Mrs. Jeffrey Kulp

Sooo my wedding......finally.
First of all, my hat is off to anyone who plans a wedding and doesn't lose their mind when it actually comes to the day.  Planning a wedding is a big deal and I am not saying there is any right or wrong way to do it.  Just because I chose to do things a certain way, doesn't mean it is better than anyone else.  It is just what worked for me.  Weddings are generally as big of a deal as you make them to be.  If you want a big, elaborate wedding, you are probably going to have more of a headache than people who plan smaller ones.  Again, I am speaking in generalities in here. I loved every second of my wedding and I wouldn't have changed a thing.  So here it is....

December 13th, 2010 was by far the best day of my life up until that point.  The love of my life just asked me to MARRY him.  To spend eternity with him.  Other than feelings of elation, surprise, joy, and ecstasy, also came the feeling of relief.  This was the end of the line for me.  No more awkward first dates or wondering when the heartbreak was coming.  I was finally done playing the man game.  And I had won, big time.  My husband is absolutely fabulous in every sense of the word.  And he wanted ME.  And the moment that beautiful diamond went on my finger, the wedding wheels in my head began to turn.  Well actually, that's a lie.  The wedding wheels had been turning in my head for quite some time.  See, I knew that Jeff was The One about two months into our relationship.  He didn't know it at the time, but that was ok.  I was sure and I knew God would show him when the time was right.  And He did.  I knew that I did not want a long engagement.  I wanted a beautiful wedding, sure, but more than anything, I wanted a husband.  My lifelong dream was to BE married, not to GET married.  But since you have to get married to be married, I started planning the first day that would lead to the rest of my life.

I started by thinking of a date.  I started looking at February or March because I felt that I could manage that wait time and because it would be cheaper, until my mom told me that the internship that my brother Aaron was on would not allow him to come home during it.  He was scheduled to return on Friday April 1st, 2011.  So naturally I started planning my wedding for Saturday, April 2nd.  I called a couple of venues and compared prices and picked the one that offered the best deal.  I decided early on that I wanted a venue like a country club, one that included everything.  I hate making phone calls so the more I could consolidate into one phone call, the better.  April is still a pretty cheap and unpopular time to get married so thankfully my date was available and I booked a day time wedding.  So now I had about 3 and a half months to plan a wedding.  And people told me it would go really fast.  Well, it actually didn't.  Those were the longest 3 and a half months of my life.  Since I pretty much planned everything in the first three weeks, there wasn't much left to do for much of the time.

I chose the Warrington Country Club as the place to have both my ceremony and my reception.  It was great because through them I picked my food, my centerpieces, my linens, my drinks, and my cake.  My mom came with me for most of my appointments.  She had double duty both as the mother of the bride and the matron of honor.  (Brief sidebar) I know it's not really tradition or popular for brides to pick their mothers as their matrons of honor, but apart from my husband, my mom has always been, and will always be my best friend.  As I was growing up, she somehow managed to ride the fine line between mother and friend and has been the best of both of those to me.  She was there any time I needed her and loved me and supported me when it felt like no one else did.  She has helped make me into the woman I am today and I am blessed beyond words to have her as an example of a wife and mother now, and as I was growing up.  Anyway, I have never been one to lollygag when it comes to making decisions so for most things in my wedding, I picked the first thing I liked, and went with it.

When my girls and I went dress shopping, I picked my dress in less than an hour after arrival.  I tried two dresses on and picked the second one.  The thought of spending any more time trying dresses on made me crazy because I hate shopping to begin with and getting in and out of those dresses was exhausting.  I loved my wedding dress and I was even happier that I didn't spend a fortune on it.  Luckily, it needed no alterations either.  So fast forward through most of he planning, because it really wasn't that interesting.  Although, I must tell my cake story.  My mom and I met at the country club with the coordinator and I knew today I needed to pick the style, flavors, and colors for my cake.  Anyone that knows me knows that I am an incredibly organized, detail-oriented, borderline anal person who normally is on the ball with everything.  I sat down with the very nice lady and she asked me how the cake tasting went.  In that brief moment before I answered her, I panicked.  I wracked my brain and could not think of a time when she had said that a cake tasting was required before picking a cake.  I had no desire to do a cake tasting, though I would have if it was required.  I sheepishly asked her if I missed that detail and she surprisingly said that it wasn't necessary, only that most people wanted to.  I cannot tell you the relief that washed over me.  It was quite comical.

So the morning of April 2nd, I woke up and showered and got my hair done.  We drove to the country club and got ready.  I sat in front of the mirror in the bridal room and my mom sat beside me.  She started to say some really mushy emotional and I quickly shushed her because I knew she was going to make me cry and I didn't want to mess with the make up.  Besides, there didn't need to be words between us.  We both knew what this day meant.  We both spent countless nights staying up late talking about it, crying about it, and her trying to convince me that someday, this day would come.  And here it was.  I was finally the bride.  My prince waited only minutes away.  I climbed the stairs to meet my father, who would walk me down the aisle and give me away to my husband.  Not only did he give me away, but he transferred the covering of protection that he had been responsible for til this point, to a man that he had to trust would protect his little girl at all costs, the way he had.  The moment I remember the most was when Jeff laid eyes on me for the first time, looking the best that I will probably ever look, and I smiled.  I smiled so big I thought my cheeks would crack.  I walked down that aisle and exchanged the sweetest words I have ever spoken.  I promised to love, honor, and obey this man forever.  And I fully intend to.

Marriage has been absolutely wonderful.  This has been the best and one of the hardest years of my life.  But through all of it, my husband has been amazing and never once have I questioned whether or not I made the right choice by marrying him.  The Lord has blessed me abundantly with a husband that will get up at night and turn the fan on when I forgot and am already cozy in bed and who will settle for soup and grilled cheese when I would rather eat glass shards than cook.  I could list a thousand more things like this.  So yeah, my wedding was pretty darn amazing, but my marriage has been even more incredible. :)