and honeymoon pictures.

Our reception was held at the camp we met at and where my husband grew up. We had it at the 100+ year old hotel and on the lawn overlooking a lake. We got a tent put up outside so everyone could fit (all 550 people!). It was casual, laid back, and very romantic. I didn't stay long at my reception because I was soooo ready for my honeymoon:-) Plus, It seemed like I was talking to most random people, while the people I really wanted to hang out were dancing away.

We had a 4 person swing band. It was some old timers who gave me their music on cassette tape:-) They were only $300 for 2 hours, plus travel. Are you kidding me?! I was so glad to have some life music there.

Dancing with some little girls. I look like I'm just about as tall as they are!

Here are my sisters singing "The nearness of you" by Nora Jones...It was our song and they learned to sing and play it! It was a surprise. They look so young here! Especially my sister Julianna with her braces!

I LOVED our wedding cake by my Aunt Nana. It was EXACTLY what I wanted. Simple, clean, with daisys and green ribbon.

Here you can see the tent in the background and all my pretty girlfriends in the background.

Just about to set out on our new life...the best feeling in the world!!!

Probably one of my favorite pictures. Notice what it says around my smiling face:-)

Now on to the honeymoon...Since I got married more than four years ago, all my honeymoon pictures are on film! So I don't have any.

BUT...I want to revisit it. I was so young and skinny in them...it's just as well to not remind myself;-)

Noah and I decided at a young age, to save ourselves for marriage. It just was never an option for us to break that promise we had made to God. So we spent several years holding back. I'm so glad we did because the honeymoon was so new and so special to us.

Seriously, leaving that reception was one of the best feelings I've ever had. To go from complete chaos to alone with the man I love. We were GIDDY!

We didn't tell anyone where we were going...because we weren't going anywhere! We decided after so many options to honeymoon in Asheville NC, 30 minutes away from where we got married. We stayed on the club floor of the Grove Park Inn. Noah, my wheeling and dealing husband got us a pretty amazing deal to stay there. So amazing that when we checked out...the concierge said someone would get fired for giving us that deal!

It was SO luxurious! And so relaxing. We didn't have to do anything but just enjoy each other. I had SO MUCH FUN, getting dressed up for dinner, waking up next to him, walking around with my HUSBAND. I remember waking up about every 30 minutes during that first night and rolling over and kissing Noah and saying..."Can you believe we're married?!" It was so so so so special. I can't even describe it. It was VERY strange to go from having to hold back and always feeling like we had to avoid the appearance of evil, to celebrating our bond and being able to be husband and wife together. It was very very strange.

It's amazing to see how God protected us throughout our individual lives and brought us to each other. For example, I grew up basically without a father, and at 13 my father tried to commit suicide resulting in a very traumatic brain injury that has left him at the mental age of a 12 years old. As a young girl, my heart LONGED to be filled with the love of a man. I met Noah at 14 and always knew that I wanted to wait for him. Noah was very godly and very mature. He was always saying no and always showing me the right way. We managed to wait until I was 16 to start dating, engaged at 18, and married at 19.

I truly believe (because my heart was so desperate) that if God did not bring Noah to me at such a young age, I would have probably gotten myself into a lot of trouble with boys.

I truly felt the grace of God towards me, a nobody, to bless me with so much. On my wedding night, I completely felt His LOVE for me and his protection of me.

I have so many funny stories from my honeymoon, but they aren't appropriate...So you'll just have to wonder...